Principal’s Message
Kia ora e te whānau
We’re well and truly into the second half of the term, and there is plenty happening around the kura.
The last couple of weeks have had a bit of everything: Home–School Partnership Hui, some great opportunities for our tamariki, plenty happening in classrooms, and unfortunately a fair bit of winter illness doing the rounds as well!
As always, thanks for your ongoing support of the school and our tamariki. There’s plenty coming up over the next couple of weeks, so have a read through the updates below.
Strong Partnerships, Growing Together
It was great to see so many of you at our recent Home–School Partnership Hui, with 83% of our whānau attending. Thanks for making the time to come in and meet with teachers.
These hui are an important chance to talk openly about how your children are going, where they are making progress, and where they may need some extra support. This was particularly important this time around as we begin reporting against the expectations of the revised New Zealand Curriculum.
For some children, it may look on paper as though they have gone backwards. This is not the case. The expectations have changed and, in many areas, the bar has been lifted. Our job now is to respond to that.
Across the school, we are looking closely at where our learners are at and putting additional teaching and support into the areas where we need to lift progress.
Thanks again for coming along and being part of these conversations. Working together makes a real difference for our kids.
NED’s Mindset Mission
It was great to have Hallie from NED’s Mindset Mission visit us last week and spend some time with our tamariki.
There were plenty of laughs along the way, but also some really useful messages around Never giving up, Encouraging others and Doing your best. Our kids took a lot from the session, and it fitted really nicely with the social and emotional learning we are focusing on across the school at the moment.
A big thanks to Halie and the NED team for spending time with us and reinforcing some simple messages that our kids can put into practice every day.
Yoyo’s will be on sale until this Friday.
Find out more about NED’s Mindset Mission HERE
Taranaki Bulls Visit
Once again, a big thanks to the team at Matahio for helping bring the Taranaki Bulls out to Ngaere School to spend some time with our tamariki.
The players brought along posters, flags, cookies and GA tickets for the upcoming Canterbury match, as well as spending time chatting with the kids and generally promoting rugby.
It was another cool opportunity for our tamariki to connect with some of our local sporting role models and enjoy having the Bulls around the school.
There are free Taranaki Bulls vs Canterbury game tickets available from the school office. The game is on Saturday 29th August at 2.05pm. Please see Karen in the office if you would like tickets.
Taranaki Winter Sports Tournament
Wishing our Year 7 & 8 students all the very best as they head to Hāwera on Friday to compete in the Taranaki Winter Sports Tournament.
It’s always a great opportunity for our senior students to represent Ngaere School, compete alongside students from across the region and enjoy a day of sport.
Play hard, play fair and represent Ngaere with pride — kia kaha!
Taranaki Mohoao Kapahaka Festival
Next Wednesday 26 August, our kapa haka rōpū will be taking part in the Taranaki Mohoao Kapa Haka Festival.
This is always a great day, bringing schools from across the central part of our region together to share kapa haka. It is a whakangahau event, with the emphasis on participation, celebration and raising the profile of Te Ao Māori and Māori performing arts amongst our tamariki.
We are currently predicted to take the stage at around 11:30am, although this may move slightly on the day.
Whānau are very welcome to come along and tautoko our tamariki. We would love to see you there!
Daffodil Day – Thursday 27 August
Next Thursday we’ll be getting behind Daffodil Day and supporting the work of the Cancer Society.
Students are encouraged to wear yellow for the day — and they’re welcome to get creative with it! We ask that students bring along a gold coin donation, with all money raised going to the Cancer Society.
Daffodil Day will also coincide with our School Assembly at 9:00am. All parents and whānau are warmly invited to come along and join us.
School Uniform – Board Review of Expectations
Our School Board has recently reviewed our Uniform Code and Expectations, with the aim of making expectations clear and consistent across the school.
At the heart of the code is our school value of Respect. Wearing our uniform well is one way our tamariki can show respect for themselves, others and our school, while building a sense of pride and belonging.
There aren’t major changes, but the review does provide some clearer expectations around what is and isn’t part of our uniform. Some key reminders include:
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The Ngaere School polo shirt is to be worn each day.
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Shorts and trackpants should be plain navy blue or black. Plain Canterbury shorts and trackpants in these colours are also fine.
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Our blue school jersey or black school jacket are our uniform outerwear options. Hoodies are not part of the school uniform.
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Navy or black thermals can be worn underneath the school polo during colder weather.
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Skins or compression garments should be navy or black.
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Our school sunhat is required outdoors during Terms 1 and 4. Caps are not part of our uniform.
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Winter beanies can be either the official school beanie which are available for purchase from the school office or a plain navy or black beanie which you can purchase from the Warehouse for around $6.
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Footwear should be safe and practical for an active school day.
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Taonga are welcomed as an expression of identity, culture and whakapapa.
We know there will occasionally be genuine reasons why a child isn’t able to meet a uniform expectation. If this is the case, please just get in touch with us so we can work through it together.
The full Ngaere School Uniform Code & Expectations can be found HERE
Looking Ahead – Our Strategic Plan
Our School Board is currently working through how we can best gather parent and whānau voice as we begin mapping out our School Strategic Plan for 2027 and beyond.
Over the coming weeks there will be a number of opportunities for our school community to have a say about what matters most, what we are doing well, and where you would like to see us focus our energy in the future.
More information about this process will come out soon, but we really do encourage everyone to get involved. The more people who share their thoughts, the better our plan will reflect the wants and needs of our school community.
Every voice is welcome.
Influenza A – Please Help Us Reduce the Spread
We wanted to make you aware that Influenza A is currently circulating within our school community, with a number of students and staff affected.
Influenza can spread quickly in a school environment. Common symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, headaches, body aches and significant tiredness.
Please keep your child at home if they are unwell, particularly if they have a fever or significant flu-like symptoms, and give them time to properly recover before returning to school.
Good hygiene also makes a difference – regular handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, and not sharing drink bottles or utensils. Please seek medical advice if you are concerned about your child’s symptoms or they become significantly unwell.
At school, we’ll continue encouraging good hygiene practices and keeping a close eye on tamariki who become unwell during the day.
We know winter illness can be tricky for whānau, particularly at this time of year. Keeping unwell tamariki at home where possible will help us look after one another and reduce the spread across our kura.
Finally…
There’s certainly plenty happening around Ngaere at the moment! Thanks, as always, to our staff, parents and whānau who help make these opportunities possible for our kids.
With a few bugs doing the rounds, look after yourselves and each other, and hopefully we can all get through the remainder of winter in one piece!
Ngā mihi nui,
Shane Burgess
Principal / Tumuaki
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