Newsletter 

Friday 27 January 2023

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa
Bonjour à toutes nos familles

New teacher in Kereru

We welcome Jasmin Wells to Kereru.  Originally from Westport, she spent three years in Japan after completing her degree at Victoria University in Japanese.  She completed her teaching diploma last year and joins Derek and Harriette in the Kereru/Kaka team. 

Meet the Teachers Picnic Night - Thursday 9 February 5pm - 6.30pm

Come along to school with your picnic or take aways between 5pm and 6.30pm.  Catch up with friends and other parents from our school community.  Meet your child's teachers and take a look around your child's akomanga (learning space). We'll fire up the BBQ and have sausages available for everyone (koha accepted!)

Our Kids Online - Parent Presentation Wednesday 15 February 6.30 - 7.30pm and Wednesday 22 February 6.30 - 7.30pm

We are teaching the Our Kids Online programme this year. Here is their promo video. This includes two parent information evenings which cover the following: 

· Cyberbullying - How cyberbullies can reach our kids 24/7

· Social media - The need to build an online brand that is often far removed from their authentic selves. FOMO, Highlight Reels 

· Gaming and the developing brain - An oversupply of dopamine leading to dopamine deficiency, synaptic pruning, and the underdevelopment of social skills and empathy

· Naked Selfies - The pressure to send nudes from intermediate up through high school 

· Online predators - The methods they use, how to spot them, and how to get out from under their control if your child has been trapped

· Online porn vs healthy sexuality - How consuming online porn as a child or teen can create a sexual template where violence, aggression, and dominance are seen as normal, and consent can become very blurry

Solutions:

· Filters - Which filters are best and how to install them

· Smartphones - How to lock down a smartphone to make it a safe phone

· Boundaries - How to put good boundaries in place around device use 

· 3 golden rules - The 3 golden rules that will keep your kids safe

· Talking to your kids - How to have the difficult conversations with your kids

· Challenging our own phone and device usage - Reconnecting as a family.

Enjoy holiday programme

Enjoy Childcare will be offering a special holiday programme at Ridgway School on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd of February 2023. The special holiday programme which will consist of two trip days with a variety of fun and structured activities. They will provide freshly made morning and afternoon tea (taking into account dietary requirements). Menus will be made available onsite each day.

Thursday 2nd February 2023: Picnic at Central Park

Friday 3rd February 2023: Trip to Te Papa

You can go to their website to book. 

Upcoming Events

7 February: first day of term

9 February: meet the teachers picnic at school 5 - 6.30pm

15 and 22 February: Our Kids Online Presentation 6.30 - 7.30pm

Week beginning 27 February: Learning conferences (days TBC)

23 March: Athletics Day Newtown Park (postponement day 30 March)

6 April: Teacher Only Day

7 April: Good Friday and start of school holidays

Community Notices

Physical Stories for Kids

We have a new exciting opportunity open to our 5 to 7 year old tamariki in 2023. Ridgway School will be providing space for Physical Stories for Kids sessions every Tuesday after school. The classes are fun and educational, plus another benefit for busy parents is that you will not need to collect your child from school till 5pm. 

Joanne Lisik has been running Physical Stories for the last year in Island Bay and Brooklyn and is now bringing classes to us! Joanne is a fully registered teacher and also a parent of our school. Her daughter will be moving into Year 2 in 2023 and she will be taking part in the classes, in fact Leia is the reason Joanne started these classes. Joanne wanted a class that combined physical movement and mindfulness for kids. Through story-telling Joanne has created an interactive physical programme that uses drama, kids yoga/movement, songs, and reflection time, to build on children’s concentration, confidence and collaboration skills.

This is a great opportunity for your tamariki so please get in contact with Joanne to sign your child up for a trial session if you’re interested.

Ngā mihi

Sarah Patterson

Deputy Principal