Newsletter

Term 3, Week 8, 2019 (12 September 2019)

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa - warm greetings to all!

On Rāhina (Monday) this week 40 students braved the cold for Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori Hikoi and on Rāmere (Friday) our Year 6 Road Patrollers will be marching to promote road safety around schools….. Which is very important to us! Calendar art orders are due this week, so remember to send yours in if you haven't already.

Buckle in for an extended read, there's a lot of information here!

Where to next for Ridgway School?

We are continuing our conversations to hear the voice and views of our community by talking to students. This week and last, teachers have interviewed a sample of students about their experiences at Ridgway School and we will use the information that we gather to help us identify our strengths and priorities for the future.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to our parent survey. We were very pleased to get responses from nearly 70% of our families. The results will take some time to analyse but will be shared with the community once this is completed. The board will then be able to use this information as they update our vision and strategy for the future. We hope to bring this work to you early in the new year for your comments.

If you think you've missed out on having your say, please attend the next Korero with Kathryn on Wednesday 18 September, 6.30pm in Te Wharenui (Big Space).

Korero with Kathryn

Each term I host a korero on a topical issue. This is an opportunity for parents to hear the facts first hand and to ask questions about the topic.

Our building work will be starting next year and many of you will have questions about how the work will impact on your child and what the school will be doing to ensure that good learning and play can continue. This seems to be an obvious choice for this term's korero. I expect this korero will be well attended so we will be meeting in Te Wharenui (The Big Space).

Korero with Kathryn

"Rising to the Challenges of 2020"

Wednesday 18 September

6.30pm - 7.30pm

Te Wharenui

RSVP to

office@ridgway.school.nz

or 04 939 8771

Year 7 & 8 Information Evening

If your son or daughter will be in Year 7 or Year 8 next year, you are invited to our information evening. Pam Clarke and Libby Hainsworth will host this evening, explaining how our philosophy and values guide our planning for this group of learners.

Our upcoming building work will cause some disruption for the school in 2020 and 2021. Pam and Libby will explain how we are planning to organise ourselves to cater for our intermediate class.

Year 7 & 8 Information Evening

Monday 23 September

6.30 - 7.30pm

Te Wharenui

Leaving Ridgway at the end of the year?

If your Year 6 child has made the decision to leave Ridgway School at the end of this year, we wish them well, but please notify us as soon as possible by dropping a quick email to office@ridgway.school.nz.

If you have a Year 8 child, you should by now have enrolled them at a secondary school for 2020.

All schools need accurate information about who will be attending in order to efficiently plan for the upcoming year. The time to make decisions about which secondary or intermediate school to attend next year is now and should not be left any later than the end of this term. Your child may be at a disadvantage for subject choices and class placement if you are not enrolled in a timely fashion.

Touch rugby team

If your child is interested in playing touch rugby next term please let Katherine (Jamie and Robbie's mum) by emailing brown_kath@yahoo.co.nz. (There is more detail about this in our Week 6 newsletter)

Whānau hui group

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 30 October at 7pm in the staffroom. New members are always welcome and anyone can join. Contact Tanja to find out more tanja.mcschubert@gmail.com. (There is more detail about our Whānau hui group in our Week 6 newsletter)

Lunch Orders

Children may order a Sakura Sushi lunch on Thursday and a Pita Pit lunch on Friday. There is a link on our website to Lunch Online for making your order. (Look out for free spring rolls from Sakura Sushi.)

Parent helper in the library

Thank you to Jessica Wells for volunteering to help out with our library on a regular basis. There is always plenty of work to do in this area of the school, so if you'd like to join Jessica in the library, either regularly or just when you can fit it in, please let our office staff know.

Bank Account Details - Change

By now most of you are already aware that we have changed our bank account. If you are planning to make online payments please check you have our new ASB account number 12 3141 0104464 00 .

Jump Jam Quiz Night

Ridgway Diva's Jump Jam team have qualified for the North Island Regionals. They are the only school team from the Wellington region to qualify this year and we are very proud of their achievement! The team are fundraising to get to Tauranga for the competition with a Quiz Night.

Date: Sunday 29th September

Time: 5.30-8pm

Venue: The Brooklyn Bar and Bistro

Tickets: $20 per person

No limit to numbers in teams

Get your tickets by emailing jumpjamquiznight@gmail.com

Or going to our Eventbrite page

Yummy Stickers

It's only 2 weeks until the end of this term, so time to gather up all your yummy stickers and send them in (if you haven't already). Drop them off at the office please.

Sun Safety

With Summer coming early, it's time to make sure your child has a sunhat at school for sunny days.

In both Term 4 and Term 1 it is compulsory for children to wear a hat while outside on sunny days. If your child has fair skin, we also suggest that you put sunscreen on your child before they come to school or if they are old enough, to provide them with sunscreen to administer themselves.

Riding for the Disabled

Olive Stevens will be selling gingerbread horse biscuits for $2 each at lunch time on Monday and Tuesday next week. She is fundraising to support the work of Riding for the Disabled.

Zero 2 Hero Disco

Our sustainability group will be running a Zero 2 Hero Disco next term on Friday 25 October. They are fundraising for special rubbish bins that will support the new recycling programme they are developing. There will be a $2 entry fee as well as food items for sale.

Community Notices Page

With summer fast approaching you are likely to be thinking about your child's involvement in summer sports activities. We have a community notices page where we post links to clubs that many of our children are involved in. We've recently updated this page with links to Brooklyn Junior Cricket Club, Wellington Harriers Athletic Club, Maranui Surf Lifesaving Club and there are many more clubs to investigate also.

Also on this page you'll find information about upcoming events such as the Brooklyn Community Market (21 September) and Wellington Community Conversations (first event is at The Green Cafe, 19 September, 7pm, discussing Being Neighbourly).

Lending from ASB

If anyone in our School Community - family, friends or staff - are completing lending with ASB through a Branch, Mobile Lending Manager or Contact Centre for an amount over $250,000.00 (and comply with the T and Cs) they can nominate Ridgway School for a donation of $500.

If you are lending from ASB, remember to ask your lender to arrange the donation.

And that's all for this newsletter, which should see us through to the end of the term. Term 3 ends on Friday 27 September at 3pm and Term 4 begins on Monday 14 October at the usual time of 8.55. The first week back is our annual STEM week and is full of very exciting learning.

Noho ora mai

Kathryn Smith

(Principal)