As well as many things to celebrate, there are lots of important dates in this newsletter as we start to count down to the end of the year – so, please get your calendar out. Since our last newsletter our community spirit has been uplifted by so many of our parents connecting with their child’s school life. This includes selling raffle tickets, supporting out-of-school trips, supervising at the athletics meet, attending our first term 4 assembly, organising Scholastic Book Club, running PTP reading support, volunteering to be part of our Wellbeing/Hauora group, school patrollers and attending the first Māori hui we have been able to hold this year. Wow! We take our hats off to you – you would have to win the award for most involved school community. Amazing effort – we thank you so much for adding such value to our school!
Māori Whānau Hui
It was fantastic to meet so many parents and grandparents at this hui. The meeting was a time to make connections and further build our tikanga and what we would like to see at Rewa Rewa for our tamariki. Newlands schools traditionally have whānau connected to iwi from all around the country and this, in itself, is exciting because it means that together we can build the community that we want to achieve.
Many ideas were shared at the meeting, but the consensus was that families wanted more opportunities to meet and to have a voice in what is offered at Rewa Rewa School to promote student success and engagement by building a strong sense of self and identity.
We will continue to build on this initiative and already we are looking at how we can promote our Sense of Belonging in 2021 through Te Reo and the arts. Our first task is to work alongside our Māori community to name our two new whānau groups. We are very grateful to have special kaumatua and leaders, such as Todd Wano and Marcella Pakuria to guide us.
Wellbeing / Hauora Parent group
Thanks to the huge generosity and aroha from those in our parent community, our first “We’re Thinking of You” gift boxes were sent home to two of our families this week and their faces said it all. The identity of both those gifting and those receiving is kept anonymous. Please let Jan Otene know if you hear of any of our families who need support. Likewise, if you need a helping hand, please let Jan know so that we can look at helping you in some way.
Student Safety & Access
Our new fences and gates are working really well, allowing everyone to play within safe bounds. Gates are closed at 9am each day to keep children inside our fenced areas. The gates are pool safety style, designed so that they cannot be easily opened by children. So, if your child arrives after the bell, remind them to enter school via the Office.
Xmas Raffle to Support Outdoor Education Week (EOTC) 2021
Families should have received a card of 25 raffle tickets @ $2 per ticket to sell, so that we can raise money to support students who are going to camp in 2021, as well as our yr 1 – 4 students who will also participate in outdoor activities during EOTC week. Please return your sold ticket card and money to the Office as soon as possible and return any unsold tickets now, so that we can give these to others to sell. The absolute last day for selling and return is Friday 27 November. We are hoping to have at least 3 large raffle baskets, so now is the time to drop off gifts such as beach balls, goggles, bucket & spades etc. to the Office over the next 2 weeks. Thank you for your support for this parent fundraiser.
NIS Speech Competition
Our congratulations to Pharoah and Ben who represented Rewa Rewa at the recent Newlands Speech competition – your confidence and delivery were amazing to watch.
Student Behaviour
In the past week we have had a small number of serious incidents where rocks, rubble and glass have been thrown, causing injury to people and damage to property, both our own and our neighbours’. We ask that you please talk to your child about these incidents, reinforcing the message that at Rewa Rewa School we expect everyone to show respect and care for each other, as well as beng honest when we have made poor choices and work to put things right.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES NEWS
2021 Classroom Organisation
Last week all parents received a letter from the Board outlining classroom organisation for 2021. With 5 teachers starting at the beginning of the year, we believe that the year 1 – 3 and year 4 – 6 whanau groups will provide a very positive learning environment for all of our tamariki.
New appointments
Our congratulations to Guadalupe Salinas who will be joining the junior teaching team in 2021 as from the start of term 1.
School Community Celebration Evening
Save the date: Friday 4 December @ 6 pm! We will be holding a fun get-together – a time where students and their families can bring food to share, play tabloid games and listen to awesome waiata sung by our students. After a hard year it will be so lovely for our community to meet and celebrate together. A flier will be coming home soon.
End of Year Leavers Assembly
This is a very special assembly held to celebrate our year 6 students who will be leaving us to attend intermediate next year. This assembly will be held 11am, Monday 14 December. Our school community is very welcome to join us.
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