Heron Herald Term 3, Week 5 , 2019

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S LAPTOP

Kia ora and welcome to the latest edition of the Heron Herald. It has been an action-packed few weeks of learning at Matua School with Funky Fun days, trips to Mount Maunganui and more.

Staffing
We are pleased to welcome Jane Somerville to our team. Jane is an experienced teacher with strong curriculum knowledge. She will be starting our next New Entrant classroom in Room 16.

PTA
I would like to acknowledge our outstanding PTA. They helped make a night of movie stars a reality for our students at our school disco, it was a great night. Our wonderful PTA are now in full swing for our upcoming quiz night.

Choir
Next week our school choir will perform at Baycourt as part of the Tauranga Choir Festival. Along with their choir teacher, Mr Jeremy Hantler, they have been working hard and are ready to shine next Tuesday night.

Ngā mihi

CRAIG WALLIS
Principal

 SCHOOL INFORMATION

Signing children in and out of school – If you collect your child/children early or drop them off late, please remember to sign your child in and out of school at the office. We do always need to know where our students are, in case of an emergency. This is for the safety and well being of our students.

Change of address/phone number – If you have recently moved house, changed home, work or mobile phone numbers, please could you contact the office and let us know. We can then update your students details. We need to be able to contact you in case of an emergency . Either email the office on office@matua.school.nz or phone us on 07 576 9027.

Absent Pupils – If your child is going to be absent from school for any reason, please notify the office (even if you have already let your child’s teacher know). Your child’s teacher might also be away sick and the office will not know. You can either send an email to office@matua.school.nz or you can phone 07 5769027 and leave a message on the absentee line. Please leave your child’s name and room number, your name and the reason for their absence. If we do not hear from you, we do need to call and find out where they are. This is for the safety and well being of your child.

School Hours – We ask that children do not arrive at school before 8.15am each day. Supervision of children is provided from 8.30am each morning. The school takes no responsibility for the supervision of children in the school grounds, earlier than this.

Thank you for your co operation

EXPLORERS NEWS

The Explorers participated in a Cricket Awareness session. This involved them learning how to do a ‘birds nest catch’, ‘teapot throw’ and hit with a cricket bat. The students had a great time while developing their skills in cricket.

On Tuesdays, the library has a special visitor. Mello is Mrs Martin’s dog and the students at Matua are teaching her how to read. Having a dog in the library is designed to allow children to practice their reading skills in a relaxed, non-threatening environment. 

The benefits of reading to dogs include:

  • Dogs don’t judge, laugh or criticise if mistakes are made
  • Helps improve confidence in reading
  • Less intimidating than reading to people
  • It allows children to proceed at their own pace
  • It’s been shown to increase a child’s relaxation while reading
  • Improves confidence and teaches safe ways to interact with dogs.

 HOLIDAYS DURING TERM TIME

We are noticing the increasing number of families who are removing their child from school to travel overseas on holiday during term time. This practice is not condoned and we draw your attention to the following Ministry of Education website:
 
 https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/your-child-at-school/making-sure-your-child-attends-school-everyday/ Excerpts from the Ministry of Education website are as follows: 
 
Making sure your child attends school every day. 
Going to school every day is really important if children are to achieve and succeed. As parents and carers, it’s up to you to make sure your child attends school every day, from when they first start school until they are 16. 
Does my child have to go to school every day? 
Yes, your child must go to school every day. Under the Education Act 1989, parents and carers of school children up to 16 years old can be prosecuted if their child is away from school without a good reason. 
Why do they need to go every day? 
Going to school every day really is the key to getting the best out of school because: it sets up good habits for going to school right from day one: 
  • learning to read, write and do maths takes a lot of practice and is easier to master if your child goes to school regularly each day is a chance to learn something new
  • school offers your child regular, dedicated help to master the many skills they need 
  • it teaches your child life skills like commitment, being reliable, having a good work ethic and sticking with things when they get hard. 

What if my child needs to be away from school?

