Tēnā Koutou, Talofa Lava, Malo e Lelei, Namaste, Ni sa bula, Noaia’e mauri, Fakalofa lahi atu, Kia Orana, Ni Hao, An Nyung Ha Sai Yo, Nay Ho, Hej, Hallo, Sawat Dee, Cześć, Goeie Dag, សួស្តី, Здравствуйте, hola. Greetings to our school families.
Our Senior School headed off to Omaha today to do their annual Beach Education session with the Life Guards. If I’m honest, I was pretty jealous that I wasn’t going too. As I watched them drive off I was reflecting on how important opportunities like this are for kids in our school. Real life learning, in the actual context, having a go as well as learning about.
I wanted to acknowledge the parent support that allows activities like this to happen. It truly takes a village, and we are ever aware of how reliant we are on parent support to enable us to run the programmes we do. Thank you to everyone who helps out when they can – and to the parents who can’t come due to work commitments, we get that too, because that’s us!
How lucky were we to have the Young Ocean Explorers crew in our school this week?! Our classes have been fully immersed in the YOE 21 Day Challenge. Remember to check out their website if you haven’t already and huge thanks to Riley, Steve and the whole Hathaway family for all that you do.
Nga mihi,
Kathryn Ramel
Principal
Welcome to our new students – we hope you enjoy your time at our school!
Nixon W, Zara H, Ollie R, Brohdi P and Hope L
School Diary
Week 4: 1 Mar – 5 Mar (swimming week)
- Mon 1.3 Junior Swimming (leave school ~9.00am, return ~11.00pm)
- Tues 2.3 Junior Swimming (leave school ~9.30am, return ~11.30pm)
- Weds 3.3 Yr 5 Camp Mangawhai (Depart 9:00am), Year 3 visit to the Godwits at Snells Beach
- Thurs 4.3 Yr 5 Camp Mangawhai, Junior Swimming (leave school ~11.00am, return ~1.00pm)
- Fri 5.3 Yr 5 Camp Mangawhai (Return 2:30pm)
Week 5: 8 Mar – 12 Mar
- Thurs 11.3 School Council Speeches 11:00am
- Fri 12.3 Full School Assembly 2:10pm in the hall.
Week 6: 15 Mar – 19 Mar (swimming week)
- Mon 15.3 YOE 21 Day Challenge Ends, Travelwise Workshop for Monitors 9:30am – 2:00pm Silverdale
- Tues 16.3 Swimming Zone Day (Yr 4 – 6 Competitive swimmers only), Junior Swimming (leave school ~9.20pm, return ~11.20pm)
- Thurs 18.3 Junior Swimming (leave school ~9.20pm, return ~11.20pm)
Come and find out about joining our PTA
Thank you to our current PTA Exec Committee who have all put in so many hours to support our school. We are looking at welcoming new parents and new ideas as we plan to support our school for the future, and also anyone interested in putting themselves forward for a leadership role. Interested to find out more? Come and meet with Kathryn Ramel, either for an afternoon cuppa at 3:10pm on Monday the 8th March, or at 7:00pm on Tuesday 9th March. Both meetings to be held in the staffroom, and both will be brief 🙂
Dawson Road Crossing
Lots of information went out yesterday about this via email, the school Facebook page, and our App, so we won’t go over this again in too much detail. However, we thought you might like to see a picture of the proposed crossing outside the school:
We do believe that the crossing will make a significant improvement to the safety of our children. If you feel so inclined, click on the link and have your say – Auckland Transport are requesting feedback on this project:
Bikes in Schools – $20,000 Grant!
Miss Ramel received an amazing, surprise phone call this week. The Bikes in Schools Charitable Trust called to say our school has been selected to receive a $20,000 grant to be used to supply:
- a modified shipping container, with in-built flooring and storage systems, and opening doors on the side
- a set of 50 bikes, in a range of sizes to suit all levels including: 15 x 18-inch bikes, 15 x 20-inch bikes, 15 x 24-inch bikes, 5 x adult step-thru bikes or 5 x small adult mountain bikes
- a set of 80 helmets
This is really exciting, as the extra bikes will allow kids who don’t have their own, or those who come on the bus, access to a bike to use within the school day. Senior students will have the opportunity to train as a bike mechanic (overseen by an adult), to keep the bikes in good running order. Bike skills and safety will also be incorporated into the PE curriculum. Our students can already use their wheels whenever the want at break times, now more kids will have the opportunity.
We can’t wait – delivery is expected towards the end of the term!
Play Based Learning
Our teachers have continued their Professional Development and research into the concept of Play based Learning this year. Through play, children can discover their own interests, abilities and limitations; they imagine, investigate and explore. They develop memory skills, build vocabulary, learn new skills and knowledge and learn how to get on with adults and other children. Here are some pics from our Junior School PBL session this morning:
SBS Meet and Greet
It was fantastic to see so many of the school whanau down at the beach for this year’s Meet and Greet! We hope our new families learnt a few names, and started to feel part of the crew, and that our regulars enjoyed a good catchup. Relationships are important, and aren’t just built via email or newsletter – putting a face to a name matters. Full credit to our resident chefs, Mr Morley, Mrs Adamson, and Miss Henry, who managed to cook up 500 sausages on the night!
$10 School Polar Fleeces
We have a number of second hand school polar fleeces available for $10. See Marissa in the office, or email her if you are interested mbale@snellsbeach.school.nz
Speech Language Therapy Sessions Here At School
One of our school parents, Kendall Stewart is a speech language therapist. Give her a call, text or email to discuss your child and whether Speech Therapy could help them. 0275888879 kendall.stewart@me.com
And a reminder:
Keeping in touch with what’s happening at SBS
Schools are busy places – especially in Term 1. The weather is warm, and classes are often out and about with events on. We strongly encourage parents to make sure they are in our communication loop by:
- ensuring that you are in our email database. You will receive the newsletter and other important notices direct to your inbox. This normally happens at enrolment, but sometimes only one parent’s email is used. We are happy to add parents and whanāu – please email us at admin@snellsbeach.school.nz and we can add you in.
- following us on our school Facebook page
- downloading our free school app. You will be sent notifications and reminders as necessary. To do this simply go to App Store (Apple) or Play Store (Android) and download the “Skool Loop” app. Once this is installed, use the drop down box to select “Snells Beach School”.
- please also update us if your phone number or emergency contacts have changed. There is honestly nothing worse than sitting with a sick or unwell child in the sickbay, and not being able to contact parents.
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