Week 5, Term 2

Dear Parents, Friends and Caregivers,

One of the challenges of parenthood is working out how to respond when your child has a disagreement with another child at school. Although this newsletter is not prompted by any particular concern that I am aware of, I want to clarify the response we expect from parents.

One of several responses is common:

1.    Listen to your child, believe the story you hear and hold a grudge against the offending child, and possibly even his parents.

2.     Instruct your child not to play with that child because he is a __________.

3.     Ring the parent of the offending child and explain the situation and try to work out a solution together.

4.     Talk to the teacher about it and work out a way forward together within the school.

It is this last response that we ask of you as parents because:

a.     your child may not know the entire story.

b.     your child may not want you to know the entire story - the ‘offender’ might not be the offender!

c.   the teachers may or may not know the entire story, and alerting us helps us to investigate if this has not been done already.

d.     your child needs to feel safe at school, and if your child does not feel safe, we want to address that at school.

e.     talking to the offending child’s parents creates a whole lot of additional problems, particularly if they have heard a different side of the story, or if they knew nothing about the problem.

f.      the offending child’s parent is not able to monitor their child’s behaviour at school, but the teacher is - parents who are made to feel guilty or embarrassed by interactions from other upset parents will tend to be more defensive of their child and this does not help the situation.

g.     what happens at school should be dealt with at school - by not coming directly to the teacher, you inadvertently disempower the very people who can help improve the situation.

Please let the teacher know if your child is unhappy. It matters to us.  Please understand that all children (including yours) make mistakes, disobey a rule or hurt others at some point in their school lives, and that it is through these challenges that they grow and learn to become more understanding of themselves and others, and more resilient.

Please continue to encourage a safe community that responds with grace rather than, as sometimes happens in schools, reacts with blame and attack.

Please feel part of the team to support teachers to make the best possible decisions for the benefit of all our learners.

Thanks.

Helen Pearson

School News

Science Roadshow

This Friday the students will be attending the Science Roadshow at Whangaparaoa College.  They will be leaving school at 9am by bus, and returning around 2.30pm.  We are in need of parent help on the day.  A Google Permission Form has been emailed out today.  Please can you complete it as soon as possible.

Assembly

There is no Assembly this week because the children will all be at the Science Roadshow

Parent Lunches

There will be no parent lunches on Friday this week because the children will be at the Science Roadshow.

Chicken pox and Shingles

This term we have had one reported case of chicken pox and one case of Shingles.

Parking

Please note that the gravel carpark is the main carpark for children to be dropped off and picked up from.

Wanted:

We are currently looking for a new school cleaner. If you or someone you know would be interested in this role, please contact Mrs Helen Pearson directly.

We are in need of a nice coffee table for the staff room. If you know of one that is no longer required, please contact the school office.

Sports Uniforms

As of 2016 sports uniform will become compulsory for Years 4-8. This will be black shorts and maroon polo shirts. The total cost to parents for these uniforms will be approximately $45 per set. These will be used for lunchtime sport, PE lessons (the school has provided these for free in the last two years), and Saturday sports and interschool sports.

School Uniform

There are currently a large number of children missing their school polar fleeces.  Could all parents and caregivers please check that you have the correct polar fleeces at home.  Please NAME all uniform items urgently.

Hockey
Our teams had great games on Saturday.

The draw for this Saturday (Week 4) is:
MCS Rockets v Snells Beach on field 2 at 9.20am
SB Snapdragons v SB Strikers on field 1 / 2 at 11am

Parent Group

WIN IT IN A MINUTE FAMILY FUN NIGHT

We have a great family fun filled night coming up at the end of June.

• $20 team entry
• 3-6 in a team
• Prizes to be won

Get your team thinking cap on.  Registration will open next week.  This will be a fun children and adults night with healthy family and friend competition guaranteed along with a load of laughs.

Prayer for our school

If you are interested in praying for our school, you are welcome to come along to a prayer meeting being held each Tuesday morning, during term time.  The meeting is from 8.50am - 9.20am in the crèche room, in the chapel.   Any queries please contact Louisa Kimber through the school office.

Community Notices

Forensics at Kristin

 Forensics@Kristin is a high quality, high energy, non residential  holiday camp experience for gifted students from all over New Zealand. A completely student-led programme, the camps involve tremendous fun and new friendships with like-minded students from a wide variety of places and backgrounds.

There are three divisions: Junior Forensics (Year 3-6), Middle School Forensics (Year 7-10), Senior Scholars (Year 11-13)

Registrations are now open so go to http://www.kristin.net.nz/ for further details.

Homebuilders Courses

Homebuilders have two courses they are running in May.

Benefit Entitlements

Presented by Quentin Jukes 

Dates: Wednesday May 20th  

Time: 12-2.45pm  

Venue: Homebuilders Family Centre. 5 Haxham St. Warkworth 

Are you on a low income, or a Work and Income benefit and finding it hard to make ends meet? Come to this course and find out the criteria for getting work and income assistance with

food, health related costs, dental treatment, bond/rent in advance, washing machines and fridges etc. 

This course will cover all these topics and provide you with accurate impartial information on the criteria for all of these Work and Income payments. 

Vege Gardening for Real Beginners

Presented by Mike Hanne

A two-session course for people on a tight budget, who want to get started on growing vegetables for their families. Especially for those who are renting and only have limited outside space.

The tutor Mike Hanne is retired and started gardening with his Dad 60 years ago. For many years he lived in rented properties in England and New Zealand and had to learn ways of gardening that would be productive and enjoyable, didn’t require too much space, and wouldn’t upset the property owner. Now he’s lucky enough to have a big section and a 150 square metre vege garden.

Venue: Homebuilders Family Services, 5 Hexham Street, Warkworth

Dates: 9.30-12.30 Friday 22 May and Friday 29 May

For enrolment email homebuilders.courses@hotmail.com or leave a message at Homebuilders on 425 7048.