Newsletter 2, Term 1 Wk 6 2022

How wonderful it has been to see our parents and whanau waiting eagerly at the gate at the end of each day, as their children run towards them with such excitement. During these unusual times, for our students, nothing beats being with your friends and teachers each day as you continue your learning journey. Thank you for continuing to send your kids to school. This newsletter is all about Celebration.  We are halfway through the term and have achieved so much. You will note that in this newsletter we are not mentioning the “C…D” word – please read your daily updates and bulletins for this information. Our current role stands at 128 compared to 106 at this time last year.

Curriculum Going Wild

Although we really miss having our parents in the walkway and classrooms we can report that active learning is alive and well at Rewa Rewa School. Our students are enjoying their art sessions, lunchtime clubs, cricket & Zero Waste lessons and of course being creative problem-solvers through Learning through Play and Passion Projects. Our readers, writers and mathematicians are humming.

Designing & creating in Wai

Extra-Curricular Activities

The rules at the moment stop us from singing, but we can still learn to play an instrument. Helen Pine and Charlotte Hills take the weekly ukulele lunchtime club through their new chords whilst being sun smart under the shade of the junior pergola.

Our RIDE Values and Active Learner Skills

Our students are learning how to be Active Learners and to apply their R.I.D.E. (Respect, Integrity, Diversity, Empathy) values to their daily lives. At the end of each week, students who have demonstrated these to a high level in their classroom are acknowledged by their peers.

L-R: Congratulations to Eddy & Isaac L – two great student role models; Honor & Mia showing empathy for their teachers

2022 Student Leaders

Congratulations to our new student leaders. They have been chosen to represent their classes over the next 2 terms, so that they can make a difference in our school community. Watch this space…

Back row: Ananyaa (Ahi), Dash (Ahi), Terry (Ahi)

Front Row: Yassein (Hau), Bella M. (Wai), Bella D. (Whenua)

Pride in Our Environment

Under Avi Jayasekara’s leadership our school environment is starting to look a lot brighter with a mural taking shape on the storage container. We can’t wait to share this finished artwork with you and the important story behind it. Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers who have been helping to make this dream a reality.

Curriculum Hui for Parents

We continue to work with our parents to upskill them on curriculum at Rewa Rewa School. Recently, parents were invited to a Learning through Play ZOOM session (see video on our website if you missed this).

Our second curriculum hui on Thursday 24 March at 6pm in the Hall is a whanau hui where we want to explore creating our own marae artwork, as well as introducing the Kura Ahurea facilitators who are providing professional development for our teachers to support them when sharing local stories about our tangata whenua. All whanau/families are welcome to attend this hui – an invite has been emailed from Charlotte Hills (DP), so make sure you RSVP by 5pm, Friday 11 March. 

Next term for our 3^rd curriculum hui we will share the Wellbeing initiatives that we are introducing to support our health curriculum –  The Resilience Programme and Life Education Trust.

Property Updates

The following property improvements have been signed off by the Ministry and work will begin soon for: the Learning Support Co-ordinator (LSC) office, hall reroofing and electrical work, gutters, lower field drainage and concrete steps to the top field. We are awaiting approval for work to begin on toilets and the outdoor covered area.

During the last holidays a massive amount of gorse was cleared from our school property. This continues to be an ongoing – and expensive – problem to solve.

Out of Zone Enrolments

The ballot for term 2 out of zone enrolments closes 9am, this Friday 11 March. Please make sure that you if you live out of zone and have a child turning 5, that you submit an application in the appropriate ballot if you are wanting to join our beautiful school. This is also a good time to remind parents of in-zone children who are turning 5 this year to complete your enrolments ASAP, so that we can more accurately gauge the number of places available for out-of-zone candidates.

Thank You for Your Support

Many thanks to The SECC Foundation who have generously donated a hockey gear bag with 30 sticks, balls and cones for use in PE.  We are sure this will be well-loved!

Ex-Library Books for Sale

There will be ex-Library books for sale next week on fine days after school against the playground fence.  Have a browse while you are waiting to pick up your child, and help yourself to as many as you would like – a gold coin donation would help us to purchase new books to replace these.

Gardening Help

A number of parents told us at the start of year Whanau Meetings that they would like to help out with gardening work around ourgrounds.  We now have a list of tasks ready, so please email office@rewarewa.school.nz and we will assign you to an area to be completed in your own time.

BOARD NEWS

Meet your current Board:

Naomi Godfrey (Presiding Member)

I joined the Board at Rewa Rewa School mid-2013 as the Fundraising Co-ordinator/Home and School Parent Group Chairperson when my eldest son started at Rewa Rewa School.

