Newsletter 16th June 2023

Information

Before School Care:   Lorna: [email protected]

After School Care:      Karen: 027 223 5934

Piano:  Susan Fraser: 021 378 007

Guitar/Drums: Paul Barry – [email protected], ph:  022 198 0044

School Uniform Shop on-site: – Tuesday 2.45 – 3.15pm

Principal’s News

Dear parents and caregivers,

With so many amazing experiences over the last couple of weeks it has been a pleasure to watch many of our children use their school values! The children are consistently reminded about what our values look like in many contexts around our school, including in the playground, on the sports field, on stage and when learning in the classroom. The leadership team of myself, Kelly Knowles and Michelle Butler give out PRIDE certificates when we catch children obviously showing our values, these are displayed in the office, before coming home with the children. It is one of our highlights to see these values being shown around our school. We acknowledge those children who get these awards in the newsletter. In the last two weeks, the children who have gained these awards are: Ollie Yuan, Mia Hamilton, Georgia Cotty, Eva Ma, Theo Cadness-Aspinall, Olivia Stewart, Harper Beshara, Murilo Costa

This week I have reflected on just what a privileged job I have. To lead such a dedicated, passionate and talented team of teachers and support staff. These people always go the extra mile for your children. The opportunities our children are able to take advantage of are provided by our school staff. We also have an engaged and supportive community, active and responsive PTA and a passionate Board. But without doubt, the most amazing asset we have is our tamariki. They delight, surprise and inspire me every day. This has been proven again this week. I am a very proud Principal!

The evening at the Bays Arts Festival was incredibly special to be able to be at. I was lucky enough to be backstage with our groups. Firstly a special mention to our Kapa Haka group. These amazing children, wonderfully led by Whaea Vikki Demant, opened the whole event. Not only is this a great privilege in itself, but our group stepped in two weeks before the performance, when another school pulled out. They worked so hard, and I don’t mind admitting their performance brought a tear to my eyes!  We look forward to being able to perform at other school events during the year. It was an incredible opening to the event. Then our ABBA themed dance group performed so well too! They brought fun and energy to the stage. Being backstage I was able to see the excitement and nerves. At one stage I was even roped in as a stagehand! A massive thank you to Charlene Boyd, who organised the show for the whole cluster as well as organising our item. Thanks to Sam McCubbin for her support of this event as well!

On Friday we held our disco. What an amazing event for our children. It was a massive job to organise and run, and as always our PTA did a wonderful job! Thank you to those parents who organised and supported the event, as well as those teachers who also gave their time to support the disco. The children had an amazing time! It is so special to be running these events, after the disrupted years we have had where the children missed out on events like discos, it was a lovely reminder of how important these types of activities are to the children and our school.

As part of the evening, we held a sharing session to allow our community to look at our new playground proposal, see the plans for the building work on Isobel Rd and to just come and have a chat with school leaders and board members. A big thank you to the parents and children who gave us so much lovely feedback on the playground. The main thoughts were that people liked the links to Greenhithe’s local history and that some of the younger children had had a hand in deciding what they wanted in the playground area. It was lovely to meet some of our new parents and community members, catch up with familiar faces and connect with our community. Thank you to the board members who were able to be there, again showing our Board supporting the school.

We also had some cross country events. Our place getters from our senior cross country ran in our cluster event in what can only be described as challenging conditions! The course was very wet! They performed brilliantly. I was most impressed with the support the children gave each other. They created a really great team environment on the day. Thank you Sharon Hilton Jones for your organisation of our team! We also held our junior cross country, with our school leaders marshalling and supporting the younger children. I was so proud of the effort the children put in. We had amazing parent support on the day as well! Thank you for your support and thank you to the junior team for a lovely event for our young learners.

Finally, Parent Teacher Interviews will be open today for you to book a session with your child’s class teacher on Wednesday 28th June from 3.30pm – 7.30pm, or Thursday 29th June from 3.30pm – 5.30pm. The code for interviews: qzag7 – www.schoolinterviews.co.nz.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you to all the parents who have attended or supported one of our events in the last couple of weeks!

Ngā mihi 

Stephen Grady

Tumuaki/Principal

Greenhithe School

Our Greenhithe Kaitiaki have been so diligent working with Bunnings Constellation in planning and persevering with the hard mahi for our Learn to Grow area at school.

