HAWERA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER 2 March 2022
Contact Details
Email: office@hi.school.nz
Website: hi.school.nz
Location: 245 South Road, Hawera, New Zealand
Phone: 06 278 5030
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaweraIntermediate/
Kia ora koutou
The weeks fly by, students settle into school life, make new friends and cement older ones.
Already strong class cultures exist and routines and structures are embedded across the school.
With COVID circulating staff are prepared to face whatever may come their way, and are very conscious of moving into a distance learning environment if needed.
You will be aware we have a postive COVID case in our school community, please do monitor student well being and get students tested if symptoms arise.
Students are happy, physically active and enjoying this beautiful weather during mask and recess breaks. Organised games in the playground with 14 staff members supporting students at interval and lunch breaks allows for freedom of choice, a calm environment permeates the grounds.
Today we share our "Kauri Values" which are integrated into every aspect of our school life instilling positive behaviours now and we hope into the future.
Ngā mihi nui
Neryda Sullivan
Principal
Dawn Mendes
Ko Taranaki te Maunga
Ko Patea te Awa
Ko Aotea te waka
Ko Ngati Ruanui te iwi
Ko Ngati Tupito te hapu
Ko Pariroa Pa toku Marae
No Patea ahau
Ko Dawn Mendes taku ingoa
This year I am the Tangahoe Whanau Leader. I am working in Room 10 and have the privilege of working in our open learning environment with Room 9. Our current focus is building a strong whanau culture to support our learners to be the best they can be. I am also leading Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L) and Healthy Active learning in our school.
Kylie Surgenor
Tena Koutou Katoa,
Ko Kylie Surgenor toku ingoa,
I have the absolute privilege of co-teaching in Room 9 this year with Mrs Mallory Williamson and Whaea Tina Thompson and alongside Miss Dawn Mendes and Matua Tuki Vaine. I began my teaching career at Hawera Intermediate, after the fire I left for a 3 year period where I was working as an Education Consultant helping teachers teach math and build strong learning relationships with students. I returned to Hawera Intermediate Term 1 2020 and have loved being back with students in the school I consider home. I have high expectations for learning and believe that every single student has the potential to achieve. In Room 9 we are a whanau who works hard and plays harder !!
Mallory Williamson
Kia Ora! I began my teaching career at Hawera Intermediate in 2010 and have been teaching here since. More recently I have moved into a part time position in between having and raising my two children, Charlie and Ruby-Rose who are now 6 and 4.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time at family baches at both Urenui and Marokopa, as well as playing netball and crafting.
I am excited to be teaching in Room 9, 3 mornings a week, sharing an awesome group of learners with Kylie Surgenor.
Webster Kwangwari
Kia Ora,
Ko Webster Kwangwari taku ingoa.
I am fairly new to New Zealand, having come over this side from the Middle East (United Arab Emirates) in August 2019.
I moved over together with my wife Esther and our four daughters. We have all grown so much in love with New Zealand in general and Hawera in particular. Everyone we meet treats us as family. This year I am happy to be working with a fine group of young and promising adolescents in Room 8. I also look forward to meeting our parents and caregivers to discuss how best we can help our students.
Lania Careswell
Kia ora, my name is Whaea Lania.
I am a Hawera local with whakapapa to Ngati Ruanui and attended Hawera Intermediate myself many moons ago now. I have two beautiful girls Kaylia and Kiara who are four and two and keep me busy when I’m not at school. I completed my teaching degree through Waikato University via distance, graduating at the end of 2017. Since then I stayed at home raising my girls before coming to Hawera Intermediate in March 2020 (the day of lockdown).
My hobbies include reading, and spending time with family. My partner and I love to take our kids out on adventures around Taranaki enjoying nature whenever we get the chance. My strongest areas in the classroom are reading and writing and I love trying to make schoolwork fun and enjoyable.
This term so far I have been enjoying getting to know our students. In Room 5, we have been learning about our whakapapa and discussing and setting goals we want to accomplish this year. I look forward to getting to know students and whanau throughout the year.
Hāwera New School Establishment Board Newsletter...
February 2022
Tēnā koutou katoa
The Hāwera New School Establishment Board intends to provide updates to the Boards of Trustees, staff, students and whānau of Hāwera High School and Hāwera Intermediate School, local Iwi, and the wider community as the exciting process of establishing the Hāwera New School progresses.
Five people were appointed by the Minister of Education to the Hāwera New School Establishment Board in late December. They were: Will Edwards (Chairperson) Cheryl Luke-Maraki (Deputy Chairperson), Neryda Sullivan, Dinah King (Ngāruahine Iwi Representative) and Hauraki Erb (Ngāti Ruanui Iwi Representative). The following three Board members were co-opted in early January, Diana Reid, Ross Dunlop and Te Kiri King. The Board meets weekly as there is a lot of work to do before the Hāwera New School opens in late January 2023.
