Newsletter Friday 16 April 2021

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa!

Pet Day

What a roaring (!) success Pet Day was! It was so great to see people sharing their beautiful pets, soft toys and photos of their pets. Anneleah has put some photos up in the office if you would like to come and see. Thanks for making the effort to make this fun morning happen.

Last week's bake sale

This raised $334. Well done to the bakesale leadership group for their leadership in this area and pulling off a successful bake sale! Thank you to our families for supporting this.

Reporting on learning

This year, we have moved to Spotlight for reporting. Kathryn has written a blog to explain Spotlight and our reason for moving away from Seesaw. You can read her blog here. Parents can access Spotlight via the @school parent portal via their computer or the @school parent app on their phone. Parents who are already using the @school portal or app, will notice a new button labelled "Spotlight" appearing. Clicking on the Spotlight button will give you access to your child's digital portfolio of progress and achievement. If you haven't already, get the @school app. We will resend the link and the instructions to those of you who haven't accessed it yet.

Learning Conferences Tues 11th May to Friday 14 May

Learning conferences will be held in the second week of Term 2. These conferences are for parents and teachers, although children may attend also if parents wish. These conferences will focus on learning. If you have concerns about your child's behaviour or wellbeing, please contact your child's kaitiaki teacher as soon as possible to express your concerns, as these things should always be addressed immediately.

We have booked the upstairs space at the Bowling Club and the Vogelmorn Hall for our interviews. Interviews are for 10 minutes only so it is important that you are punctual.

The only interviews held at the Vogelmorn Hall are for Kākā and Kūkupa on Wednesday 12 May from 8am to 12pm.

All the rest of the interviews will be in the upstairs room in the Bowling Club at various times.

Tuesday 8am to 10am - Ruru

Wednesday 12.30pm to 6pm - Tui, Kāka, Kūkupa and Ruru

Thursday 8am to 8pm Tui and Kōtare

Friday 8am to 10am - Tui

Here is the link to the School Interviews website to book your interview.

Step 1. Enter your details

Step 2. Choose your child's whanaua group

Step 3. Choose the time - Scroll to "More times" on this screen as not all interviews are starting at 8am.

Phone the office 939 8771 if you do not have internet access and a time will be booked for you.

Pump Track

The new pump track is taking shape. it will be left to stand for a while now to let the surface settle and harden up. TGL will return to tidy up and finish landscaping work. Any use of the track will damage the surface so please stay off the track at the moment. The track is designed for bikes rather than scooters which can damage the track. Scooters are welcome on both asphalt and skills tracks though.

During the school holidays TGL are carrying out some drainage work on behalf of the council and some sections of the skills track will have temporary closures. Please respect signs and exclusion zones. There will also be some work occurring on the cricket nets to extend the safety fence and roòf protection which will keep the pump track and nets separate. Big thanks to Mike Barker for his continued work with this!

Access to school over the holidays

New street connections on The Ridgway and Mornington Road for the new sewer and water will involve a 3 way stop/go. Renshaw Contracting are due on site Monday but may not start till Tuesday/Wednesday. Retaining wall works to the path leading to the bottom field will be fenced off at the top and bottom and there will be no access during this time. There will be a drop off of gear on the field around 4pm this Friday with work starting on Monday.

Dress up day May 4th

On the second day of Term 2 (Tuesday May the 4th) we will be having a dress up day, just for fun and because it's May the Fourth. Star Wars costumes optional. May the fourth be with you!

Ngā mihi

Sarah Taylor

Deputy Principal

Ridgway School