Whakataukī: Whāngaia, ka tupu, ka puawai, That which is nurtured grows, then blossoms.

We would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Bunnings Constellation for bringing our students ideas to life, through their support in donating the goods that we required.

• lots of soil
• timber, screws for making the veggie planters
• planters for herbs and flowers
• trowels, forks, spades, watering cans, gardening gloves
• galvanised storage box, lock and bench

This is not just an area for us to learn about growing plants and vegatables, and being at peace with nature. It is an area for our school Mitey Mediators to support our students to find friends and learn to grow themselves as Mitey Children!

Sports Corner     Korero hākinakina

SPLASH POLO YEARS 3-6

Registrations for Term 3’s Splash Polo competition will be opened shortly on Kindo. Preference will be given to returning players from Term 2.  We are looking at Year 3 and 4 players particularly, as our numbers were a bit thin towards the end of the term. Games are played on a Sunday afternoon at the Millennium Centre. All other relevant information is on Kindo. 

MINIBALL YEARS 3-6

Registrations for Miniball will be opened shortly on Kindo. Preference will be given to returning players. The Miniball competition is played over two terms, so please keep this in mind when registering. All other relevant information is on Kindo.

INTER SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

Last Wednesday we took a team of 34 runners to compete at Coatesville School in the Inter School Cross Country. Points were allocated to any runner who finished in the top 6 of their races – and for the tenth year in a row, Greenhithe School won the Best Overall School. Thanks again to those parents who helped transport and marshal on the day. Next Tuesday the same team is off to the Northern Bays Cross Country at Long Bay Regional Park. Good luck to all of those runners!

Here are the results from the Interschool day and a couple of photos.

Inter School Placing Cross Country 2023

Below is the team celebrating Best Overall School and Nyah and Max holding the trophy.

KEEPING IN TOUCH

If there is anything that you would like included in the school newsletter, an achievement that you think is worth sharing, please email me at [email protected]   

Sharon Hilton-Jones

Sports Co-ordinator   

Community Notices

Jazz School, School holiday Big Band workshop

This will be an exciting three day school holiday workshop where year 6, 7 and 8 students will learn to play in a Jazz Big Band and then perform a concert for family and friends on the final afternoon. The Big Band is for Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone and Clarinet players plus Electric Guitar, Piano, Bass and Drums. The music we play will range from jazz standards to modern pop classics with an emphasis on having fun while producing music at a high standard. July 3, 4 and 5. Please visit jazzschool.co.nz or email [email protected] for more information.

Playball is back at Greenhithe School for Term 3 2023! 

Playball is a sport and movement program for children between the ages of five and nine. All of the programs are taught in a fun-filled, energetic and positive environment.

Playball programs are age specific, with each of our programs taking into account the difference in the cognitive, emotional, social and motor development of the children in each age group.

Our Playball North Harbour coaches are dedicated to providing the best learning environment for children by using physical activity as a vehicle.

Some examples of sports we focus on in schools are; Hockey, Football, Tennis, Basketball and many more! We also bring in competition and more team elements to our 5-9 year old program to prepare the children for sport in the future. Each week will be different, to build on the skills and movements learnt in previous lessons.

Classes at Greenhithe School will be held on:

Wednesdays from 3:15-4:00 starting July 19th. 

The cost for the term will be $130.

If you would like your child to take part this term, please click the following link to complete the sign-up process: https://www.playballkids.com/parent-zone/basket_bookings.php?classid=55494

Classes will be held outside at the school field next to the hall when fine and inside the hall when wet.

If a class is postponed, parents will be notified ahead of class time. 

A coach will wait outside classrooms to collect children. Please let me know your child’s classroom.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Coach Reuben on 0277674060 or [email protected] 

Splash Holiday Programme

The Splash Holiday programme is a fun and safe opportunity for children aged 8-15 to improve their water safety competence and knowledge, while enhancing their swimming ability. Places are limited to 25 per day and cost $30 per child.

Splash is now in its 10th year, and our experienced instructors provide a friendly and inclusive environment where confidence is built, and kids are encouraged to give new aquatic activities a go!

Activities include lifejacket safety, snorkelling, bystander rescue, beach safety with safer boating and Manu safety (bombing) on offer for the older age group sessions.

Further information and registration is available on our website. Parents will need to enrol their children in the correct session based on age group (8-10, 11-15) and select the location and date that suits. www.dpanz.org.nz/community/holiday-programmes