Newsletters

31/1/2025

Kia koutou e te whānau,

He mihi nui ki a koutou katoa, nau mai, hāere mai ki 2025!

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer, enjoyed the break and created some whānau memories from the festivities.

We’re excited to be back at kura (school) and have enjoyed watching our kids settle seamlessly into their new classes, connecting with old and making new friends.

Apologies in advance for the long newsletter, but there’s a fair bit of information following outlining things you need to know for term 1 and the year ahead. We acknowledge that there is a fair bit of disruption to the term 1 calendar with staff professional learning and statutory holidays, so many thanks in advance for supporting us as we work together to ensure we are set up to provide excellent educational opportunities for our kids.

My door is always open should you wish to connect and/or clarify anything happening within the school, so reach out without hesitation.

Ngā mihi nui

Shane (Mr B)

principal@ngaere.school.nz

• All information from Week 3, will be sent out via HERO. At least one parent/caregiver will need to have the app downloaded. This will be how you can stay connected with what’s happening, see how your children are progressing with their learning, connect with your child’s teacher, report absences, and pay any school related fees etc. If you haven’t got it sorted, please action this asap – info HERE. Any problems, reach out to Karen in the office or myself – we’ll see you right!
• School newsletters will now come home fortnightly with information/key dates etc that is relevant for the whole school. One the alternative fortnight, you receive a newsletter from your child’s teacher – sharing learning and celebrating successes related to what’s happening in classes. As a rule of thumb, these should be in your inbox by the Friday of each week. Please be patient with us – we’re learning how to best use this tool also 
• By the end of term 1, the school website will be updated and generally remain a static image of the school. This won’t be updated unless there’s changes or information that is outdated. Facebook will continue to be used for promotional purposes.
• Staff can still be contacted via email, but communication using the parent contact portal on HERO would be preferred.
• School Assemblies – we’ll now hold school assemblies on four instances throughout the term with the view to raise the quality of what is presented/shared – a less is more approach: Dates for term 1, can be found on the Community Calendar and will start at 2:15pm

*Week 3: Friday 14th February –  led by Senior Hub (Room 6/7)

*Week 6: Thursday 6th March – led by Junior Hub (Room 1/2/3)

*Week 9: Friday 28th March – led by Middle Hub (Room 4/5)

*Week 11: Friday 11th April – led by House Captains/Student Leaders

Professional Learning for Staff:

The staff will be engaging with a range of professional learning opportunities as the year progresses; this will support us in aligning how we teach, assess and report as outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh. Focuses for 2025 are:

• Teaching using a structured literacy approach in reading and writing
• Ensuring teacher led – explicit instruction in Maths
• Te Reo and culturally responsive practices

Home Learning:

As a rule, homework will only be set on a regular on-going basis for our students in Years 1-4. Teachers will communicate what this entails. For students in Year 5-8, any home learning that is sent will either be a continuation of what is being taught in classes or to support personalised areas of need. Research shows that homework set without a clear and meaningful purpose has minimal impact on student progress and outcomes. 

Students in years 5-8 that are involved in intervention programmes or receiving additional support over and above what is covered in class programmes may receive home learning to help accelerate a current focus or goal. This can be discussed with your child’s teacher as the home-school partnership hui.

Home-School Partnerships/Whānau Hui:

These are set for Monday 10th February, running from 8am – 8pm. Please make your booking via the SkoolLoop App or if this isn’t working for you, reach out to Karen or myself and we’ll book you a time. We’re aiming to see 100% of parents on this day so help us out by getting your booking sorted.

The main purpose of these hui are:

• to build and sustain relationships between home and school
• provide a forum to hear your hopes and aspirations for your chlid/ren
• involve the children in goal setting process
• discuss how and home and school can work together to ensure positive outcomes

On this day – we are asking that if possible – children remain at home and only come to school for their scheduled interview time. If this is not possible and suitable childcare arrangements cannot be found, please let Karen or your child’s teacher know as soon as possible. We’ll have a small number of staff available to support as required.

