Newsletter 7, Term 3 Week 3 2021

Welcome to term 3!  I’m sure families will have read the letter to parents from Jan Otene and Mark Williams on the first day of term and it will not be too much longer now before Jan is able to be with us in person.   Charlotte Hills continues to undertake Acting Principal duties and is working very closely to support the teachers and students in Ahi Kotahi during this time. This term we have two new staff who have joined our teaching team. Danielle Matthews, ex-DP from Newlands Primary school, will be with us as a fixed term teacher for terms 3 & 4 and will undertake a range of teaching roles. Initially she will be based in Ahi, teaching with Frances Reilly, until Charlotte returns to her normal teaching role. We would also like to extend a warm welcome to Corina Baker, our new ORS teacher who will be working within the Yr 1- 3 team.

As the year progresses our tamariki continue to explore our school whakatauki for the 2021 – He waka eke noa/We’re all in this together.  To fully embrace the intent of what it means to be in this altogether students need to work out what it means for them and understand what they bring to the table.  Sometimes it can be challenging to find or share our strengths with each other.  Similarly, it can be difficult to own the areas we are working on.  We are proud of how our students are beginning to delve deeper into what it means to be part of a whanau and how their thoughts and actions can have a positive impact on themselves and the community they belong to. 

In our first week back we supported our tamariki’s wellbeing with the help of our friendly Constable Aaron Dan from the New Zealand Police who worked with our tamariki to define and deepen their understanding of what bullying is.   We need our children to recognise the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and encourage students who are experiencing difficulties to seek help.  At Rewa Rewa School our students are in the process of defining what bullying is and how to combat it.  Soon we’ll be ready to share our school-wide understanding with you.

Our tamariki recently watched the New Zealand Playhouse perform Rumpelstiltskin.   Our tamariki were transfixed by the experience and came out very excited.  As part of continuing our art focus we will be running a Whole School Art Elective where our tamariki select an art elective they wish to attend which will be taught by our kaiako/teachers.  We also continue with whole school kapa haka and have begun working with our kapa haka performance group.

We welcome Rayush, Connor and Avery, along with their families, to Rewa Rewa School.  We hope you enjoy learning with us.

Our School DISCO was a HUGE success.  Thank you to Jenni for leading, planning and running this event.  Te Wananga Kainga Rōpū/Home and School Parent Group raised $535.94 and the children had a fabulous time.  We would also like to thank Tonni Wilson for organising the music and Miranda Zander for taking photos of this event.  As most of you are aware, Te Wananga Kainga Rōpū/Home and School Parent Group is a parent-run committee which helps fundraise for various school projects. Please watch for upcoming notices of meetings and events if you would like to join this group in making a difference at your child’s kura.

On Wednesday 18th August Rewa Rewa School is hosting a fundraiser speaker event with the amazing Kathryn Berkett of Engage Training. The theme of this event is the ‘Neuroscience of Device Zombies‘, which builds on Kathryn’s engaging TED talk and will touch on whether technology is good or bad for us (and our children), as well as understanding the neuroscience behind our interactions with technology.   This event will be held in the Rewa Rewa School Hall, entry from 5.45pm.  You can join us by purchasing a $20 ticket from here   We will also be running a raffle and have a collection of fantastic prizes from our generous sponsors Sofitel, Capitol Restaurant, Merle Photography, Staglands, Zealandia, Fix and Fogg, Kapiti Chocolate Factory, Unity Books, The Children’s Bookshop, Sam’s Art House, and MANY MANY more.  Please bring cash and empty your wallets as raffle tickets will be available for $2 on the night.   Anyone can come, so feel free to forward this information to your colleagues, loved ones and parents who might be interested in hearing an intelligent talk by a world-renowned speaker.  Thank you to our Wananga Kainga Rōpū/Home and School Parent Group who have organised this wonderful event.

There is still time to purchase from the Scholastic Book Fair, tonight 3-6pm and Thursday 8.30-9am and 3-6pm. Every purchase earns credits for the school to spend on library books and there are some fantastic books available at very good prices.  Thank you to Claire Hermann for organising this event and making this possible.

Thank you to all those who have made time to meet with their child’s teacher this week.  These 10-minute interviews are a great time to meet with each other and discuss successes and next steps.

If you are available to support our staff on Road Patrol we are still looking for 2 people in the morning and 3 people in the afternoon.  If you can assist, please see Charlotte or email charlotte.hills@rewarewa.school.nz

Monday 09 – Friday 13 August

Friday 27 August

Friday 22 October

Scholastic Book Fair

School Photos

Newlands Cluster Teacher Only Day – School Closed

Friday 12 November         9am-12 noon

NIS Orientation Day

Term 3

Tue 27 July – Fri 01 October

Teacher Only Day Mon 26 July – School Closed

Term 4

Mon 18 October – Wed 15 December (1pm)

Newlands Cluster Teacher Only Day Fri 22 October – School Closed

Labour Day Mon 25 October – School Closed