Term 1, Week 4, 2020 (Tuesday 25th February 2020)

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

3 and ½ weeks to go until the Fair!

Thanks to everyone who has put their name down to help out so far. The sign up sheet is here and also there is a paper copy outside the office and it is on display before and after school. There is a paper copy of information about the fair coming home today to try to catch those people who don't read this fascinating newsletter online!

We still need loads more volunteers! We are fundraising to develop the steep bank that separates our playing field from our classrooms. We plan to install a series of steps and adventure play items such as tunnels, huts, slides, ladders, bridges and climbing ropes.

There are lots of ways you can help us out:

● Sign up for a stall​. We would love to have every family get involved!

● Prizes for the silent auction ​- this is one of our best money raisers. Are you able to help with prizes? Perhaps you could approach a business that you have a connection with, or "call in a favour" from somewhere to get an auction item?

● Pre-loved clothing, books (but no magazines or encyclopedias please - they were all thrown out last time) and toys - please drop off any donations to Tim and Anna's place at 135 Mornington Road, right across from the main school entrance. You can drop off anytime between 3 and 8pm. Knock to see if they're home and if not then leave the donations just inside the gate. Please make sure the items are in bags and are clean and in good condition.

● Jars of fun! We would love every family to provide one jar. These are always extremely popular. How does it work? Every family brings in a jar filled with something interesting (spend up to $5). Have fun decorating the jar and drop it off at the office. At the fair each Jar of Fun is numbered, which wins you the jar of fun with the matching number - it's like a lucky dip! Be as imaginative as you like in filling your jar....sewing materials, buttons, sweets, lego, seed packets, balloons, stickers, small toys … let your imagination run wild!

Seesaw reporting

We use Seesaw to report and to enable parents to more actively engage with their child around their learning. We encourage you to not only view the posts in Seesaw but to also provide positive and supportive feedback to your child.

Research indicates that feedback around student learning has a significant impact on improving learning outcomes. It also indicates that parents are the greatest influence on motivating students to achieve. (Hattie, J. (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers. New York: Routledge.) (Yamamoto, Y., & Holloway, S. D. (2010). Parental Expectations and Children's Academic Performance in Sociocultural Context. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 189-214.)

Therefore your feedback and involvement in the learning process is extremely powerful in motivating your child and improving their achievement outcomes. If you want help with how to use Seesaw then please ask. You can email sarah@ridgway.school.nz .

Code of Conduct

Please see our Code of Conduct attached here again. Unfortunately we've decided that we need to post this again as a reminder to parents that you are role models to our children and the examples that you set as you park, talk with other parents and teachers are noticed and copied by children. We want Ridgway School to be a safe place for all of our children. A place where all adults, whether school staff or parents:

• behave with dignity and control their emotions,

• speak respectfully to others regardless of personal beliefs and opinions,

• recognise that the rules (including road rules) apply to everyone all of the time.

If you have a concern about the behaviour of a staff member or parent, please discuss with the principal or board chairperson; if you have a concern about the behaviour of a child bring this to the attention of a teacher or the principal.

Juicies for Sale

We are selling Juicies to fundraise for our end of year camps (Year 5-6 and Year 7-8). These will be sold on Thursday lunchtime for $2.

Family Board Game Nights at the Vogelmorn Club

VBC are running quarterly Family Board game nights at the Vogelmorn Club (VBC). They are once a school term, towards the end of the term, and they are open to all. Families bring their own tea (takeaways or food from home), drinks and any board games they want to share/play with others. It starts at 5pm - and when warm the kids spend more time on the green than indoors!

This year the dates are set in advance. You can find information here https://vogelmorn.nz/.

The dates are Friday April 3, Friday 26 June, Friday 19 September and Friday 10 December.