Newsletter January 31st 2018

Welcome Back!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday filled with adventures and happy family times.

We are ready and rearing to go for a full on 2018 at Rangitaiki School.

Welcome

We have a new student …Yippy!! We welcome Alexis DeThierry to our school. Alexis is 6 years old. We know you will have a wonderful time and make some great new friends.

Focus for term

Our focus topic for this term is “Saving the World”. We will learn about at recycling, reducing and re-using. We will look at our school waste and see how we can reduce it. We will learn about our environment and how we impact it.

Stationery

We have decided at the moment not to send home stationary lists. Instead we will use up what we have already. You may get a request for some tissues, pens and pencils and photocopy paper in the next few weeks.

New students will be provided with a list of required stationary.

Summer uniform

As it is so hot we need everyone to be wearing the summer uniform. We have hats and sunblock at school. I feel sorry for the schools that do not have air conditioning units in the classroom. Ours will be constantly on 18.

Bye Bye National Standards

Our school believes New Zealand parents will have better information about their children’s learning in the future following the Government’s decision to scrap National Standards and require reporting to parents across the full curriculum.

Rather than being required to report only on whether children are above, at, below or well below National Standards in reading, writing and maths, schools will be free to report much richer information about your child’s progress and success.

We will report on curriculum growth on an individual basis and focus more on the key competencies of:

Relating to others
Thinking
Managing self
Participating and contributing
Using language, symbols and texts

Bottle tops

We are collecting plastic bottle tops for a mural of our school logo that we will make when we have enough. The mural will replace the old one on the front entrance to the school.

Please collect them and bring them in to school. Any colour and size but especially green, white and black.

Bike Track

We are in the process of giving the bike track a weed and pruning away any overhanging blackberry. If you can give a few hours we would most appreciate it.

Variety Bash

We have the ‘Variety Bash’ which are now re-named ‘Trillion Bash’ coming to have lunch at our school on the 8th of March. I would like our school to be looking spick and span when they arrive, I have heard they give gifts!! Come and join in the fun and festivity with us.

School Website

Our new School website will be up and running in the next few weeks. I will keep you posted.

B.O.T

Our first meeting for the year is on the 15th of February in the staffroom. Time to be advised.

School Banking

We still have school banking available at school with the ANZ bank. Just pop in and ask Lorraine for the forms.

Lunches

Lunches are available all year round. We have limited pies and cookies until our order arrives but have lots of noodles and toasted sandwiches, some pies and sausage rolls.

Teaching Staff

I will be teaching Monday to Thursday and Rose Patterson will teach on Friday as my Principal release. From time to time I will have meetings in town and we will have a reliever. I will endeavour to have the same reliever each time.