This term Ngaere School is looking to partner with some outside music providers to provide increased opportunities for our students to learn musical instruments. To start with, we’re just wanting to gauge interest to ascertain whether or not this is a viable possibility. There is the potential for children to learn: piano, guitar, ukulele, and potentially drums. 

Thursday 6th February: Waitangi Day (school closed)

Monday 10th February: Home-School Partnership Hui (info above)

Tuesday 11th February – PTA Meeting – 7pm  – all welcome

Wednesday 19th February: Board Meeting

Wednesday 26th February – Tuesday 4th March: Teachers involved in Structured Literacy training – school will remain open but teachers covering classes on these days will vary

Friday 7th March: Kāhui Ako Teacher Only Day – all schools in central region closed for Professional Development

Monday 10th March: Taranaki Anniversary Weekend (school closed)

Friday 14th March: School Gala

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING MAJOR SPONSORS FOR THEIR SUPPORT TOWARDS THE SCHOOL PADDOCK

Kia ora Whānau,

Happy new year and welcome back to 2025! It’s set to be a great year ahead with lots going on.

I will send a more detailed newsletter out early in the term with information pertaining to the start of the year, outlining a few changes and mapping out the “happenings” in term 1.

This information relates more specifically to getting our parents logged in and ready to use HERO – our new communication and reporting system,  an online sharing platform with a complementary parent app. 

Hero allows schools to customise an online environment that enables teachers, students, and parents to view and share content anytime, anywhere on any device. The software is secure, easy to use and brings together all school-related information in one place. 

With Hero –  as we develop how we best use this tool –  you can:

• Read and comment on school notices sent to the class or groups your child is part of
• Respond to school notices such as surveys and trip permission requests
• View school term dates
• View a school calendar of events
• Notify the school if your child is absent or late
• Book your school interviews
• Navigate to other school-related web pages
• Customise your account by adding a profile image
• Select how you wish to receive notifications
• Read and comment on posts relating to your child’s learning
• View information on your child’s progress and goals

In time, learning posts combined with curriculum information and goal-setting will form an online report designed to build year-on-year so that over time you will have access to written posts, images, videos, work samples, and helpful resources all in one place. 

Over the coming year, staff and students will be posting rich content to our Hero software. We are looking forward to sharing this with you, including you in your child’s learning journey.

Ngā mihi

Shane Burgess – Principal/Tumuaki

principal@ngaere.school.nz

In order to get this up and running, we need your help to ensure that you have downloaded the HERO app and logged yourself onto the system. Please follow the instructions in the image below to get this done asap.

Please note the following:

• Without HERO, parents are likely to miss key information relating to school events and student learning as all personalized communication related to your child will only be found here. HERO will be a one stop shop for everything you need. The school website will provide a static overview of the school and Facebook will be used for promotional purposes only. By mid-term, SchoolLoop and eTAP will no longer be used. Seesaw has already been phased out.

It is essential that you have an updated email address loaded in our system so if you are unable to login, it is likely that we require updated contact details. If this is the case, please email: office@ngaere.school.nz

Parent/Teacher Hui – Home/School Partnership Meetings

Monday 10th January

On Monday 10th February between 8am and 8pm, we are looking to run Home School Partnership meetings with Parents/Caregivers and the students. This will provide an important opportunity to:

• Share aspirations and key information you’d like our teachers to know about your child/ren
• Co-construct and set goals for 2025 (alongside your child and their teacher)
• Map out a plan of what specific actions will need to take place in order for the set goals to be achieved
• Ensure that you’re set up with HERO app and troubleshoot any issues
• Discuss anything other relevant information

On this day, we are asking that the children stay at home and only come to school to attend the home/school partnership meeting. If this is not possible, and no alternative childcare arrangements can be made, please contact Karen in the school office to let us know your child/ren will be onsite for the day. We will have a small number of support staff available to look after these students. NB: I have also made myself avaiable for bookings for parents that have anything that they wish to discuss, so feel free to make a time.

We are aiming for 100% attendance, so please book your time slot by clicking “Bookings” on the SchoolLoop App. 

