Te iwi tahi tatou - We are one family.
Tēnā koutou, Konnichiwa, As-salāmu 'alaykum, Hola,
PRINCIPAL'S PĀNUI
28 September 2022
Dear Parents & Whānau,
It's hard to believe we've come to the end of Term 3 already! Firstly I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported our SWIS Market Day. What a fantastic community event! Congratulations to all our students who participated - whether it was poster design, cooking and baking, or doing a great job of promoting the stalls on the day. You should be very proud of yourselves!
We are still working out the final totals and will be able to announce this at the end of the week. The school will be investing the funds raised into new drinking fountains and classroom PE equipment for use during break times (as requested by the students). Thanks also to our wonderful staff who supported the students, not only on the night but also in the lead-up. A true team effort!
Keeping safe online:
Every few weeks or so, we have had to help students who are struggling with unwanted and scary online incidents. Unfortunately these incidents have been instigated by other students, not an unseen person on the other side of the world. Sadly these situations have a big impact on the mental health and well-being of everyone involved. I am bringing this to your attention because, over the holidays, it is likely that many students will spend a large quantity of time texting, chatting and sending photos to their friends and things can quickly get out of hand.
Last term SWIS focused our Health teaching on anti-bullying strategies. The topic was Bullying: Will you be a Bystander or an Upstander? Have a chat with your children about what they learnt during this time and if you'd like to learn more about the impacts of, and ways of limiting cyberbullying, then click HERE. During this time we also had police officers come and speak with the students about the seriousness of online bullying and the legal ramifications of this for them. It was a really powerful experience and brought home the realness of this for most of our students.
So, how can you support your children during the break? My advice is:
- Check who your child is talking to - many students will use terms, phrases and send images online that they would never use or say face-to-face. Help them understand that the online environment is just as real and has as much impact as the digital world.
- Check the conversation - scroll back and see what is being said in the messages. Chat to your child about their input - are they being a bystander or an upstander?
- Check screenshots and photos - these can easily be shared and used by others out of context - causing unnecessary stress.
There is an excellent support tool created by Netsafe and I encourage you to get involved in your child's online world. You can find out more about this resource by clicking HERE.
We have also dovetailed last term's Health topic into this term's "Navigating the Journey". Here we are teaching the students key messages about relationships, including how we can set our own boundaries and the very important topic of consent.
Have a great break and rest up for a very busy Term 4!
Ngā mihi
Toby Stokes
Principal
Don't forget to check out the school's Facebook Page which has the latest updates about what is going on at school.
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Upcoming Dates
Term 4
- 17 Oct - Term 4 starts
- 17 Oct - Year 8 Immunisations
- 17 Oct - School Board Meeting (in the staffroom)
- 21 Oct - Teacher Only Day - no school
- 22 Oct - SWIS Seedling and cuttings swap
- 24 Oct - Labour Day - no school
- 28 October - Polyfest in Masterton
- 14 Nov - School Board Meeting (in the staffroom)
- 5 - 9 Dec - EOTC Week
- 14 December - SWIS Prizegiving 6 pm start
- 15 Dec, 1pm - School ends for 2022
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School Noticeboard
Floorball Teams - Term 4
Floorball games are played on Thursdays between 4pm and 5:30/6pm.
The league runs from Thursday 27 October to Thursday 8th December.
To help make the process of signing students up easier, I am asking that payment (or a payment plan) of $35 be made to the school by Friday 14 October. Once payment is made, then we know students are committed and they will be put in teams.
Please see the information sheet here and fill in this registration form https://forms.gle/3z56esKzSW3Q53C66.
Please register by Friday 14 October.
Ngā mihi,
Cecily Mills
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School News
World Scholars and ICAS
The World Scholars' Cup competition was held on 9 & 10 September. SWIS achieved phenomenal results, and every student received at least one medal! Molly won a large toy alpaca for winning the alpaca balancing competition, while Thomas and Eva won trophies. Congratulations to all our students who participated.
