From the Principal’s Desk -
Tēnā koutou katoa,

We have now passed the halfway mark of the term.  It is exciting to see some of the signs of spring and at least some of our days are feeling warmer.  A reminder as we move into September, and perhaps some more wet weather, that ākonga are welcome to play outside in light rain if they have a raincoat.  We suggest a spare set of clothing in the bag for our smaller students too.

This week we held our first emergency drill.  We are required to practice each of the emergency drills twice annually.  There are three drills, each for different scenarios:  evacuate (get out), lockdown (get in), and earthquake (get cover).  Teachers have talked with classes this week about the lockdown drill as we will hold one before the end of term.  As is regularly the case, some of our learners automatically assume a lockdown = dangerous people on site/people with guns/weapons.  It is my hunch this assumption comes about due to the heavy load of American TV we all have access to.  Fortunately, those types of lockdowns would be VERY rare in NZ.  Thanks to you all for reassuring children that a lockdown simply means we all need to get indoors to be safe.

If you follow our social media channels, you will also have seen that our team have had a focus this week on back chat / talking back also.  For some students, we were seeing these behaviours pop up a little too frequently.  Groans, eye rolls, muttering, talking over, and interrupting others (especially teachers) who are talking have all been on the no-go list.  Each day this week there has been an improvement.  We will continue to hold a high bar, expecting high levels of respect and positive relationships between students and teachers.

Last week I messaged to let you know we have scheduled two Teacher Only Days (TODs) in term 4 to enable staff attendance at a conference being led by Dr Ross Greene.  Please keep these dates marked in your calendars - Monday 4th November, and Tuesday 5th November.  This learning for staff is essential as we progress toward meeting a key strategic goal to 'implement a holistic approach to ensure our students feel safe, happy, respected and included so they are ready for learning'.  We look forward to expanding our understanding and our toolkit for engaging diverse learners.   Please also note the last day of term 4 will now be Tuesday 17th December.

Lastly, Homework has been a discussion point within the teaching team this week.  I am keen to hear your views.  What works in your home?  What doesn't?  What are your expectations for homework?  Email me your thoughts.

Lisa

We have had reports of children running out across the road from behind the bus.  If your children take the bus, please remind them to stand and wait until the bus has driven at least two poles away before looking both ways and crossing.

Important reminders to all parents:
SCHOOL HOURS - 9am - 3pm Mon - Friday
Please have your child/ren at school no later than 8.50am daily so that all bags, bookbags etc. are sorted before the first bell at 9am. 

LATE STUDENTS - If you child is arriving at school after the first bell at 9am, please go straight to the school office with your child to sign them in on the electronic device located at the school office. Your child will then be given a late pass.

ABSENT STUDENTS - If your child is not going to be at school due to illness, appointments, etc., please notify the school office before 9am via School Loop App, or phone: 07 873 2887 - follow the voice prompts.

BUS - If your child is a regular bus pupil but will not be on the bus due to a parent picking them up, etc., please ring the school on 07 873 2887, and follow the voice prompts to leave a bus message.  If your child has a regular swimming, dance, or sport lesson, please let the office know so that it can be recorded for the term. 

MONEY - Our school is now running a cashless system, so please make ALL payments via Direct Credit.
Ref - Student Name    Particulars - What it is for, i.e. Lunch, Uniform, Sport, RDA, etc.
BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS
ASB - Te Awamutu
Maihiihi School
12-3134-0049006-00

Last week we FINALLY planted our pea plants in the vege garden, thanks to a short break in our Winter weather! We have grown and nurtured these seeds for the last 5 weeks and we cannot wait to see how many peas we get.
One of our "Big Ideas" in the junior classroom has been Panoni (change), so we have been exploring many ways that we can see "change" in our local environment. 

Last Friday we decided to investigate the basic needs of a kiwi. We then designed and constructed a miniature habitat which could be suitable for the kiwi. During this process we had to problem-solve and collaborate in order to create our structure. 
We were lucky enough to have some help from some Room 4 students. Thank you!

As always, please feel free to pop in if you have any questions or would like to talk about your childs' learning.