If you don’t have access to SkoolLoop, you can contact Karen in the office to book a time, but please attempt to use SkoolLoop in the first instance.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING MAJOR SPONSORS FOR THEIR SUPPORT TOWARDS THE SCHOOL PADDOCK

Friday 13th December 2024

Kia ora koutou e te whānau,

He mihi nui kia koutou katoa!

Santa is officially packing his bags as he prepares to board his sleigh and take flight from the North Pole.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff, students and parent community who have all taken the time to make me feel so welcome in my first term here as part of the Ngaere School Community. I’m excited for 2025 and looking forward to working as a team to continue to build and strengthen our amazing school ensuring we offer outstanding educational opportunities for our students.

I wish everyone a safe and happy festive season with your whānau. 

Ngā mihi nui

Shane Burgess (Mr B)

principal@ngaere.school.nz

Key information below:

End of Year Prizegiving: 

Date: Monday 16th December

Time: 7:00pm (start) – kids to arrive by 6:45pm

Venue:  Stratford High School Hall, Swansea Road, Stratford. 

• Students are to wear school uniform; no shoes please
• If is essential that the students are at school on Monday as they will be taken to the Stratford High School Hall – by bus – for a practice so they are familiar with the set-up prior to the evening event
• Students in Rooms 1-3 are welcome to be picked from school at 1:30pm to be taken home for a rest if parents desire
• The PTA will have raffle tickets on sale (cash only).  See more information below.

Tuesday 17th December

• The school is still open for instruction; but we will be running alternative programmes for those in attendance to release teachers in hubs to plan and prepare for 2025

School Magazines

• These are for sale from the school office at a cost of $25 cash or you can transfer the money into the BOT Account 15-3951-0380444-00 – please put “Magazine” and “name” into the description. Note: the Year 8 students get a free one as part of their leaving gift.  A huge thank you to Miss Hulme and our Year 8 students for the hours of work put into getting this ready for you all to enjoy it looks great!

School Pool

• This opens for community use from Wednesday 18th December. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, it is essential that all keyholders follow the expectations outlined to ensure that health & safety regulations are met and the space can remain open in years to come for all to benefit from.

WELL DONE TEAM!

For those who have not yet heard the news, Ngaere School placed first with their Xmas Parade Float last Friday.  A huge thank you to Mrs Andrews, Mr Wells, Brenton Vesty, the students and parents involved with the preparation and participation of the float – all the hard work paid off and it looked amazing.  Also huge thank you to Michael from Water Hog who lent the school his truck for the event.

HERO – New Student Management System

As indicated earlier, we will be centralising our systems over the break to allow for a new system to be the main portal for reporting absences, making payments, communicating between home and school as well as reporting acheivement and progress. There will be a short period of time that eTAP & Skool Loop will still run in the background while we work through the process of getting all students loaded and parents onboarded. In the meantime, if you are able to download the HERO app using this link for Apple devices and this one for Andrioid devices, that would be helpful.

PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK THE LOST PROPERTY BOX BEFORE THE END OF TERM AS THIS WILL BE CLEANED OUT OVER THE HOLIDAY BREAK.  THANK YOU.

• Wednesday 29th January 2025 – Beginning of Term 1 2025
• Friday 7th March – Teachers Only Day – Kāhui Ako Professional Learning
• Friday 14 March – Ngaere School GALA

Findlays Flower Studio in Stratford are having a colouring competition – Please see attached,  or copies are available from the school office.  Once they are coloured in please drop them into Findlays Flowers,  Broadway Stratford.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING MAJOR SPONSORS FOR THEIR SUPPORT TOWARDS THE SCHOOL PADDOCK

Friday 06th December 2024

Kia ora e te whānau,

Another busy week at Ngaere School with great weather for all to enjoy!

We’re now only seven days from the end of the school year. As you can imagine, the school is a hive of activity with festive frivolity as we prepare for end of year celebrations before everyone heads off for a well-deserved break over the summer.

2025 Transition Afternoon: Thursday 12th December 1:30 – 3pm

This will be an opportunity for students to spend a block with the students and teacher that they’ll be based with for 2025 and provide a chance to connect and talk about what lies ahead when they return on January 29th. Teachers will all send our more formalised information for parents/caregivers on Day 1 next year.

