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Connect Communication
06 March 2024
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Our current values focus has been on being capable and the precept that we encourage the children to remember is, 'do the right thing, even when no one is watching'. Sometimes this means learning to do the right thing and a perfect example of this is crossing the road safely. If your child walks or scooters to school we would ask for your support with this.
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Children need coaching and reminders of the following;
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- Where is the safest place to cross? The pedestrian island on Southfield Drive, while congested, is the safest place to cross on Southfield Drive.
- How to use a pedestrian island - cars have the right of way. If you are a driver please do not stop for children. It is confusing, giving them a false sense of security and expectations.
We also ask parents to use our crossing and to avoid jaywalking in front of the school with their children. You set the example. Another idea you may consider for older children is to let them stay at school for 5-10 minutes after 3 pm. This will reduce the pressure on the kiss-and-go area and surrounding crossings.
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We have been notified by the NZEI New Zealand Educational Institute and the teachers union that they are holding a series of meetings across the country. Many of our team will be attending a meeting on the afternoon of March 20th. We will be able to provide supervision for children, however, you are welcome to pick your children up at 12:45 pm if you wish. We will send a separate form home early next week.
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Finally, teachers have started the reporting process already. They write and publish learning posts about your child each term. Depending on how you have your Hero account set up, you may receive an email or notification. In the first half of the year, there will be caring, curious, and capable comments, a self-portrait, and some te reo Māori. In term 2 there will be reading, writing, and maths comments. We encourage you to dip into Hero and would LOVE for you to share these with your tamariki | children.
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Claire and the Ararira Team
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School Board
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The school board met on Wednesday 21 February, and approved the appointment of Che Kingi to provide a Māori voice in our decision-making. As it was our first meeting for this year, all portfolios were re-confirmed as follows:
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Presiding member - Andrew McMenamin
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Deputy presiding member - David Fitchett
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Finance - Mia Valerio-Meek
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Hautū/whānau connection - Brie Liberty, Che Kingi
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Health & safety - Karen Andrews, Nicky Harding, Che Kingi
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Policy - Andrew McMenamin
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Property - Claire Howison, David Fitchett, Andrew McMenamin,
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Significant items of discussion included the 'phones away' policy (which is essentially the same as our existing policy); how an hour per day of reading, writing and mathematics is incorporated into normal classroom practice; further investigation of options for installing a solar power system; and progress on our temporary learning spaces (see Claire's separate article on these).
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Policies which are open for review this term are listed below. To review these and provide comments on content and/or implementation, either follow the link from the homepage on Hero or click here (username: ararira // password: russdrive).
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- Te Tiriti ō Waitangi
- Board responsibility
- Documentation and self-review
- Parent involvement
- Communicating with parents
- Community conduct expectations
- School planning and reporting
- Reporting to parents on student progress and achievement
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Presiding Member - Te Puna o Ararira School Board
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Next meeting - 27 March, 6.30pm in Tahuna | Staffrooom
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From the Office
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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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Illness
If your child is absent from school for medical reasons, it is very helpful if you can please give us a bit more information (cough/cold, vomiting, diarrhea, head lice, conjunctivitis, etc.) as this assists us in identifying any outbreaks in certain classes/hubs.
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Also, a reminder that if your child has had a tummy bug, they must stay home for a minimum of 48 hours after the last symptoms.
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Relay for Life
On Saturday 16 March, the Ararira Springs kaimahi (staff) will be walking in the Relay for Life, a remembrance walk and fundraiser for the Cancer Society. We'd love for you to join us at any time between 10am and 10pm with your tamariki. There will be live music and food trucks also. We will be wearing Ararira Springs colours on the day, so feel free to dress up in your blues and orange!
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Please feel free to donate or share via this link.
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Mana Ake Drop-In Sessions
Mana Ake is an organisation working with schools to promote wellbeing and positive mental health for children. The Mana Ake kaimahi (workers) are made up of social workers, occupational therapists, and teachers.
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As a school, we are able to put in requests for service from Mana Ake for individuals and groups of learners to support their well-being and mental health.
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Mana Ake is offering drop-in sessions with Shannon, our liaison kaimahi, at school each Thursday from 8:30-9:15am. This is an opportunity to discuss concerns over your child's wellbeing or mental health or parenting help. You can meet Shannon at the office.
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IMPORTANT DATES 2024
- 07 March - Mana Ake drop in session 8.30-9.15am
- 07 March - THT meeting, 7pm in Tahuna | Staffrooom
- 14 March - Mana Ake drop in session 8.30-9.15am
- 15 March Huarapa 1-3 Hui, 9.15am in the Hall
- 16 March - Relay for Life (see above)
- 21 March - Mana Ake drop in session 8.30-9.15am
- 26-28 March - Year 7 Camp at Glentui
- 28 March - Mana Ake drop in session 8.30-9.15am
- 27 March - School Board Meeting, 6.30pm in Tahuna | Staffrooom
- 28 March - Huarapa 4-6 Hui, 9.15am in the Hall
- 29 March-02 April - Easter Weekend (school closed)
- 04 April - Mana Ake drop in session 8.30-9.15am
- 11 April - Mana Ake drop in session 8.30-9.15am
- 12 April - Last day of term 1
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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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First meeting of 2024 - 07 March, 7pm in Tahuna | Staffrooom
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All welcome - we'd love to have some new faces join us!
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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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On Tuesday the 12th of March we have three teams who have volunteered to take part in the Year 5/6 mixed cricket festival at Foster Park. The day will start at 10am and finish at 2pm. We are looking for a couple of volunteers to manage two of our teams. If you are available to help out please contact Whaea Meeghan urgently.
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Zone swim sports will be taking place at Selwyn Aquatic Centre on Monday the 18th of March. Whaea Meeghan will contact those who are taking part via email.
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Below is a table of events taking place in Term 1. If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact us or check out our ASP Sport Page on the school website or click on the link: ASP Sport. Don’t forget to check out the “What's on offer?” page for clubs advertising their sport.
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Be sure to wear Silly Socks on Friday for Kelly Club!
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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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Mid-Year Reports: Live in Week 11 Reports will contain the following information in Reading, Writing and Maths: A narrative about your child’s learning (what they can do) Next steps How you can help at home A progress descriptor describing your child’s current ability to work within their year level content. Sliders for each element of Reading and Writing, and each …
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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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