AbsencesA phone call (04-939 7281) or note is required when children are absent from school. We will ring/text parents shortly after 9.00 am if we have not been notified. If children arrive after 8.55 am they must come to the office and get a Late Pass to give to their base group teacher.
After School CareOur children are collected by shuttle van at 2.55pm for after school care, held at Miramar Community Centre from 3pm. The school has very clear expectations regarding behaviour. Aiming for full engagement in learning, an inclusive collaborative culture and strong home/school partnerships certainly goes a long way to minimising negative behaviours. Modelling and rewarding pro-social behaviour and encouraging a ‘culture of telling’ is first and foremost. What we do know, however, that things never go entirely smoothly. We are in the people business and there is always an element of unpredictability! While we always focus on the positive, we also have consequences for negative behaviours. Teachers and your child/ren will be able to explain the ‘colour chart’. Although very rarely utilised, it serves a useful purpose. It is extremely important to act on negative behaviours quickly. Most incidences occur in the playground, usually out of eyesight or hearing of duty teachers. Please help us by encouraging your child to speak up - then teachers can deal with things at the time. Please don’t wait for a month for things to build up. This isn’t helpful. It is useful to also be mindful of the use of the term ‘bullying’ and be very clear as to what it is. It has 4 defining characteristics:
In a nutshell, it is not a word to be thrown around lightly! Developing resilience in our children, supporting them to have the ability to bounce back, to stand up for themselves, to be flexible, to show courage and make good decisions, to deal with things for themselves, to really understand who they are and what they value can never be underestimated. Ultimately, we have one value = one rule and that is of respect. What do I do if I have concerns about my child?The first step is talking to your child’s base group teacher. You may find time for an informal catch up or, better still, make a time for a later date. Teachers are very busy preparing for the day in the mornings so if it's more than a couple of minutes, an appointment is best. You can do this either by approaching the base group teacher directly or by sending them an email. Expect a response within 2 working days from a teacher. If urgent, please contact the school office.
Deeper or ongoing concerns may require follow-up appointments with the base group teacher to allow for thinking and planning time for both staff and parents. It may also be appropriate for others in the teaching team to be present, as they may see a lot of your child's learning and engagement during the day.
Teachers keep the Team Leader informed of discussions, action plans and outcomes. If the concerns are not resolved or if they continue, the Team Leader will meet with you for further discussion, including your child’s teacher/s if required.
If I have concerns about wider school activities/day-to-day operations, who do I talk to?Please call or email the school office and make an appointment to discuss your concerns with the Principal. You will be asked to provide some detail to the Office Manager so that any necessary background information can be gathered.
Digital Technology at SchoolInstructions for parents*
*The term ‘parent’ used throughout this document also refers to legal guardians and caregivers.
Health, Accidents and Sickness
Homework/Home LearningLet’s get away from homework being a stressful time. While it can still be a time to practice basic skills, homework, or home learning as we like to call it, needs to be a time for positive sharing of your child’s learning and successes. We also recognise that many children have a very full schedule after school!Prof. John Hattie, in his extensive research about what has the greatest impact on student achievement says…. “Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero. In high school it’s larger. Which is why we need to get it right. Not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking in our primary schools to say, “Is it really making a difference?” If you try and get rid of homework in primary schools many parents judge the quality of the school by the presence of homework. So, don’t get rid of it. Treat the zero as saying, “It’s probably not making much of a difference but let’s improve it”. Certainly I think we get over obsessed with homework. Five to ten minutes has the same effect of one hour to two hours. The worst thing you can do with homework is give kids projects. The best thing you can do is to reinforce something you’ve already learnt.” There are many studies that show a negative impact of ‘traditional homework’ like worksheets, on student learning and self esteem in primary aged children. OK, so what are the expectations?Home learning is about practicing basic skills, but most importantly it is a time for positive sharing of the learning your child is involved in.What happens in the Junior area?Home ReadersThis will look different for individual children. Children will bring a reader, article or other relevant text each day. They may read the same book over a couple of days, or revisit a text they have already read. This is to either encourage fluency, build expression, identify high-frequency words, or to develop comprehension skills. Please help your child to be ready for reading by ensuring their book bag is at school each day. SpellingTautoru: Each child in Tautoru has a spelling notebook. This contains high frequency words or other relevant words for your child to practise at home and at school. Your child will receive ten new spelling words every two weeks. At times, these words may come from the Essential Words list or your child’s writing. There may also be two additional red words. These will often be related to our inquiry learning that is happening in the class. Please note red words are discussion words only. Your child will not be expected to spell these. The words that your child has got correct in their fortnightly spelling test will be highlighted in green. The words that they need to continue to practise will be highlighted in pink. You can support your child’s spelling at home by:
