Increasing Traffic The Topic Of Conversation

Kia ora koutou katoa, Talofa Lava, Malo e lelei, Ni Hao, Anyoung haseyo, Konichi wa, Gruetzi, Guten tag, Bonjour, Ola, hello

As you are all aware NZTA have placed a variable speed area outside the school at peak traffic times for pick up and drop off of students in line with the agreement they made last year. With growing traffic numbers due to the growth of Tauranga we continue to have safety issues as impatient drivers make bad driving decisions at our school gate. 

Recently I placed a statement on our school facebook page that created a great deal of discussion in our community. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and information about what you have seen. I have sent this link to Simon Bridges, Martin Parkes (TCC), Adam Francis (NZTA), Richard Standing and Arona Jacob (MOE). They are able to view your comments. Several have been in touch about trying to get a meeting time together to discuss the carpark that was promised last year. The Bay of Plenty Times have run a story today (28 February, 2017, pg 7) discussing the growing issue.

It is heartening to hear that the TCC are also discussing the possibility of free buses for urban students. The large cost of buses to parents in the city is causing many to choose to drive their children to school. If this does go ahead we might talk to the TCC re morning and afternoon buses for our urban routes. 

  

All our students in Rooms 9 - 12 are in their new and renovated classrooms and have settled into to learning beautifully. The builders are still finishing off projects after school hours on the new modular classrooms and the new toilet block and ramps are nearly finished. We all can't wait until we see the fences come down and then we will just need to be patient while the grass grows!

The students are enjoying their colourful new environments and different furniture.

 

Our students are all involved in a range of PE curriculum learning at the moment. Our Year 1 & 2 students have been learning hockey skills with Sport BOP specialist instructors, all students are learning swimming in our school pool and our Tall Poppies have been involved in specialist swimming instruction down at the Polytech Pools with Jenni's Swim School instructors. PE is part of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) which is delivered in all State and State Integrated schools in New Zealand. 

As a celebration of our learning in swimming we hold a whole school swimming sports event down at the Greerton Pools. This enables children to show everyone how they have progressed in their learning and confidence and to experience competition progressively across their time at Tauriko School. We want all students to experience success in reaching personalised goals and challenges.

This year our school swimming sports are on Friday 17 March. Details of the programme for the day are on our Tauriko School website . 

All school notices and the school newsletter are posted on our website so if you think you have missed anything or this has been misplaced at home don't hesitate to look here.

Language Support

On the right hand side of my blog you will find this gadget. If you would like to change the language that you read my blog in you can do this by changing the language you see here by clicking the arrow and changing the language shown in the box. Google Translate also allows you to copy any text electronically and translate this. We have all our newsletter and notices loaded onto our website to make this easier for any families for whom English is a Second Language.

Technology Center - Tauranga Primary

Tauriko School Intermediate students (Tall Poppies) are so fortunate to be able to spend five full days a term at the purpose built, muli-million dollar Technology Centre at Tauranga Primary. There students learn a range of technology dispositions and skills. All students absolutely love their learning here and are very fortunate to have this facility available. Having full days here, rather than hour sessions also means they really get their teeth into projects for the time they are there and achieve a lot.

Thank you to the staff here for all you do for our students!

                                                                

Tall Poppies have also been learning about water as a precious resource this week and learning ways that water can be conserved and used globally. Here they look at Hydroponics

We Have Lift Off For 2017!

Kia ora koutou katoa, Talofa Lava, Malo e lelei, Ni Hao, Anyoung haseyo, Konichi wa, Gruetzi, Guten tag, Bonjour, Ola, hello

Welcome back to what promises to be a wonderful year for everyone. A special warm welcome to our new students and their families. 

