Newsletter #16
Port Ahuriri School 18 August 2022
Dear Parents & Caregivers
Tēnā koutou te hunga pānui o tō tātou hāpori. Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa
I was on a Zoom the other night and there was a speaker from the National Library of New Zealand. She spoke about a great service available to children called Any Questions. Any Questions offers free online schoolwork help for all New Zealand school students. Students can log on to the website from 1pm to 6pm weekdays during the school year and via text-based chat work with a friendly librarian around a schoolwork question. The librarians involved in Any Questions are specially trained to help students find the answers they need by developing their ability to source and critically evaluate quality online information sources. The aim of the service is not to give students the answer, but rather to teach them valuable information literacy skills so they can find the information for themselves in the future. The key benefits of the service lie in its safety and the help it provides for students in finding quality assured information that’s right for their need and level. Any Questions is accessible to any New Zealand school student, on any internet enabled device, whether it be from school, bus, library, bedroom, or park! The web address is https://anyquestions.govt.nz/
Our big event on Monday is the school cross country. Parents, you are most welcome to come and watch on any part of the course including on the school grounds. All races start down at Ahuriri Park and then the children run up Dommet Street and into the school grounds before finishing in front of the COLA. The children then wait for the rest of their group before going back to class with their teacher.
The race times are:
10.30 – Race 1 – Year 0 and Year 1 Girls and Boys
10.50 – Race 2 – Year 2 Girls and Boys
11.10 – Race 3 – Year 3 Girls and Boys
11.30 – Race 4 – Year 4 Girls and Boys
11.50 – Race 5 – Year 5 Girls and Boys
12.10 – Race 6 – Year 6 Girls and Boys
Fingers crossed the weather is great for us again this year.
Edible Arts is on next Wednesday, with 46 children from year 5/6 competing at the Hastings Opera House. Parents are welcome to come and watch the judging at 1.00pm. Mrs Robertson has done an amazing job with this group and there are some incredible pieces of art/clothing that have been made.
Busy old day on Wednesday as there is also a team of year 5/6 children going out to Haumoana School for the Coastal Cluster Literature Quiz.
My thanks to all the children and parents in years 4-6 who have supported the recommendation by the Ministries of Health and Education on mask wearing. I haven’t any specific information this week on the continuation of this but suffice to say it is great practice and keeps those winter bugs at a minimum so we will continue to support it. With Production practices ramping up, its best we keep as many children as well as possible and attending school. I’m sure they would hate to miss out on this exciting event.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Koina ngā kōrero mo tēnei wā
Kia pai ō koutou wiki
Nāku nā
Glenn
Important Dates this Term
22 August - School Cross Country
24 August - Coastal Cluster Literacy Challenge
24 August - Edible Arts Show
7 September - School Board Election Date
7 September - Coastal Cluster Cross Country
20 & 21 September - School Production
30 September - Last Day of Term 3
New Enrolments
We hope you enjoy your school days here at Port Ahuriri School.
Returning to school following illness
The Ministry of Health has confirmed that the guidance for returning to schools following vomiting or diarrhoea has not changed. If a child is free of those symptoms for 48 hours, they can attend school again. We have updated the winter wellness guidance for parents, caregivers and whānau to reflect the following points:
- If a child has been unwell with a respiratory illness other than COVID-19, they can return to school 24 hours after they have significantly improved and are behaving/eating normally.
- Following vomiting or diarrhoea, a child should be symptom free for 48 hours before they can return.
- If they still have a runny nose or dry cough without any other symptoms such as a fever, vomiting or diarrhoea, then they are unlikely to be infectious and can be considered well enough to attend school.
To read our winter wellness advice go to:
Winter wellness guide for tamariki [DOCX, 22.0 KB]
School Production
It's official! Tickets are now on sale for our school production 'The Ogre & Princess Fiona'. Link below.
Parent Help
If you are able to help with creating props or a small amount of sewing please email me emma@portahuriri.school.nz to let me know that you are keen to help. I will start to give out jobs over the next week or so.
Costumes
Your child will bring home a notice to let you know what they will require for their costumes. Please keep an eye out for the notice coming home and if you have any questions get in touch with their teacher. The $5 can be paid to the office and any extra clothing they need to bring in can be given to their teacher.
School Board Elections - Parent Representatives
Voting is now open for the election of three parent representatives to the school board.
All eligible voters have been emailed a voting form, along with candidate statements.
For those not on email, you can complete voting forms at the school office. These will be on the table next to the chairs in the school office along with a voting box. Feel free to pop in and vote, or return your forms.
Voting closes at 4pm on Wednesday 7 September 2022.
Term 3 Sports
Just a reminder that you can see what school sports are available for Term 3 on our school website. The link is here https://www.portahuriri.school.nz/137/pages/24-term-three-sports
Any questions please email Louise Taotahi on louise@portahuriri.school.nz
Spring Collective Event
When: September 17th 2022 / 11am – 4:00pm
Where: The inner field to the Athletics track - Mitre 10 Park
To host the Spring Collective event that involves cultural groups performing on stage, food stalls, bouncy castles, information stalls and face painting. A great chance to host an inclusive event to kick off the summer season. It is also a great opportunity to come down to get a free health check provided by Health Hawke’s Bay.
Purpose: To promote the understanding of social, cultural, mental and physical needs that everyone has. It’s a chance to bring the community together, after the effects of covid, to help network and connect in a fun and vibrant environment.
Cultural events help to develop the skills of cooperation and communication. The benefits of the Spring Collective event include building social cohesion, providing a socially acceptable area and creating a sense of place for everyone involved. It also provides the community to establish social networks.
Aim: We are wanting to make this a free event for the community so that families can come and have fun while watching some entertainment with different cultural groups within Hawke’s Bay. The event is designed to bring laughter and fun to the community after the ups and downs we have had throughout the life of covid. We emphasise the enjoyable aspect to keep everyone in good spirits with their peers.
Involvement: The below are who we are wanting to engage with to help create a fantastic atmosphere:
- The Madd Fun Company – Bouncy Castles, staging and lighting
- Food stalls – 3 food, 1 ice cream
- Information stalls – i.e. Environment Centre, Big brothers Big sisters, Health HB
- Face Painter
- Multicultural society – groups to perform on stage
Please join our Facebook page via the link below:
Contact Us
Email: admin@portahuriri.school.nz
Website: https://www.portahuriri.school.nz/1/pages/1-welcome
Phone: +646 835 7988