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Connect Communication

18 October 2023

Kia ora e te whānau,

We are on the final leg of the term with lots of exciting activities and learning planned. Whaea Kelly and the Hikuwai team started the term off well with our student elections. This was an engaging and authentic way to get our young people interested in the election process.
Ako classes in Hikuwai adopted a colour and developed a campaign and speech to promote their colour. Our bell song changed daily to reflect the colours and on Thursday students voted with orange being declared the winner at our hui on Friday. Monday was a colourful sea of orange, black and white. We hope children accompanied you when you voted on the weekend to learn more about the voting and election process.

The dental van arrived at school yesterday. Children will be called to the van for a check-up over the next few weeks. You are kept informed of the outcomes of the visit.

Planning is underway for 2024. We have appointed five new teachers to our team and are currently recruiting for a second deputy principal. We will be excited to share more details in our next panui. We are starting to think about class placements for 2024 so if there are factors you would like considered please let your child’s ako teacher or myself know. Our class structure will be very similar to this year, however, the location of year groups may well change.

Hub and Space
Year level
Classes
Teretere and Pūtahi space
Year 0/1
4 ako classes
Huarapa
Year 2/3
3 ako class in H 1, 2 & 3
Year 2/3
3 ako class in H 4, 5 & 6
Hikuwai
Year 4/5
3 ako class in Hk 1, 2 & 3
Year 5/6
3 ako class in Hk 4, 5 & 6
Kaunuku
Year 7/8
3 ako classes
An extra teacher was added to teach literacy and numeracy and make a fourth class for core subjects.
We are still waiting for clarity and information from the MOE about our building plans. Further land testing is required due to the close proximity of the building to the stream boundary. We will share information when it comes to hand.

Next week is a busy week for our Year 4 - 8 students with a science roadshow and the athletics sports on Friday in Rolleston. Enjoy the long weekend and what I hope will be some warmer and not so windy weather.
Ngā mihi,
Claire and the Ararira Team

School Board

School policy reviews
This term the final topics in the curriculum and student achievement policies are up for review:
  • Curriculum and student achievement
  • Religious instruction
  • Health education
  • Student achievement information
  • Home learning
  • Distance learning
The policies can be viewed in our SchoolDocs portal (login: ararira / password: russdrive). Your feedback on the policies is valuable and we encourage you to contribute by Friday 10 November (the end of week 6).
NEXT MEETING - 25 October, 6.30 pm in the Staffroom
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Te Kupu o te Wiki - This Week's Kupu:

Ko wai tou ingoa?
What is your name?
Ko ... taku ingoa.
My name is ...

From the Office

Welcome to Ararira Springs Primary!

This week we welcome Reuben H, Nevaeh, Georgia, Olive, Phoebe, Jazz, Sahib, Rosie H, Hunter W, Jack A, and Jax to Huarapa, Jashan, Kaea, and Beckett to Kaunuku, Cathy, Mithila, Ollie W and Boston to Hikuwai, Gianna and Sansithu to Teretere. We hope you love Ararira Springs Primary as much as we do!
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!
Kindo now offers another way to make school payments. School families can now enjoy using online EFTPOS with ANZ, ASB, BNZ, and The Cooperative Bank when using myKindo. Currently there are 5 banks available with more coming on as Paymark set them up. Check out our Support Page for more information.

IMPORTANT DATES 2023

  • 19 October - Shakeout, 9.30am
  • 19 October - THT meeting, 7pm in the staffroom
  • 20 October - Curiosity Clubs begin for T4
  • 23 October - Labour Day (school closed)
  • 24 October - Calender Art orders close (see below)
  • 25 October - School Board meeting, 6.30pm in the staffroom
  • 27 October - World Teachers Day
  • 27 October - Hui (Kaunuku 5/Whaea Brooklyn), 9.15am in the hall
  • 02 November - Changes to NCEA Literacy & Numeracy Whanau Q&A, 6pm LHS (see below)
  • 03 November - Music Festival Performance Night
  • 16 November - Teacher only day (school closed)
  • 17 November - Canterbury Anniversary Day (school closed)
  • 15 December - Last day of term (school finishes 1pm)

