Friday 12 April 2019 (No. 6) 

Dear Parents, Whānau, and Caregivers 

The school holidays have arrived. I hope everyone has an                   enjoyable time with family, particularly over Easter             Weekend and on Anzac Day. School will resume on                 Monday 29 April.  

WHĀNAU DAY: Whānau Day was a huge success due to everyone's                 support in making this day happen.  

A special mention must go to the team who prepared the                     hangi, it was superb. On behalf of the students, thank you                     to the staff for their help in preparing the food, and a                       massive thank you to parents, grandparents, aunties,             uncles and friends for coming along and showing an                 interest in their learning. 

AIM High: Achieve, Inquire, Manaakitanga: To Aim High and ‘be the best I can be’ involves students                       learning to display manaakitanga in their daily actions. It                 involves displaying respect for themselves, others and the               environment.  

Respecting and being responsible for school equipment is               an area students can improve on. Each year Mr Moore                   spends a lot of money replacing sports gear that is either                     lost or left outside after break times. Over the last week, I                       have been collecting gear that has been left out after                   

morning tea and lunchtime. This will become a focus as we                     start Term 2. 

Parents and whānau can support students by modelling               this at home. Question: Do students put their toys/sports                 gear away after using it? Are they responsible for doing                   this without being asked? Have parents shown students               how to be responsible for their things? Have students had                   the opportunity to practice doing this with their parents? 

Parent Questionnaire: So far 49/279 families have responded to the survey that                   has been shared via email, the school app and Facebook.                   This information will be used to plan the future direction                   of the school. The survey will end on the Monday 6 May                       (Week 2, Term 2), so make sure you have your say before                       then. 

Year 5-8 students will also complete a questionnaire               early next term.  

Use the following link to complete the questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RSFHRGY 

Up and coming events: Friday 12 April End of Term 1 Monday 29 April Start of Term 2 Tuesday 7 May Paid Union Meeting, 

12.30pm pick up School Hours until Queen’s Birthday: 

● 8.45am (First bell), 8.55am (Roll/classes start) ● 2.55pm (School day ends) 

School Hours after Queen’s Birthday and until the end of Term 3: 

● 8.45am (First bell), 8.55am (Roll/classes start) ● 2.35pm (School day ends). 

Board of Trustees News: Next board meeting will be held on Monday 13 May 2019 starting at 5.30 in the school staff room. http://stratfordprimary.school.nz/our-school/board-of-trustees/   Farewell to Mr Kevin Kirk and Miss Emily Howarth: 

Today we farewell Mr Kevin Kirk (Caretaker) and Miss Emily Howarth. Kevin has decided to have a change of career, where he will be moving to farming under the watchful eye of his new boss, 

his partner. Kevin has been at SPS for over nine years. We wish Kevin well for his future endeavours.  Emily has decided to move to Australia. Mrs Caitlin Amos will be teaching in Room 17 from Week 4, Mrs Jenny Vincent will be teaching in Room 17 until Caitlin starts. We wish Emily all the best for her new exciting adventures across the ditch.  

 

Mrs Wendy Williams will also be leaving to take up a new role, closer to home at Inglewood Primary. Wendy will still be with us for the first few weeks of Term 2. 

SPS TUI’S ENVIRO NEWS:  Come in to the office and see our new enviro stand. We have lots of items for sale.   

We have received an amazing donation of $500.00 for the purchase of fruit trees in remembrance of the Christchurch attack on Friday 15 March. Thank you very much for your generosity.  

 Honey Bees are coming to SPS. Please let the office know if your child is allergic, the severity of their allergy and if they need medication. 

From the Office: Statement of Account:- We will be sending out statement of accounts soon. If you have any questions about your account, please make contact with the office to discuss. Valuable items:- Students should not be bringing valuable toys/items to school. If they do the school will not be responsible for any damaged, lost or stolen items.  Please tell your children not to bring money to school, if this is necessary, we can look after it in the office until the end of the day, do not leave it in their school bag. Home and School: It was lovely to see so many whanau members come to                     school to support our tamariki. Days like this make us proud to be part of the school                       community. We were happy to be able to supply morning                   tea for this wonderful event. 

Community Notices: Possum and rat control in the Egmont National Park &                   Kaitake Range March to end of August 2019.  

Epro have been contracted to undertake Possum and rat                 control in the above areas. They will be applying sodium                   fluoroacetate (1080), potassium cyanide (Feratox) and           diphacinone (Pestoff 50D), carried out in two phases.               Bait will be in the form of pellets and dyed green. 

Please speak with your children about the warning signs                 that will be in place, should you require further                 information contact the school office as we have been                 given an information pack with a little more detail.  

   On Friday we wore our gumboots to school and raised $224.10 towards Mike King’s I am Hope campaign. This is to help kiwi kids get free mental health counselling and support when they need it.  

Kind regards Jason Elder Principal         

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR WAS A GREAT SUCCESS! 

Thank you so much to all the families who supported the Scholastic Book Fair this year. Your generosity is very much appreciated. This was, yet again, an incredibly successful Book Fair. We were able to choose $1992 worth of books for our school library.  

These will be processed over the next few weeks and will be available during Term 2 and 3. Keep an eye out on the New Book Shelf for these wonderful additions to our library.   

-Karyn Erickson, Information Centre Manager