Upcoming Events
- NCEA Exams – Tuesday 5th November – Friday 29th November
- Year 1-4 Community Day at Spencer Park – Friday 8th November
- HB Moa Camp at Glenroy – Monday 11th – Wednesday 13th November
- Year 1-6 Professional Development Day – Tuesday 12th November – See junior newsletter for more info
- Staff Only Day Years 1-13 – Thursday 14th November – School Closed for Instruction
- Canterbury Anniversary – Friday 15th November – School Closed
- Year 7-9 Community Camp – Tuesday 19th – Friday 22nd November
- 4.3 Begins – Monday 25th November
- HB Melva & Mary Camp at CAC – Thursday 28th – Friday 29th November
- Graduation – Friday 29th November
- Ao Tawhiti Film Festival – Monday 9th December
- End of Year Community Picnic – Friday 13th December
- Summer Holidays – Saturday 14th December – Sunday 26th January
- Staff Only Day – Monday 27th January – School Closed for Instruction
- IEMs – Tuesday 28th January – School Closed for Instruction
- IEMs – Wednesday 29th January – School Closed for Instruction
- Staff Only Day – Thursday 30th January – School Closed for Instruction
- Friday 31st January – Mihi Whakatau – 9am. Year 1-6 all students in HB 10:30am – 3:00pm. Years 7-13 NEW students in HB 10:30am – 12:20pm. Years 7-13 All students in HB 1:00pm – 3:00pm.
- Normal Timetable Begins – Monday 3rd February
- Waitangi Day – Thursday 6th February – School Closed
- Staff Only Day – Friday 14th March – School Closed
Message From Anita
Kia ora koutou,
This time of year is always bittersweet as we celebrate the achievements of our fabulous ākonga, while saying farewell to a number of them as they graduate from our kura. To our graduating students we wish you all the best for your future, and what a bright future it will be. You are all fabulous in your own unique way and the world is a better place for having you all in it. To our caregivers who have supported our graduating ākonga over the years – thank you for your support of our kura and your children.
I am looking forward to the second half of term four. It is always an exciting time, as we have the opportunity to explore different learning programs, with a lot of Education Outside the Classroom. We have three camps over the next three weeks with students heading off to Kaikoura, Glenroy Lodge and the younger students staying at the Climate Action Campus. I have also spent some time at the Climate Action Campus with Marz and her ākonga, who are immersing themselves in tikanga Māori and Māori Art for the 4.2 and 4.3 option blocks. If you are near the campus over the next few weeks then it is worth visiting Marz and her students to see what they are up to.
Thank you all for your continued support of our kura.
Anita
Messages from Senior Leaders
Dean Sutherland Presentation on Communication & Social Media
In response to some noticings we have had at school, we have invited Dean Sutherland from UC to present to whānau around communication and social media on Tuesday 19 November, 6:30-7:45. Dean Sutherland is an experienced parent educator, speech-language therapist, researcher and lecturer based at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury. Dean is passionate about understanding and supporting communication, learning and neurodiversity. Here is what he said about the session “Learn about strategies and resources to foster effective communication, nurture healthy friendships, and manage technology use. Gain practical tools to support your child’s social and emotional growth. This session aims to support parents’ confidence and skills.” He came to meet with LAs earlier this term, and we all agree, we could listen to him for hours, he is well worth the effort to come along. We will offer a babysitting service at school so people can come. I will send further information about this nearer the time.
Niki Stephenson
Youth Hub Christchurch Public Open Day
We’re rounding out our series of opening events for Youth Hub Christchurch with a Public Open Day on Saturday 30 November.
Please note NO car parking is available on site or on Gracefield Ave. The nearest paid parking option is the Casino.
Stage One of the Hub which will open between late November and February 2025 includes a wraparound services block for youth providers including Te Tahi Youth, Youthline, Rerenga Awa (Canterbury Youth Workers Collective), VOYCE Whakaronga Mai and the Christchurch Youth Council; as well as an outdoor activities courtyard and a supported housing wing with 22 bedrooms for young people aged between 16 and 24.
