Rākau Nui Newsletter
Term 2, Week 2
Newsletter 10 May 2022
Tēnā koutou katoa
Cross Country
Our school cross country will be held on Thursday 12th May, weather permitting. Please ensure children have a change of clothes and shoes, a water bottle and something warm to wear afterwards. Parents are welcome to come and watch this and we ask that you wear a mask to do so. The first race will start at 11.45pm.
Life Education Trust and Harold
Just after Queen's birthday weekend, starting on Tuesday 7 June, Life Education and Harold will be coming for a visit. Class lessons have a health focus with all children taking part in this programme. Please give a $6 donation per child towards the costs of running the Life Education programme. Payment can be made on Kindo or please send a named envelope to the office with $6 inside.
Pink Shirt Day
Pink Shirt Day is a global day that celebrates diversity and promotes environments where people can feel safe, valued and respected. Pink Shirt Day began in Canada more than ten years ago when two students took a stand against bullying after a peer was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. Paparangi School will be taking part once again with other New Zealanders to end bullying and spread kindness on the day and all year long so wear something pink on Friday 20th May to celebrate Friendship Week with us. Children are invited to come to school in pink - wear a pink shirt, scarf, socks, hat, ribbon, badge or any item at all! There will be prizes for the most creative pink outfits!
Donations
As part of a STEAM topic this term, students have the opportunity to ‘tinker’ with broken or old, unwanted technology. If you have any unwanted items, we would really appreciate them! Please send them to school with your child and tell them to bring them to room 12 or message christinel@papaprangi.school.nz.
Seesaw
Seesaw is a simple way for teachers and students to record and share what's happening in the classroom. Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology. Each student gets their own journal and will add things to it, like photos, videos, drawings, or notes. Each week more and more learning is being shared there. We highly recommend you check it and engage in conversation with your child about their learning.
There’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing choices…
As the weather starts to change, the type of clothes students will need at school will also change. In order to continue giving everyone the much needed breaks from mask wearing, we will be continuing to spend as much time as possible outside and this will include when it is drizzling and there are rain showers. We would appreciate it if students could have a named rain jacket and, if possible, a change of named clothes in their bag just in case. We will be taking a common sense approach to being outside when it’s wet and won’t be outside when we’re experiencing heavy rain, or if it is very cold and wet, as student well being is important.
Valuables
For many reasons, we do not permit digital devices to be brought from home and used in the classroom or around the school. These reasons include controlling student access to the internet, removing unnecessary distractions from learning time and ensuring that valuable items are not left lying around. We would encourage families to leave these items at home, however any digital devices, or valuable items, brought to school MUST be taken straight to the office for safe keeping. These items include cell phones, money, tablets, games, Apple watches and other smart watches. It is ok for students to wear simple step counters (no bluetooth, filming or internet connection) and basic watches.
EnviroSchools
As an Enviro School we are so impressed with the zero waste lunch boxes that children bring. Many thanks for your help with this. With reports coming out in the news about the amount of plastic that is infiltrating our oceans, land and drinking water we are very keen on being zero waste and wrapper free.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything with us, please remember that your first point of contact is your child’s home class teacher. Our email addresses are:
christinel@paparangi.school.nz
Hei konā mai
Jenni, Trelise, Sarah, Christine, Ali, Judy, Kath, Andi, Leah, Kuini, Haley, Min and Megan
Useful Dates - Please note that all dates are subject to COVID restrictions and events may be cancelled or postponed
Monday 02 May- Term 2 starts 8.55am
Monday 09 May - NZ Sign Language Week
Tuesday 10 May - Whole School Cross Country
Tuesday 17 May - Learning Conferences
Wednesday 18 May - Learning Conferences
Friday 20 May - Pink Shirt Day
Tuesday 24 May - Northern Zone Cross Country Tournament (pp 26th)
Monday 30 May - Samoan Language Week
Friday 03 June - Teacher Only Day (school closed)
Monday 06 June - Queen's Birthday (school closed)
Tuesday 7 June - Thursday 16 June - Life Education Welcome Harold!
Tuesday 14 June - IZ Cross Country (pp 16th)
Friday 24 June - Matariki (school closed)
Tuesday 05 July - Regional Cross Country (pp 07)
Friday 08 July - Term 2 ends 3.00pm
Tuesday 26 July - Health Information Evening 5.30pm