Kia ora koutou Waitetuna Whaanau,
I hope you have had a great week. We welcomed Tom our Community Constable to school this week. Tom is trained to deliver the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme alongside our teachers. It is important to have Police in our school sharing these important messages around safety and the Police can be seen in a positive light. Students learn what they can do if this has happened to them. I was able to visit the Junior Room for a time to hear Constable Tom talk with the children about the differ- ent types of touch. In the Senior Room one of the activities is a range of scenarios that children have to decide if they are abuse or not and what type of abuse, eg a child being grounded for stealing money out of a parent’s wallet. This bi-annual programme has been completed.
It is also a good opportunity to share that the two people responsible for the damage to our school rugby goal posts in 2021 and other significant damage through-out the region including Te Pahu have received jail time. We thank the police for their work in bringing these people to justice.
There has been another great science kit from the ‘House of Science’ in our school over the past two weeks. The Senior Room have been looking at chemicals and chemical reactions, delving into the chemicals that create the colours in fireworks when heat is added, which is fascinating The science observations and conversa- tions about the ‘Why?’ creates such robust discussions and I love seeing them so interested in these concepts. We will certainly be continuing with our subscription to this wonderful resource to support learning in 2024.
We have a busy few weeks coming up and we thank you in advance for the support you provide to make this happen.
Over the year I have been in the fortunate position to hear a number of speakers at Principal Professional development that have been inspiring. This job is a such a privilege and something I don’t take for granted. At the Waikato Principal Association we partici- pate in a well executed workshop with Ellen Joan Ford. She is ex- army and has utilised her learnings and skills during that time to build up a motivation leadership coach business that inspires the workplace. One of her strong philosophies is how we develop ‘Belonging, Autonomy, Purpose’.
Ellen identifies these as key to any organisation trying to progress and support people to be their best. I wondered how can we do better to ensure our students, staff and whaa- nau feel a strong sense of belonging. I feel it is important that our staff know we trust them to do their job and I know they do their job well. Continuing to strive together with our shared purpose—to provide our students with the skills and learning they need to be their best in life now and when they move onto high school.
Ngaa mihi Amanda and staff
All The Happenings
Beach Ed—whole school trip—7th Nov
PTA Meeting 7th Nov @ 8pm
Senior Room—Auckland trip—Weta Workshop—8th Nov
Assembly—Fri 11th Nov
Diwali—Mon 13th Nov—shared lunch
Te Uku School enrolment zone public meeting—Tues 14th Nov—3pm
Whole School Marae trip—Wed 15th Nov– am
School Athletics—Thurs 16th Nov– from 11.45am Teacher only day—Friday 17th Nov
Inter School Athletics—
Thurs23rd Nov(Please note date change)
School Disco—Thurs 30th Nov—5.30-7pm
Lawn Bowls—practise—27th Nov—lunch onwards—opt in—year 5-8—1st Dec
Board Meeting—5th Dec– 5.30pm Junior Room trip—TBC—11th Dec Final Assembly
13th Dec– from 6pm Reports home—Thurs 14th Dec
Last day of the year—Monday 18th Dec school open for supervision till midday
TERM DATES 2024
Term 1—Starts Wed 7th February and ends Fri 12th April
Easter in term time—29th March-2nd April
Term 2—Mon 29th April-Fri 5th July— Public holidays in term 2 -Kings birth- day 3rd June, Matariki—28th June
Term 3—Mon 22 July—27th Sept
Term 4—starts—Mon 14th October— End date—20th Dec—Labour day— 28th October
Waitetuna Way
Well done to Theo B Friendship (Aroha) Actively listening and responding to others ideas Supporting each other in learning and play Work collaboratively in a team Encourage others with positive words Be kind to others
Together we are growing the seeds of success Na too manaaki, na tooku manaaki, ka puawai mai nga kaakano
Comments