Te Hapori Tautoko (THT)

THT - Te Hapori Tautoko - providing opportunities to tautoko (support) and connect our school community and fundraising for school initiatives and resources.
NEXT MEETING - 19 October, 7.00pm in the Staffroom. All welcome.
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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Term 4 Week 2
Just like that we are in term four! There are a number of events that will be taking place over the term. Please see the event schedule below.
Upcoming Term 4 Events
PLEASE NOTE: These are Lincoln Zones (LZ) and Primary Schools Canterbury (PSC) tournaments and competitions. Dates for Ararira Springs Primary (ASP) sporting events are also included. Reminders will be sent out individually.

Ararira Springs Athletics Day
Our annual athletics day will be taking place on the 27th of October at Brookside park. All the tamariki in years 5-8 will be taking part. Selections for the Zones Athletics day will be made from the results of this day.

Ki-O-Rahi Festival
Selwyn Sport Trust will be hosting its first Ki-O-Rahi festival on the 31st of October at Foster Park. We have four teams participating on the day and we are looking for some parent helpers to support our teams. If you are interested in managing one of our teams please contact Whaea Meeghan as soon as possible. For more info on the event please click here.

If there are any other events you would be able to help manage please let us know.
meeghan.coetzee@ararira.school.nz

Weetbix Tryathlon 25th February 2024
We have had a couple of families register their children for this competition. The entries will remain open until right before the event takes place. We look forward to seeing many more children representing Ararira Springs! Please click here for more information or to register. All the best!
What’s on offer?
Check out our What’s on offer page for what clubs in our community are offering over the next few months.

Have a great Term 4!
Meeghan
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The closing date for Book Club Issue 7, 2023 is 01 December. We recommend you place your order by 25 October to ensure it's despatched to you before Issue 8 opens.

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.

For assistance at any stage please contact Scholastic directly on 0800 266 525 or email bookclub@scholastic.co.nz
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2463700285 Jason Smallman - School Promotion Newsletter Ad

School Carpark Expectations Written by Karen Andrews, Health and Safety, Ararira Board

School Carpark Expectations Written by Karen Andrews, Health and Safety, Ararira Board
School Carpark Expectations Behaviours we want to see: Park in designated car parks including on the road. Carparks have been designed and placed by qualified traffic engineers to optimize visibility for drivers. Always stick to the 10km/hr speed limit. Children come and go from school for a variety of reasons at all times of the day. Merge like a zip …

Digital Complications and Applications Written by Blair Cook

Digital Complications and Applications                                        Written by Blair Cook
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Coaching Our Students

Coaching Our Students
Coaching is an important part of Ararira learning for our teachers and our older ākonga. We see coaching as an opportunity to sit with a colleague or support person and in the first instance, check in. Secondly, it provides the coachee with the chance to be listened to and supported. The coachee might share an issue, concern or goal. The …

Attendance at Ararira

Attendance at Ararira
The Importance of Attendance We all recognise that education is the pathway to the future. The key to educational success relies on being present at school. Consistent routines and mileage is a big component of learning. Neurological pathways in our brains require repetitive exposure to strengthen and cement learning and develop mastery. We also develop these neural pathways for resilience, …

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Neurodiverse Learners
Neurodiverse Learners  Neurodiversity is a term used to describe the range of neurological differences among individuals, including conditions such as autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and others. From a school's perspective, it is essential to acknowledge the diversity in the learning abilities within students and provide support which is reflective of their needs. Children who are neurodivergent can face a number of …

Peer Mediation at Ararira Springs Written by Meeghan Coetzee

Peer Mediation at Ararira Springs               Written by Meeghan Coetzee
Peer Mediation Ararira Springs has adopted the peer mediation programme as it fits so strongly with our values of being caring, curious and capable. Peer mediators, selected from Year 7/8 classes, undergo a period of training based on the 'Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme' prior to being on duty in the playground.  Peer mediation is an approach to conflict resolution …
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