Tumuaki/Principal News
 

It is definitely bike riding weather. Dennis is mowing the grass as if it were Spring. I know that this won't last, but the hiatus is lovely. I did get out my Doc Martens last week, but that may have been premature.

Cheese Rolls Forever

A huge shout out to Janice and the team of parents who spent Sunday making cheese rolls. Thank you too to the lovely parents who did baking and brought that down to feed the troops during the day. They started with a 140 dozen order and made more. Janice said that when she got home her husband Tony thought she’d be bringing home cheese rolls for tea. I think not. Janice reckons she never wants to see another cheese roll. Fundraising is often a labour intensive business. If you are available every now and then to help, please make the volunteer commitment. If the workload is shared around, then a lot more can be accomplished.

Farewell Haka For Matua Izzy

On Monday we farewelled Matua Izzy as he sets off for a new career. He has spent the last 4 years with us as a teacher assistant/ kaiawhina. His gentle manner and sympathetic ear has helped many children to find calm and acceptance. School can be a tough place for many children and it has been great to have Isaiah here to help children to find their way and to have a sense of belonging. He had lots of “aunties” here who listened to his stories and helped to keep him on the straight and narrow. We will miss you Isaiah.

Building Mathematical Capabilities

We had our first across school maths collaboration last Friday and the children loved learning and playing maths games together. Tuakana teina is a perfect way to support learning. We are excited to invite you to join us on Friday mornings from 9.15 for half an hour. You will have the opportunity to join in and learn some new maths challenges and strategies. Some of the challenges can get very challenging!!

You could come a little earlier and join other parents for a coffee and make some connections. The coffee is delicious.

I think I forgot to thank Daniel Cliff for repairing the piano legs. It was going to cost a fortune and I am very grateful for the generous support.

We had Pink Shirt Day last week to highlight our stand against bullying. Bullying is an adult problem, and not one that we expect children to have to deal with alone. We always encourage children to tell a trusted adult if they are being bullied. The biggest danger to your child is online bullying. 

Please, please, please:

• Check their online activity all of the time.
• Keep the devices in the family spaces where their online activity is visible.
• Remove all devices at bedtime and remove them from the bedroom.
• Stick to the recommended ages for access to social media and check, check, check.
• Report anything suspicious or destructive to the police.
• Spend time with your children and make sure that what you think about them matters more than any of their friends. 
• If necessary protect them from too much time with their friends and check on what they are doing and who they are with.
• Protect them from dangerous media images that portray gender stereotypes and unreal body images

Love your kids. You are their best protection against bullying.

Next week is Matua Matt's last week with us. He is soon to be daddy to two children. We will miss you Matt and your kindness to the children in your care. I think I will always have a picture of you commanding the drone at different school events. You did get some great shots in between playing with the technology!!

Whaea Libby has had a baby girl Gracie. She was right on delivery time and she and all the whanau are doing well.

It’s Whaea Rachael’s birthday. 21 again. The office team is having a “samesies day.” Happy birthday Rachael. We love you.

Coming up are the Kahukura Music festival 13 June at Cashmere High Te Iringa o Kahukura and Dancing Like The Stars at the James Hay Theatre. Fleur is doing an amazing job with the senior team to teach them their performance dance. She has the patience of a saint. Glen Campbell has been training the choir and the Kahukura Chorale for many weeks. That man never complains about workload, tiredness or running out of puff. 

Don't forget to purchase your tickets and come along. Fabulous entertainment for a very cheap cost. 

We are in the process of adding more security lights around the carpark and to renew the front fence. The added lights will give us better photos of the people we don’t want in our school. Eventually they will be caught and called to account. I always have this hopeful idea that over time they will think about the impact of their actions and do something to put it right. The old fence has come loose in the foundations and we don’t want an accident if someone puts weight on the fence. 

This weekend is a holiday bonus. You don’t have to be a royalist to enjoy a holiday. I have some brassica to plant and a few bike rides in mind. I don’t know why I bother really because I have some extra bags of Easter Eggs left and stopping to eat one or two down at the beach seems to defeat the purpose of the exercise. Mind you I drink a no calories/no carbs water chaser. 

Happy holiday weekend

Marriene
Tumuaki

Pink Shirt Day

We celebrated Pink Shirt Day on Friday the 19th of May. This was to bring awareness to bullying and to prevent bullying happening at our school. Heaps of people were included in dressing up to show their support. Even the teachers! Every child that dressed in pink had to bring a gold coin donation and as a school we raised $258.90. This money was donated to the Mental Health Foundation.