Term 4 - Here comes the sun!
Kia Ora Koutou
It is great to see everyone back after the holidays. We hope you all had a wonderful break and are feeling rested and ready to go as we head into the final term for 2017! It’s an exciting time of the year with much to celebrate, beginning with Ag Day at the end of week 2 and heading towards Prizegiving in Week 8.
In the mornings we have introduced the NICCE programme running from 8.30-9.15. This is a programme that focuses on our Whakarongo Kid attributes and supports children in settling into the school day. Different activities are placed in rooms 2 & 3 and we encourage children to engage in these when they arrive to school, or at bell time if they prefer to play outside first. We welcome whanau into our pod during this time to work alongside your child with these activities.
We have Athletics coming up in Week 5. The children will be out practising during the weeks leading up to this event. Please ensure your child brings suitable footwear on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
Kind regards,
Nina, Gwen, Nicole & Jo
Important Events & Dates:
October 23rd: Labour Day
October 28th: Ag Day (Saturday)
November 7th: Whanau Hui
November 15th: Junior Athletics
November 30th: Badge Assembly
December 7th: Prizegiving - 7pm
December 13th: Reports Home
December 14th Last day of school.
Our Pono Pod Team
For the success of your child and their learning we encourage you to keep in contact with us.
There are a variety of methods, such as: popping in before or after school, making an appointment, phoning, emailing and via the Pod Blog. We take all concerns seriously and encourage you to always come in and see us so that we can alleviate or overcome concerns as soon as possible.
The necessary details for contact are below:
Pono Pod: pono2017@whakarongo.school.nz
Pono Pod Blog Link: 2017 Pono Pod Blog
Ms Nina Hornell: nhornell@whakarongo.school.nz
Mrs Gwen Thompson: gthompson@whakarongo.school.nz
Mrs Nicole Hunter: nhunter@whakarongo.school.nz
The Pod blog and Seesaw is our way of sharing the children’s learning with you and keeping you up to date with what is coming up.
Please take time to look over our newsletter and make note of the Important Dates as we have a few things lined up for the term. Any new events or dates that arise will be emailed to you, placed on our Pod Blog, Seesaw as well as in the School Newsletter.
Every Friday afternoon, starting at approximately 2.15pm is our School Assembly time. You are always welcome to attend.
Brainfood:
Everyday after our NICCE programme we have Brainfood. Your child is expected to have a piece of fruit or vegetables to eat as a healthy snack. We do ask for no processed foods such as yoghurt, cheeses, crackers or popcorn at this time. These are fine for morning tea and lunch, but not suitable for brainfood time.
Shared Brainfood:
Every Friday, the children are asked to provide 1 piece of fruit or vegetable to contribute to our shared brainfood. These will be cut up and served on plates and the children will share the food over conversation after our Karakia.
Library:
Pono Pod’s library time is Wednesday afternoon. Books MUST be returned prior to this. Your child will need to put their books in the Pod’s Library box which can be found in Rm’s 3 & 4. Books cannot be issued unless books from the previous week are returned.
Please No Toys :
If your child achieves something outside of school please feel free to email us a photo of your child along with a short message so we can put it on the Blog, or find opportunity to share with the Pod. Otherwise please support us by encouraging your child to leave their toys at home as they are not allowed at school.
Sun hats
and Sunscreen:
We would like to remind and
ask you to remember that it
is school policy for ALL children to wear a blue school sunhat while they are outside during the school day. NO HAT -- NO PLAY! Hats can be embroidered with your child's name for $2 through the office.
Although we do provide sunscreen at school it would also be advised that you apply sunscreen on your child before they come to school.
Uniforms :
Please ensure your child’s uniform is named. This makes locating their items far easier for both your child and us. We also have our own Pod lost property which can usually be found in Rm 3 (green bucket by the door).
Correct uniform to be worn at ALL times. Please note hair ties must be Red or Blue and NO nail polish is to be worn. Thank you for your support.
Spare clothing :
It is really important for your child to bring a spare change of clothes to school. They are still young and accidents of all types can happen. Having spare clothes ensures we can help them get changed and back to their learning without any fuss or intrusion to your day as well.
Ag Day - 28th October 2017:
Your child should have brought in the following items as we begin to prepare our crafts for Ag Day. If you have not done this yet can you please ensure you have them in by Wednesday Week 1:
1x Stone (no longer than 10cm in length and 5 cm in height & width)
1x stocking
Potting mix - approximately 3 cups
.
eBooks Library:
Every child at Whakarongo School has access to our eLibrary via a device.
(Student Login -
Username = lastname.firstname / Password = last 4 letters of last name)
Arrival At School:
Can we please remind you that children are not to be dropped off at school before 8:30am. We do suggest contacting APlus Before and After school care if you need to drop them off earlier.
Reading :
Your child has their own individual reading diary with sticker incentives for you to use to celebrate their achievements throughout the year. These will get checked regularly throughout the week by your child’s reading teacher. To ensure your child grows into a confident reader the books they will bringing home will either be a book a level lower than what they are at or the one they have read with the teacher either that day or over the past two days.
Poetry:
Poetry books will come home every Friday so your child can share the poem they have been learning for that week. Can you please ensure their poetry books are returned to school on Monday ready for them to publish the new poem for that week.
Lunch Boxes :
Brainfood, Drink bottles and Lunch boxes are to be kept in Room 4’s Kai area, as we do not want the children’s food spoiling as the deck area tends to get quite warm.
Water is the only drink allowed at school unless your child has ordered a juice with their Pita Pits or PTA lunch offers.
Children have a 10 minute period where they MUST sit and eat their lunch before they head off to play and are encouraged to eat sandwiches or similar foods first before they move onto their treats. We do ask that chocolate or sweets are kept for out of school.
We do ask that you:
Do not ask for food to be
heated up
Provide a spoon from home
if your child requires one.
Cut or peel food at home.
For example: oranges
Whakarongo Kid
As part of being an Inquiring school we aim to help the children develop their skills as a Whakarongo Kid.
These skills help your child to grow as a confident and capable learner.
Innovator: learning to think creatively and critically. Been given opportunities to create, design and explore.
Collaborator: connect and collaborate with others, working with buddies, small groups and as a pod.
Connector: build and share quality learning. Making connections between the different areas of their learning and real life situations.
Navigator: knowing how to manage and communicate their learning confidently.
School Values:
* Collaboration * Perseverance * Honesty * Empathy * Respect * *Responsibility * Cooperation * Excellence * Courage * Acceptance *
Throughout the year we will be focusing on the school values, learning what they mean and connecting them to our everyday life. Each week a child from each homeroom will be chosen for displaying or striving to reach certain values. Please make sure you share in your child’s achievements when they bring a certificate home.
Learner Progressions:
We invite you to come into Pono Pod (Rm 3) and look at our Learner Progression wall. This is a year long focus and goal for the children to grow as a learner in the following areas:
* Collaboration * Independence * Engaged * * Clarity of Learning *Thinking*
Throughout the year your child will be working on moving along the levels of ability from Introducing, Initiative, Independent to Insider. This means your child will learn to develop skills to move from needing a lot of assistance through to being fully independent as well as helping others.
Term 4 - Here comes the sun!