Anita Yarwood
Year 1-6 Notices
HB selection for 2025
You will have received an email from Beth about HB selection for 2025. The form for selection will close on Wednesday 13 November. In case you missed it, the link is here. If you have any queries at all, please let me know.
Playground update
Many thanks to whānau Nadia Maxwell and Rachael Graham who are busy applying for grants to kick start the playground project. Nadia has applied to the Christchurch City Council, and Rachael has volunteered to apply for as many grants as possible while she is laid up. We are incredibly grateful to these amazing parents for their support with this initiative, it feels like the vision can become a reality!
Also thanks to Jacinta Gable for organising and running a sausage sizzle at Mitre 10 over Labour weekend. She and the team raised $726.60, which will go towards outstanding swimming costs for this year.
The fundraising strategy for 2025 is a 3-pronged approach which will involve applying for grants, fundraising at school and sponsorship opportunities, yet to be decided – but there will be various affordable options. If anyone has any suggestions, please get in touch with me.
Camp
Suze and Lindsay’s HBs are looking forward to camp at Glenroy next week. Here’s hoping for excellent weather and fun times for them all. Thanks to everyone for supporting this camp, it is going to be great.
Y1-4 Community day
Also thanks to Charis, Daisy-May, Jenny and Mel for organising the Community Day at Spencer Park. What a cool day with lots of sunshine and whanaungatanga.
HB photos
Should be published tomorrow. Please check your spam as sometimes emails can end up in there.
If there are any issues, please contact Glyn, glyn@m4photography.co.nz
Xmas crafts
Finally from me, a massive thank you to all of the parents who are organising the Xmas crafts for LAs. This is a wonderful help as LAs finalise assessments for end of year reports and tidy up loose ends in their HBs. And the students love them!
Niki Stephenson
News/Notices
Community Dental Van Visiting This Term
Community resources bank to support Ao Tawhiti Arotahi Learning
Kia ora Ao Tawhiti Community, as you know, you have chosen Ao Tawhiti for its strong commitment to student agency and student-led learning, which we call arotahi. As part of this, we need you—our community—to help resource our keen tamariki with the people and places they seek to realise their learning. We have the Community Resources Page, where LAs and students can connect with individuals who are enthusiastic about supporting our Ao Tawhiti students by offering their time, energy, and expertise. This could involve being interviewed, mentoring, offering a workplace tour, or almost anything!
We regularly invite you, along with your wider whānau, to share your skills, passions, hobbies, workplaces, or any other resources that our ākonga could use on their learning journey. Please take a moment to fill out this quick Community Resource form with your ideas and contact information, so LAs and students can reach out to you and develop their real-world learning experiences.
Do you know a registered/professional landscape architect who one of our senior students could contact? Please add to the form! Thanks
Thank you for helping connect our students with the opportunities that our thriving whānau and the wider community can provide to build their arotahi learning.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me at melva.gill@aotawhiti.school.nz
Melva Gill
Accessible Parking Spaces
We would like to remind the community of the importance of only parking in our designated accessible parking spaces if you hold a valid pass. We have multiple families within our kura that hold passes and find accessing the building extremely difficult when non-pass holders use these parking spaces.
Magnet Fishing at the CAC by Alex
My Koro helped me make the reel for my magnet. You throw it into some water. At the CAC, we throw it off the bridge. There is a big big risk of the magnet getting stuck on the bridge, so you have to be careful when magnet fishing. I caught a coin back in 2023 and last time we went I caught a rusty fishing hook and a couple of nails. I also have a metal detector. I was starting to lose a bit of hope and the metal detector started going faulty and wouldn’t work. Then we figured out how to fix it and found some pretty cool stuff.
Student Achievement
Congratulations to Ella whose cheer team Neonkatz won 1st place in their grade at the Super Nationals competition in Auckland over the weekend!
