Newsletter 5, Term 2, Wk 9

I began this newsletter wondering how I was going to fill it up, but I shouldn’t have worried, help was at hand. Two important contributors join us in this final newsletter for the term – one being your amazing school board and the other, a message from the Minister of Education, Erica Stanford. We wish all our families a very well-deserved break this weekend and we then looking forward to the holidays at the end of next week.  Remember to spend time together doing the things that bring you joy.

Community Joining Together

Today is a very special day as we celebrate Matariki with our whānau through two whole-school performances. Requests for seats at this evening’s performance once again far outstripped availability, but there is usually enough space at the matinee session to accommodate those who missed out. For future events we are thinking that perhaps the time has come for our community to raise funds to build a larger hall or we may need to consider another venue so that we can host a larger audience! Regardless of whether you attend the evening or the matinee show, thank you so much for helping our tamariki feel special. I remember last year one of our wide-eyed 5 year olds coming off stage after staring at the audience clapping and cheering for his class, saying “They liked us!” Such a joyous moment to mark a lot of learning and time spent to produce these productions. Our teachers have worked hard to ensure every child experiences performing for an audience. We will share photos from this event on our closed Facebook page, Dojo (Juniors), class communications and in the next school newsletter.

TKoD Teacher Only Day

We recently celebrated the professional prowess of Avi Jayasekara and Portia France, who presented a workshop at this event where curriculum success stories were being shared. I was lucky enough to attend their hour-long presentation about how Structured Literacy is being rolled out in our classrooms. I felt so proud of their level of proficiency and the passion that our teachers display. We may be a small school, but we punch well above our weight. Many in the audience were keen to come and see us in action!

Cross Country Legends

Two of our senior students, Curtis and Bella D recently represented our school at the Wellington Inter-Zones meet and they have both won a place at the next level of competition – the Regional Primary and Intermediate Schools Cross Country Championships. Our thanks to Ian Svela for taking the running club out regularly for their training on the Bike track – all the hard work has paid off! We wish Curtis and Bella all the very best for their next races.

Mid-Year Student Progress Meetings

Wow, a record number of families attended meetings this year! This is the first time in 10 years that every class has achieved more than 90% attendance! Our Māori and Pasifika families smashed this record, with both groups achieving 100% turnout – go whānau! Whatever it was that drove this turnout, whether it was constant reminders, good weather, a short timeframe to make bookings, the balance between written information and face-to-face discussions, longer interview timeslots or earlier interview bookings, we are so proud of families for supporting their children in such an awesome way.  What a great working partnership – ka pai!

Each year we try our very hardest to get the balance right. Sometimes we get things right, sometimes we don’t. We always welcome feedback, so that we can continue to improve what we do and how we do it. If you were someone who felt that you did not get what you needed at the mid-year meeting, please contact your child’s teacher to ask for the information that you still require. Every teacher has the latest samples, assessments and information about what each child is able to achieve and what their next steps will be and they will be able to share this with you.

Updates from the Board

Please see an important update from the board at the end of this newsletter, regarding learning spaces at Rewa Rewa School, as well as a summary of results from the board’s recent Communications to the Community Survey.

Mid-Year School-Wide Data

Mid-year data was presented to the board at the last meeting, which gives a very clear picture as to what all of our students are currently achieving in their different year levels for reading, writing and maths. With 6 months of learning still to be undertaken, we are on track to make the progress that we expect to see. Information about year groups, gender, ESOL, Māori, Pasifika as well as the levels of achievement against the 4 checkpoints (Above, At, Working Towards and Working Below) allows us to make informed decisions about how best to support all of our learners.

 Education Review Office Partnership (ERO)

All schools in NZ either have, or will have, an ERO partner working alongside them usually, for a 2-3 year timeframe to review governance, management and operations. Under the old system, these reviews used to be undertaken every 3-5 years. Last week, 3 of our team members (representing the board, management and teachers), met with our evaluation partner for the first time. A whole day was spent sharing documentation such as assurance statements against our policies, legislative requirement checks, including compliance around attendance and stand-downs. A very comprehensive School Framework for Learning (SFL) analysis of our current state was undertaken by the board, class teachers and the senior leadership team in preparation for this. Alongside our ERO partner, we measured our achievement against a scale from 1-8 (one being low and 8 being high). We were pleased to find that our school rated 6 or 7 in most categories. We were congratulated on our strong systems and processes, the very clear goals set out in our Strategic Plan and for being so well-prepared for the visit. Our Term 3 visit will provide opportunity to set an SFL goal designed to further improve our evaluative capabilities in the foreseeable future.

Curriculum Updates from the Ministry of Education

The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford has recently advised the latest progress being made by her team to update the NZ Curriculum Refresh. The timeline for rollouts has been further updated and information to support schools in implementing these changes is expected to follow.

The Minister has identified 6 areas of priority for focus and has acknowledged the challenges faced by principals and teachers to effect significant change within the required timeframes, something which was alluded to in our Reporting to Parents Pānui earlier in the term. One of the areas of priority is that there will be a knowledge-rich curriculum, based on the science of learning. The Minister also notes that “The new refreshed curriculum will bring together the knowledge, skills and competencies that our tamariki need to succeed. We are working at pace on my other five priority areas as they are all crucial parts of supporting you to raise student achievement and close the equity gap… It is our plan to work iteratively and collaboratively with you over the coming years to finalise the work on the curriculum refresh by 2027”.

To check the most recent updates on the NZ Curriculum Refresh,  please follow this link: Refreshing The New Zealand Curriculum | Curriculum Refresh (education.govt.nz)

We welcome Quincy, Halayna, Zoe & Grayson, along with their families, all arrivals at Rewa Rewa School this term.  We hope you enjoy learning with us!

Wednesday 26 June           2pm & 6pm

Tuesday 13 August            5.30pm

Tuesday 10 September      5.30pm

Whole-School Matariki Celebration

Board Meeting

Board Meeting

Term 1

Thursday 01 February—Friday 12 April

​Tuesday 06 February—Waitangi Day, School Closed

Friday 29 March—Good Friday, School Closed

Monday 01 April—Easter Monday, School Closed

Tuesday 02 April—Easter School Holiday

Term 2

Monday 29 April – Friday 05 July

Monday 03 June—King’s Birthday, School Closed

Tuesday 04 June—Teacher Only Day, School Closed

Friday 28 June—Matariki, School Closed

Term 3

Monday 22 July – Friday 27 September

Term 4

Monday 14 October – Tuesday 17 December (School closes at 1pm)

Monday 28 October—Labour Day, School Closed

Tuesday 29 October—Teacher Only Day, School Closed