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Connect Communication
17 August 2022
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I really have a hard time believing that the year is nearly two thirds gone! Time seems to pass faster the older you get. It is time to start gazing forward to 2023. If you know you will be leaving us at the end of the year or know of families joining us, please let us know. This all helps in the configuration of classes and year groups for 2023.
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It is a huge testament to your willingness to wanting to be part of our school that we have had 15 nominations for our school Board. Now is your turn to do your part by voting in this election. This year we are fully electronic, you will have received a link via an email with full instructions.
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We still seem to have some trouble with our kiss and go area. Some people parking in the driveway have prevented the flow of this working correctly. Please, please, think of others and arrive at a time you can park in the carpark or at a distance where you can walk. Kiss and go is that, an area of the driveway to pull in and either pick up or drop off and then move on.
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From the beginning of next week we ask that parents continue to wear masks when coming into classes but you don't need to wear one if you remain outdoors. Children in Hikuwai are encouraged to wear masks. We do know they are effective in minimising the spread of winter illnesses.
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We are no longer reporting numbers to you but will advise if we have a spike in cases in a particular hub. At the moment we have seven children across the school who have COVID. We have a far greater prevalence of colds, viruses and other winter illnesses. Thanks for your support in keeping sick children at home.
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We hope you enjoy reading this week's newsletter. We have worked hard to include a range of voices in our newsletter and in this issue, you can read articles from both ākonga (students) and kaiako (teachers).
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Hei konā mai (goodbye for now),
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Whaea Claire and the team
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From the Office
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Scholastic Free Book Offer - Scholastic are giving away FREE books in issue 5. Place an order from issue 5 on the Scholastic LOOP app before 23 September and a list of free titles to choose from will display before checking out.
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1 FREE book when you spend over $30
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2 FREE books when you spend over $50
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3 FREE books when you spend over $70
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Covid RAT Kits - If you are sick and need to test for Covid, please feel free to send someone who is not sick to the office to collect a kit. We have a good supply here for school whānau and staff use, and they are FREE to order via Kindo.
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Free Period Products in Schools - Please remember FREE period products for students are available via Kindo and will be available for collection from the school office.
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ezlunch Father's Day Promotion - Whether it's a Dad, Uncle, Grandad or Poppa in your life, make them feel extra special this Father's Day with our ezlunch giveaway. Every lunch order gets you a chance to win one of two $50 'Not Socks' vouchers.
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Order ezlunch for delivery from Monday 22 August - Friday 2 September to be in the draw to WIN! Two vouchers, two winners! The winners will be drawn on Friday 2 September and notified by email. Go to www.mykindo.co.nz to start ordering.
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One Day School Opening Invitation - Bush Farm Education are excited to be sharing with you an invitation to the opening of their new site at Living Springs Farm Park. They hope you can attend the gathering, meet their Kaiako, see their outdoor classroom and share the beginning of this new journey with them. Please send them an RSVP if you wish to attend.
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Click here for further information regarding the types of batteries which are accepted.
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IMPORTANT DATES - 2022
- 18 August - Winter sports (Hikuwai)
- 19 August - Curiosity Clubs
- 22 August - Calendar Art orders close
- 22 August - Hui in the school hall, 2.40pm
- 24 August - Whanau Groups
- 25 August - Rugby/Netball Tournament (Hikuwai), Lincoln Domain
- 26 August - Quiz THT Fundraiser
- 26 August - Daffodil Day (see below for dress up day and donation information)
- 26 August - Rugby/Netball Tournament postponement day (Hikuwai), Lincoln Domain
- 26 August - Curiosity Clubs
- 29 August - Hui in the school hall, 2.40pm
- 31 August - Cricket with Liam from Canterbury Cricket (Kaunuku, Teretere, Huarapa)
- 07 September - Whanau Groups
- 07 September - Board of Trustees Election voting closes
- 14 September - THT Meeting, Putahi (Library), 7pm
- 20 September - Arbonne skin care, makeup and nutrition information evening
- 28 September - Board of Trustees Meeting, 6.30pm in the staffroom
TERM DATES - 2022
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Term 3: Monday 25th July - Friday 30th September
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Term 4: Monday 17th Oct - Friday 16th Dec (TOD 10th November)
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TERM DATES - 2023
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Term 1: Wednesday 01st February - Thursday 06th April 2023
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Term 2: Monday 24th April - Friday 30th June 2023
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Term 3: Monday 17th July - Friday 22nd September 2023
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Term 4: Monday 9th October - Tuesday 19 December 2023
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Note: 2023 Teacher Only dates are still to be confirmed
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Click here for a list of New Zealand Public Holidays including regional anniversary days
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Our heroes of the week are two families who have made donations of trees to the school. Thanks to the McMenamin whānau for gifting feijoa trees. These have been planted near the bee hive. A huge thank you to the Andrew's whānau for the donation of two tulip trees. These are established trees that will quickly grow and provide shade for children. These gifts will be cherished and provide for children in years to come, ngā mihi nui, thank you very much.