Project class – Sprint Addition
With 4.1 only being 4 weeks long, this class really was a sprint addition. Given that our last class is on Thursday the 31st October (halloween), we decided to have a Halloween theme. There have been spooky video games in construction, board game construction, Halloween bookmarks, Halloween pizza, costume creation and much more. I have really enjoyed being part of this class over the year and having a chance to work with students who are epitomising our special character.
Student Volunteer Army
Congratulations to Archie, recipient of the Student Volunteer Army Top Volunteer Award for Ao Tawhiti 2024.
Volunteering is a great way to gain experience while helping others. If you’re doing something to help other people, without expecting anything in return, that’s volunteering. Whether you’re putting out cones at a sports event, organising the school formal, caring for a sick family member, washing dogs at the SPCA, planting trees, or picking up plastic rubbish at the beach – you’re making a contribution to your community and that counts.
It can be hard to get a job without experience, but it can be hard to get experience without a job. By volunteering and logging your hours through the SVA Service Award app, you can add essential skills to your CV while building your confidence and making friends.
At Ao Tawhiti we support students working towards these Service Awards and we currently have a number of LA’s actively working with students to find volunteering options through school.
If you would like to know more about getting involved in volunteering at school or would like support to join SVA Service Awards please email the team at:
SVA@aotawhiti.school.nz or contact Kay kay.hayes@aotawhiti.school.nz
Student Achievement
Huge congratulations to Ruby-Grace!
She has won the Canterbury regional final for the Young Enterprise Scheme and now goes on to the national championship in Wellington in December. A remarkable achievement.
She also won a National Excellence Award.
Her very worthwhile Enterprise supports those with dyslexia.
Big thanks too to Setu and Xander who have been her mentors and supported her with her work.
George Mackenzie
Request for materials
Our mātauranga ngahere “Build a Park” is well under way. Students wish to build seating. If you have some off cuts of kwila or other hardwood lying around that you wouldn’t mind donating we would be most appreciative!! Either bring into school or let us know and we will arrange a pick up!
Anne-Marie Hampton
Private quiet spaces
Thanks for the donation of tents to the school. We are trialling one as a quiet Arotahi space on Floor 4. If it works well we may use a couple for students to work in.
Reading Book Library
Floor 4 is looking for quality reading books for our planned reading book library. We will be setting up a system for students to borrow the books for quiet reading at school.
We are looking for chapter books that you know are great reads or good for certain level readers. Our readers range from reading age 8+ to 15+. We are not looking for loads and loads of books but we would love the good ones.
We will do our best to look after them and keep them for as many students as we can.
We are thinking the books could be dropped off at reception. Thanks
Kay Hayes
Canterbury Zones
Well done to all of our students who competed in the South Zones for Athletics this week.
Congratulations to Sofia and Cali who placed and will now compete in the Canterbury Zones.
Megan Gould
Entertainment Book Fundraiser
Claim Your Free $20 eGift Card Today!
Want to save big while making a difference?
With an Entertainment Membership, you’ll unlock amazing rewards and support our school at the same time!
Here’s what you’ll get when you purchase your Membership today:
* A FREE $20 eGift Card – Yours instantly with any Membership purchase!
* A bonus Multi City upgrade, giving you access to up to 50% off dining, shopping, and travel across Australia, New Zealand, and Bali
* 20% of your purchase goes directly to support our fundraiser
* Use on up to 4 devices so great to share with friends or family as well
Limited time offer, ends Monday, 11 November 2024 at 1:59 pm.
This would make a great Christmas present too!
Order Here- https://subscribe.entertainmentnz.com/fundraiser/13427z1
Cookie Time Christmas Cookie Fundraiser
The Famous Cookie Time Christmas Cookie Fundraiser is back for 2024!
These Cookie Buckets are a great treat for Christmas and they also make a wonderful gift or Secret Santa present!
Order forms will also be available at the school office that have our School account details printed on them, please, PLEASE take into workplaces etc, every little bit helps!
There is a post on our Main Facebook page also if you would like to share it. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CSLu9S7QJ/
You use the order form to fill in orders from friends and family on social media, just have them pay by Bank Transfer using the details provided below, then add them to your form and drop to school before the cut off date below.
