Newsletter 6, Term 2 Week 9 2021

What a couple of weeks it has been with Covid-19 raising its head again here in the wider Wellington area.  Thank you to our community for respecting the rules and processes that we follow while we are at Level 2. 

As we near the end of Term 2, teachers are finalising student progress reports.  These will go out to whanau at the end of this week.  The term has been a busy one as the school prepares for the Matariki evening to be held this Friday 2 July, starting at 6:00 pm.  The teaching staff have provided opportunities for students to be immersed in learning that will be reflected and shared at this community event. We look forward to seeing you there

Congratulations to Clara Law who participated in the recent Interzone cross country event held on 15 June.   We are incredibly proud of you.   We would also like to congratulate Miki, Clara, Ananyaa, Anastasia and Alex for participating in Kapi-Mana Music Festival 2021!

Our lunchtime clubs are being enjoyed by a wide range of students.  This has been a great way for our tamariki to explore interests and extend friendship circles as most groups have students from across all levels of the school.  Friendship circles have also been extended through our Friday rotations, where students get to know each other with the support of an adult.  In these ways our students are provided with ongoing opportunities to upskill themselves in decision-making and then apply their understanding.

At Rewa Rewa School we believe and live our R.I.D.E. values.  They are what underpin the culture of our school.  As our tamariki grow they will stumble in their learning and in relationships.  At our school we strive to provide equality, dignity and mana to all our children because we believe in their potential. Sometimes learning a new skill or way of being around others can be a slow process.  Children’s brains are still developing and it can take time to understand and put into action the changes they need to make to fully make the most of their potential.   Recently our staff made a commitment to attend after school professional development with the Ministry of Education presented by Briony Pentecost and Bridget Piper (Educational Psychologists).  The purpose of this professional development is to understand in more depth how the brain works and use this knowledge to understand behaviour and respond in ways that support our learners.  This learning is extremely important as we support children who are learning how to self-regulate their thinking and behaviour.  We know the importance of giving our children time to unravel what is behind their behaviour, develop positive strategies and build reasonable expectations.  This time and reflection provides opportunity for our students to grow, rather than run into the same roadblocks again and again.   At Rewa Rewa School we support students to develop their R.I.D.E. values so that their conduct impacts positively on themselves and on other people’s emotional and physical wellbeing. 

We welcome Lisa and Ethan, along with their family, to Rewa Rewa School.  We hope you enjoy learning with us.

Another way we are supporting our tamariki’s wellbeing this term is through the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme, run by the New Zealand Police.  The aim of this programme is to teach students a range of safe practices that they can use when interacting with other people, both online and face to face.  It will also teach students how to recognise the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and encourage students who are experiencing difficulties to seek help. 

Recently Todd Wano and I attended a meeting at Newlands Intermediate with others from Newlands Cluster schools to begin to develop a collective understanding about the needs of all Māori students and their whanau in the Newlands area.  There was discussion around how Boards of Trustees and School Leadership teams could support Te Ao Māori within schools to support the development of te reo Māori and knowledge of tikanga for students in the Newlands cluster.  This will be explored more at the next hui.

Over the past three years Rewa Rewa School’s understanding and application of tikanga in our school has become part of what we do due to community support and participation.  Thank you to all who have been part of supporting the school in the development of tikanga at Rewa Rewa School.  We now use established mihi whakatau and pōwhiri protocols, kapa haka continues to thrive and opportunities to learn te reo Māori in classrooms is underway at Level 1 of the Curriculum.  Every morning I look forward to beginning the day with our tamariki as we share our school karakia and waiata as a whanau.

As many of you will be aware, the Home and School Parent Group (Wananga Kainga Rōpū), fundraise for various school projects. In the past, the Committee has raised funds for the adventure playground, shade sails, and external murals.   In term 3 a speaker event will be held on Wednesday 18 August in our school hall – details will be advised in due course.   At this stage we are asking local businesses for donations of goods or services which will be raffled at this event.  If you are interested in donating something, please email miranda@zander.nz  The Committee would also love some new members, so do reach out if you are interested in helping.

If you are available to support our Road Patrollers before or after school, we are still looking for 4 people. The spots are Wednesday morning and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.  If you can assist please email charlotte.hills@rewarewa.school.nz

We would like to thank Jenna Sabiston for donating an acoustic guitar to our school.  We are looking for someone to come and play it for our kapa haka group!  Please contact Charlotte if you would like to be part of this performance group.

Each Wednesday this term we encourage children to bring less/no waste to school in their lunchboxes.  The idea behind this is to look for more sustainable packaging options and ways we can ease the burden of rubbish going to landfills.  When your child is packing their lunch for school on Wednesdays, please talk to them about the food packaging and look at what other containers could be used.

Next term we will welcome Jan Otene (Principal) back into the fold following her sabbatical.  The team has missed Jan and we are looking forward to having her back with us, not only as our leader, but to share with us her findings about wellbeing.  I would like to thank everyone for supporting the team in her absence.  I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity and experience of serving our community during this time.  He waka eke noa (we are all in this together).

Thursday 01 – Friday 09 July

Thursday 01 July                7-8pm

Friday 02 July

Friday 02 July                    6pm

Wednesday 07 July           3.10-5pm

Tuesday 27 July                 9-10.30am

Monday 09 – Friday 13 August

Friday 22 October

Bee Healthy Dental Service Onsite

NIS Information Evening for Yr 6 Parents

School Reports Sent Home

Matariki Evening – all students to attend

School Disco

NIS School in Action Morning for Yr 6s

Scholastic Book Fair

Newlands Cluster Teacher Only Day – School Closed

Friday 12 November         9am-12 noon

NIS Orientation Day

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

Mon 03 May – Fri 09 July

Teacher Only Day Fri 04 June – School Closed

Queen’s Birthday Mon 07 June – School Closed

Tue 27 July – Fri 01 October

Teacher Only Day Mon 26 July – School Closed

Mon 18 October – Wed 15 Decmber (1pm)

Newlands Cluster Teacher Only Day Fri 22 October – School Closed

Labour Day Mon 25 October – School Closed