Congratulations also to all those who took up the ICAS challenge - you have all done really well! Certificates that have arrived will be given out at the Celebration Assembly on Friday 30 September.
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Congratulations to our Mathswell Team!
Mathswell is a competition that SWIS took part in this year. A team of students competed in two different rounds, Problem Solving, and Multi-Choice. Our team did really well and ended up getting to compete in the top team round, for the cup. Overall we came 21st out of 40 different schools and it was a really fun and exciting experience for everyone. Our team of six included Xavier, Giotto, Sean, Thomas, Caitlin & Natasha.
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A Rugby Adventure! By Jaxon & Charlie
On Wednesday the 31 August, SWIS set out on an adventure to compete in a rugby tournament at Petone Rec grounds. It was a mission to get there because our bus broke down before it got to SWIS!
We were originally supposed to leave at 8.10am, but since the bus never arrived, we had to get parents to take us out there. Thanks to all the parents who did take us out there we wouldn't have been able to play without you. And thank you to all the first time players Luqman, Alvaro, Akira, Connor and Mikey. When we arrived, we weighed in and headed off to our first game. We lost 4 out of our 5 games, but we won one against Maidstone Intermediate. It was a hard fought game but we got the win in the end. We made it to the semi-finals and lost. That was our last game then we went back home. Everyone had a good time and there were no injuries. Thank you to Mr Moli and Bevan for coaching us and giving us this opportunity to play some rugby. We had lots of great players including Archie, Jaxon, Charlie, Jaxon and Marco.
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A big thank you to Navarre from RAW Landscapes who has donated lots of plants to the Gardening Club Enrichment. We really appreciate your generosity!
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This week's Art for Art's Sake
A wonderful wall in memory of Queen Elizabeth II, 1-point perspective pieces and charcoal vase drawings.
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Natalya from Rm 17 made this chessboard out of recycled wood and pine. Fantastic craftspersonship Natalya, well done!
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COVID Update & Reminders
New long-term strategy for COVID-19
You’ll be aware that on Monday 12 September, New Zealand moved to a new, long-term approach to COVID-19. These changes have been made based on public health advice and reflect high levels of immunity and declining case numbers across New Zealand. This new approach will only result in minor changes to the way we operate as a kura.
The very positive news is that household contacts of a person with COVID do not need to isolate, but instead are asked to complete a RAT test each day, for five days. Therefore, ākonga who are household contacts but test negative and do not have COVID symptoms, should continue to attend. It is the best place for them to be so they can be engaged in their learning, and connected with their teachers, classmates and friends.
Information on how to get RAT kits can be found here. We also have a supply at school, which I am happy to share with our community. Just let me know if you’d like some!
Mask wearing is no longer required, however we will continue to support students, whānau and staff who choose to continue to do so.
All the other recommended public health measures will stay in place as we know they reduce the spread of infectious illnesses including COVID.
These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene, encouraging everyone to cough or sneeze into elbows and, most importantly, staying home and getting tested if they have COVID symptoms.
Thank you for your ongoing support in protecting our community.
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CodeCamp
CodeCamp allows kids from the ages of 7-12 to develop 21st century skills in a fun and action packed environment. Develop confidence & initiative through design, creativity, solving problems, presenting & collaboration. Create games, apps.
Wednesdays, 3pm till 4:30pm
Book Now at https://codecamp.co.nz
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Wellington Harrier Children's Athletics
Our children's athletics club day starts Saturday 15th October, we meet at Newtown Park at 11.30 am.
Registrations are open, we offer social and competitive memberships.
Please click on the link below to register. New members are welcome to come and give it a go.
https://regoform.mygameday.app/#/registration-form/?orgId=Wx46MbD1w8Bo95Uj5l&formId=ZpRahZhgLLKJuaA74Z
For more information please contact:
Julie Richards
juliemaerdy@yahoo.co.uk
0212959026
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Subway on Mondays & Tuesdays
Pita Pit on Wednesdays & Fridays
O'Sushi on Thursdays
See the full menu here.
Order your lunch or register for KINDO here
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