2L Bucket Flavours:
* Brandy Snap White Chocolate
* Chocolate Chip
* Apricot Chocolate
* Choca-licious
* Salted Caramel
* Cranberry White Chocolate
* Bumper Brownie Bites
Each 2L bucket holds 600g of bite size Christmas Cookies (approx. 85 cookies and Brownie Bites containing 12)
1L Gluten Free Bucket:
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip
Comes in a cute 1L mini bucket (approx. 39 cookies)
We will keep a rolling form going at the school office for individual orders as well, so you can just fill in what you would like to order and pay online.
Please make Payment via Bank Transfer to:
Ao Tawhiti School
12-3148-0253681-00
Use Your Name in the Reference section and “Cookie Time” in Particulars section and buckets paid for in Code section.
****Orders due and payment cleared online by Friday 21st November 2024****
Collection is from School, date will posted on arrival, but it will be around 2nd December 2024.
Thank you for your support!!!!
5&6 Futsal Summer Tournament
Congratulations to our year 5&6 Futsal team who took out first place at the summer futsal tournament and also won all of their games.
Megan Gould
RNZB
We had the privilege of the Royal New Zealand Ballet come and run a workshop with our students, and then we went to the Matinee of A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed at The Issac Theatre Royal. What a wonderful experience we all had.
Sarah Marshall
Blood Drive
The senior Health class have been visiting health and wellbeing centres around Christchurch, and we were lucky enough to go along to the NZ Blood Centre to see what happens and how we can save lives by donating blood.
Here you can see Bridget getting a finger prick to find out her blood type.
If you would like to come and join us on the Blood Drive on the 20th Nov. – see the attached poster.
Sarah Marshall
Scholastic Book Club
Scholastic bookclub is out now
Issue 8 is the final one for the year so do have a look through.
It takes about 2wks for orders to come through and you can tag your order as a gift. If you forget to do this, PLEASE let me know and I will keep it away from the student behind reception for you to collect.
This year for Christmas, Athena bookshop, in South City Mall, are collecting brand new books for kids in need. With Scholastic books from as little as $3.50 why not consider this. With every order, no matter how big or small, earning 15% in rewards back to school everyone wins. If you do order a book for Athena bookshop I can leave a box near reception for you to drop it in or let me know and I can do that when the order comes in.
There are heaps of Christmas themed books, puzzle, decorating crafts kits inc. a Pokemon Christmas activity pad in this issue.
You should know by now I love talking about what books are in each issue but the one closest to my heart this issue has to be the 48 piece floor puzzle of fire fighters saving the day!! (yes, I’m a firefighter)
Not only are there books for preschoolers but teens as well with The Hunger Games Deluxe box set, sisters joining the Resistance in WW2 – Code Name Kingfisher, as well as the Five Nights at Freddy’s series.
I do encourage you to take a look through with cookbooks from Harry Potter, Ghibli, heaps of diaries and journals, spy kits and books, Horrible Histories, Calligraphy sets, Avatar boxed sets, Wings of Fire, Classics – Little Women and Mary Poppins, heaps of books on football stars: Mbappe, Messi, Van Dijk and more, Nerf games ….
If you’ve made it this far thank you very much.
It always feels like Christmas when I receive your order, I love it. Thank you so much for supporting school and your child with books.
This will be my last issue organising Scholastic as I leave school and NZ in a few weeks. Bonnie Srk, a parent in the junior school who some of you will know when she worked at Turanga library, will be taking over from me in the New Year.
Merry Christmas (too early???)
https://www.scholastic.co.nz/parents/book-club-latest-issue/
Claire Cameron
Other Notices
The ‘From Bellies, Babies to Tweens’ market is on SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER from 9am-12noon at the Halswell RLFC, Halswell Rd.
This is a buy/sell new & pre-loved market to help families in the community find maternity, baby, kids & tweens items all in one place at affordable prices.
If you’re interested in coming along or would like to be a stallholder, follow on Facebook & Instagram or send an email to fbbtmarket@gmail.com