Pool Keys: These will be available to purchase for school families from the school office on Monday 09th December for $60 (cash only) a key.  This money goes towards the upkeep of the pool. There are limited keys – so first in first serve.  The pool is not open to the public until after the end of the term, Wednesday 18th December, as there is a re-roof of the changing rooms to be completed. 

Due to the stringent Health & Safety regulations around pools, there is new signage on display and we ask that pool users please read and abide by the rules. Failure to comply with the rules and regulations will result in the pool being closed to the public. 

A first aid kit has been attached to the wall of the ladies changing rooms for your convenience and the school is in the process of aquiring an AED to be onsite for the community to use. Please ensure that any concerns regarding behavior and/or safety are immediately reported to the people named in the signage displayed. This helps ensure a safe, enjoyable space for all to enjoy.

End of Year Prize-giving: Stratford High School – 7pm  – Monday 16 December

Further information to come. The School will be open for instruction on Tuesday 17th, but we will be running alternative programmes for students in attendance as we clean, pack and move classes  to prepare for next year.

HERO – New Student Management System

As indicated earlier, we will be centralising our systems over the break to allow for a new system to be the main portal for reporting absences, making payments, communicating between home and school as well as reporting acheivement and progress. There will be a short period of time that eTAP & Skool Loop will still run in the background while we work through the process of getting all students loaded and parents onboarded. In the meantime, if you are able to download the HERO app using this link for Apple devices and this one for Andrioid devices, that would be helpful.

See below for Key Dates for next week:

Week 9

• Tuesday 10 December – Monster Raffle Tickets Due Back
• Thursday 12 December – Year 8 Leavers Celebration

Week 10

• Monday 16 December – Monster Raffle Drawn
• Monday 16 December – End of Year Prize Giving SHS 7pm
• Tuesday 17 December – Last Day School for 2024 – Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays!

Key Dates for Term 1, 2025:

Wednesday 29th January: Start of school year

Week 2/3: Dates to be confirmed – Parent/Teacher Interviews – a chance to set goals for the year and for parents to be onboarded with HERO (as outlined aboce)

Friday 7th March: Kāhui Ako Teacher Only Day (School will be closed)

Monday 10th March: Taranaki Anniversary

Friday 14th March:  Ngaere School Gala

Have a fabulous weekend!

Ngā mihi nui

Shane (Mr B)

principal@ngaere.school.nz

Please CLICK HERE to see which class your child/ren are in next year.

Please see below information relating to 2025 Strategic Priorities – note: these priorities are aligned with the ERO recommedations

As we move towards 2025, our two main Strategic Priorities will remain:

1. Strengthening Capability through “growing & developing a culture of growth and learning by and for all”
2. Curriculum – ensuring our learners have access to a rich and innovative curriculum that reflects the community in which we live and embeds the schools’ sense of identity, language and culture

In 2025, we are looking to have annual targets around:

1. Improving literacy outcomes for all learners – with a focus on boys in writing
2. Strengthening explicit teaching in Mathematics, developing common practices to accelerate progress and achievement
3. Developing our culturally responsive practices to ensure equitable outcomes for all – with a focus on marginalised learners

Please feel free to use the survey link HERE (or the URL address below) to provide feedback on the proposed focus areas or to offer suggestions for consideration.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KSWN7XM

PET DAY CUPS ARE BACK

The Pet Day Cups are back from the engravers.  If your child was a cup winner, please get them to collect it from the school office.

These will be required to be returned to school in September/October 2025.

PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK THE LOST PROPERTY BOX BEFORE THE END OF TERM AS THIS WILL BE CLEANED OUT OVER THE HOLIDAY BREAK.  THANK YOU.

• Wednesday 29th January 2025 – Beginning of Term 1 2025
• Friday 7th March – Teachers Only Day – Kāhui Ako Professional Learning
• Friday 14 March – Ngaere School GALA

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING MAJOR SPONSORS FOR THEIR SUPPORT TOWARDS THE SCHOOL PADDOCK