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Connect Communication
13 December 2023
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The end of the year is nigh and I would like to thank you for your support over what has been a very challenging year for me. I am heading to the North Island for part of the break and will be spending time packing up our family home so it can be sold.
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We will be in contact early in January with our plans for the return to school. This will include an invitation to book a time to drop into school on Tuesday 30th January. This is to meet your child's teacher, familiarise yourself with the new spaces and get everything ready for the first day of school on Wednesday 31st January. We will also invite you to a mihi whakatau to welcome new families.
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Yesterday teams started planning for our 2024 conceptual theme around movement. There was an excited buzz in the room as ideas were explored. These included; motion, immigration, migration, transport, music, movement in art, and campaigns. It will be exciting to see where this learning heads.
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Next year we will be trialling a specialist programme when teachers are out of the class on release. A team of specialist teachers will release teams and provide lessons on science & technology, visual & performing arts.
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Teachers have been hard at work writing and finalising comments for your children. Please make sure that you log in to Hero and share these with your children. We wouldn't want them to be lost in the flurry of thinking about classes for 2024.
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All the very best for all that is ahead for your family over the break. We look forward to seeing you all in 2024
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Claire and the Ararira Team
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School Board
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The school board held its final meeting for the year last Wednesday evening. We welcomed Che Kingi to provide a Māori voice and are delighted to confirm that he will be joining the board in the new year. We also received reports on various areas of staff learning and inquiry and discussed how these would be reflected next year; we finalised our strategic plan; discussed the impact of the change in government policies; and how we maintain connection as our community grows.
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Finally, we wish everyone a happy (and sunny) holiday and look forward to seeing everyone next year.
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Ngā mihi,
Andrew McMenaminPresiding member
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Te Puna o Ararira | Ararira Springs Primary School
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If you know of families moving into the area or with preschoolers, please encourage them to fill out our online enrolment form soon as possible. This allows us to plan ahead and recruit the teachers we might need!
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IMPORTANT DATES 2023
- 13 December - Year 8 Leavers Dinner
- 14 December - Monster Music Concert, 11.30am-12.15pm (all welcome)
- 15 December - Final Hui, 9.15am in the hall
- 15 December - Last day of term (school closes 1pm)
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THT - Te Hapori Tautoko - providing opportunities to tautoko (support) and connect our school community and fundraising for school initiatives and resources.
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Second-Hand Uniforms - THT has a small selection of second-hand uniform items available for purchase. Click here to view a list of the items we currently have available. If you have uniform items to donate please contact Charlotte via charlotte.mcmenamin@ararira.school.nz
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Story by Ella, Year 4/Hikuwai 2
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The following story was inspired by Ella reading the novel The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips as part of her novel study.
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It's here. The day has finally come. We have to leave. Mum, Dad, Ollie, Harry, Charlie and I have to leave. The war practising has begun.
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I feel cold inside and narrow in my throat. I fight the lump when I try to write. Everything is packed up. It feels empty and cold. When I walk into my room there are just boxes and boxes and boxes…..
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We haven’t found anywhere to live yet but Mum says not to worry because we will find a nice, warm home to stay in. Dad keeps saying that we should go to a motel but Mum keeps refusing.
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My grandparents are staying with cousins so there is no room there. My brothers think that we should go and build a wooden hut in the outback. I say that’s a stupid idea, but i think we should go to my second cousins house.
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We will be able to stay there’s only 2 children and their mum and d a room and so do the kids. They have seven bedrooms in the house so we will all have a room + mum and dad share a room.
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I can see the soldiers marching into the practice area. Then they see a young lady walking towards them and then they rush into the bathroom, probably making sure that their uniforms were looking tidy and slicking their hair back, to impress the young lady. Heh heh heh! They look ridiculous as they walk out of the bathroom, but the young lady was not interested. So they tried again but instead of doing their ridiculous walk they walked up to her just like that, one of the soldiers took his hat off and held it against his chest while the other soldiers stood in a funny position and held their hands out towards her and they pulled silly faces. It was good fun to watch.
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I don’t know my second cousins very well, but it is our only chance of having a nice warm place to stay. I’m not sure if I will enjoy this, but if it is the only chance I will be able to get through it. We have made the decision, we are going to be staying with our second cousins. I have to get my bag’s packed up so we can go by nightfall.
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I suppose I’ll have to stop now but I’ll be quick.
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The car has just started and it is dark outside. it’s like a Milky Way but It is not.The stars are like diamonds shining down on the ground…BANG. The car has just been hit. Someone has just used a gun to shoot the car. They’re coming towards us. It's a German soldier. He has a gun in front of him. What should we do……?
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And just like that we are at the end of another year. Thank you to all those who volunteered, coached and managed. We could not have done it without you. We look forward to working with you again next year!
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Tough Kids - South New Brighton Domain
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All those who took part in the Tough Kids challenge last Wednesday had a great day and represented our school well. The course was a little different this year with no mud challenge, but there was still much fun had on the slip and slides and foam machines.
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Please keep an eye on the Sports website for all the details that you need to know about the upcoming sporting events. Our first event will be swimming early on in term 1. Reminders will be sent with a term planner for Term 1 but all dates will be on the calendar as soon as they are confirmed by the Zone organisers.
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We wish you all the best for the festive season. See you in 2024!
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Please note there is no guarantee orders placed now will be dispatched to you before the end of Term 4.
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All orders will be delivered to school in batches and distributed to the classrooms as they arrive. Any orders marked as gifts, we will put to one side and contact you when they are ready to be collected.
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The Ministry of Education has refreshed the curriculum and updated how schools report on student progress. As previously mentioned by the MOE, the benchmark for achievement has increased with the new curriculum. You may see a change in your child’s progress or achievement compared to previous years because of this. At Ararira Springs Primary, our staff have been undergoing professional …
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Berry Street Education Model BSEM at Ararira - Nicky Harding and Claire Howison At Ararira Springs, we are committed to fostering a learning environment where every child feels safe, supported, and ready to thrive. To support this, our kura has adopted the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM) - a trauma-informed, strengths-based framework designed to boost student wellbeing, engagement, and academic …
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Attendance Monitoring at Ararira The government has publicly stated that it wishes to lift attendance rates at New Schools so 80% of all children are attending 90% of the time by 2030. We have set this as a target for our kura|school in 2026. All schools are required to have an attendance management plan (AMP) in place that follows stepped …
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2025 End of Year Progress Graphs The end-of-year progress graphs for students (English Year 0-6 and Maths Year 0-8) will be live on Friday, 12 December. English progress in Years 7-8 will be released in a statement at the bottom of Year 7-8 children's reading and writing comments. The Overall Teacher Judgements (OTJs) regarding progress that your child will receive …
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Te Mātaiaho | The New Zealand Curriculum Curriculum Update - English, Term 3, 2025 Kia ora, Earlier this year, we held a successful whānau hui regarding the refreshed Maths curriculum for Phases 1-3 (Year 0-8). We are unfortunately still waiting on Phase 3 (Year 7-8) of the English curriculum, which is due to be released in Term 4 of this …
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New Parent Portal Released The Ministry of Education has released a parent portal to help whānau partner with schools to support their child's education. From Minister Stanford: "Education is a partnership of what happens in the classroom and what happens at home. Parents, caregivers, and whānau play an important role in supporting their child’s learning and development. The new webspace …
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