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WAIKOUAITI PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
12 November 2014 Term 4 Week 5
DATES TO REMEMBER - TERM 4
17th Nov. Teacher Only Day
19th Nov. Junior Athletics Day
24th Nov. Dunedin Leadership Day for 4 students
27th Nov. FMS Challenge Day Edgar Centre Yrs. 1&2
24th Nov. Junior swimming starts Mon, Wed and Friday
for 3 weeks
26th Nov. EOHS
12th Dec Year 6 Orange Parade
17th Dec Last day of Term 4, 2014
Our Vision “Together we will treat each other and our
environment with care and respect. We will be
individually valued on our journey to achieving our
best in a safe and caring environment.”
Ngā mihi nui kia koutou / Greetings to you all
Teacher Only Day next week on Monday. No school
for the kids but the staff will be hard at work making
the most of professional development and moderating
our reading results from the recent testing before writing the school reports.
Junior Athletics are on next Wednesday the 19th at
Palmerston Primary school. This is always a relaxing day
out watching the children do their best. If postponed it will
be on Friday 21st.
No assembly this week.
Coming up on the 26th November is the East Otago High
School Orientation Day that starts at 1.45pm. Parents of
Year 6 children who will be attending EOHS next year are
required to take children to this afternoon.
North Otago Cricket would like to know if there is any
interest in running a Have-a-go cricket centre in Waikouaiti
again this summer. Ideally this centre is for 5-7yr olds. If
anyone is interested having their kids be part of this, or
has other friends/family who might be interested please
leave their name with Jill at the school office. We would
also like the name of some parent volunteers to help run
the centre.
It would be great to enter a school group in the Weetbix
Triathlon next year in the first term. There are some
really cool prizes the school can win. If we can get 10 or
more children we will set up the school as a participating
school. Katie Barns will be the coordinator for this. We
have permission slips at school. Parents can bring the slip
and their $35 to the school to register their child or deposit
the $$ into our bank account. You cannot register without
paying. Parents are also able to register online directly
and nominate Waikouaiti School. If you do, it this way, you
do not receive the discount given to school groups. We
will have our school triathlon a week before on Friday
27th February, the Weetbix Triathlon on the 1st March
and then there is a Dunedin school competition as well
before the end of term 1. This is a great opportunity for
you and the kids to do some physical activity together
which is both good for you and can be lots of fun. Get your
info from the school office.
We have introduced another way for parents to be informed of dates coming up, school events or special days
happening at school. It is a calendar of events that can
be downloaded as an app onto your iphone or android
QR Code
phone. You can scan the QR Code
(we have at school relevant to your
device OR search for ‘The Parent
Teacher Calendar’. Like everything
there was a cost involved through
sponsers and I thank those who have
sponsored this great way of communication between parents and the
school.
Last week we had Ruud Kleinpaste visit our school as
part of the Tremendous Makeover organised by Crimson
Project. Heather has recounted her experience.
Bug Man
Last Thursday Aoraki class was waiting in Taranaki until it
was our turn to see the Bug Man. He was at school to talk
to us about the different types of bugs that are in our garden. While we were waiting we went outside with Mrs P
for a little walk around the garden to look for bugs. People
found wood louse, centipedes, moths and all sorts of
different bugs.
When it was our turn to see the bug man we went back to
our class and sat down in rows with Aorangi. Then the bug
man introduced himself and put on a long slide show for
us to watch. There were heaps of different types of bugs.
When the slide show was finished Ruud opened his box of
tricks. He showed us an ear wig and pet weta. He let people hold his weta and when it was my Mum’s turn it
crawled up her arm and into her hair then sat down and it
looked like a hair clip.
After that it was three o’clock so we all said good bye to
Ruud and it was time to go.
I really enjoyed meeting the bugman because I learnt that
some bugs are not pests but good to have around because they help our environment.
By Heather
Beachlands!