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School Board News
Tēna koutou katoa. On 10 August the current board held its final meeting. Two important matters on the agenda were the mid-year analysis of variance and principal's appraisal.
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The analysis of variance looks at our children's progress in the key areas of reading, writing and maths, as well as target "groups" for this year (Māori learners, able mathematicians and behaviour). We are pleased to see that progress remains satisfactory across the school - especially given the huge challenges of staff and student absence this year.
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We are also pleased to report that Claire received an excellent mid-year appraisal, particularly notable for her modelling of what it means to be a life-long learner through completing level 2 te reo; and for building a culture of trust with the staff. Ka pai whaea Claire!
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Each year our School Board and the finance team work to establish a realistic operating budget for the coming year. This is always a huge task; balancing the needs of our students and school against the operating grant that we receive from the Ministry of Education. We strive to provide quality education to our children, maintain realistic class sizes and age groupings, and offer the additional resources and opportunities that are at the heart of learning at Ararira Springs Primary.
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The suggested school donation for this year is $150 for a family or if you can donate your time instead to help out with tasks such as sorting and organising resources for the teachers, keeping the children safe by supervising our road patrollers, coaching sports teams, helping out on trips or helping to provide transportation for smaller groups attending external sports events, we really appreciate it.
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Please do not feel limited by this. In the past, there have been a number of families who have contributed in excess of the suggested amount and naturally we are very grateful for this. Likewise, if $150 would cause genuine hardship we welcome any contribution that you are able to make towards this, and are happy to receive your contributions in instalments or via an automatic payment provision (see office for details). We do expect that all families will make an effort to contribute as they are able. School donations allow us to provide curriculum resources outside of the basics covered in base funding. Note that receipts for donations can be printed by logging in to your HERO account on a desktop/laptop and can be claimed as a donation.
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We noted the increased traffic on Southfield Drive and wish to thank the parents who help out at the crossing point there - Richard Clark, Amanda Frances, Charlotte McMenamin and Geoff Smith. However more helpers are needed, and we decided that to show our appreciation for their contribution, we would love to shout you a coffee or hot drink at the end of term.
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Finally, we would like to thank all the current parent representatives: Amanda Black, David Fitchett, Hilary Kingston, Andrew McMenamin and Sara Shea, for their service over the last three years - especially Hilary and Sara who have chosen not to stand for re-election. We have chosen a digital voting system for the parent representatives, and you should have received an email from CES (iro@electionz.com) - if not, or you can't vote electronically, please see Trine in the school office. Voting closes on Wednesday 7 September.
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NEXT MEETING - 28 September, 6.30 pm in the Staffroom
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Te Hapori Tautoko (THT) News
Te Hapori Tautoko (THT) - providing opportunities to tautoko (support) and connect our school community and fundraising for school initiatives and resources.
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Our next meeting will be 14 September, 7pm in Putahi.
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Second Hand Uniforms - The THT has a small selection of second hand uniform available for purchase. We are looking to increase our selection and would welcome donations of good quality uniform items. All profits are used by THT to improve our school and provide resources for our tamariki. If you have uniform items to donate or would like to see the selection we have, please contact Charlotte at charlotte.mcmenamin@ararira.school.nz
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Precious Labels - Support the Ararira Springs THT by labelling your child's clothing, shoes, lunch boxes, drink bottles, stationery, electronic items, uniform, swimwear and sports gear with Precious Labels. Please use the above school link when making your purchase as all sales give Ararira Springs a commission.
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Daffodil Day is 26 August and children can come in yellow and green, or dress up as a daffodil if they like.
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Donations to the Cancer Society. There is also a box in the office to get a pin on daffodil if you would like to purchase one.
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Congratulations to our Year 5/6 girls basketball team who took part in the Canterbury Tournament this past week. They played a number of matches and although they did not win their games they worked well as a team and put in their best effort!
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Next week Thursday we will be taking 4 netball teams and 2 rugby teams to the Lincoln Zones Rugby/Netball Tournament. We wish all our teams the best of luck.
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If you are able to help manage a netball team on the day please contact Whaea Meeghan as soon as possible.
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If you would like your child to participate in the upcoming duathlon on the 26th of September, please contact Whaea Meeghan so she can enter your child into the competition.
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PLEASE NOTE: This is a parent lead competition. The school will not be entering a team so should your child wish to participate you will need to transport and supervise your child on the day.
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If you would like more information on the competition please contact Whaea Meeghan and she will be happy to assist you.
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Orana Wildlife Park
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On Tuesday the 16th of August Kaunuku 1-2 went to Orana Wildlife Park, where we got to see some amazing animals. Some of these were the Tasmanian devils, meerkats, otters, gorillas and cheetahs. Alex's favourite moment was when she saw the lions, Ruby liked the lions names; Leah, Meika and Rah. George and Finn really liked feeding the giraffes. They have really long blue tongues and are very strong. Some kids even got licked by the giraffes! We learnt that Kea live in alpine places, meaning mountains. The kea are very cheeky and loud, they like to play games and have lots of toys.