A lot of property work has happened over the school holiday break and you will notice that we have additional classrooms on site. The map below and staffing list will help you to know where staff are and in what classroom:

Room	Year level	Staff member
R1	NE/Y1	Donna Olsen
R2	NE/Y0	To start later in the year
R3	Y1/2	Colleen Wilkie
R4	Y1/2	Natalie van Dijk  - Team Leader NE/Y1 & 2
R5	Y1/2	Athalae Elliot
R6	Y1/2	Andrea Lockett
R7	Y3/4	Kate O’Leary
R8	Y3/4	Kelly Soutar
R9	Y3/4	Cristy Drake
R10	Y3/4	Lynda Palfrey  - Team Leader  Y3 & 4
R11	Y3/4	Helen Guthrie
R12	Y7/8	Jo Te Whaiti – Assistant Principal/Team Leader Y5 - 8  and Amanda Foot
R13	Y5/6	Tatyana Duffin
R14	Y5/6	Jenny Tappenden
R15	Y5/6	Natasha Edhouse
Principal		Suzanne Billington
Deputy Principal		Lisa Rose
Office Manager		Kay Taylor
Office staff		Leana Ellis
Maths Specialist Teacher		Maree Logan
International Student Manager		Laura Fleming
Mandarin Teacher		Raelene Millar
Part-time teachers		Linda Dyer Ian Woodfield Kim Death Amanda Foot
Teacher Aides		Nuala Taylor Adrienne Danby Michelle Dodds Cathy Campbell Nadia Weaver
Sports Co-ordinator		Kaye Barnett
Caretaker		Darren Foot

The staff have been in school over the holidays preparing for the school year. The teachers have planned amazing learning opportunities for your children, the office staff are set to welcome you through the doors and our new Caretaker, Darren Foot, has worked his magic to ensure the school site is looking inviting.

Readiness for school:

All students are expected to be at school on time to begin at 8:30am. This means arriving before school with enough time to unpack bags, greet the teacher, catch up with friends and then settle in for learning at 8:30am. We ask that no students are on site before 7:45am as teachers need time to set up for the school day. They are in classrooms from 8am to greet students before learning begins.

Organisation For School:

As always over the school holidays many families would have taken stock of where they are at and reassessed how they want their 2017 year to go. Part of this I'm sure is how organisation happens to have children settled and happy at school. This often means:

• Lunches packed and ready to go the night before with children helping. From about Year 3 this is something children can be responsible for themselves
• A homework system in place that suits your family
• All items of clothing are named in order that should these be misplaced they can be returned to your child. 
• A system in place for school notices and newsletters to keep on top of this. I know what a paper war this can feel like at times!! The school website loads all school notices and newsletters for you also, so you can look here too. 
• A morning routine that allows children to be at school 10 or 15 minutes early to get ready for the day and settle in calmly to school. 
• Going over "end of the day"  routines with children before school so they know what is happening after school that day

In all cases visual pictures or lists/charts on the fridge that children can refer to themselves (with less and less support from you over the years) gradually supports children to develop the responsibility for this themselves. We are developing confident, capable young people that increasingly can feel proud of themselves and all that they can achieve.

Occasionally this all turns to custard and we have a bad day! Then it's time to realise how human we are, that all other parents sympathise, and pick ourselves up and try again tomorrow. On the rare occasion you need arrangements to change, please ring the school office before noon. Please don't text teaching staff, they are involved in learning sessions with students. 

There is also an "Office Queries" area on the website to help you let the school know new information (reporting an absence, bus changes, change of address or contact details, lunch order forms to download). This year we have also added the "Wrap It Up" system to our school data base to enable parents to make all school payments. This system also allows you to track what you have paid for.

Buses and Traffic      

We encourage as many students as possible to utilise our school bus services as this limits congestion outside the school at pick-up and drop-off times. Please book children by filling in the form available on the website "Bus Booking Information" or through the school office. All bookings should be made as soon as possible as the Bus Controller cannot put students on the bus without this information. Information about payment is also on the school website. At the latest this should be paid by Monday 20 February. Children will not be able to travel on the bus from Tuesday 21 February if this is not paid.

From Tuesday 7 February there will be 40km per hour signs up outside our school. This means all traffic will need to slow down at busy times of the school day when parents/caregivers are dropping off and picking up students. Thank you to NZTA for their commitment to this.

