Week 4, Term 1 Newsletter

Newsletter Contents:

1. Message From the Principal

2. Link Up Committee (Fun and Fundraising group)

3. Hero – Home/School Communication

4. Lunch Update

5. Sports @ Dyer Street

6. Important Dates and Reminders

7. From the classrooms – Room 3 & Room 5

8. School Events

9. Community Notices

Kia ora e te whānau, 

We have just finished Week 4 of the school term. It would be fair to say things are amping up around our kura with Inter- school cricket, Chilton Kapa Haka Exchange,Touch rugby starting, and initial interest for Artsplash all on the go. It’s great to see the wonderful self-portrait artwork from our junior classes shared at assembly and adorning the walls along the corridor. Classroom routines and programmes are up and running with our tamariki getting their first taste of the PR1ME maths resources which is supporting our regular maths programme in DMiC. It’s been a positive start to our school year at kura.  

Earlier this week, our Dyer Street Kapa Haka roopu participated in a wonderful Kapa Haka Exchange with Chilton St James, performing with immense pride and mana. It was a fantastic opportunity for collaborative learning, as both schools came together to learn and create actions for the waiata Ngā Iwi E, strengthening our connections through waiata and tikanga. A huge thank you to Chilton St James for their manaakitanga, making us feel so welcome, and to our whānau for their ongoing support. Ngā mihi to Whaea Col for her organisation in making this special visit possible!

As part of our strategic plan, under the identity pou, we are always looking for initiatives aimed at bringing whānau, staff, and tamariki together. Our Whānau Fun Fridays, running on even weeks (Weeks 4, 6, 8, and 10), where the focus is on creating a relaxed and welcoming space for everyone to connect. Held on Friday afternoons, these events offer a variety of activities, including sports, biking, and chess for tamariki to enjoy. The Raumanuka Café will also be open, serving hot drinks, iced coffees, and refreshing ice blocks for sale. Unfortunately for today’s session the weather didn’t play it’s part! 

Dyer Street School sports tops and bucket hats are now available for purchase – please see notice on Hero. These items essential for all students participating in school sports teams, such as touch rugby, netball, and basketball, as well as when representing our kura at Inter-School Sports events. These items help create a sense of unity and pride while ensuring our tamariki are easily identifiable during competitions. Beyond sports events, the tops are also a great option for everyday wear at school. Sample sizes are available to try at the office with the final orders needing to be in by Wednesday 26th February. 

Finally, we farewell our wonderful SWIS ( social worker in schools) Hannah McHale today as she starts maternity leave next week. Although Hannah will be back later in the year, I want to acknowledge her for the dedication and commitment she has shown to our tamariki and whānau in this role over the last 18 months. We welcome Carolyn Loader who will take up the SWIS role while Hannah is away. 

Kia pai ngā rā whakata

Lee Ewington- Tumuaki

This week’s principal’s award winners. 

The Fundraising Committee is next meeting on Monday 3rd March 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

We will shortly be asking for contributions to the Easter Raffle and helpers for the raffle and Hot Cross Bun sales. 

Tea towels are still available to purchase at the school office. $10 each. 

We are loving the improved home school communication we are seeing with the HERO app. It makes it much easier for teacher’s to share what’s going on for your child at school. Thank you for the great take-up of the app, it is really heartening to see. Here are some explanations for some of the different content you may be seeing on Hero. 

Feed:

This is personalised to your whānau. You will see updates from your child’s classroom teacher about what they have been up to as a class, as well as occasional updates from the whole Ako Iti or Ako Nui team. You will also see whole school notices as well as notices for groups your child is in – this may for children in the Māori whānau rōpu or Touch teams for example. You can see what group the notice has been sent to by reading the note at the top of the post. 

Mana Moments:

These are special moments a staff member has captured of your child experiencing success at school. This could be through their effort, through showing the school values or by receiving an award. It has been awesome to see the positive comments from whānau on these posts and how exciting kids are to receive one. Teachers are still learning how to create these kind of posts so don’t worry if your child doesn’t have one yet, we are working on it!

Lunch Update

Water only please!

Please ensure children do not bring drinks other than water to school – we are a water-only school. If this is a problem for your child due to their dietary needs please get in touch with Lee Ewington 

For your interest, these were the meals supplied for Week 3 & 4:

Please check your emails or Hero for information on several sports opportunities. If you need assistance please get in touch with Mr Ranchod anandr@dyerstreet.school.nz

Run Club

Calling all runners!!!!! If you are keen to get involved in this new club then come and meet Mr Ranchod outside the Hall at 8 am on Tuesday. We will be going for short runs around the local area.  This is only open to students from Year 4 to Year 6 at this stage. There will be an opportunity for Years 1 to 3 to be a part of this club during break times.

Parents are welcome to tag along too!!

If the weather is not good then a message will be posted on Hero before 7:30 am.

Celebrating Our Football Stars

Well done to: Kenzo, Nasim, Tāne and LA for receiving our latest players of the match

Netball

First games start this Saturday at Taita Courts. 

Festival of Cricket

Some of our students and Mr Ranchod had a great day at the Festival of Cricket in Petone on Thursday, thanks to our parent helpers, especially for accommodating the postponement.

For all sports this year, you will receive notices about registration via Hero. Once your child is registered a group will be created and all families in that group will start receiving information and updates, again via Hero.

Medication held onsite

Please remember to bring in any regular medication your child needs. For asthmatic children we also require an asthma inhaler and pump to be held on site. We use these whenever we go out on trips and for hygiene reasons need children to have their own one available. If you are unsure of what we hold for your child please email the office or come in and see us office@dyerstreet.school.nz

Contact Details

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

Room 10 – Donation Request

Room 10 have a crochet club and would love any donations of wool/yarn or crochet hooks to support them. Please drop off to office or Addi in Room 10.

Upcoming Events

Week 6

Monday 3rd March Māori whānau hui 

Friday 7th March – Assembly 2:30 p.m.

Friday 7th March – Whānau Fun Friday 3:15 p.m.

Week 7 

Tuesday 11th March – Mana Hui (Parent/Teacher conversations)

Thursday 13th March – Mana Hui (Parent/Teacher conversations)

Week 11

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

Room 3

Room 5

Room 5’s Self-Portrait Art Exploration

This term, Room 5 has been learning about composition and how to position our faces to fill the page in our self-portraits. We have been taking our time to observe and add detail, focusing on features like eyelashes and ear shapes to make our artwork more realistic. Through this process, we explored contrasting colours to make our portraits stand out, experimenting with pastels to blend and shade effectively. It has been an exciting journey of self-expression, creativity, and learning how small details can bring our artwork to life!

On Monday, 17th February, our Dyer Street Kapa Haka Rōpu performed at Chilton St James. With only one week of practice, they delivered an outstanding performance. Showing Manaakitanga and Aumangea, their commitment and passion really played a massive part in preparing for this event! We are very lucky to have such an enthusiastic rōpu who give their all when performing! 

Thank you to our parent helpers and staff who supported this event, and to Chilton St James for inviting us. This performance marks the beginning of many more to come.