Ngā mihi
Kayleigh Albert

Writing with a clear structure has been a big focus in Room 3 over the last couple of weeks.  We learned that we can use a 'hand plan' to think about the parts of our writing, and we are learning to 'rehearse' our writing by talking it aloud with a buddy before we begin writing. 

Three great examples of writing with clear structure (parts) are below.  We hope you enjoy them!

Learning
About one year ago I was riding my motorbike in my backyard.

I was doing laps around the backyard.  I did about 50 to 100 laps.

I went around the corner too fast and I didn't turn.   I crashed into the bush where the gate was.

Mum and Dad rushed over to see what I was doing.  I was crying in the bush.  I think there were beetles in the bush and maybe a hedgehog family too.

That day, I learned not to go too fast around the corner.
By Haarlie-Rose

Failure
On Ag Day 2022, I did a call and follow with my lamb Polly.  

When it was my turn, Polly would not come to me.  We had to circle her so that we could catch her.  I was trying to call her even louder than I was before.  We could not catch her because she is too fast.  

Then she got out of the ring and ran into the ring next door.  Luckily, it didn't disturb Zara and her lamb in the ring next door. It took a lot of time to get her out and catch her to put her on her lead and lead her to her standard.  It was very hard but also very funny. 

Then we took her home and put her in her paddock with her friends Storm and Buttercup so she could get eating.  
By Renee

We explored life processes in Science by choosing a "creature" that goes through metamorphosis. We had to look at the different stages of their life cycle, and explore 4 of those stages through art. We looked at four artists and replicated their style. We used Wassily Kandinsky's circles (which we all used for the egg stage), we used the collage style from Pablo Picasso's Three Musicians, Andy Warhols bright prints in 4 boxes and Piet Mondrian's squares using primary colours. We then focused on paraphrasing in writing, to summarise the four stages of our creatures life cycle. 

In writing, we have been focusing on a Single Paragraph Outline from The Writing Revolution. This is to help provide structure, coherence and unity in our writing. After some practice, we wrote a paragraph using this approach to describe a mythological creature. We had to use similes and metaphors to describe it. 

Katie Robinson - krobinson@maihiihi.school.nz

A strong team of runners from Maihiihi School recently attended the annual COPS cross country event at Waitomo.  It was a highlight to see examples of excellent sportsmanship shown by our team, and we celebrate these students who achieved top 10 placings.  An incredible effort!

Year 1 & 2 Boys
Robert Newson - Ist

Year 1 & 2 Girls
Flo Gray - 9th

Year 3 & 4 Boys
Cove Gray - 6th =

Year 3 & 4 Girls
Keira Walker - 5th
Gemma Martin - 7th
Olivia Fitzgerald - 8th

Year 5 & 6 Boys
Carter Albert - 2nd
Guy Newson - 3rd

Year 5 & 6 Girls
Lucy Newson - 1st
Paige Fitzgerald - 6th

Year 7 & 8 Boys
Leighton Jacob - 8th

Many thanks to Mrs Albert for coordinating and leading this event on the day.

 

To view the Maihiihi School Policies please click on the link below, this will take you to Schooldocs where you can find all our school policies.

 Ministry of Education require all students to have at least 94% attendance 

 Please download the Skool Loop App to your phone.  From this app you can see all notices, newsletters and important information as they are downloaded. Plus you can leave absentee messages at any time of the day. 

We continue to see high rates of illness at this time of year.
Please keep your child/ren home if they are unwell.

Notification via Skool Loop of your child's absence is important for our records or alternatively please ring the school office on 07 873 2887 before 9am.

.

The school has a number of old style lift up desks that are no longer needed.  Can you make use of one or more of these?  Contact the office, and we will hook you up!  A koha/donation would be lovely if you're able, but not necessary.  

We also have a small number of old iPads, that are now no longer able to be updated.  Please make contact with the office if you can give one of these a home too.

Our fundraising team have secured a fantastic opportunity for you to access a discount while also benefiting our school.  The Pepper & Me products are fabulous, and we hope you take this opportunity to stock up your own shelves and put some aside for great gifts too!

https://pepperandme.co.nz/

Get along to support this event with an incredibly good cause.  Proceeds from the lunchtime BBQ are benefitting Maihiihi School.