Autahi: Children in Autahi have a Word Rocket. This is a list of 5 new words each week for your child to practise reading. These high-frequency words are taken from the readers they are reading that week. The focus is on students being able to instantly recognise the words, not to have to spell them. These words are checked each Friday. The words that your child has got correct will be highlighted in green. The words that they need to continue to practise will be highlighted in pink. You can support your child’s spelling at home by:
A little bit more background on developing spelling knowledge and skills As children begin to acquire a store of automatically recognised words, simple spelling activities and short word lists are introduced. These are the words that they are likely to use often. These will include:
From known to unknown Opportunities to consolidate learning by choosing texts or activities that build on what they know is important. Children can draw upon their own existing knowledge to help them with unknown words, eg. "mall". If the child knows how to spell the word "all" they can work out how to spell the word mall due to their existing knowledge of both the high frequency word and their letter-sound knowledge. Teaching and learning sequences such as these shows children how much they already know about sounds, letters, and words and how they can draw on this knowledge in their independent writing. (From Teaching Writing in Years 1-3 - Building a Strong Foundation, Pages 13-14 2012, Ministry of Education) MathsEach child will have a Basic Facts booklet. These are basic facts that you can work through with your child. These are checked in on twice a term by teachers. The focus is on children being able to instantly recall these; not to have to work them out with fingers or materials. Making Links to our Inquiry and Learning at School We encourage parents to connect and follow the class blogs. You can do this by: @@@ This is a great conversation point at home. We would love to have you and your child comment on their learning from home. What happens in the Senior SchoolIn the senior school the expectations of home learning is similar to the junior school, however, the emphasis begins to change as the children become more independent. We strongly encourage the discussion, reflection and questioning at home around our Inquiry. It is essential to build and reinforce the home/school partnership to ensure children make connections with what they learn at school to the wider world. The discussion you have with your child around the ideas and concepts we are investigating is the richest homework possible. Please check out our blog to find out what we are doing so that you can keep up to date: http://matarikiwbs.blogspot.co.nz/ Most of our students are connected on Google Apps and continue to work at home independently on things which they are interested in or passionate about. These children are doing homework because they want to keep their head in something that they are interested in. Some children require further support. The base group teacher will discuss how best to support your child at Data Meetings. We recommend the following websites for supporting the learning of basic skills. Basic Facts It is essential that Year 4 students become fluent with the recall and accuracy of basic facts. They must know them off by heart and, in order to do so, need to learn them by rote at home. Multiplication Grid (Can be used to support the learning of Multiplication and Division facts.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/factsheet/ma13tabl-e3-f-times-tables-grid Maths Links Number Knowledge and Strategies. http://mathzlinks.wikispaces.com/ This site has games related to each strategy and number stage. www.sumdog.com Each child has their own login. http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/math_games.html http://nzmaths.co.nz/families A specific site on the NZ maths curriculum designed for home learning. Spelling http://www.vocabulary.co.il/word-play/hig-pig-word-game/ Reading All students need to be reading at home. This could be reading independently or might involve sharing a book with a sibling or parent. This is still a rich literary experience and can be nice time together. Some students will be bringing a reader home from school regularly. It is important to keep up with current affairs, children could use the Kiwi Kids site for their home reading: http://www.kiwikidsnews.co.nz/
Some children may be keen to improve their keyboard skills.
KarakiaOur school karakia was created by our school community, with the majority of ideas about what is important to us coming from the children. The school comes together to begin and end each week with the karakia, remembering the importance of supporting each other as we learn together. This is also a special time for celebrating and acknowledging achievements. Etau nei ki runga i a tatou katoa te wairua aroha
Settle upon us the loving spirit
kia ngakaunui tatou ki te hapai i a tatou mahi katoa
to enable us to work together
i roto i te hari me te koa me te aroha ano o tetahi ki tetahi
in joy and with respect toward one another
kia puawai tatou katoa.
so that we all grow and blossom together.
