Week 4, Term 1 Newsletter

Dyer Street School

School Newsletter

Newsletter Contents:

1. Message From the Principal

2. Welcome to new students

3. Link Up Committee (Fun and Fundraising group)

4. Sport at D.S.S. – updates and events

5. From the classrooms (Room 2 & Room 10)

6. Important Dates and Reminders

7. Community Notices

Kia ora e te whānau,

This week we invited whānau into our kura for our Link Up hui. We had over 80% of our whānau attend these hui. This format gives the chance for teachers and whānau to connect and share information about their child/ren. As teachers, we find this an invaluable opportunity to understand more about your child, the aspirations you have for them this year and what we should be aware of in terms of barriers to learning. I know that for some families, you might be expecting a more traditional format where learning is shared and progress. These will be done later in the year once we have had time to establish our teaching and learning programmes and provide up-to-date assessments. If you didn’t get the chance to attend this hui, please contact your teacher to arrange an alternative time.

In terms of outdoor spaces, we have installed our new soccer goals. Without a doubt, they have been an absolute hit with our tamariki. One child said to me, “ at least we don’t have to chase the ball anymore because there is a net now”. It’s the little things that count right? Ngā mihi to Nuku Ora who supported us in part-purchasing these goals through the Tu Manawa grant. The Cricket net surface is sorted and we are now working towards some side netting to enclose the net and finish the project off. One of our key goals for this year is the development of a school sandpit area. The initial design work and visioning is underway on this. We will keep you updated with these plans as they progress.

Our new school sports tops have been distributed to our touch teams and used in the recent Rippa Rugby tournament at Hutt Park. We have a decent school supply that can be used but we recommend purchasing your own sports top if your children intend on playing sport for the school.

Please use this link to purchase a sports top for your child. We have had positive feedback so far from whānau about the sports tops and this will be the first of more merchandise to come for our kura.

We are obliged under the new government to have a Cell Phone Policy for tamariki who bring mobile phones to school. Our policy is that if a student is to bring a phone to school, they must leave it at the office upon arrival at school. It will be secured and locked away and returned to the student at the end of the day. We have very few tamariki who actually bring phones at this stage but if your child does, then this is the process to follow. If you need to communicate with your child during the day, please phone the office and we will pass on your message.

As tumuaki of this wonderful kura, I have to commend all our staff and tamariki for a wonderful, settled, focused and positive start to the school year. Some of the systems and habits we have been working on for the last year have really kicked in. I look forward to an exciting year ahead.

Ngā mihi mahana

Lee Ewington

He tumuaki ki te kura o Dyer Street.

Room 1 –

Ruhan, Rory, Felix, Troy, Palei, Izabel

Room 9 –

Jai

The Link Up Committee (the friendly and relaxed parent-led fun and fundraising group) is next meeting on Monday 4th March at 7:30 p.m.

All supporters of Dyer Street School are most welcome. We meet in the school library.

To contact the committee or be added to the Facebook group please email linkupdyerstreet@gmail.com

A busy start to the year with Touch Rugby underway! It was great to finally get started without rain cancelling the first week which happened in terms 1 and 4 last year.

It’s awesome to see our new sports tops in action. The kids were so excited to get to wear them.

On Tuesday, some of our year 3-6 students went down to a windy Hutt Park to take part in a Rippa Rugby day. They had great fun competing against other schools. It’s always great to see our students represent DSS so well. There was some great sportsmanship and ability on show throughout the day.

SPORT CONTINUED…

Upcoming events

March the 12th: Year 3-6 Cricket Festival

Registration is out via Skool Loop. More information will be sent out soon!

The cut-off for registration is Tuesday the 27th (next week)

Late Term 1: Basketball and Year 5/6 Netball Registration:

These are ongoing competitions that run out of school hours each week. Details about when games are played will be sent with the registration form. These teams will need team managers who can support the teams at games.

Lost Property

The lost property can be found in the corridor outside the library. There are a lot of drink bottles building up here, please come by and check if your child has left something. Named items are usually returned to the owner but most un-named items are donated to charity at the end of the term.

School Sports Top Orders

You can place an order for a new school sports top for your child by following this link: DSS Sports top order form

Let’s Get Movin’ in March!

We’re a Movin’March school and counting down to Friday the 1st March when we’ll start stamping passports as part of the Walk or Wheel Passport Challenge all through March. Walking or wheeling to school is a great way to get active, know your neighbourhood, kick start learning for the day AND take care of the environment. Remember tamariki with at least one stamp on their passports to go in the draw to win a $400 MYRIDE voucher at the end of March!

Fancy going in the draw to win a scooter? Parents who take part in our Whānau photo competition on Facebook or Instagram will be in to win 1 of 5 adult or child Micro Scooters and helmets or a Family Pass to Staglands or Zealandia. Check out the Movin’March website for more on these competitions and how you can take part.

Upcoming Events

1st March – Movin’ March begins

5th March – School Sports Top orders and payments due

8th March – Whole School Assembly

12th March – Cricket Festival

22nd March – Whole School Assembly

29th March – Good Friday (school closed)

1st April – Easter Monday (school closed)

2nd April – Easter Tuesday (school closed)

12th April – Whole School Assembly (2:15 p.m.)

12th April – Term finishes (3 p.m)

Room 2

Room 2 has been exploring our Mana and what makes us special as a person. We have created self-portraits and a background of dots. We enjoyed learning to paint in a new way. Around our portrait, we have written 4 traits that make us special and contribute to our Mana. We are very proud of our work.

Room 10

This term, Room 10 is learning their pepeha. The purpose of a pepeha is to make new connections when saying this to a group of people. Their pepeha includes where they are from, who is in their family, where they go to school, what they are good at (E.g: I am a footballer), their name and more. This week they have been very busy with creating art work to go alongside their pepeha. It has been a nice opportunity for them to get to know each other more, especially when connecting through how many different types of pets they have or who they live with at home. Room 10 were very proud to showcase these to the school at their assembly on Friday! Ka rawe ruma tekau!