Kia ora whānau,
Welcome to 2020. I am looking forward to catching up with previous students and families, and greeting our new additions. I hope you have had a great summer a with your whānau.
This year we are now running two parallel communities for years 1-6: I will be leading one community and Gina will be leading the other for the first two terms. Gina is excited to share the news that she and her husband Ben are expecting a baby early in term 3. Staff in my community are: Mel, Beth, Debs, Dean and myself. Staff in Gina’s community are: Suze, Melva, Kate, Sarah F and Gina.
This year we are teaching in pairs across communities as follows: Nadine and Suze – Yr 1-2; Gina and Mel – Yr 1-3; Beth and Melva – Yr 3-5; Kate and Debs – Yr 5-6. We have endeavoured to group students for learning in a way that means that the majority should be taught within their own teaching pairs.
Communication: This year our weekly newsletters will not arrive in your inbox. Each Sunday evening I will upload a Community Newsletter to the website, under the News tab. PLEASE READ THIS! It should contain anything you need to know for the week. You will still receive some emails when necessary through the week should something urgent arise, eg. we need helpers to go out on a spontaneous trip tomorrow. If you need to communicate with your LA, please be mindful of their time. Most LAs will check their emails at home, but if you are emailing after 6pm please note that they may not get your message until the next day – we endeavour to reply within 48hrs. Some LAs also give out their personal phone numbers – please use these only for emergency contact eg. we are out on a trip and you are running late or can’t find us. Please do not text us if your child is absent, this information needs to go to the office. Please do not use Facebook to contact staff.
Dates for your diary:
First Day 10th February 9am – Meet at school, level 4 for our Mihi Whakatau. At 9.30am we will be walking with LAs to spend the day at the Botanical Gardens playground. If you choose to meet us at the gardens we will endeavour to be there by 10am (ish). Please ensure you sign in and out with your LA. LAs will leave the park at 2.15pm to walk back to school. If you wish to pick your child up from the park this needs to be no later than 2.10pm. You are of course welcome to stay with us for the day – in fact that is our preference if at all possible. A google form will come out next Monday for you to fill out indicating arrangements for your child that day.
Swimming : We have booked swimming for 9 sessions 23rd – 25th March and 27th March – 3rd April. We will be swimming at Jellie Park in groups from 12.15pm – 2.45pm. More information will come out later in the term.
Floor 4 Community Camp: 6th – 8th April @ Blue Skies in Kaiapoi. All family members are welcome to come on camp. More information will come out later in the term.
Music Mary: We have an itinerant music teacher who teaches guitar, ukulele and singing for a small weekly charge. If you wish for your child to be involved in these please email Mary at marydunne@xtra.co.nz and she will see if she can accomodate your child.
Sports Uniforms: Please return washed sports uniforms to Dean by Monday 10th Feb. The first game is Friday 14th – Dean needs time to re-allocate them.
Start Time: School starts each day at 9am for year 1-6. We expect students to be present on the 4th floor at 8.50am. It is difficult for children to settle into a learning day if they come late.
Timetable: Information on our timetable will come out next week. As a general rule we will have literacy followed by maths until lunch time 4 days per week. Break times are from 11am-11.20am and 12.45pm-1.30pm. School finishes at 3pm.
Lunchtime duties: Last year we had some parents support us at lunchtime to get the students out to Matai Common for a run around and fresh air. It would be great if we could have 2-3 parents each day to support us keep the children safe and be able to utilise the skate area too. We would appreciate this again this year. Gina and I will send out a sign up doc for this next week.
Personal Leave: For the week of 10th -14th of February I will be absent from school as I have a wedding to attend in the Philippines. Sarah French will be looking after my HB with Suze supporting her. If you have any urgent questions for a Community Leader at this time please contact Gina. I will have my laptop with me but will probably only check emails occasionally.
I look forward to meeting all my homebase at IEMs next Tuesday and Wednesday and very much hope I’ll get a chance to say hi to most of the rest of my community.
Ngā mihi,
Nadine Walmisley
nadine.walmisley@aotawhiti.school.nz