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

Matariki Reflections:

It’s a time to embrace Te Ao Māori and reflect on the past, celebrate the present and plan for the future. On Friday, Aotearoa marked the festival for the first time with a public holiday as a commitment to ensure Mātauranga Māori is at the heart of the celebration, and to give everyone a chance to get involved in the many events around the country.

‘Gather, remember, share and plan’ are principles inspired by Matariki that can be applied in our thinking during this time. ‘As our team does an annual ‘reset’, the spirit of collective energy, gratitude and connectedness can lift our outlook for the future.’

Reflecting on term two we recall an excited ‘buzz’ as we opened up the school for the first time in years. Covid had us feeling very disconnected and somewhat down. Many staff commented that they had not even met their students parents! It was lovely to connect and meet our community with so many new faces.

Half way through the term we hit a huge speed bump with illness having a larger effect than anticipated. I would like to sincerely thank those of you who assisted us by having your children learn from home for a few days as we were severely understaffed. Children and staff were hit with Covid, the flu, and a gastro bug that was very nasty. Having so many away during this time has made some of our annual events such as the Fun Run/Cross Country a bit underwhelming. However, we pushed on and managed to get a small team to the cluster event. I am pleased to say that we seem to be over this illness phase for the most part. Today room one even had all of their class present at school! Amazing!

This week happens to be principal awareness week. Who knew there was such a thing? The staff have been spoiling me each day with morning tea shouts and gifts. The children made a video which they showed in assembly too. I must admit, I may have had ‘sweaty eyeballs’ for a moment. I feel so privileged to have such an amazing team of teachers who really support and care for each other. A bonus is that we also have a lot of fun together. Next week we are off to play mini golf and share a meal as we take care of our collective wellbeing during a time where stress is having an impact.

I sincerely hope you also managed to do some reflecting and rebuilding over your Matariki weekend. As we head to the end of term 2 I would like to thank you for your support and wish you a special holiday break where you can find the time to connect with your children.

Introducing Phillippa Cox:

We are pleased to say that in term 3 our school will be fully staffed. Phillippa Cox will be starting a New Entrant class in room 4 and will take some of the recent new entrant children as well as all of the new children beginning for the rest of the year. Phillippa has a lot of successful experience in the junior school as well as in pre school years. We are very excited to have Phillippa on board.

Bus Vests:

Our bus drivers are telling us that children are not wearing their bus vests when being picked up. It is foggy and dangerous! Bus vests are compulsory at RPS to ride on the bus. They can be bought at the office. Please ensure your children have them on in the morning and that they are named.

SCHOOL PHOTO ORDERS

Remember all photo orders are to be returned to school by Friday 1st July (this Friday).

Late orders will need to be ordered straight from Masterpiece.

Thanks

Student Learning Conferences (SLC) Reminder:

Message from the Board:

We are still looking for a BOT secretary. Please let the office know if you are able to help us!

Board of Trustee elections are to be held later this year. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please either get in touch for a conversation with me or have a look on the following website for more details.

BECOMING A BOARD MEMBER

Kate Bowron, Presiding Member

Sports:

Calendar:

Other Notices:

School Account Details:

Account payments can be made directly to our school ASB account using online banking.  The account number is: 123155 0134517 00

Details: 

Remember if you change address, get a new cell phone number or email address  to notify the school so we have up to date records. The office needs your up to date email address so the newsletter can be emailed out – thanks.

LUNCHES: 

We are part of the governments healthy lunches programme. Children are provided lunch everyday. If they have any allergies, please let the office know so that allowances can be made. Children still need to bring a drink bottle (water only please) and morning tea every day.

Absences:

Reminder – if your child is absent either text, phone and leave a message, or fill in an on-line absent form. We also are required to fill in the reason they are away, so remember to include this in your message – thanks. IF CHILDREN ARE SICK PLEASE KEEP THEM AT HOME.

Car Parks:

Please use the car parks provided at the front or back of the school. No vehicles are permitted on the school grounds except for staff or service vehicles.

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

Richelle McDonald

and our team – Nikkole, Korkz, Gemma, Tanissha, Steven, Julie, Maureen, Heather, Mary, Bridget, and Linda.