Newsletter Friday 18 February 2022

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa

Bonjour à toutes nos familles

Meet the Teachers

Have a look at our Meet the Teachers slides ahead of your Goal Setting Conference next week.

Meet the Teachers Ruru

Meet the Teachers Kōtare

Meet the Teachers Tui

Meet the Teachers Kereru/Kākā

Ridgway COVID Planning

We have been busy planning for Omicron and the various scenarios that it might bring. Here is a synopsis of our

Ridgway COVID Contingency Plan. You can find information here about what will happen if there is a positive COVID case as well as COVID FAQs.

As part of our planning for COVID, please update your contact details and make sure the school has your correct email addresses, cell phone numbers and emergency contact information. If you’re not sure you can check this via the @school app or @school portal.

Te reo extension - Year 4 - 8

Henare Parata is running our extension te reo class again this year. Dani has given children the opportunity to sign up and we would also like parents to have the opportunity to talk to their children about this too. Please email danielle@ridgway.school.nz if your child hasn’t signed themselves up and they would now like to join this class which starts on Wednesday next week.

Te Rongohia te Hau

Rongohia te Hau, ‘Listening to the winds of change’, is a way of using evidence including survey responses from learners, whānau and teachers, and observations of teaching, to inform and develop culturally responsive teaching and leadership across the curriculum. The process builds on relationships with mana whenua, iwi, hapū, whānau, and Māori communities and is an enabling approach to responsive consultation for transformative and ongoing educational improvement.

Developed by Poutama Pounamu, a research and development centre led by Professor Berryman at the Te Wānanga Toi Tangata Division of Education, University of Waikato, Rongohia te Hau was one of the strategies developed in the final stage of the high-impact intervention, Te Kotahitanga Phase 5. Professor Berryman’s change leadership featured in six best evidence syntheses because of its exceptional impact on Māori enjoying success as Māori. If you’d like to read more about this process, you can find it here.

As one of the first steps in our Te Rongohia te Hau journey, we are asking our whānau to complete this survey. The survey is designed to help the school leaders to find out about your perceptions of your child's experiences in school. The responses will be collated for your school team and used to provide evidence to inform decision making for the school. There are no right or wrong answers so choose the answer that is best for you. Your answers are anonymous. Thank you for your participation.

Ridgway School Whānau RtH Survey 2022

School Camps

The Board has decided not to run camps in Term 1 this year. We will try to push these out to Term 4. At the end of Term 1 our Year 5 -8s will go on overnight tramps.

We are a bike friendly school!

Check out this poster which was crowdsourced from parents and children, and reviewed by cycle advocates - and distributed in schools across NZ. Do your part to make travelling to school by bike safe for everyone by following the guidelines here!

Scholastic Books

Here is the link so you can check out books to buy in their book club.

Let's Get Movin' in March!

We’re a Movin’March school and counting down to Tuesday the 1st March when we’ll start stamping passports at the gate as part of the Walk or Wheel Passport Challenge all through March. Walking or wheeling to school is a great way to get active, know your neighbourhood, kick start learning for the day AND take care of the environment. Remember students don’t have to complete their passports to go in the draw to win a $400 MYRIDE voucher at the end of March!

Fancy going in the draw to win a scooter? Parents who take part in our Whānau Facebook competition will be in to win 1 of 5 adult or child Micro Scooters or a Family Pass to Staglands or Zealandia. Check out the Movin’March website for more on these competitions and how you can take part.

Park & Stride

If you live ‘too far away’ why not try a Park and Stride? You can still get your passport stamped at the gate! It helps reduce congestion around the school gate, gives tamariki exercise and whānau get to share precious moments on the way to or from school.

Sarah Taylor

Deputy Principal

Ridgway School