Windy Ridge School Newsletter
7 August 2019
Term 3 Week 3
KINDO: online school shop (click on KINDO to register)
Respect, Resilience, Kindness, Integrity
Hello, Kamusta, Hola a todos, As-salāmu ʿalaykum, Kumusta, Annyeonghaseyo, Ni Hao, Konichiwa, Namaste, Zdravstvuyte, Ciao, Cześć, Szia, Hallo, Bonjour, Salut, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Talofa Lava, Malo e Leilei, Orana, Kia Ora Koutou
News from the Principal
Student Led Conferences – MONDAY 19th August 2pm – 7pm
Please go to the School Interviews website www.schoolinterviews.co.nz to make a booking for your conference next term. Please enter the event code is 673wp and then click on your whanau teacher’s name to make a booking.
Please note that school will close early on this day to accommodate the conferences – we finish at 1.30pm.
National day of support for principals – Friday 9 August
The teachers and support staff of Windy Ridge are joining with their colleagues all over the country on 9 August to call on the government to give primary and intermediate principals a fair deal. And we need your support as we stand up for our principal, and all principals.
Teachers recently won pay parity with their secondary colleagues, because a teacher is a teacher, regardless of the age of their students. But the government refused to give primary and intermediate principals parity with principals of comparably sized secondary schools, or any support for growing workloads. In small schools, principals are doing a complex job but often without any extra support, and while teaching as well. And these principals are often paid less than some teachers in large schools.
We’re calling on the Government to do the right thing by principals. It’s only fair.
On 9 August, the teachers and support staff will be wearing green to show our support. We encourage Windy Ridge students to also wear something green on Friday. Please come out and support the principals of Aotearoa, who do such a vital job leading the teaching and learning in our schools.
Kauri Club
Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9am to 10.30am we run the Kauri Club (Y3 – 6) – This programme involves grandparent or parent volunteers listening to and supporting the reading of students at our school by providing regular, supervised opportunities for them to increase their daily reading or ‘reading mileage’. We are very short of adult volunteers to help us run this programme, if you would like to offer some time please contact Suzanne Boyce in the office.
Monthly Board of Trustee meetings are public, meaning that members of the public are welcome to attend and the dates of these meetings are published in the school newsletter. It is worth noting that if you would like speaking rights at these meetings you will need to contact the Board in advance to gain approval – feel free to email bot@windyridge.school.nz if you would like to make a request. Additionally, certain parts of a monthly Board of Trustee meeting may be confidential or sensitive – as such you will be asked to leave the room while the Board is in committee. We hope that you will feel welcome to come to our meetings if you would like to see some of the work being done.
The Board of Trustees have some challenging but rewarding projects to address over the next twelve months, including a review of all Board processes as well as oversight in respect to the design and building of new permanent classrooms. Please take a look at the school website so you know who the Board members are (https://www.windyridge.school.nz/our-board-of-trustees/), and feel free to say hello to any of us if you see us at school or in the community.
Best wishes
School Happenings
KickStart Breakfast – is held in the hall everyday from 8.30am to 8.50am, this is for any child who would like to have some weetbix, milk and fruit before school. We are looking for adults to help supervise the breakfast, if you have some free time in the morning please contact the office or complete the attached form. The weetbix and milk are donated by Sanitarium and Fonterra. The canned fruit is an optional extra and we rely on donations to offer this, so if you would like to donate a can please drop them into the office. Kickstart Breakfast Club Parent Volunteers
- Nature Play Programme – Tomorrow Room 6 are taking part in a whole day of outdoor nature play with Jenine Maxwell. The weather looks like it could be wet so please make sure your child has warm clothes and a fitted raincoat as well as gumboots or trainers. A change of clothes would also be useful. We will pop in and out of doors as the weather permits.
- School Cross Country – Next Monday August 12th with following approximate time schedules: 9:40am – year 6 girls – 9:55am – year 6 boys – 10:10 am – year 5 girls – 10: 20 am – year 5 boys -Morning Tea Break – 11:10am – year 4 girls – 11:20am – year 4 boys – 11:30am -year 3 girls – 11:40am – year 3 boys – 11:50am – year 2 girls – 12:000am – year 2 boys – 12:10am – year 0/1 girls – 12:20am – year 0/1 boys. The final event will be followed by a sausage sizzle which is being organised by the PTA. A change of clothes would be useful as they may get wet and muddy.
- Dance Lessons – Team Tui students will be participating in dance lessons this term every Thursday afternoon, starting in week 2. Team Tui Dance Lessons
- Hip Hop Lessons – Year 4 students will be participating in Hip Hop lessons this term every Tuesday afternoon, starting in week 2. Year 4 Hip Hop Lessons
- Term 3 Team Newsletters – Team Fantail Term 3 Newsletter, Team Falcon Term 3 Newsletter, Team Pukeko Term 3 Newsletter
- Assembly Term 3: Our school assemblies are held every second Friday. Week 4 – 16th August – Team Pukeko, Week 6 – 30th August – Team Falcon, Week 8 – 13th September – Team Tui. Week 10 – 5th July – All Teams, Inquiry Progess/Wonderings. Assembly starts at 9.45am, prior to this we have a coffee and chat for parents in the staffroom from 9am with our Principal Brenda McPherson.