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Kaunuku 1 was lucky enough to see 4 month old Kiwis, whilst Kaunuku 2 saw a blue axolotl ,which is very rare. We had an awesome day learning how to care for these incredible animals.
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By Eglantine, Ruby, Alex, Madi, Chloe, Finn and George.
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Wonder Project
Over the last two terms, our Year 7-8 Hikuwai learners have had the opportunity to participate in the Wonder Project. The Wonder Project is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) programme provided to schools by Engineering New Zealand - they provide the teaching guides, resources, equipment and engineering expertise to run each project.
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During Term 2, local engineer David Lewes from Aurecon, visited to launch some super fun learning through the Rocket Challenge. Students learnt about the science of Newton's laws, technology and engineering design by building and launching water rockets - it was a blast!This term, two local engineers from Transpower, Andrew Beddard and Mike Cousins, have been helping spark engagement about the phenomenon of electricity and how to apply the engineering process to design a small wind turbine - we're big fans of renewable energy.
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Students have learned about the generation, transport and use of electricity across the country and it has been a great hands-on learning opportunity! We'd really like to thank our local experts for giving their time each week to share their love of STEM with our students - it has been an incredible project to be involved in.
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Electricity
What's something that powers our entire town? Gives us access to entertainment and
information? What makes it possible for us to use a fridge or an oven? That's right,
humanity's most needed asset. Electricity. Us humans use electricity and rely on it, more than we would like to admit! Somehow electricity has just mangled into our lives and we don’t even bother anymore to question “Where does this magical thing come from?” Today, why not take this opportunity to learn something about it? You’ve already finished reading the start. Why not continue?
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Humans like options, hence why we have millions of dishes, thousands of colours, and
countless fuzzy dog breeds. The same with electricity. Provided with many options to choose from each suiting different locations, climates, surroundings, and conditions. Of the many different ways, 7 stand out as the main electricity generation ways, with the rest being variations of them. Of the 7 ways, they are divided into two groups.
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Renewable energy and nonrenewable energy. Recently, renewable energy has been given a push in our direction, with scientists advertising and stating how much better and greener it is. Some ways of generation are solar panels, hydro dams, wind turbines, geothermal, and of course many more variations.
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Renewable energy is such an obvious answer to saving the Earth, stopping global warming, blah blah blah. And while that truly renewable energy would be a very sustainable alternative to our current methods, not every country or household would want to invest in something like that just yet. The renewable energy industry is still very young, and some technologies are very overpriced making things like solar or wind energy undesirable. Just because something is renewable, does not make it more efficient. For example; solar. Unlike many other households who would, instead of benefit from getting solar, lose a whole lot of money from it, my family is a family who benefits greatly from it. Both of my parents work from home, my mother growing fungi and my dad being in the computer industry. Only a few households would actually benefit from solar as most families come home from work late at night long after the sun said goodbye. For now, the majority of energy is still generated from unpleasant methods, like burning fossil fuels or burning coal.
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Whether by a greener, more ethical way, or by an unsustainable source, this is how
electricity is generated. Starting at a power plant, or possibly a field laid out with wind
turbines, electricity is generated and then bought by electricity and internet companies to resell at a higher price. With the help of landlines weaving all across the country, electricity zaps from town to town until reaching the desired destination. Our local power grid. Every district in New Zealand (big or small) has an energy grid that distributes electricity to our homes. Every month the power grid will calculate how much electricity every household uses and then tell the power company so they can send us a bill. Say if you have solar and you make too much electricity to use for yourself, then you can sell that energy back to the grid at a lower price.
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Isn’t it nice being more well-versed in something we rely most on? Electricity (although
absolutely destroying our earth) is one of our proudest achievements. Let's try our best to make it a more sustainable and greener thing for a brighter tomorrow!
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What a Load of Rubbish!
In Huarapa this week we have been using the "House of Science" kit to explore rubbish. The activities the children have been exploring this week have been based around sustainability and how we can rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse and how to recycle our waste.
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In the photos, the children are making polymers (DIY bio plastic); sorting (clean) rubbish; using different containers to look at suitable packaging for drink bottles and, investigating different straw types and their sustainability.
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We have loved becoming scientists this week!
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A big thank you to the school family who have sponsored the House of Science kit for our use this term.
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Kelly Club
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Next Week at Kelly Club our theme is Celebrate Us! Come along and celebrate Kelly Club with getting crafty and creative.
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Selwyn District Council
Road Safety Campaign
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Heads Up for Kids
Heads Up for Kids is an organisation supported by the Lions Club. I found out about this organisation from my Nana Ann. She is the coordinator for the Rangiora Lions, who is helping to get Te Puna o Ararira started on this awesome initiative. I am really grateful that my Nana got me interested in this project.
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All we need to start is a Heads Up for Kids tin which is provided by the Lions Club with the help of my Nana. We also need students to participate by bringing in old foreign coins, overseas coins or even just the coins we use here in New Zealand.
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Once these coins are collected they are sent to Wellington to be sorted. The money goes towards helping other schools, and most importantly children's charity.
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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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