All students are expected to be dropped off for school and picked up from the carpark outside the PAC. This is important as this is the area that teachers supervise after school. This area is for drop off area/pick up and cars are not to park anywhere except for the grass verge. 

In the morning we ask that parents/caregivers say goodbye in the carpark, ensure their children are through the gate and then drive away. In the afternoons parents/caregivers stay in their cars and the staff on duty will send children safely to you. This means we have less congestion at busy times of the school day. 

The office carpark is for staff and outside visitors to the school only. This area is often busy in the mornings and afternoons and not safe for children to walk through. It is also not supervised by staff.

A parking area design is being completed by the Tauranga City Council. It is intended that this is used by the Ministry of Education to discuss leasing farmland for a carpark for the school. It is clear the beginning of the school year date has not been met. I will keep the pressure on around this and keep you updated as to the progress of this.

Up until this is a reality, at busy times like the first day of school, we ask for permission for families to park on the paddock beside the school. This area is grazing for animals and we are grateful when this is possible. A huge thank you to the Hopping whanau!

   

Staff wellbeing: 

As a school the on-going wellbeing of all who work and play on our school site is important. We have many systems and programmes in place to support this to happen. Recently at a teacher only day we discussed the challenge of mobile devices and being so available 24/7 to answer emails, texts and phone calls. This is of course a challenge for the whole community in the 21st Century. 

It is imperative that staff have down time to rest from the demands of their job in order that they are refreshed and well in order to do the very best for students and each other when they are on site working during the week. As always, staff will endeavour to answer emails, phone calls and texts from you within 24 hours during the working week. Unless it is very urgent, staff have been asked to limit communication in the evenings, weekends and holidays both with their colleagues and the school community in order that they manage their own wellness. 

I know that parents and caregivers will know and understand these challenges in their own lives and appreciate what we are trying to achieve. We are not sure how this is going to pan out in reality, but we are going to give this a really good shot as another means to looking after each other and supporting our wellness. 

Extra-curricula activities: 

Tauriko School prides itself on the many opportunities students have to develop themselves as well rounded people. We believe supporting students to find their passions is important. At challenging times it is often our passions that get us through. Having a range of different activities for children to get involved in supports our students to find activities they experience success in. This builds confidence and pride, aiding resilience.

Once again this year there are many opportunities for students to take on a range of leadership roles, sporting and cultural activities eg choir - Year 1 - 3 or Year 4 - 8, Art club Year 1 - 3, Jump Jam, Enviroteam, Kapahaka, playground peer mediators (Term 2, Years 4 & 5), writers club, librarians, dynamos, PE shed monitors, MADE Awards, school band, ukelele group, China Friendship group, school mural, school council and a variety of school monitor roles. There also opportunities for children to join school sports teams. Look out for notices coming out from our sports co-ordinator, Kaye Barnett. We also have music tutors who take paid lessons in ukelele, guitar, keyboard or drums if you want your child to learn this. 

Concerns: 

At any stage should you have any concerns re your child and their education, the very first point of call is always the classroom teacher who spends the most time with your child at school. Developing a positive, sound relationship with your child's classroom teacher supports your child to be settled at school, happy and achieve success. The school has an "open door" approach and teachers are available to parents before and after school to talk to. Please make a time to see them by email or through the school office. Sometimes staff can be tied up preparing for the school day or in professional meetings. They want to have the opportunity to listen to you and work with you to provide the very best education for your child possible. Making a meeting time means they can do this without any interruptions. 

Our concerns procedures are also on the website should you wish to read these. 

Beginning of the year costs: 

I am aware that the beginning of the year is an expensive time for all families, with stationery, school donations, camp fees, sports team fees etc If you need to prioritise these and pay off costs over time this is absolutely fine. Kay Taylor (in the school office) and I can help with any prioritising of this should you need this. Please don't hesitate to come in an set something up. 

We are looking forward to an amazing year with our wonderful students and community. 

I wish you all a great start to the school year. 

Suzanne