Week 8, Term 1 Newsletter

Newsletter Contents:

1. Message From the Principal

2. Fundraising Committee

3. Hero – Home/School Communication

4. Attendance Update

5. Important Dates and Reminders

6. From the classrooms – Room 1

7. Community Notices

Kia ora e te whānau, 

The term really is flying by with only 3 weeks left until the first holiday break for the year. Over the last couple of weeks, there’s been plenty of action at our kura. Our MANA hui were very successful with over 90% of whānau attending. It also seems that the intuitiveness of the new HERO platform has been helping whānau to keep connected and engaged with our kura and communicate with teachers. For our tamariki, I’ve noticed some different things as well.

• Addi has drummed up a huge following with crochet skills, to the point where there is a lunchtime club making all sorts of items from gloves to dishcloths. 
• Dancesplash and Performance Kapa Haka are in full swing and looking in great shape for their performance later in the year.
• A sense of school pride is developing in our tamariki wearing the Dyer Street School Sports tops every day. The latest run of these tops should arrive by the end of the term. 
• The bikes have been a real hit at morning tea and lunchtime.
• The old-school swings have also been popular. 

As part of our strategic plan, Miss Clout has been leading a kaupapa based around gathering student voice for the different ethnicities at our kura. The idea is to collate the main ideas and themes from the voice to create an action plan to value the diversity of our school. This may come in the form of different cultural displays, languages being represented, artwork, food, or acknowledging traditions. In Term 2, we will create a cultural council that will make some decisions from the student voice gathered. 

A reminder that we have Raumanuka Cafe open every morning. We thank the loyal clientele that support our kura and cafe every day but do need more of you to show your support. The cafe is open from 8:15 am to 9 am Monday through Friday and is open from 10:30 am to 12:30 am on a Saturday morning to cater for the Gallery Music tuition that is taking place at Kura. We will be reviewing the cost-effectiveness of this venture in the mid-year so any support is appreciated.

Last week, I had the opportunity to join 24 principals from around the motu in a study tour to Sydney. We visited Lansvale Public School which had 94% of students with English as a second language. It was an honour to tour the school and see the classes in action. We also visited Microsoft and Google Headquarters to see the latest in AI innovation and what that means for education going forward. A key takeaway was many apps can support and reduce barriers for our ākonga if we know how to use and implement them effectively. This will also align with developing a school policy on AI and how it is used so there is clarity for staff, whānau and ākonga. 

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Ngā mihi ki a koutou

Lee Ewington

This week’s principal’s award winners. 

The Fundraising Committee is next meeting on Monday 7th of April 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the school library. 

This year Hero will be used to communicate about meetings and opportunities to contribute to fundraising and support for the school. If you would like to receive these posts please let Ms Waghorn know – megw@dyerstreet.school.nz

Upcoming Fundraising Events:

April – Easter raffle and Janus Bakery Hot Cross Bun sales

Family Pop-in portraits – 5th of April – book now at the link: www.popportraits.co.nz/schedule.php?id=12526

Our Hot Cross Bun fundraiser is back again! Options of brioche, chocolate and fruit or no fruit available: https://forms.gle/8RoW5qbWZzJ458Fj8

Teacher/Caregiver Contact

This is the area to message your child’s teacher on Hero. To find this page click on the three lines in the top left corner on the homepage:

Then click the arrow by the child’s name and choose “Teacher/Caregiver Contact”

From here – to send a message you click the plus sign and make a new “post”. Your child’s teacher will then receive a notification that you have posted. These messages can be seen by staff but not by other parents. 

Stationery Payments

Please remember to make your payment for your child’s stationery. 

Attendance Update

One of the things we are continuing to focus on in 2025 is student attendance.  You will hear us talking about this with you, with our students and it remains a strong subject of conversation in the staff room.   

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure.  Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by the school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent. 

If you are finding it hard to get your child to school, please talk with us so we can work together. 

Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school.

Our school continues to build a culture that fosters attendance every day by having:

•   School staff who have strong relationships with students and family.
•   A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who you are, where you come from and what you value.
•   A school whānau that takes all practical steps to make sure your child is at school and progressing in their learning.
•   A school that is safe and welcoming for everyone in our school community.

Our kura is currently at 73% regular attendance for Term 1 which is a positive start. Our goal is to get this up to 80%. Please see the visual above to get an idea of the tiers. If your child is sitting in the worrying, concerning or serious concern tiers then we will be getting in touch with you to see what the barriers are around attendance and what we can do to support them. 

If you have any attendance queries or issues, please contact us so we can work together.

Carpark Safety 

Please do not park or drive through the staff car park. The car parks are for staff only. Driving or reversing through the carpark at pick-up and drop-off times creates a safety hazard for children leaving and arriving at school.

Contact Details

Please remember to update the office with your contact details if you have moved or changed email or phone numbers. 

Upcoming Events

Week 9 

Monday 24th March – Scholastic Book Orders due

                                          – Room 1,4, 5 & 10’s  trip to the Dowse/Library

Tuesday 25th March – Room 2, 3, 9 & 11’s trip to the Dowse/Library

Friday 28th March – School Eid Celebrations

Week 10

Tuesday 1st April – Hot Cross Bun Orders close

Wednesday 2nd April – Whole School Assembly, Room 2 hosting

Friday 4th April – Whānau Fun Friday

Saturday 5th April – Pop Up Portraits Fundraiser

Week 11

8th April – Piano students concert, 12:40 p.m.

9th April – Hot Cross Bun Order Pick Up & Easter Raffle Drawn

11th April – School finishes for Term 1 at 3 p.m.

Room 1

This week in Room 1, we have been diving into the wonderful world of Room on the Broom! The children had so much fun exploring the exciting vocabulary in the story, especially the magical spell: “Iggety, Ziggety, Zaggety, ZOOM!”

We also worked hard on sequencing, figuring out the order in which each character joined the broom. It was amazing to see the children use their growing phonics skills to match each character’s name to their illustration—such clever learners!

Well done, Room 1! 🎉