Your child should go to school every day, but sometimes they might need to be away from school because they are too sick to attend, have an appointment or need to be at a tangi or funeral. If your child is going to be away from school you should let the school know as soon as possible. Check what your school’s process is for letting them know about absences. You will need to let them know that your child will be away, why and for how long. Your child’s safety and wellbeing is a priority for the school. If your child doesn’t turn up to school they will be concerned for their safety. If the school doesn’t hear from you, they will get in touch with you to make sure your child is okay
Can I take my child out of school during term time to go on holiday?
No, a holiday is not a good enough reason to take your child out of school, so holidays should be planned outside of term time. Events like a birthday or a special day’s shopping aren’t considered valid reasons for being away from school either.
What if my child is often off school sick?
If your child misses a lot of school because of a serious illness you may be able to get help from a regional health school. There are three regional health schools, based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Together they service the whole country, including remote areas. The teachers can work with children both at home and in hospital. You can contact them directly:
  • Northern Health School Phone 0800 153 002
  • Central Regional Health School Phone 0800 153 000
  • Southern Regional Health School Phone 03 366 6739

What can I do to make sure my child is going to school? 

The key here is to make school the priority. There are things you can do at home, and things you can work side by side with the school on. At home:
  • talk to your children about why it is important to go to school every day – ask them what they want to be in the future. Their education is the key to doing well in life
  • be positive about school
  • set good habits about going to school from day one
  • prepare your children the night before school – make sure they have done their homework
  • have a good morning routine that gets them to school on time, relaxed and with everything they need
  • don’t let them have the day off just because they would rather be at home
  • keep absences due to sickness to times when your child is actually sick – don’t keep them at home when you know that they are just nervous about school – talk to the school who can help your child overcome this
  • know about your child’s school life – ask questions, listen to your child. This will make it easier to pick up on any issues they might be having
  • keep family holidays outside of term-time, as every day at school is an opportunity to build skills, and repetition is critical for learning – especially for primary school children
  • don’t overload them – school may be exhausting for your child so make sure they have some downtime after school to relax and have a break.
What can I do if my child refuses to go to school? 
This can be really upsetting. Talk to your child about why they don’t want to go. Be supportive. There may be a reason, like:
  • not getting on with some of the other children
  • bullying
  • feeling too much pressure in their learning
  • a health issue, like wetting their pants
  • a problem with their teacher or other staff member.

Talk to your child’s teacher or principal straight away. Whatever the reason, you won’t be the first parent to talk to the school about that type of situation. Your school will have some good advice, and you’ll be able to work together to help your child.

If you have a really serious concern about a teacher or other staff member, or suspect your child is in danger you can contact the Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Education Council or the New Zealand Police. Further information:
  • Contact your local Ministry of Education office
  • Contact the New Zealand Education Council
  • Contact the New Zealand police

Every day counts towards your child’s learning.

Please Note: The school position is that our teachers should not be expected to provide additional work for the student on holiday either before or after the holiday period. It is up to the holidaying child to catch up to the rest of their peers when they return to class.

 

 

 CRICKET COACHING

The Middle students and Rms 4 & 5 have loved having some coaching from a Cricket NZ coach. A future Trent Boult may be in this group!

 TEACHER ONLY DAYS

 NEW PAINTED GAMES

Our new playground games are proving to be very successful.

 

 

 SUPERVISION AFTER SCHOOL

Please be mindful that teachers are planning lessons from 3.15pm and require some ‘quiet thinking time’ to do this. We would be grateful if you could actively supervise your children as they play after school, around classrooms.

Many thanks

 

TOUGH GUY & GAL

Some of our pupils took part in the Tough Guy & Gal Challenge over at Trust Power Arena last Tuesday. Congratulations to all the students that took part. Look how much fun they had.

 

 

COASTAL DISCOVERY TRIP

Some of our Discoverers went over to Mount Maunganui for a Coastal Discovery Trip. The programme is  run by Van from the council. The children learned about the rock pools and identified rock pool creatures using an identification sheet. We were lucky to share the rock pool space with a very chilled out Fur Seal, who relaxed in his pool as 60 kids watched him and worked around him. The students then learned about the dune recovery programme, and helped to weed and plant out a section of the dunes.

TERM DATES 2019

Term 3 – Mon 22nd July – Fri 27th September

Teacher Only Day – Monday 2nd September (School closed for instruction).