Whakakahangia tatou kia mahi tahi kia manaaki,
Also strengthen us to work together to nurture and
kia tiaki i to tatou kura, to tatou hapori, a to tatou taiao hoki.
look after our school, our school community and our environment.
Mauri ora!
Life force!
The school cannot take any responsibility for students in the school facilities before 8.30 am or after 3.00 pm.
ParentNet EmailKeep an eye out for our ParentNet emails. We have a ParentNet representative in each area of the school. Jackie Ross in Autahi, Rebecca Wedge in Tautoru and Sarah Wells in Matariki/Mahutonga. These will keep you up to speed with what is happening on the fundraising and social events scene. PaymentsWrap it Up is our online payment system. It's easy - just go to www.wrapitup.co.nz and follow the instructions on the website. You can make all your school payments at once - Voluntary Contributions, school trips, sports, sports T-shirts, all events, lunches, everything!
School Emergency ProceduresThe school has a clearly defined Emergency Management Plan - the summary is below
We encourage parents to ensure their emergency contacts are regularly updated and at least 5 people who live locally are also nominated. In the event that there is an emergency the school will keep the children here for a period of 24 hours. In this time we would anticipate that either parents/caregivers or nominated contact people will be able to collect the children. After a period of 24 hours the school will send child/ren home with a school community member. All children will be carefully recorded by the teacher/ person supervising on pick up.
In the event of an emergency or natural disaster occurring during school hours, what the the school does:
The school ...
For further Helpful Information for Families: http://www.gw.govt.nz/it-s-easy-get-prepared-for-an-emergency/
Booklet - needs most recent 2015.
Once again, we have teamed up with OfficeMax MySchool for ordering school stationery.
Benefits:
To order online using your credit card, go to www.myschool.co.nz/worserbay.
Simply select your child's Year Group and follow the instructions on the website. You do not need to enter a student ID.
Website orders over $57.50 qualify for free delivery.
Delivery must be to your home or place of work – not to the school.
You can also ring your order through and pick it up from OfficeMax at an agreed time that works for you.
To order by mail order and/or pay by cheque, go to www.myschool.co.nz/worserbay and when you get to the checkout, click on the Mail Order Form button. This will build a customised mail order form for you to print.
There are additional products available, that’s up to you. If your child already has a book bag and pencil case this does not require purchasing again.
This elected group of students from Matariki/Māhutonga (Years 4-6) is currently leading the charge on environmental issues surrounding the school, the beach, the library and further afield.
http://worserbaystudentcouncil.blogspot.co.nz/ NEEDS UPDATING
Definition Sustainability is the ability to be supported, upheld or maintained. In relation to the environment it is something that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In relation to us, it is engaging in and maintaining practices with cultural, environmental, physical and emotional awareness. Vision Worser Bay students are connected and active learners. They know that their actions have an impact on themselves, others and the wider world. They value and respect diversity and also acknowledge the place of Te Ao Maori as part of what makes New Zealand unique. They have a sense of responsibility to uphold the school’s core value of respect. Respecting themselves, each other and the world around them.
What does this look like in practice?
People, place, culture, language, sharing, growing, preparing, cooking, eating and learning together, are vital components as we move towards achieving the vision. The gardens, composting, worm farm, beach clean ups, 'down the bank' cleanups, cooking opportunities around the corner, have all been part of this wider outdoor learning/sustainability plan. Insect mounds and weta hotels shouldn't be too far off.
If you are keen to get involved, please contact Gillian in Tautoru at gmenaker@worserbay.school.nz.
At Worser Bay School, we enjoy an active school community and depend heavily on the families and whanau who contribute to the school in many different ways. We particularly rely on the voluntary contributions made by our families and whanau. These payments are a vital supplement to the government grant we receive annually towards the capital and operational funding of the school.
Your Voluntary Contribution towards your child’s education is extremely valuable in helping provide the atmosphere and educational opportunities we strive for at Worser Bay School.
The Voluntary Contribution for 2015 is $325.00 if paid after Term 1, $275.00 if paid before the end of Term 1. Please discuss with office staff or pay online at www.wrapitup.co.nz.
We appreciate that family incomes are stretched and are happy to discuss payment by instalment too.
Please also see Board of Trustees message.
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