NEWSLETTER - Mt Cook School

NEWSLETTER
Issue 7
24 June 2016
Kia Ora Talofa Kia Orana Chao mung quy vi Malo e lelei Aloha Olá Halo
Ni Sa Bula Fakalofa atu Ni Hao Xin chào An nyong Ha se yo Assalamu
alaykum Namaste Ahalan Saleem Shalom Dia dhuit Zdravstvuyte Hej
Greetings
Kia ora koutou,
OUR BROAD RICH CURRICULUM
What Is Culture?
News from Ka<po
In Ka&po we have chosen a country to study and we have to present it as a booklet.
In Nigeria English is their official language. I am surprised about this because they have over 200 dialects and yet English is their official language. They use English in government and educa&on. -­‐ Mariana
I am studying Indonesia and that is my country. I am studying Indonesia because I don't know much about my own country. I was born in Indonesia and came to NZ when I was 6 years old. I didn’t know that there was more than one religion. There are four. -­‐ Aisyah
For the cultural evening, Ka&po class is performing a JGeeks inspired dance while telling a famous Maori legend of how Maui found his father.
Celebrating our Cultures
Mt Cook School Hall
Thursday 30 June
1:30pm and 6:30pm
(two performances)
Come and enjoy music, dance, drama
to celebrate who we are
Matariki Breakfast
This week we held a Matariki celebra&on breakfast. Thank you to all of you who were able to come. We all learned the song Matariki, we ate breakfast together and some of us learned to weave harakeke with Whaea Nui. Our senior girls did a great job of showing us how to twirl the poi.
A large number of our tamariki made stars for the Compassion Centre to decorate their dining room for their Matariki celebra&on this week.
There are many events at Te Papa to celebrate Matariki. You might want to find out what is happening over the next month.
Cross Country and Running Club
This year many of our children were involved in Running Club. Frances and Terry Fraser organised this every Wednesday morning and those children who par&cipated really enjoyed it as well as improving their fitness.
Many competed in the Central Zone Cross Country compe&&on. Lily ScoW, Alexander Fraser, Freya Hawker, Mia Finlayson and Le’ Aniva So’o went on to compete in the Interzone Cross Country. Well done everyone and a huge thank you to Frances and Terry for your &me and commitment to our kids providing them with yet another opportunity.
My Day at Cross Country by William Lie
Last Tuesday I went to cross-­‐country. I sat next to CharloWe on a bus. The bus takes us to Central Zone cross-­‐country in Wakefield Park.
Before the race I played hide and seek with Freya H. I hide and Freya H finds me.
Before the race I ate sushi and bananas. They taste good and give me energy to run fast.
I wore a Mount Cook School t-­‐shirt for the cross-­‐country and pants and red shoes. The red shoes are all muddy because the grass was wet.
I run with Alyssa and Ren and I came first. People are cheering me. The race was easy. I was &red and I was happy.
Gardening session
Here we are in the garden -­‐ preschool kids and Diana’s ESOL children from Wetapunga. We had a very full compost bin. It needed moving so we put it into one garden bed. The compost was full of worms so it is working well.
Then we tore up the newspaper to cover the compost. On top of that we spread pea straw and finally we spread a layer of soil to hold it all down.
Now we wait and wait. Hopefully by August it will be ready to plant some potatoes!!!
Elec<ves
Thank you to those of you who par&cipated in our elec&ve programme by helping out or running an elec&ve. We really appreciate your &me and efforts and again the request came from both children and teachers that we extend elec&ves next year. The elec&ve programme provides a great opportunity for children to try new things, for teachers to teach something that is a real passion with a small group and for our children to work in mixed age groups. New Classrooms 2017
To start the year next year we will have two new classrooms. This is because of our roll growth. These are the Ministry of Educa&on’s new ‘transportables’. They will be installed on the far end of the courts. The board is reluctant to do this as it reduces the area where our children can play. However we view this as an interim measure and are working on a proposal that does not reduce the school footprint in the medium to longer term. The decision about which classes will be in these new rooms will be made as we begin our planning for next year.
DIVE INTO A BOOK -­‐ News from the Library
Book Reviews
If you are wondering what book your child might want to ‘dive into’ next, book reviews can be really useful. The Children’s Bookshop’s website has op&ons for looking at reviews, including John’s Radio Reviews and Staff Picks. The Public Library also has book reviews and lists of books under the Your Library/Stuff for Kids sec&on. The web addresses for these two sources are: www.childrensbookshop.circlesob.net.nz and www.wcl.govt.nz
At Mount Cook School we review books amongst ourselves with both children and staff recommending books to each other. Bookmark Apologies
Children who completed April School holiday reading reviews or list, were to have been given a bookmark at the beginning of this term. I ordered these special bookmarks from Scholas&c before the holidays; ten weeks later, I am s&ll wai&ng for them to arrive despite numerous emails. Please accept my apologies; I will source some alterna&ve bookmarks by the end of this term.
Lucky Book Club
On a more posi&ve note, the Scholas&c Lucky Book Club seems to be back on track. Issue 4 orders have been submiWed, and the books have arrived and were given out yesterday. There are many li,le ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
What are you reading?
Wanted -­‐ Scrap Paper for the Library
If anyone has spare scrap paper, our library can make good use of it. Each lunch &me many children like to draw and create things using paper. If you have any you want to recycle, we would welcome it.
Sports News
Netball The netball season con&nues with all of our girls really enjoying the games. Skills, fitness and teamwork are developing each week. Thank you so much to our coaches, managers, parents for all of your support.
Basketball
As with the netball the basketball is going from strength to strength with all teams improving every game. There have been some frustra&ons with day changes so thank you everyone for trying to make these work, especially when the games are on a Friday. Thanks to our coaches and managers and to all of you for suppor&ng our children.
