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Connect Communication
16th December 2020
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Thank you to those of you who could make it to our final hui on Monday afternoon. This was a chance to celebrate the year and farewell our Year 8 leavers. It was also an opportunity to thank the many people that have helped make this year a success.
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For those of you who weren't able to make it, here are the words shared at the final hui.
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Whanau, staff members and tamariki, thank you for joining with us in this final hui and celebration.
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What a crazy year, an unprecedented time in history that will always be remembered. I hope you look back fondly on the time that you spent learning from home and hanging out with your family. We were blessed with warm weather and our teachers provided fun activities to keep our minds active. We were all excited to return to school and for a little while, we had to be mindful of keeping too close and washing our hands.
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2020 sees us end our second year as a kura. ERO recently visited to complete the new school assurance review. The aim of their visit was to ensure that we are catering to the needs of our learners and teaching in a way that supports our vision and values. We were deliberate in choosing the word learners. Everyone is a learner whether you are 5 or 55, or even 85, learning never stops and happens when you least expect it.
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Our vision is ‘enhancing our world’. We are all striving to leave the world a little better than we found it. Special thanks to Teretere and the work they have achieved with the native planting, bird feeders and associated learning. Huarapa’s learning about tuna has also been special from their songs about migration to signs making our community aware that all actions matter.
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Our values are at the heart of our school and when we recently farewelled our Mnadarin assistants, Sharon and Fiona, they commented on feeling like they were part of our family.
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Caring, manaakitanga and aroha are at the essence of our school. This has been reflected in the work of Te Hapori Tautoko with their weekly coffee groups and events to make new families feel welcome. Thank you for all that you do. Our tuakana who support teina starting school making the connections and being there, thank you. To our staff who look out for the tamariki and support learning and the building of relationships, thank you.
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Curiosity is reflected in conversations to dig deeper, when investigating, playing and inquiring. It looks like learners making discoveries and sharing their learning with others. This is often the action that we take at the end of an inquiry and we have seen wonderful work that reflects auahatanga and kaitiakitanga. It is seen and heard every day but magnified on a Friday at curiosity clubs. Thank you to the teachers, caregivers and volunteers who support this initiative.
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Capability grows through your experiences and responses. It is seen as your reading, writing and maths skills develop. It is evidenced when children learn to manage themselves in a range of settings to contribute and participate. Kotahitanga is working together with others.
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Thank you to all our coaches who worked with teachers and students. Thanks to our teachers for developing the capabilities in our akonga. Thank you to our student leaders who stepped up to help with the library, road patrol, physical activity, regular jobs, whanau groups and helping children start school.
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A big thank you to the Board who demonstrate their commitment and capability in providing the strategic leadership and governance of the school.
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Our mission is knowing that it starts with me, māku e whakatika. This is all of us stepping up and making sure things happen. I am grateful for all of you who do that, it makes learning at Ararira such a delight. In the first instance this is about us owning our actions and taking responsibility for our behaviour and knowing that we are half of any relationship.
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To you our Year 8 leavers, thank you for the contributions you have made to Ararira. Each one of you is unique and has a very special life journey to travel. Make the most of everything that life throws at you the good and the bad.
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Do your best. Be honest. Look after your selves, your friends community and the environment. Be kind. Remain inspired by the mission and vision of our school to know it starts with you to be the difference you want to see in the world.
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And in the words of AA Milne, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.
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It was wonderful talking to many children this morning who, given the choice, would continue school over the summer. We are glad we create a space where children want to be. Enjoy a wonderful summer break and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2021.
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Dates to diary:
There are dates to diary for the next two weeks below but please be aware that we also put events on a community calendar, this is linked to our website. Should this take you directly to your Google calendar the link can be found under the 'communication' heading on the school website.
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25 - 29 Jan: Office open 10 am - 2pm daily
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1-2 Feb: Office open 9 am - 3pm daily
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3 Feb: School starts for 2021, mihi whakatau for all 9:15 am
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As we have a few very busy weeks, we thought we would remind you that most school communication from teachers comes through our HERO app.
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If you haven’t installed the HERO app on your phone or logged in via a browser - please read the attached instructions, use the email address that you gave on your enrolment form to register and contact Trine if you aren’t able to connect to HERO.
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If you know of a family in Ararira Springs Primary enrolment zone with children aged 3 - 5 or know someone moving soon, please forward this newsletter to them and ask them to complete an enrolment form or call us on 420 0888 to help us with our planning for 2021 and beyond.
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