School Newsletter – 22 June 2021

News

Roll Return

Twice a year, in March and July, all schools in New Zealand are required to furnish to the Ministry of Education a return detailing all students enrolled at their schools. This return determines our funding and staffing for the remainder of the school year. If your child is going to be absent or late for any reason on Thursday 1^st July the office will require a letter or email from a parent/guardian justifying the student’s absence from school, please complete this by Friday 2nd July 10am.

Student Fundraising  –  Wednesday 30th June

We have committed to raising funds to support the fundraising for extra beds in Starship Hosipital.  No doubt you would have read about this or seen it on the news and as many of our students have been to Starship as patients, the Student Leaders decided it was a worthy cause to support this term.  Students who wish to participate are invited to come in mufti or dressed as a patient in pyjamas with a soft toy or ‘blankie’.  We will collect $2 from each student and give out House points to the students in each class for best dressed and most interesting dressed in pyjamas.  Looking forward to seeing all the pyjamas next week.

Reporting Term 2 2021

You will receive your child’s SchoolTalk report on the morning of Friday 2nd July. This is to enable you to have time to read and reflect, discuss this with your child, and formulate any questions that you have about their learning.

The following week we have scheduled ‘Learning Conversations’ on Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th July. You can find details of how to book these below.

You will note that the name has changed from Student Achievement Discussions to Learning Conversations. The reason for the change is that we have been listening to parents, teachers and students regarding these face to face meetings and have made the following changes based on that input namely;

• That parents would like time to discuss progress with the teacher.

• Having the report ahead of the discussion was most helpful.

• The strong, positive relationship between parents, teachers and students gives rise to accelerated outcomes for the learner.

• Teachers have been undertaking a range of assessments through the year and are able to make accurate Overall Teacher Judgements (OTJ).

• Teachers know their students well at Kohimarama School and are well placed to lead the discussion about learning. Parents, having reflected on the reports, are encouraged to ask questions to support their understanding of the report in relation to their child.

• Parents and teachers can together talk about what is happening at school and at home to create a full picture of support for the learner.

• There is still a place for students to be part of the dialogue and they are most welcome to attend and contribute. e.g. Why they think they are where they are and what learning comes next. Or in the case of younger students, show and tell the learning that they are most proud of.

• As professionals, teachers are continually making assessments across the many areas of a child’s development including academic, social, physical and wellbeing. When shared with your knowledge of your child it provides a powerful place of support for accelerating the learning.

We encourage you to book a time to have a meaningful discussion about the learning that your child has been experiencing and to work together to ensure that this continues through the year.

Booking Learning Conversations – Wednesday 7th July, Thursday 8th July

Please note these dates in your diaries.  Note that school will finish for the students at 1pm on Wednesday 7th July to allow for Conversation bookings that afternoon.

The following are instructions for booking Learning Conversations.

Booking will open Wednesday 16th June at 9am.   The booking form can be accessed via the following web address:  https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Click into ‘make a booking’ and enter the School Event Code :  59y6r  Then follow the instructions.  Please leave a gap between your interviews if moving from one class to another so you do not lose some of your precious talking time.

If for any reason you are unable to access this site or you experience any problems, please contact  the School Office on 930 9820.

Passion Project Request from Hillary Team  –  Can you help?

Sadly 1 in 8 kids feel excluded because they can’t play sports like we do, this is usually because they don’t have the right equipment. We would like students at our school to donate used sports gear to KidsCan, a special group of kiwis that agree that all children should have a fair start in life.

Please could you bring used sports gear that you don’t need anymore to the deck in front of Rooms 12 and 13 on Monday 28th and Wednesday 30th June. Some examples of used sports equipment that you may wish to donate are tennis rackets, football boots, shin guards or any type of ball that kids can use to play sports.

Thank you: Alexa, Allie, Esther, Georgia and Zaha

Whole School Photo

This is scheduled for Friday 25th June.  Please ensure your child is at school on time and in the full correct school uniform. As Friday would normally be House Tee Shirt day, please send your childs house tee shirt in their school bag.