School Newsletter – 24 July 2018

 Term 3, Week 1 — School news, upcoming dates and notices

A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents

Welcome back to Term 3 at Kohimarama School

Welcome back everybody to our Kohimarama School learning community. We have an exciting and busy term ahead of us. Our whole school production is set for Week 10 of the term, with teacher preparation for the performances already begun. Our musical is set to involve all students across the school within the two casts, props, staging artworks and song and dance. Dress rehearsal is set for Week 9 of the term. The Education Review Office is visiting us in Week 8 and so the school is gearing up for this.

I would like to welcome the new families that have joined our school community.  I would especially like to welcome the new students who have started their schooling at 5 years old. I wish them every success in their learning journey with us.

Staffing changes and additions

Room 3, New Entrant class, was started at the beginning of the term. The room looked fantastic and Mrs Karsten and Mrs Barron are looking forward to having these students make a great start to their schooling. I would like to thank both teachers for stepping into this position as current staff members. Teacher supply in Auckland remains in a critical state and finding great teachers like Nickola and Lisa is beneficial to Kohimarama School students and families.

Because Mrs Karsten is now teaching, Mrs Andreza Salazar has stepped into the position of School Librarian. Mrs Salazar has been involved in education in her home country of Brazil for many years. She started the position at the commencement of this term and is enthusiastic to continue to make the library an exciting and wonderful place for students to visit and to read.

Student Achievement Discussions

Kohimarama School will be holding our Student Achievement Discussions next week. As members of our learning community, this is another good opportunity to be alongside your child and working on the next steps with them.

I always look forward to meeting many of you at this time and hearing about how your children are progressing. Wednesday 1^st and Thursday 2^nd are the days set for this to take place. See notice later in the newsletter.

Kiri Team AstroTurf

Many have commented on the wonderful AstroTurf that connects both blocks in Kiri team. Students enjoyed the surprise and had a wonderful day playing in and around the turf and the playground. Thank you goes to TigerTurf for installing the surface while we were on holiday and the PTA and parents for the opportunity to enhance this space.

Construction of new decks and paths

New paths and decks have been laid outside Rooms 8-13. This was a disruptive, major piece of work that needed to be undertaken in the holiday break.

Therefore the time-frame to complete the work was just two weeks. This was largely achieved with some finishing work on the decks still to be undertaken.

The enhancements support students to have flat surfaces to walk on to the boys’ toilets and the mobility toilet. The decks make this area much safer (due to the classroom doors opening outwards) and also enhances the opportunity to have extended learning outside of the classrooms.

Uniform Shop

As we commence this term, the addition of an online ordering system will be coming on stream next week. There will be guidelines around this posted in next week’s newsletter and on the school webpage.

Thanks to Janine Banfield, who has stepped into the uniform position for this week while Gabrielle Findlay is overseas.

News

Teacher Aide Wanted

We have a position created by a current teacher aide who is heading overseas.  We are looking for an enthusiastic, supportive and encouraging replacement.  The hours are 8.55 am to 12.55 pm Monday to Friday.  The position will include supporting small groups of students in their own classroom with learning.  If you are interested, please contact our school office,
office@kohimarama.school.nz with a letter of intent and two referees.

Kapa Haka

The Kapa Haka performance has been rescheduled to Sunday 29th July. Kohimarama will be performing at 9:45am at Selwyn College Theatre. We ask that if your child is attending the event, they are backstage at 9:10am in their uniform. Uniforms will be distribute at Kapa Haka Wednesday. If you have any further questions, please email Juliette – jmckelvey@kohimarama.school.nz.

Entry is a Koha/Gold Coin donation.

Student Fundraiser  –  Cancer Research  Friday 3rd August

This term we are raising money for cancer research.  We are encouraging students to participate by wearing colourful clothes, wigs and beads – any or all.  For those students wishing to support our fundraiser we ask them to bring $2 on the day, thank you.

School Disco  –  Friday 17th August

A ‘heads up’ that our School Disco is coming up.  Our Junior Disco is for all students in Years 0 to 4 and goes from 5.30 to 6.30pm.  Our Senior Disco is for all students in Years 5 to 8 and goes from 7.00 to 8.30pm.  More information will be forthcoming the closer we get.  It’s going to be mega fun!!

BOT Past and Present Student Database

The Board of Trustees are currently undertaking a project to create a database of Kohimarama School’s past and present students. As the school has been going nearly 100 years, there are a lot of hand-written records to input!  We are about half way through the project but are looking for a few more people to help enter details into an Excel spreadsheet.

The data can be entered at home and in your own time. If you have a few hours to spare, access to Excel and a willingness to help us digitise this extremely valuable information for the school, please contact Jodie at jodie.jansen@gmail.com.

Weekly Results

Netball Results

Y4 Kohi Lightning, Won 8-3.  POD – Gemma M
Y4 Kohi Magic, Won 12-9. POD – Team

Community Notices