The Establishment Board is supported by Tom Scollard who was appointed by the Ministry of Education. Tom’s official title is Governance Facilitator. Tom is very knowledgeable in this area, having facilitated new school establishment in post-earthquake Canterbury. We are also strongly supported by Cherie Hunt, Rae Karipa and Darryl Leath from the Ministry of Education. Darryl Leath will assist the Board with procedures to meet requirements, such as The New Zealand Qualifications Authority deadlines. Tom, Rae, Cherie and Darryl attend our weekly meetings via Zoom and provide invaluable advice and assistance.
One of the first tasks for the Board was to draw on previous community consultations to begin the articulation of a vision and values for the new school as well as an interim school name, logo and letterhead. A lot of administrative tasks have also been completed including finance and governance policies. A workshop was held on developing Board communications policies. We thank the South Taranaki District Council for allowing Gerard Langford to assist us with that process.
Perhaps the most important decision the Establishment Board will make is the appointment of a principal. The application pack and advertisement were completed, and applications close on March 4th . It is expected that the principal will be appointed and start at the beginning of Term 2, 2022. Senior leadership team roles have also been advertised and applications close on March 25 th with a start date of Monday, May 30 th 2022.
Decisions have been made around staffing recruitment for the Hāwera New School and the timeline has been shared with the staff at both Hāwera High School and Hāwera Intermediate School. Understanding and respect for those involved in the closure of both schools is very important to the Establishment Board.
The Pathway offers students an opportunity to get fully involved over their time at Hawera Intermediate, earning badges to sew onto their school hoodie, wearing their achievements with pride.
There are four areas where students can earn points: Sport, Community, Academic and Cultural. For every event in which a student takes part, they may claim the allocated points and once they have earned enough, they may apply for a badge. With enough badges earned, a student may apply to get onto the School Honours Board at the end of their time. Please note the necessary points to earn badges.
Honours Board
To achieve Honours, students must:
- Have a minimum of three Excellence awards and 1 Merit
- Submit a completed PAR card to Whaea Lania for verification and signing.
- Lodge an application for Honours to be presented at Prize Giving. This is at the discretion of Whaea Lania and the Senior Leadership Team.
- Have shown exemplary behaviour 100% of the time and always shown our KAURI values.
Badges
Students can choose to complete badges as part of their Pathway to Success, these are collected from Whaea Lania in Rm 5. There are a range of specific Maths and Science badges and other general badges including photography, ABC, passion projects (inquiring into an interest), cultural, history and more. They are available on the school website if you want to have a look at them and make some choices before going to see Whaea Lania.
Each badge has a range of activities listed, which are allocated stars/points.
· An activity that is one star/point is a simpler one, which can be completed relatively quickly, and three stars/points is more complex and will take a lot more time.
· Students complete 20 stars/points selecting activities they prefer from those listed on the badge description page.
· These badges are an independent, student selected, inquiry based extension opportunity, which is done at home instead of having ‘homework’.
· Students are welcome to seek support from their teachers or Whaea Lania if needed.
· Once completed, badges are handed to Whaea Lania for marking, which may take a couple of weeks, then badges and certificates are given out in assembly/whanau hui.
· Students have all year to complete the badges, there is no timeframe.
. These activities will encourage our students to be independent, practice research skills, consider and trial various presentation methods and manage their time, all valuable life skills for their future.
· Work can be presented digitally or on paper, it needs to be high quality, the students' best efforts, and any information researched needs to be put into students' own words.
There is no pressure to complete the badges, if you have a busy week and it gets put aside that is fine. When you finish it you hand it in. There is a cutoff in November for end of year processing which will be on the notices and in the newsletter.
Rationale
Our KAURI Values are based in Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L), which identifies the need to provide engaging opportunities for learning, increasing student achievement by:
Providing a positive and supportive environment.
Setting and maintaining clear high expectations.
Being consistent with teaching expected behaviours.
Acknowledging and praising expected behaviours.
Responding appropriately and fairly to inappropriate behaviours.
KAURI
These values are taught everyday in classrooms.
Kaitiakitanga
Akonga
Unity
Respect
Independence
Outside Room 11 is a Kauri tree planted in 1915 by the headmaster of Hawera Primary who gifted the land to the community for an Intermediate. It has overseen the journey of many students and staff in its lifetime, people come and people go, and our Kauri continues.
The Kauri tree represents us:
The leaves are our students, new leaves show new students who will grow strongly while in our school. As they then move on to new adventures the leaves fall back to the ground to mulch down into nutrients for more leaves.
The branches are our whanau, strongly supporting us as we move along our Pathway to Success, providing everything needed to thrive.
The trunk is our community, and all the services and supports within it ensuring we are safe, strong and well, including health, education, sport and cultural.
Our extended whanau wrap around us like the bark on the tree, protecting us from harm and celebrating all our successes with us.