School holidays – 1st – 13th October

Term 4 – Mon 14th October – Thurs 19th December

Labour Day – Mon 28th October, school closed

ENROLMENT TERM 4 2019

If you have a child due to start with us in Term 4, please pop into the school office and pick up an enrolment pack asap. We are receiving lots of new entrant enrolments and are putting things in place for the rest of 2019.

LIBRARY

 

OUR SCHOOL APP

Our School App

We have a new school app to keep you up to date with events and notifications. Click on the button below to check it out.

bookClick Me

SETTING UP KINDO

Setting up with Kindo

Kindo is our new prefered payment and permission system. To help you learn how it works, we’ve added their new help sheet and video. We hope it helps.

bookKindo Help

KINDO VIDEO HELP

SCHOOL BBQ TRAILER

 

MATUA SCHOOL

TRAILER BBQ FOR HIRE

Ideal for fund-raising events, catering for large crowds at home or at work.

$100 per week day

$150 for weekend

Includes 1x full gas bottle

Bond is required

For all bookings contact Matua School on 07 576 9027, after hours 021 023 60747.

 

SPORT

Here are some photos from our rugby 7’s team and rugby league 9’s. The students enjoyed both tournament’s and had a lot of fun. Most of the children had never played rugby before. Mr Hull did a great job as coach. Lots of lunch time training’s and muddy knees.
Great end to the netball season at Harbourside Tournament on Saturday for years 3 and 4.
Super play and great commitment from the team all season. Well done Matua Magic.

    

MATUA SCHOOL DISCO

The school disco was a huge success and a lot of fun was had by everyone. Massive thanks to our hard working PTA, which supported our school council students in running this event.

 

 

 

 

PTA

A big congratulations to the school council for putting on a fabulous school disco. Also to all the children who did the amazing art work that was used to decorate the hall and didn’t the children look outstanding in their dress ups. What a fun night.

Bookings for the quiz night are now open with only a few tables left so get your table of ten organised and email matuapta@gmail.com to book your team in.
If you are not on a table but still want to be part of the quiz night the PTA are looking for a couple more people to help out on the bar.
Quiz night is 14th September , there will be auctions , prizes for best dressed and first place for the quiz. There will be a bar and nibbles available .

The PTA are still looking for businesses who would like to sponsor a round or a table at the quiz. If you are interested please email matuapta@gmail.com for more information.
We are also looking for auction items if you would like to donate a prize. Do you have a Bach we could raffle off for a few nights stay or a trade that we could raffle off a few hours of free labor?

Thank you for supporting the PTA.

    

OTUMOETAI INTERMEDIATE

Enrolment packs have been sent home with our year 6 students for Otumoetai Intermediate. If you wish to enrol your child at Otumoetai Intermedate, please complete the forms and return them to our school office.

If you do not require this pack, please send it back into school so we can allocate it to another student.

There is a huge amount of information in these packs for Otumoetai Intermediate so please take some time to have a good read. It gives you dates for their Information and Open Evening, as well as when the packs need to have been returned to school.

Enrolment forms will be collected from us on the 16th August, 6th and 20th September. After this time you will be responsible for taking them to the intermediate yourself.

 

 

    

 PITA PIT LUNCH

Every Friday your child is able to order a Pita Pit lunch, which is then delivered to school just in time for lunch. You need to place an order via ‘Kindo’ , by 9am on Friday morning. Please see the menu below. It does say ‘every day’ but we do only offer this option on a Friday.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

FREE Computing Course – Level 2

We are offering a FREE Certificate in Computing – Level 2, which is based around cloud computing.  There are a lot of parents out there who are unsure about the tools that their children may be learning/using within the school classroom, and this 12 week course will help parents to understand a little more about using Google Apps (Gmail, Docs, Sheets etc), Google Classroom, basic trouble shooting, cyber security, privacy and social media.

This course is offered at all of our campuses including Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatane, Taupo and Tokoroa with classes being tailored around school hours, to enable parents of children to attend while the kids are at school.

For more information, call 0800 86 46 46 Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology or email Suzanne.hart@toiohomai.ac.nz

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