Kia ora koutou,

Here we are in Week 6 already!  This week sees our Y7/8 Sports Camp team off on their week in Matamata.  Here they are competing in 30+ different sporting codes against 11 other schools from the Waikato and beyond.  A lot of work has gone into getting the teams ready and we wish them the best of luck for their week away.  We will be sharing some photos via Facebook to keep you updated.  On Thursday our Gymsport team are heading to the Waikato Regional Festival.  We wish them the best of luck as well.

This coming Friday (25th August) is Daffodil Day, so please encourage your children to wear yellow.  We would love to see a sea of yellow.  As we are raising money for the Cancer Society, any and all donations are appreciated.  These will be collected from Learning Communities in the morning.

Next Friday the 1st September, we are hosting a performance by Youth Orchestra, Waikato.  This will be a great opportunity for all of our students to hear a range of music performed by 12 - 18 year olds.

A reminder that we have a Staff Only Day coming up next Monday 28th August.  This will give students a long weekend and we will see them back on Tuesday 29th August.  Thank you for your support.

Enjoy the remainder of your week.

Ngā mihi
Juliet Dickinson

If your child is turning 5 at any time in 2024, please click the link and complete the form.  You will also need to collect a enrolment form from Kerry Crossland, at the school office.
Please note - if you are unsure whether you live in the school zone refer to the 'Find a School' site. If you have older children currently at school, and you live out of zone, you may enroll younger children.

Kia ora e te whānau,

 

Nau mai, haere mai to all our families.

 

We’ve had our first board meeting of Term 3 and we started our meeting with a karakia led by Amy Benton.

 

We had three core focuses for this meeting;

 

As part of our ongoing commitment to the school survey process, we had a reflective discussion around our design and review process from our stakeholder surveys. The purpose was to understand what went well from a process and implementation perspective of the survey, and what opportunities or learnings were there for us to take away for next time.  This review document will guide our survey approaches in the future.

 

Our ERO Profile report has been compiled after working with our school for close to a year. This is under their new model where one 'Evaluation Partner' works with schools in an ongoing way for 3-5 years.  

 

This report celebrated our strengths around:

We then took a deep dive into the mid-year results of learners around Mathematics, Writing and Reading.  We look at this information twice annually and one of the highlights was to see how students are growing their learning across the curriculum.    There has been a positive growth in these core areas.  Structured literacy outcomes in particular are showing a lot of positive incremental gains.  Also of note is that the gap between gender and ethnicities has been reduced.

  

Our September board meeting will see another strong focus on our stakeholder survey outcomes, student data, school-wide reflections and evidence which will then guide decisions around our strategic planning for 2024 and beyond.  This process will be facilitated by Vicky McLennan.  The board looks forward to sharing the outcomes of this with you in the September newsletter.

 

Again, thank you to all those who participated in the survey, the information you’ve provided to us has been invaluable in helping set the direction for Te Kōwhai School.

 

Mā te wā

 

Nicole Watkins

On behalf of the Te Kōwhai School Board

Also refer to the home page of the school website

‘Friends of Te Kowhai School’ are doing things differently for Harvest Festival planning this year. We will be purchasing at least 350 Giant Pumpkin seeds so that each child can receive a Giant Pumpkin seedling and 2 seeds to grow for the March 2024 Harvest Festival. 

To raise the funds we have two fundraisers, Kings Seeds and Wildflowers World's Spring promotion through Garden Post. The money raised will help us purchase the Giant Pumpkin seeds. Order forms are gong home from today to eldest and only students.

Please note: our bank account details have changed - please update to Friends of Te Kowhai School 38-9024-0633444-00 and delete the old PTA name and account if you have those saved as a payee.  Payments aren’t to go the school bank account.

We hope to have your seed orders back to you in the last week of Term 3 so you can all get busy planting over the holidays.

Thanks again for supporting the Friends of Te Kowhai School. If you have any questions please email pta@tekowhai.school.nz

At the 9th August 2023 School Board Meeting, the term dates for 2024 were set. 

We are pleased to welcome Jaimee Brunt to our Garden to Table team. Jaimee is taking on the role of Kitchen Specialist - planning and running the kitchen side of our sessions. We are so excited about the knowledge and passion she is bringing to our programme. 

Jars - We would love some donations of clean jars with lids (jam jar-size). If you have some to spare, please drop them in the box provided in the office.

Small clean plastic pots and seed trays - please send these to Mrs Wilson in the art room.

Thank you so much to everyone who has volunteered their time to help with our sessions. If you would like to help with LC4 or LC5’s sessions, you can add your name to the rosters here: LC4 (Monday afternoons) LC5 (Wednesday afternoons). 

This week’s delicious recipes - try at home with your children!

We are very grateful to the Te Kōwhai Community group for their generous donation which has enabled us to buy the new Sports Camp uniform.  We also want to thank Jo Williams for approaching the group and helping work through the design and organisation process.

If you are not aware of them, the Te Kōwhai Community Group has been in existence for about 40 years. Amongst other things the group exists to enhance the amenities and well-being of the residents of the wider Te Kōwhai community. 

One of the key communication tools of the group is the popular Te Kōwhai Newsletter which is produced every two months by the editor Amanda Jongeneel.  The Newsletter attracts a wide range of paying advertisers and over the years small surpluses have accumulated.  The Community Group has now donated some of those funds for the benefit of the students of Te Kōwhai School, helping with the update of sports uniforms.
Thank you Te Kōwhai Community Group for your support.  

You will have seen that the Government has announced the removal of the mandatory COVID isolation rule, which took effect on 15th August 2023.

All COVID-19 requirements removed – Unite against COVID-19 

Public health officials have advised risk from COVID-19 is now considered low compared to other stages of the pandemic and it is safe to remove the final requirements. 

As with any other illness, it is recommended that students and staff stay at home if they are feeling unwell.  Essentially maintain a common sense approach: if sick stay home, if well, students are expected to come to school.
Parent/Caregivers are to advise the school office when their child is sick - please still state the type of illness so we can see trends and notify our community if there are any major strains of illness going around.

We will continue to phone for children to be collected if they are judged as not well enough to be at school.

The School no longer has RAT tests available.

For further information guidance from Te Whatu Ora can be found here:

Please refer to the Unite against COVID-19 website for more health advice and for further advice on managing COVID-19 infections:

Following vomiting or diarrhoea, a child must be symptom free for 48 hours before they can return to school. This is in line with Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand directives and ensures a child is well again and also not sharing illness with others.

This is the Saturday at the end of week 1, Term 3.
Clink the link to complete the form to register your child and their pet.  Redo the form anew for each child attending.
Click the link to find out about raising a young animal.

Please note Hamilton North Ag Group Day is Monday 16th October and Waikato Show is Friday 27th October.

We require Voting Place Staff at the Te Kowhai Community Hall on Saturday 14 October 2023.
The hours of work will be from 9:00 am until counting is finished – usually sometime around 9:00 - 10:00 pm.
If possible, we would like to employ people from the local community
There are a range of positions that involve staff in issuing ordinary and special votes.  Other positions are available for Voter Assistants and Voting Place managers.
Payment for voting place staff is scheduled at $28.08 per hour, inclusive of holiday pay.
Voting Place Managers are scheduled at the rate of $33.49 per hour, inclusive of holiday pay.
Paid training will be given to all successful applicants.

Please apply at:  work.elections.nz

Thank you for your help.
Ian McLauchlan
R.R. Manager
Taranaki King Country Electorate