Term 1, Week 3, 2019

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

National Arts Festival

We are attending the Capital E National Arts Festival again this year. Last year it was a great success and a fabulous opportunity for all our children to see three different performances. Our Year 4 - 8 children are going on Monday 11 March and the Year 1 - 3 children are attending on Monday 18th March. The cost is $25 and has been added to your child's account. More information and a request for help form will be coming out soon.

Upcoming board elections

May 2019 will see the next cycle of board elections. If you have an interest and skills that you think will be valuable to the governance of the school, please have a think about putting your name forward. If you would like to find out more about what is involved, have a chat to one of the current board members. In particular we are interested in people with skills or background in finance or project management to join the board. Anneleah in the office is our Returning Officer and will call for nominations in April.

If you are interested in standing for board elections and would like more information about this there is a NZ School Trustees event hosted by Wellington High School on 1 April 2019.

Please RSVP using this link if you are attending: https://goo.gl/forms/MBa8fFYExKC1N7YS2

Kahui Ako - our Community of Learning

Our school is part of the Capital City Kahui Ako with a number of other schools in South Wellington. Our kahui ako is a network of schools working together to benefit our children. You will hear more about what we are up to as a kahui ako as the year progresses.

Student Led Conferences - March 5th and March 7th

These are coming up in week 5 and you will be able to book in to meet with the teachers. The office will send home the instructions of how to book soon.

Summer Reading Challenge

Wellington Night Markets - Lanterns

Last year our school made lanterns with the people from the Wellington Night Market Lantern Festival. These will be displayed at the Wellington Night Market Lantern Festival over Saturday and Sunday 23-24 February. The Festival is being held between Lower Cuba Street and Dixon Street.

The children's lanterns will be displayed in specially decked out containers on Dixon Street. With hundreds of other lanterns, some life sized, the area is being turned into a magical wonderland including a smorgasbord of food options and over 50 stunning performances over the two days. Entry is free.

If your child made a lantern last year then a photo of it is up on their website and you can go and vote for theirs. The one with the most votes will win a return trip to Singapore for the child and an adult with Singapore Airlines and the school wins a $1000 donation to the schools' art fund. Online votes close 7pm 23 February.

Visit Wellington Night Market Lanterns and follow the instructions if you want to vote.

There are a few mistakes with children's names as they took their names from what the child wrote on their piece of paper. Also, it is from the room they were in last year and for some reason half of Tui is down as Room 7...Hopefully with a bit of investigative work you can locate their lantern!

Meet the Teachers Picnic Night Thursday 21 February 5.30 - 6.30

Remember this is coming up this week! Come along with a picnic tea and take the opportunity to meet all the staff and have an informal chat with your child's teachers.

Ridgway School Fair

Riding bikes in the school grounds

We ask that everyone coming to our school (including parents and preschoolers) don't ride their bikes in the school grounds at drop off and pick up times. This is a safety issue for our children as there are too many people around. Please wait until after 3.20 when the grounds have cleared. We also ask that people wheel their bikes and scooters in the grounds instead of riding them before school to avoid collisions.

Football team

We would like to put together a Ridgway BNU JFC grade 8 mixed team (for children turning 8 this year). Greg Finch (Freddie and Harvey's dad) will coach the team and the season starts Saturday 6th April.
For more information about the club, follow link https://www.sporty.co.nz/brooklynnujfc/How-to-join-the-club/tab1. Please email Liz if interested - liz_bowen_nz@yahoo.co.nz

Sarah Taylor

Deputy Principal