Morning Tea with the Principal this Friday. To avoid
same people providing for this each time it we are trying to
spread it over the school and the fairest way seems to be if
you are parent / carer of a child who is invited to attend it
would be appreciated if you could provide something towards the morning tea. This can be in the form of baking,
crisps, popcorn or lemonade. This is especially important if
your child has any dietary requirements. It's not a bad idea
to attempt to communicate with other parents in your
child's class to see who else may be attending so that the
kids don't end up with 8 bottles of fizz and nothing to eat...
:) I think the maximum attendees is 12 to 15 so the quantities do not have to be large as it's morning tea and a treat
with a limited amount of time. This is a very special event
for the children who get picked by their teacher, voted by
the class or spotted by the Principal.
In the news you will be hearing about a schools decile rating. Ours is currently Decile 7.
A school’s decile rating indicates the extent to which it
draws its students from low socio-economic communities.
For example, Decile 1 schools are the 10 percent of
schools with the highest proportion of students from low
socio-economic communities, whereas decile 10 schools
are the 10% of schools with the lowest proportion of these
students. A decile does not indicate the overall socioeconomic mix of the students attending a school or measure the standard of education delivered at a school.
Each state and integrated school, is ranked into a decile
on the basis of a socio-economic indicator. The indicator is
based on Census data for households with school-aged
children in each school’s catchment area. Within a schools
operational funding, decile ratings determine the allocation
of: Targeted Funding for Educational Achievement(TFEA) ,
Special Education Grant (SEG) and Careers Information
Grant (CIG). Decile ratings are recalculated every 3 years
and we are waiting as is all schools to hear what our
decile rating will be.
Stephanie playing the keyboard in Assembly
SCHOOL ACTIVITY FEES & DONATIONS ARE NOW
DUE: Please pay at the office or online:
Waikouaiti School 03 1737 0023252 00 Thank you.
Wednesdays 9:15am-10:15am
Karitane-Private Studio
Bookings required $10 per class
Thursdays 7:30pm-8:15pm
Karitane Hall
$10 per class if booked for a series of classes
OR
$12 per class casual attendance
Classes run by qualified Pilates Mat Class instructor,
Rachel McGregor
Phone/text-027 3445 334
Email- portpilates14@gmail.com
LOST
Lost during or after the school fair - a child's black
framed BMX bike with blue rims. If you have seen or
know where it might be; please phone the school
office 4657 225
SMALL REWARD OFFERED
During the Fair on Sunday a black Torrana truck was
damaged while parked beside the school grounds on
SHway1. The Torrana received major damage to the
rear of the vehicle, possibly from a vehicle pulling out
from behind. If you witnessed this incident or know of
anyone who did witness the incident, please contact
Debra 03 4651 767 or 022 174 9880
Another recount by Harri
On November 1st me and Dad went to Beachlands. Beachlands is car racing. First we went to McDonalds. We had to
go through the drive through because we didn’t have time.
Finally Beachlands. “I’m going to turn punishments into
funishments!” I said. A car flipped three times. A car
flipped two times. We saw fireworks. My favourite one was
the one that looked like it came right towards me. Then we
went to MacDonalds again just to get an ice cream . We
were listening to cool songs on the radio. I love
FAMILY HISTORY - Getting started
Waikouaiti Library
Wednesday 26 November 2014
7.00pm
An introductory session (for adults) to help you begin
researching your family history.
Call the library to register your interest: 465 9110
CONGRATULATIONS LESLEY
SPORT OTAGO VOLUNTEER AWARD
Lesley was nominated for all the volunteering she does at
school for sport. She has coached netball this year, refereed the games, organised and refereed mini-ball for the
cluster competition. She encourages children to participate
in sport and was nominated for her contribution to sport.
HOUSE TO RENT
3 Bedroom house to rent.
Available in 3 weeks. Rent
negotiable, pets negotiable.
Suit couple or small family.
Phone 4657 303