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

New Classrooms:

We are very excited to finally be in our new classrooms! A big thank you to the teachers and students who moved everything on Friday. This week teachers are working with their home classes on settling in and establishing routines in their new spaces. Next week the tuakana team with begin their collaborative teaching. This is exciting as they now have the environment to do so. The breakout spaces are not done yet. These will get Autex on the walls over the next holidays and then flooring will be sorted out at a much later date.

Mihi bus:

Thank you to those parents and whanau who have come to see me in person with their concerns. This is the best option for you to understand the situation and what the school is able to do. Please chose to come and discuss rather than air on social media. I understand the frustration felt but the initial information in the first letter sent home remains the same. We work closely with Mihi School in our Kahui Ako and value working with them as partners for the best interests of all children in Reporoa.

Role Model the Behaviour you want to see from your Kids:

Your children and teens are always watching what you do. They see how you handle stress. They watch how you treat other people and observe how you deal with your feelings. They soak in all that information like little sponges. Even when you think your children aren’t paying attention, it’s essential to be a positive role model.

It’s really hard to model appropriate behaviour for your kids all the time, and no one is expecting you to be perfect. But, you should strive to model the rules you want your kids to follow.

Every parent wants to raise kids who are kind to others. This goal becomes a reality when you model respect and empathy in your own life. Be respectful to everyone you interact with and soon your kids will be doing the same. Whether it’s the cashier in the grocery store or the waitress in your favourite restaurant, smile, say please, and thank you, and before long your kids will be doing that too. Allow your kids to see you being compassionate and empathetic to others too. Use situations that occur around you to talk about how others might be feeling. Teaching kids to be empathetic is one of the best ways to prevent them from bullying others.

Excerpt taken from https://www.verywellfamily.com/role-model-the-behavior-you-want-to-see-from-your-kids-1094785

Playground update:

The Board of Trustees have been looking very closely at our options around the playground and what to do to make it safe. We are currently engaging 3 companies to come and quote for a range of work from replacing all unsafe parts, to fully replacing it. I am currently designing a survey for the children to hear what they want in a playground too. We are working on this a quickly as we can, however there are many steps involved and the process is likely to be a long one. One of the big challenges will be finding the money to pay for it, which we hope to do through grants and fundraising.

In the meantime, our lower playground is having some minor maintenance work done and is still open to play on.

Thank You:

A very big THANK YOU to REPTEC for their kind donation towards stationery in our senior classes. We really appreciate your help and support for our tamariki!

STAR OF THE WEEK:

Ka Rawe te mahi (awesome work) to Maddison Gillet for her hard mahi in science observations and writing this week. Maddison identified lots of similarities and differences between a butterfly and a moth. Mrs McDonald even learnt a thing or two from reading her work!

No lollies or sugary drinks please:

A reminder that at Reporoa Primary we do not have lollies or sugary drinks. As it states in our Food and Nutrition Policy, a healthy food and drink environment helps support a young person’s wellbeing (hauora), including their immediate physical and mental growth and development. It also helps establish positive behaviours for the future.

Bus Vests:

UPDATE: The BOT have approved for the bus vest to be part of our uniform. Vests will be available from NZ uniforms shortly OR you can purchase an orange vest elsewhere if you wish to. All children riding on the bus will need to have a vest on but we are going to have a few weeks grace to allow people to get this organised. Please understand this is a health and safety issue and has been requested by the bus drivers. Your children’s safety is our top priority! As with all uniform, PLEASE make sure it is named!

Meet and Greet:

Now that we are in our new classrooms, we can go ahead with our MEET and GREET. We would love to see you all there!

STILL WANTED – ‘Large Loose Parts Play’ items:

Thank you to those who have already donated some items. We now have plenty of pallets and fence batons for our loose parts play area.

‘Loose parts’ are ordinary, everyday, open-ended materials that can be manipulated and used in various ways, moved, carried, shared, combined and taken apart in various configurations and designs. There are no specific directions accompanying the materials and many various outcomes are possible from their use. They have high affordance value in terms of what they can offer or provide to support children’s play, exploration and cognitive development, and can be easily transformed with children’s imagination.

We would love some donations from the community of the following for our ‘Loose Parts Play Area’:

• Tyres
• Bread delivery trays
• Milk delivery trays
• Cable wheels
• Tubing/guttering

Camps:

If your child is year 3, 4, 5 or 6 they should have brought camp information home in week 2. If you did not receive it, or if you need another copy, please ring the office. Make sure you return the permission form, health form and student contract for the year 3&4 camp or Wai-o-tapu Forest or the year 5&6 camp to Papamoa. Thank you to the parents who have applied to come on camp. We have had a huge response and way more than we need. The principal and DP will make the final decision based on a range of variables- contribution to school, known capability with children, a balance of skills, gender balance, previous involvement with school (sports teams, trips, BOT etc), and a clear police vet. We apologise in advance to those parents who are not chosen, it mostly comes down to having a balance of skills and abilities on hand. Camp accounts are coming home via email – these can be paid in instalments so the balance is cleared before camp.

Garden to Table:

Unfortunately we have had to postpone our start date with Garden to Table to term 3 and are only able to begin with a pilot group which will be the seniors. This is due to resourcing and set up logistics. In the meantime we will work on becoming a garden to table school, building up to the lunches in schools programme. The children will still be fed lunch everyday through Ka Pai Kai.

Sports:

HERE’S WHAT COMING UP IN TERM ONE 2021 

* Junior School Swimming Sports 11:30am, Senior School Swimming Sports 1:00pm – Wednesday 3rd March (they will have an early lunch that day)

* CBOP Rats Duathlon -Tuesday 9th March( Waipa Bike Park Redwoods Rotorua Years 3/4 & 5/6)

* Reporoa Cluster Swimming -Wednesday 10th March ( Reporoa College)

* CBOP Top School -Wednesday 3rd March ( Years 4/5/6 Rotorua Intermediate after school between 4-6pm)

* Reporoa Valley Cluster Summer Sports -Wednesday 17th March ( Reporoa Primary)

* CBOP Swimming Sports -Wednesday 14th April ( Rotorua Aquatic Centre)

BEGINNING OF TERM TWO- I will have to have the children enter before the end of term one.

* CBOP Rotorua Mini Marathon -Friday 7th May ( Energy Event Centre Rotorua)

* CBOP Rip, Grip & Whip Mountain Bike Ride -Tuesday 11th May ( Waipa Bike Park Redwoods Rotorua)

Looking forward to another exciting year of sports. Thanking you in advance for your support. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact the school.

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 you need 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.

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 –Cherie, Jazzmine, Debs, Susannah, Steven, Julie, Maureen, Heather, Colleen, Tina, Karla & Linda.