Reminders
- Head Lice – Please check your child’s hair weekly as unfortunately head lice are very common in the community. We have attached the link to the Ministry of Education parent information website with more information. https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/wellbeing/head-lice/ For advice on treatments: https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/h/head-lice/#Chemicalproducts Will my child have to stay away from school? No, the school will not exclude your child or ask you to keep them at home because they have lice. You don’t need to keep your child at home while you’re treating lice either. We have combs available in the office, but also your local chemist and supermarket will sell products.
- Sunshine Online – www.sunshineonline.co.nz Free access to all families to use these books – Login – windyridge1 – Password – windyridge
- Walking School Bus – We have 4 Walking School Buses at WRS. They leave from Stephanie Close, Stanley Road, Roberts Road and Hiwihau Place. Most of them leave around 8.15am in the morning to get the students to school for 8.30am. If you would like your child(ren) to come on the Walking School Bus AND are able to help just one morning or afternoon a week, see Mrs Boyce in the office for a form and she will pass your details on to the right person. The Walking School Buses are solely run by awesome volunteers so your help is always appreciated.
- Lost Property – Please remember to check our lost property bin on the hall deck for any lost items, please name all items of clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles.
- Kindo – To avoid office queues please go online to make payments through your mykindo account. If you haven’t used Kindo before, click this link to get started (all you need is the email address we have on record) Kindo Shop If you already have a mykindo account, go to www.mykindo.co.nz or via the link on our school website. www.facebook.com/kindo.co.nz This site also hosts our online lunch ordering system Ezlunch – All orders must be made before 9am. Kindo_Parent_Flyer_CHINESE Ezlunch Term 3 Menu
- Attendance – Please ensure that your children arrive at school on time and that we are aware of their absence by 9.00am each day. You can telephone the office and leave an absence message or go online to the school website and use the Report an absence tab or use the Skool Loop app. We do follow up lateness and absence as we are required to report on both to the Ministry of Education and the Board of Trustees. If you are planning a holiday in term time please advise your child’s teacher and the office.
- WINDY RIDGE PARENTS Facebook – We have a closed Facebook page for Windy Ridge parents – you need to request to be part of this page, we are only able to accept parents and caregivers to this page. It is a valuable page for reminders, information, and general WRS ‘stuff. https://www.facebook.com/groups/windyridgeparents/
- School Library – The library is open from 8.30am to 8.50am and at lunchtimes from 12.45pm to 1.25pm.
- Music Lessons – John Casson from MusiqHub is now offering music lessons in Guitar & Ukulele at our school, see the attached notice for more information. John Casson Flyer
- Before & After-School Care – The sKids organisation provide this service from our school hall, please feel free to drop in and see them or register online through their website. www.skids.co.nz/locations/windy_ridge/
Term dates
School Terms 2019
Term 1 Monday 4/02 – Friday 12/04
Term 2 Monday 29/04 – Friday 05/07
Term 3 Monday 22/07 – Friday 27/09
Term 4 Monday 14/10 – Wednesday 18/12 (midday)
PTA News
- Movie Night – Friday 9 August, Secret of Pets 1 Movie night #2
- Cross Country Sausage Sizzle – Monday 12th August at 12.30pm Cross Country Sausage order form
- Upcoming Events – Jesters Pie Day – 5th September, Quiz Night – Adults Only Friday 20th September
- Chocolate Fundraising Prizes – These prizes will be given out at our assembly in week 4.
- Entertainment Books – Order your book now – Orders
PEST FREE KAIPĀTIKI CITIZEN SCIENCE MONTH, 28 JULY – 31 AUGUST
Everybody can contribute to science. Pest Free Kaipātiki Citizen Science Month will help our community track progress in restoring our local native bush and wildlife.
There are many different ways to get involved in Citizen Science Month:
- Identify and record destructive pest plants
- Explore the forest and detect predators
- Assess the health of our local rivers and streams
- Monitor our native birds and wildlife
- Photograph the urban forest to help us track positive change
The results will help Pest Free Kaipātiki to track progress in restoring our local native bush and wildlife. Join in and make this Auckland’s largest & most exciting Citizen Science week ever!!
“Guess what? Marrzipan Drama are running awesome self-confidence building sessions at your school!
www.whanaumarama-parenting.co.nz
You can enrol on line or phone Haiying 551 6974 or
Elizabeth 441 0209 or Betty 551 6960
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