The roots of the tree dig deeply into the earth and firmly attach us. They represent our belonging as New Zealanders, as tangata whenua of the school, our deep connection to our land, our culture and our history - all that has gone before us and will come after.
The tree has stood tall and strong through day and night, winter and summer, drought and flood, it has withstood wind, storms, and more modeling perseverance and resilience which are two things we all need to succeed.
Our Kauri turns carbon dioxide into oxygen every day helping us to breathe and it knows every day the sun will rise and the day will dawn… it tells us not to worry about things, to do our best and give 100% every day and that is success!
We are aiming for 95% attendance in our school, as research clearly shows student learning reduces if they do not attend regularly. We see Term One usually as the highest attendance with attendance often declining from there. We need your help to reach this goal. When you explain your child's absence e.g. family holiday or at an event, it will be recorded with a Ministry of Education code onto our system. It could be J for justified as described below, T for truant if we receive no explanation, O for overseas, M for medical, F for covid related absence, or E for explained which means you have explained the reason however it does not fit MOE criteria.
The Ministry of Education only accepts the following as justified absence reasons:
- Cultural or sporting representation (Regional or National)
- Bereavement
- Force majeure - road closure, flooding, bus breakdown, car accident or fire
- Exceptional family circumstances (many of these can be very sensitive and involve other agencies - domestic violence, protection order, family separation etc. (please ring the office and speak to a senior leader)
- Illness/or Hospitalisation - medical certificate required after three days.
- Appointments other than medical or dental
- Exam leave (ballet/music exam etc.)
- Bullying or other issues around attending – while awaiting follow up.
At the end of each term we send out letters to parents of students who have 6% or more absence. You can see on the letters what codes were used for the explanations. If there are incorrect codes on your letter please let us know and we can fix them. It is a way of ensuring parents are aware. We all know the days can add up over time and it can easily be more than you think. We appreciate your help by texting, phoning or sending a note to the class teacher or the office to explain your child's absence.
Students who have attended every day will receive a 100% Attendance Certificate and a point on their Academic Pathway. We understand and appreciate it when you keep your child home if they are unwell or particularly tired, we just ask that you let the office know. Please be aware we do take medical certificates into consideration for 100% purposes.
When attendance is irregular, you will hear from the class teacher initially, to see if we can help work out what the barriers are to improving this. If there is no improvement from that discussion you will meet with school leaders and if we cannot resolve the situation the student will be referred to Attendance Services who will follow up. Our goal is to work together to have good attendance and great learning progress on our pathways to success!
If you have any attendance concerns, queries or need support in any way please contact class teachers firstly, then Trisha via the office.
A Reminder
Please remember that school will be closed on Monday 14 March as we celebrate Taranaki Anniversary.
This day commemorates the creation of the Taranaki province. Originally called New Plymouth province, it was renamed to Taranaki in 1859.
Enjoy a long weekend!
To finish the Great Reading Race...
students have to read 15 books from our school/town library or from books they may already have at home. They have 1 year to read 15 books.
The first time they complete the Race earns them 2 points to go on their academic record card. They also receive a certificate and book mark and get their name in the school newsletter. Students can only earn 2 points the first time they complete the Race.
Students are able to read any book that they choose to.
Each book must be signed off either by a parent at home OR, our Library Manager will sign books off asking them 3 questions about the book to make sure they have read it properly. If you choose to sign off your child's book, this is a great way of encouraging them to read and see how well they are doing. Also if you sign the book off please make sure they have read the whole book.
Each student has a car with their name on it which moves along a road each time a book is signed off. This is displayed on a wall in our library.
You may like to encourage your child to join the Reading Race, as research has shown that the more they read the better they become at reading.
25 STARS OF THE DAY
Well done, Jasmine Campbell and Kaitlyn Bensley.
Congratulations to the following students who have been named as Sport Leaders for 2021
Room 1: Simulata Aholelei, Dametrix Edwards-Todd
Room 2: Peyton Scott, Caden Andersen
Room 3: Kayliss Ross, Maika Rauputu
Room 4: Jahliyah Hori, Zoe Waller
Room 5: Xavier Whakarau-Katene, T.J. Page-Oliver
Room 6: Tayah Wilson, Simone Cameron
Room 7: Maluapapa Manutai, Kordae Ross
Room 8: Zion Lawrence, Sarsha Long
Room 9: Tyler Cooper, Kaden Thomas
Room 10: Marius Aholelei, Hunter Whana
Room:11: Carlo Martin, Cove Warburton
Room 12: Emily Cleaver, Max Surgenor
Please note that all advertised school events are subject to COVID Framework conditions at the time of the event
- Tuesday March 8 - Swimming Sports - CLOSED EVENT
- Monday 14 March - Taranaki Anniversary
- Wednesday 16 March - PTA AGM
- Wednesday 23 March - School Photos
- Friday 1 April - Teacher Only Day- School Closed