Tena koutou katoa, greetings.
Upper Waitaki Zone Cross Country
Thanks to everyone who came and supported our children at the Zone Cross Country yesterday. Omarama certainly put on a great morning and it was wonderful to see so many of our children successful -both in personal accomplishments by finishing that challenging track - and those who were placed. The results are below.
Weather interruptions
Thank you everyone for your patience over the past week with all of the weather interruptions. Having such a wide geographical spread of students AND staff means that there are MANY phone calls and text messages that happen before the decision is made for a late start (or no start). I know that you will appreciate that making this before it is even daylight is difficult and unfortunately there can be a bit of hesitation in making it. Please keep in mind that it is always in regards to the safety of students on buses and staff driving to school that is our primary concern. Once the call is made it will be posted on Facebook, as the phone tree is initiated.
Unjustified Absences
Something that was in the news last week was the topic of taking children out of school for holidays and other such activities. (Read article here.) The research clearly states that children who attend school as required are more likely to succeed. (Read a NZ research study here.)
Each child's attendances and absences are recorded and coded in our electronic system for the Ministry of Education. A couple of times a year I report to the Board of Trustees on our attendance rate. The Ministry regularly collects this information from samples of schools, and just yesterday has requested our current information.
As a school I believe that we have a high rate of 'Truant/Unjustified Absences' - currently sitting at nearly 4%. While 4% doesn't sound a lot - it equates to 4 children EVERY day being away unjustifiably.
Justified reasons equate to illnesses, medical appointments, family bereavements and similar such needs. Should for some reason you need to take your child/ren away from school for something other than a justified reason, then we would appreciate either an email or a letter to the office so that we can file this in our attendance records, as we are also regularly audited by the Ministry on our attendance records.
Health and Phys Ed Consultation
Please see the note below about our Health and Phys Ed Consultation. I'd really appreciate you taking the time to give us some feedback on the programmes that you see as important. We are in the process of reviewing our entire Health and PE programme and value your input into what is important.
There is a lucky draw and one person who fills it in and leaves their name, will win!
Writing Book
We have had a positive response to businesses wanting to support our Published Writing Book. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor this project, then please make contact with me.
Have a great end to your week
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