School Newsletter – 2 August 2022

Term 3, Week 2

A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents

At the end of last term I outlined the Kohimarama Way which encompasses our Vision, Values and Learner Dispositions and how this is embedded into our teaching philosophy (pedagogy) across the school. Last week I shared our Strategic Goal One, about Student Achievement.

In this newsletter I want to share with you our Strategic Goal Two, related to our school community

Strategic Goal Two

Build a positive and connected school community

• Grow meaningful communication and engagement between school and families
• Grow relationships with feeder Early Childhood Centres and Secondary Schools for mutual benefit
• Invest time in the leadership and governance of the school. 
• Explore opportunities for growing and sustaining school finances.

What are we doing in each of these areas?

Communication in the last 2.5 years has centred on the COVID response that required schools to operate in a variety of contexts from complete lockdown through partial openings and to the traffic light systems where the school remains open subject to staffing.

Alongside this the school has published our available achievement data for the community.

We have run a number of events from assessment snapshots to learner conversations to assist families with understanding where students are operating and what are the next learning steps.

Our school website continues to be updated as required as well as the weekly publication of the school newsletter. Teaching teams also publish a newsletter twice a term to inform parents about the learning that is planned over the next 5 weeks.

Our school is always open to meeting with parents to discuss learning aside from the designated whole school events. 

We have developed a closer relationship with our feeder early childhood centres especially the Mission Bay Kindergarten where our DP Meegan Hill and school Ambassadors visit each term to talk with new students starting with us. 

Through the Community of Learning, our relationship has developed with Selwyn College whereby we are working on the transition from Year 8 to Year 9 with emphasis on Literacy and Numeracy requirements. Numbers of our students reach the accelerant class level on entry. We also have a positive relationship with Glendowie College. I am the President of the Remuera Primary Principals’ Association which includes the private schools and affords an opportunity for me to connect with these schools regarding our students’ entry to them as well. 

The leadership team of the school which empcomasses the Deputy Principals, Team leaders and myself meet weekly on school business matters. We also hold two days and two afternoons throughout the year for specific developments of ourselves as individuals and the team as a whole. These developments support our school culture, our striving for academic success and support overarching planning and development for the school.

The Board members have access to and participate in ongoing professional learning and development through the NZ School Trustees Association. They build their knowledge and skills through the modules that they undertake.

The Board has focused on providing additional funding via Tax Gift, which effectively costs our families nothing if they do not claim for their donations at the end of year return time.  This is in its infancy but as it grows will continue to provide the funds to support additional resources in the school. Raising the donation amounts has also supported the schools additional resources especial;lly learner assistants and additional staffing to lower numbers across the school is each class. These areas become more important now that we are moving into the Equity index funding model from the Ministry of Education whereby our funding will lower compared across the whole sector.

How are we measuring success?

We have some metrics on our website identifying that the calendar items and day to day activities are receiving the most clicks. Anecdotal conversations with parents indicates that the COVID requirements were well communicated and understood. That the school website, when compared to four years ago, is much more easily navigated. 

The Community of Learning schools measure the progress that we are making in Literacy and Numeracy as a group. Our school data is added to this as is our development to support teaching and learning resources in these areas. Transition at Year 8 is most important to continue the learning at a high level in the secondary school context.

Our relationship with ECEs supports transition into our school. With our Discovery learning strongly supporting successful entry. Anecdotal conversations especially those who have had students start prior to the introduction of this confirms a much easier settling into school.

The Board is integral in growing and supporting the vision for our school and for supporting the school’s culture to grow and develop. Growing the culture of the school with our leadership team in order to support the vision, values and learner dispositions has been evident in the visuals, school classroom posters and discussions and utilising the vision as an inquiry cycle are evident in the school. More importantly, our students largely know and understand these elements which support their success. 

We track our finances including Tax Gift uptake and donations received to ensure that, because we budget for the schools additional resources and personnel, they are able to be allocated across the school. The BOT newsletter informs the community of the rates of donation and indicates how this is spent. 

What are we doing next?

 We would like to get the metrics on the opening of our communications home via ETap. A review of the website to support rapidly changing information and calendar updates will support where parents are easily able to access the day to day school information. Feedback will be sought from the parent community to help refine the above.

Continuing to work in the Community of learning will bring primary and secondary understanding of curriculum and expectations together. We are continuing within the CoL at this time. 

We will look to make further connections with the ECE settings around us. Some 14 centres are within our school catchment and over time it is hoped that we will forge stronger ties. This helps and supports entry at Year 0/1 at Kohimarama School.

Our next steps for leadership and governance are to; induct the new Board into the schools vision, values and learner dispositions and to embed the culture into our practice for the whole community, leadership team members continue to utilise both professional development and coaching to further progress skills and knowledge. 