I now only have Lucas at Rewa Rewa and he is in year 5.

This year I am the newly elected Presiding Member / Board chair and I am really looking forward to this new role. I value all that we have in our school and our community and I want to give back by helping out whenever I can. I encourage other parents/caregivers to get involved and help us make lots of amazing things happen at our wonderful school.

If you would like to know what is involved in helping out within our school please reach out and we can have a chat.

Ambresh Kapoor

I joined the Board three years ago. I wasn’t sure, at the time, what I had signed-up for. However, looking back I am happy and proud that I did.  My three kids have been through Rewa Rewa, with my youngest now in Year 6. That is total of more than a decade of association with Rewa Rewa School. Being a Board member I have been fortunate to see both perspectives – as a parent and as a member of the governance team.

During my time I have been part of several iterations of change. What gives me satisfaction is that as a Board Member I was part of the decision-making and felt that parent voice/concerns were always right and centre at the table.

Over the past couple of years, this school, like all others, has experienced turbulent times due to pandemic-related disruptions. It is at this time I felt the strength and momentum created by having all the members present and reaching out for a common objective. As a result, I believe we have come out stronger and better. 

Angela Schleif

I have had two children successfully go through Rewa Rewa and currently have my son Paxton in the new entrants class.  I have been on the Board since 2013 and it has been my privilege to see the school grow into the amazing place it is today.  

I enjoy being a parent representative; it has been a rewarding 9 years, I have learnt so much. I encourage others to find out more and see if it’s something they might be interested in doing, you won’t regret it. 

I believe every child should have the opportunity to achieve their unique potential and Rewa Rewa School has an amazing ability to achieve that. I’m very proud of our school, I firmly believe in the education, social and cultural environment it provides. Our school has a lot of heart, come and join the BOT team.

Mark Williams

My wife Megan and I have two children, Aston and Matilda who are past students of Rewa Rewa.  I am proud to have been a member of the Rewa Rewa School Board of Trustees since 2015 and Presiding Member (Chairperson) since 2016.  I enjoy being part of the Board, as it allows me to work with other passionate parents, bringing to the table the skills that I have to further our school and our student’s potential.  Now is the time for me to step aside as Presiding Member and I will not be seeking election at the upcoming BOT elections taking place in September 2022.  Email me if you want to find out about joining the board and what it involves.

Other Board News…

Our Board is actively working to ensure that our community has a selection of well-informed of candidates to fill vacant seats in the September 2022 Board elections. In term 2 our board will be inviting the community to two events to share more about the great work that they undertake to support our school. In the meantime, you are welcome to chat with any of our current board members.

During term 1, the board has ensured that our teaching team continues to have access to high-quality professional development (PLD). This has included DMIC maths, Kura Ahurea (local Maori stories), Learning through Play, Structured Literacy, The Resilience Programme, RTLB and individual teacher coaching sessions. This work enables our teachers to enlarge their pedagogical knowledge so that they can more proficiently support all of our learners.

For this reason, NZ primary schools have Teacher Only Days built into their annual calendar to support whole school PLD (schools are closed for instruction without affecting the total number of days that they are required to be open). In 2022 Rewa Rewa School will hold these on:

Easter Weekend

Thursday 14 April  DMIC maths

Queen’s Birthday Weekend

Friday 3 June Newlands schools joint teacher and teacher aide workshops

Tuesday 7 June  DMIC maths

We thank our community for supporting us to undertake these important professional development sessions. Please note that all other call-back days will be undertaken either after school or in the school holidays. To date, our teachers have already undertaken 4 call-back days this year.

This term, so far, we have welcomed Yahia, Harry, Maia, Zahra, Maryam, Tāwhirimātea, Arush, Sithun, Arlo, Hash, Pranav, Antonia, Paxton, Yunus and Indie, along with their families.

We hope you enjoy learning with us!

Term 1

Wed 02 February – Thursday 14 April

Mon 07 February – Waitangi Day Statutory Holiday Observed, School Closed

Thu 14 April—Teacher Only Day, School Closed

Fri 15 April—Good Friday, School Closed

Term 2

Monday 02 May – Friday 08 July

Fri 03 June—Newlands Cluster Teacher Only Day, School Closed

Mon 06 June—Queen’s Birthday, School Closed

Tue 07 June – Teacher Only Day, School Closed

Fri 24 June—Matariki, School Closed

Term 3

Monday 25 July – Friday 30 September

Term 4

Monday 17 October – Thursday 15 December (School closes at 1pm)

Mon 24 October—Labour Day, School Closed