| Thursday 4th August 2022 | Term 3 Week 2  |
Kia ora e te whānau,
With another week of exciting weather, we had to make the unfortunate decision to cancel one of our skating trips - we will seek to arrange an alternate date in the near future, in agreement with Tekapo Springs. We’re hoping that the planned trips for next week won’t be affected in the same way. The trips that did get away look like they had a fun-filled experience - thank you to all the parents who assisted!
A special thanks to the whānau who came out in the cold for our Whānau Hui at Te Whare Mahana. We posed the following questions to the group:- What does success at school look like?
- What can we do at school to best support your child?
- What are your aspirations and goals for your tamariki?
- What skill sets would you like to contribute to our kura?
We had some fabulous feedback which enables us to commence our mahi. This will be shared with the Board in an upcoming meeting by our new Board Representative (Māori) - Belinda Purcell and Karatī Metcalfe (Te Kaiārahi Ō Te Ao Māori).
This week, we have sent out attendance notifications to students with lower attendance rates. The intention of these notices is to draw attention to current attendance rates and to offer referral support to service providers who work with families to improve attendance. You can read the government’s new strategy here.
In general terms, the Ministry of Education’s new attendance categories are as follows:- Ākonga attending school regularly - attending more than 90%
- Ākonga who are moderately absent - attending more than 70% up to 80%, missing two to three days a fortnight
- Ākonga who are chronically absent - attending 70% or less, missing three or more days a fortnight
As a school, we track attendance at least twice per term and have begun to report on attendance alongside school reports. In our next notification set (mid term 3), we will be transferring to the new strategy’s descriptors and notifying parents of attendance in the moderately and chronically absent criteria. Thank you to our families for their ongoing support in getting our tamariki back into the routines of school post lockdowns. Regular attendance is a core strategy to ensure learning progress and success.
Next week, we have our Seesaw Parent Information Meeting on Monday at 5 pm, this session is most suited to parents of students in Years 1-10. Our Core Education Digital Fluency Facilitator, Nicki Tempero, will be there to lead the session. We’d love to see you there - entry will be through the MPR doors at the bus bay.
He waka eke noa,
Kate Staniford
Tumuaki | Principal
Academic and Arts Captain, Lily Brophy, has news about next week's Non-Uniform Day, along with Snow Club and basketball.
This term ākonga from M1 and M2 are completing the Wonder Project's 'Power Challenge' learning how we power our towns, and designing & building their own windmills to power a mini town. They've also made ping pong ball launchers using paper cups and balloons!
We've all seen the Netflix show, now you can read the books! Thanks to the Skittles & Coffee Club fundraising Rainbow Day last term, the Twizel Community Library is now the proud owner of all the Heartstopper book series, plus follow-up books written by Alice Oseman.
The Junior School class trips to the Tekapo Springs Ice Rink started this week, although Tuesday's Room 8 trip was put on ice (literally) due to the rain and blustery conditions.
Well done to all the teachers and students who attended the First Aid Course last Saturday. It was a long day for a number of students and teachers completing the whole day course and a shorter day for those teachers who were getting recertification of their previous qualification. 🤕
Caregivers and whānau members are invited to attend a SeeSaw session with Nicki Tempero from CORE Education on Monday 8th August from 5-6pm. Come along and test your knowledge or learn some new skills with Twizel Area School’s new eportfolio app.
Congratulations to our Star Students from last week's Junior Assemblies. They were presented with their award and WAKA Value card.
Financial information for students is now available to view through the Parent Web Portal and the SchoolBridge App. Click here for instructions and what you can expect to see.
The Year 1-8 Upper Waitaki Cross Country in Omarama is fast approaching. Those students involved have taken home a permission form to be completed...this form needs to be returned to the school office by tomorrow, Friday 5th August.
Are you going to be a Year 12 or 13 student in 2023? Are you looking to study at the University of Otago in the future? Would you like to get a taste of uni life at Otago before deciding to go? If the answer is yes, read on...
Blue skies and lots of fresh snow greeted the students for the opening of the 2022 Twizel Snow Club season last week at the Ōhau Ski Fields. ⛷ 🎿 🚡
The fifth issue of the Scholastic Book Club for 2022 is now available, orders need to be placed by Friday 23rd September. You can order through the Scholastic website https://mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz or the Book Club Loop app.
Here are some activities that can help both caregivers and tamariki harness the benefits of mindfulness.
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