Attention to maximising funding opportunities to enhance school finances so that students are the beneficiaries. This may include exploring new opportunities.

Rawhitiroa Crossing

As you will have seen, Auckland Transport (AT) have not completed the works on the crossing at Rawhitiroa Road. The crossing is expected to be open by the end of week 3.

It will be helpful if you follow the footpaths and the directions of our parents, students and teachers who are manning the two crossing points before and after school each day. 

Please see map below;

Board of Trustee Elections 2022

Nominations close on Wednesday 3^rd August at 12 noon. Election day is Wednesday 7th September. We look forward to your participation in this process.

News

Red Nose Fundraising – Thank you

We raised $789.10, with a few students still to bring in their $2 this week.  Thank you for your generosity in supporting Doctors and researchers as they work together to find cures for illnesses that impact children’s lives.  A little bit goes a long way – thank you.

School Disco – Starry Night on Friday 26th August

A reminder that our school disco is coming up soon, our school councillors have made a start on our theme and are very excited to be preparing this for Friday 26th August.

• 5.00-6.00pm Junior Disco (Yr 0-4)
• 6.30-8.00pm Senior Disco (Yr 5-8)

Students can dress with the theme in mind or in their regular clothes, the idea is to have fun with our friends and dance.

TOI 2022  – Year 7 and 8 students

We have spent 2 terms working on our wearable art. One challenge was learning about  planning and time management; however, we finally created our masterpieces. We started by drawing or designing what we wanted and listing materials, finally we started sewing. Outfits such as “Blooming Bride” or “Breaking News” and a few other wonderful outfits were modeled at the Aotea Center July 6th. A person from each group showcased the outfit and the crew from the center took photos.  Ava

EPRO8 Interschool competition

In week 1 we sent four teams to compete at the interschools EPRO8 Science, Technology & Engineering competition held at Churchill Park School.
These teams were selected after winning the in-school challenges in Term 3.  

We had some fantastic results with the year 5 boys taking first place and the year 7 girls taking 3rd place in their divisions.  Both these teams head on to compete at the semi-finals in September.
Also congratulations to the year 6 team and the mixed year 7/8 teams who placed 4th and 5th.

Welcome to the Library!

Certificates & Awards

Class Certificates

Congratulations to these outstanding students from Kiri Team and Cowley Team:

• Room 1 – Hansey D
• Room 2 – Alfie J
• Room 3 – Tyla H
• Room 4 – Ryan H
• Room 5 – Maria K

• Room 6 – Phoebe V
• Room 8 – Grayson C
• Room 16 – Ava J
• Room 17 – Henry M
• Room 25 – Casey F, Eva RC
• Room 26 – Natalie Q, Rhys W
• Room 27 – Emilia A

Caught Being Good  –  “Greenies”

Thank you to all our students for doing the right thing in the playground at break times, you are awesome.  Our fortunate students this week are:

• Sybby         Rm 5              for Reliability            Patteson
• Nathaniel    Rm 26            for Friendliness       Colenso

Sports Notices

Eastern Zones Netball Tournament

On Friday July 29 two Kohimarama School teams attended the Eastern Zones Netball Tournament at St Johns. This was a large event with 46 teams participating from the local schools.  A nice sunny day, after a spell of  marginal weather, contributed to an enjoyable and successful day.

 The Year 7 Sparks, and the Year 8 Flames both gained 3rd place in their competitions.

Cross-Country Parent Help

The Kohimarama School Cross-Country is scheduled for Friday August 19 at Madills Farm, with Monday August 22 as our back-up day.

If you are available to assist with marshalling duties, please email dforbes@kohimarama.school.nz

Eastern Suburbs Gymnastics Tournament

On Monday August 1, 24 gymnasts from years 3-6 attended a local inter-school gymnastics competition in Glen Innes.

Allie S, Alexa J & Esther C won the Year 6 team event. Esther won gold in the individual Year 6 competition, and Alexa picked up the individual silver in that event.

Sports Results

Flippa Ball Results

• Year 3/4 Sharks
  Win 3-0. POD Olivia
• Year 5 Kinas (Term 2 Playoff – placed 1^st equal)
  Win 4-3. POD Leo
• Year 6 Blue Bottles (Term 2 Playoff – placed 3rd)
  Loss 3-4. POD Esther

Community Notices

Glendowie College Open Day – 13 August 2022 (Saturday)

Prospective students and parents are all welcome to attend our Open Day on Saturday 13 August 2022 between 9:00am and 12:00pm.

You will have the opportunity to take a tour of the school, speak to current students, meet the Principal, and see demonstrations of learning at the college. Bookings are not required.