Dear parents,
Our PRIDE values of Perseverance, Respect, Initiative, Diligence and Excellence are very important to us at school. The children have lots of opportunities to use their school values in the classroom, in the playground and on the sports field. It is lovely to hear from our teachers how well the children are using their values! Over the start of this term, the following children have been awarded certificates: Carter Cathcart, Ella Olsen, Frankie Clarkson, Lilae Narsa, Rocco Slade, Ash Hurst and Ruby Wilson.
Government Changes and Updates
I am sure you will have seen the announcements over the last little while about schooling in New Zealand. We were already meeting the ‘hour a day’ of reading, writing and maths requirements and our policy on the use of phones was also in place. We are fortunate that regular attendance is not a major issue at our school. We have well established systems in place for this, and our local attendance service providers, who support children where the school raises a concern with regular attendance, are excellent and work closely with us when we have any concerns over a child’s attendance. The school lunch debate at the moment doesn’t affect our school directly, as we do not qualify for this.
The structured literacy announcement was no surprise and we have had a phonics based programme in place for several years, helping us to have reading achievement data at our school of over 90% achieving the required level. However, our leaders and teachers are consistently reviewing and enhancing our programmes in line with research. We are currently reviewing our programmes in literacy to see if there are improvements to be made. As we make enhancements, we will keep you updated through either the newsletter or a parent information evening.
We are expecting many other systemic changes over this year, including assessment, reporting, curriculum changes and funding changes. While the pace of change can be challenging for schools, we have a great team here, who have your child’s education and wellbeing at the centre of every decision or change that we will make.
Change in Weather and Uniforms
The weather is definitely becoming more wintry and I would like to make some reminders about our uniform requirements please.
- Any long sleeved top worn under the school shirt MUST BE NAVY BLUE AND PLAIN.
- Only school fleeces should be worn over the top, any other jumpers, hoodies etc will not be allowed and the children asked to remove them.
- Jeans are not suitable for school. Any shorts, skorts, skirts and trousers must be plain and navy blue.
- School raincoats can be purchased as well.
Our children look very smart in their uniform, please ensure your child’s uniform meets our requirements.
Pink Shirt Day
Friday 17th May will be a non uniform day and a gold coin donation will be collected from the students at the gates. Our School House Leaders will be there to collect your donations from you. Pink Shirt Day is part of a powerful movement to spread aroha and kindness and end bullying. We would love for our students to wear something pink and gift a gold coin donation to this charity.
Jumping June!
The Heart Foundation is New Zealand’s heart charity, leading the fight against heart disease. Greenhithe School are going to fundraise for the Heart Foundation charity so they can research into new and innovative treatments for heart disease and specialist training for doctors.
We will be engaging the children in getting active by skipping everyday. On the 7th June we will be holding our Jumping June event, where children will have different skipping activities to do. We will have a non uniform school day on the 7th where children can wear the colour red. This will be a gold coin donation. Thank you for your support.
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