Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa – warm greetings to everyone

Looking towards 2018:

Wow – the end of this year sure did sneak up on me! Time has gone so fast. When I look back at what we have achieved this year I feel very proud and thankful for the hard work and dedication of the teachers and the community. We have had a huge year with many combined efforts to make changes for the positive, working towards our vision, mission and values.

Vision:

Lengthen our stride to become knowing – At Reporoa Primary School this means we focus on our goals and move forward, taking ownership of our learning and embracing challenges along the way.

Mission:

We provide an education that is LEARNER FOCUSSED, INCLUSIVE and supported by PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIPS.

At Reporoa Primary School learner focussed means we know our learning needs and our abilities. We understand our learning style and strive to develop learner agency. Inclusive means we celebrate our differences and cater for all needs whether they are social, behavioural, learning, cultural, or physical. Active Productive Partnerships are fostered by working collaboratively together with our whanau and community to reach our common goals.

Values:

At Reporoa Primary School we use our REPS. We are RESPECTFUL, ENGAGED, POSITIVE and STRIVING. – As a PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) school, at Reporoa Primary School we use our “REPS”. We pride ourselves in displaying these values through everything we do.

Some of the highlights for me have been…

• Working closely with the other principals and BOT chairs in the COL (community of learning). I am excited to see what innovations 2018 will bring.
• The amazing ‘treemendous’ event – what a whirlwind of activity that was! My sincere thanks to Susannah and her team for pulling it off on the day. We are now discussing how to sustain our area in the future.
• The cultural festival – what a proud moment that was! Our children nailed it!
• Camps – we reinstated the bi-annual camps and each year level has had their camp experience. All were reported to be very successful.
• Our curriculum. We are at the end of the first year of implementing our Reporoa curriculum. With National Standards going next year under the Labour government, i am excited to dig even deeper into our diverse and exciting curriculum for the second year.
• Sports – it has been very busy trying to organise the sports in Renee’s absence but we managed to get teams into lots of different sporting codes and were well represented at cluster events. A huge thank you to the parents who step forward and help us with sporting events. Next year we hope more families will support our sports events and help.
• PB4L – this year we have been completing our tier 2 training. The staff are all on board and we have robust systems in place to deal with any behaviour issues that may arise.
• Turf – we managed to raise 4/5ths of the money required through grants and the whanau group fundraising. The BOT topped up the rest. I notice the children are using the space a lot more now and classes are having their PE lessons on the turf too. After school and in the evenings we have had some minor issues which has led us to get more cameras (currently being installed).
• Pet Day – This is a great opportunity for our community to get together in true rural school style. This year the Whanau Group worked alongside the pet day committee. Next year we have some ideas to continue to tweak and improve.
• The pantomime – What an amazing couple of nights! We are truely thankful for the incredible dedication of our Whanau Group who gave up so much of their time and energy for our school. We are very lucky!

I am sure there are many more. Mostly I am proud of where the school has come and where we are going. Thank you to the students, parents, community and teachers for making this happen!

Reports:

Your child’s report is coming home on Friday. Be sure to check their bag! This report measures your child’s progress against the National Standards, informs you of what their next steps are, and tells you how you can help at home. Next year, with a change in expectations at government level, our report format may change slightly.

‘Toilet Competition’ :

Yes, you read that right! This term to solve the issue of the messy toilets, our cleaner Nikki issued a challenge. The group with the most points (given for the cleanest toilet block) get a free swim at the end of the term. This will be next Thursday. In assembly the children discovered that the points were 12.5 for the boys and 12.5 for the girls. The race is on and the competition is very serious!

Year 6 graduation :

Please come and support our year 6 students as we farewell them from our school. We will be holding a graduation ceremony in our school hall on Tuesday the 12th of December at 6:30pm.

Star of the week:

Ka Rawe te mahi (awesome work) to Amy, Riki, and Darcy for their super writing this week!

Sports:

Reporoa Primary Triathlon

Friday 15 December

9.30am – Marshalls meeting outside Rooms 5 and 6

10.00 – 11.00am – junior triathlon

11.00 – 12.00pm – senior triathlon

12.00 – 1.30 – lunch at Primary school

1.30 – 2.30pm – Free swim at the college

All children will participate as an individual or in a team. Children will need to register on the day.

EVENT OPTIONS – INDIVDUAL AND TEAM

Ensure that children know this information before they participate on the day.

5-6 year olds        Swim 24m – 2 lengths school pool (enter in the front gate)

Bike 500m- to the end of Massey road and back to school

Run 200m – 1 lap around the school field

7-8 year olds        Swim 36m – 3 lengths school pool (enter in the back gate)

Bike 1km – around the block once

Run 400m – 2 laps around the school field

9-11 year olds      Choice of either categories

Category 1            Swim 50m – 2 lengths of college pool

Bike 2.5km – 2 laps around the block

Run 800m – 1 lap of the college field

Category 2            Swim 100m – 4 lengths of college pool

(Elite athletes)     Bike 3 km – 3 laps around the block

Run 1km – 2 laps of the college field

PARENT HELP

We will need at least 20 parents/helpers to be marshals around the course. If you are able to assist with marshalling please contact the office as soon as possible. We can’t run this event without lots of parent support.

INDIVIDUAL COMPETITORS

Children competing as an individual will need to own/borrow a safe bike. They will be competing by themselves against other individual competitors of the same age group. Closed in footwear is compulsory for bikers and recommended for runners.

TEAM COMPETITORS

Children wanting to enter in this category will need to make up teams of 3. There will be a section for same sex and another for mixed in each age band. One person will be the swimmer, one will be the biker and one will be the runner. Closed in footwear is compulsory for bikers and recommended for runners.

BIKES

Children will need to provide their own bike – a bike check is your responsibility. Helmets and closed in footwear are compulsory for this event. We encourage parents to bring their child’s bike at the start of the day and place it in the transition area, (juniors – under the oak tree and seniors in the hall), where it will remain until the event starts. After the junior and senior triathlon has finished all bikes are to be kept in the hall for the rest of the day.

COLLECTING CHILDREN

Ensure that the classroom teacher has marked off your child if you want to take them home before 3pm.

Calendar:

Lunches:

This Friday is the last day for school lunches for the year – we thank you all for your support in this new healthy lunch scheme and look forward to it starting up again in the new year.

A huge thank you to Sarah Martelli and all her helpers for making this possible for our school.

Back to School Stationery Orders:

Stationery lists are online now and can be purchased online myschool.co.nz or instore.  Teachers are working on next years class placements now.

1st – 31st Dec Buy now, Pay later! Get Back to School stationery sorted early so you can relax these holidays. When you order online in December you won’t be charged until they deliver – you choose when and where. Plus, you’ll receive a FREE magnetic family organiser.

Order your back to school supplies between 1st Dec 2017 & 18th Jan 2018 and be in to win a $10,000 Flight Centre credit.

Found Property:

We have a huge pile of found property at school. We will be putting it out on display Friday,  come down and check. All named clothing will be returned to the students, all unnamed clothing will be cleared at the end of term.

Swimming Pool Update:

The new pump is being installed as we are typing up this newsletter so all going well it will be up and running tomorrow, so you can start sending togs and towels to school.

Triathlon:

The Whanau group will be giving all the children a free sausage and ice block after the Triathlon on Friday 15th December.

Library Books:

We need all library books returned to school this week – thanks.

Nãku i runga i aku mihi ki a koe – Yours with thanks

Richelle McDonald

and our team –Jill, Phil, Susannah, Esther, Rachel, Julie, Maureen, Heather, Tina, Mary, Kim, Ross & Nikki.