Lateness
A really important reminder – school star<ng <me
School starts at 8:55am or 5 to 9. We have a number of children who are regularly late and are missing the start of the day’s learning.
Please have your children arrive at school by 8:45am or quarter to nine so they are ready to start the day. Thanks for your support with this.
ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS 2016!
ARE HERE!
An easy fundraiser for the school
Digital Membership or a Book are available again this year.
Digital membership is very popular.
This can be done by going online to:
www.entbook.co.nz/106r791
If you are thinking about buying please buy through Mt Cook School.
The cost is $60 with $12 going to the school.
A great gift or something to use for yourself with many discounts on dining,
arts/sports, shopping and travel.
A FANTASTIC FUNDRAISER FOR THE SCHOOL
TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS
PLEASE SUPPORT MT COOK SCHOOL
OTHER INFORMATION
Newsle]er
For those of you who are new to Mt Cook School you will receive a school newsleWer once a fortnight. This will keep you informed of what is happening during the term and the year in syndicates and across the school. School Dona<ons
2016 dona&ons are $20 for the year or $5 per term. As you will be aware our school dona&ons are very low. As a board we have made the decision keep the fees low to ensure that they are affordable for all of our families. We also have families who offer to pay more. If you are in a posi&on to pay more the board suggests an amount of up to $100. The school would be very apprecia&ve of any addi&onal funding without changing our dona&on amount. Thank you for your support with this. Just a reminder that this is a dona&on to the school.
CARPARKING – PLEASE DROP OFF ON TORY ST OR MARTIN SQUARE SLIP ROAD
Just a reminder that drop off and pick up needs to be on Tory St or the slip road from Mar&n Square and not anywhere in Sages Lane. Thanks for your support with this.
School Hours
School begins at 8:55am and finishes at 3:00pm. It is very important that children arrive before the bell goes in the morning. The first few minutes of the day in class are vital for the sejng up of the day. Please make sure that your child arrives on &me. We know that there is the occasional emergency but in general we expect children here at 9:00am. On Tuesdayʼs school will finish early at 2:55pm for staff mee&ngs. If you are picking up your child at 3:00pm please be punctual. The school is not responsible for children aber 3:00pm and children must be picked up on &me. Remember that there is Aber School Care if you are unable to pick up your child at 3:00pm. Please encourage your young person to be at school 8:45am each day.
Lateness and Absences
Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent from school. Also, if your child is going to be late, we need to be contacted too. These procedures are in place as a precau&on. If your child hasnʼt arrived at school by 9:15am and weʼve not heard from you, we will need to contact you if we are able to. If your child arrives late, we ask that they, or the accompanying adult, come to the office first so that we are aware that the child has arrived at school. Please help us with your co-­‐opera&on on this important safety issue. The only reason that your child should be away from school is if he/she is ill. For our children to get the best educa&on possible they need to be at school.
A`er School Care – Monday to Friday, 3:00pm – 6:00pm
The YMCA con&nues to provide Aber School Care for our children as well as a school holiday programme. They have been working in the school for a year and we are very pleased with the programme that they are providing. For further informa&on you can contact them on 027 782 0794 or pop in and see them in the school.
School Lunches
Cube Bakery con&nues to provide school lunches this year on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. These can be ordered before school in the office. Children then come to the office at lunch&me to pick up their orders. Menus are at the office. Sushi Tuesday – Tuesday lunch is sushi that must be ordered at the office by 8:45am or online -­‐ www.wrapitup.co.nz. Addresses and Phone Numbers
If you have changed your address or phone number recently please let Briar know. It’s really important that we have accurate informa&on. Thanks a lot for your help with this.
School Banking School banking con&nues this year. We believe that it is really important for our children to have an understanding of financial literacy and how to manage and think about money. Too oben our kids think that the source of money is the “hole in the wall”. ASB have a very good school banking set up. If your child does not have a bank account and you would like them to do so pick up a form from Briar at the office. For children to be filling in the deposit envelope and bringing it into school and placing in the box gives them a great sense of where it all starts and how savings work. School banking day is Thursdays.
BOT (Board of Trustees)
Mt Cook School Board of Trustees members are:
Phil Hawker Frances Fraser
Sue Perry
David Lloyd
Jo Hendy
Maxine Iraia
Sandra McCallum Principal
Lliam Carran/Simon Depree (Staff Reps). The next mee&ng is Tuesday 5 July at 6:30pm.
DATES FOR THE TERM AND THE YEAR Important Dates For Term 2
Celebra&ng Our Cultures Thursday 30 June -­‐ 1:30pm and 6:30pm Excellence assembly Thursday 7 Jul -­‐ 1:30pm
Term 2 ends Friday 8 July, 2pm
Important Dates for 2016
Labour Weekend Friday 21 October -­‐ Monday 24 October
Term Dates for 2016
Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 Monday 2 May – Friday 8 July
Monday 25 July – Friday 23 September
Monday 10 October – Friday 16 December
Hei konei ra,
Sandra, Nicola, Lliam, Julia, Moira, Jacinda, Katya, Ned, Gina, Sandy B, Kate, Nicki, Frances, Simon, Jason, Diane, Stu, Louise, Robyn, Diana, Briar, Makshud, Nui, Karen, Vickie, Pippa, Sarah, Rachel, Ren, Shannon, Alison & Alice.
FREE Marshmallows
for everyone
at Staglands
Toast your own!
Available school holidays 9th -24th July
Open Every Day
9.30am-5.00pm
www.staglands.co.nz
2362 Akatarawa Rd
Upper Hutt