From Principal’s Desk -

A new phase for Maihiihi School is imminent. My time at the helm ends next week and planning is underway to welcome your new Principal, Lisa Smith. You are all invited and encouraged to be part of the Welcome for Lisa which will start at 9.00am in the School Library, on the first day of Term 3. A shared kai will follow and all contributions will be appreciated. An invitation is also attached to this newsletter.

Peer Mediation - free workshop 18/7
We have signed up for 'Cool Schools - Peer Mediation' training with the Peace Foundation. This is essentially teaching Conflict Resolution. Most staff, including Lisa, and some Board members will attend this training at school on Thursday the 18th July, 9.00am-3.00pm. Next term, teachers will teach the work in their classrooms and students will ultimately be selected for further training as school Peer Mediators. Those students will be rostered to support students and staff in the playground and help resolve student conflict when it arises.

We are fortunate that the Ministry of Health has contributed in excess of $3000 for this training for our school. One requirement is that a minimum of 10 adults attend. There is therefore an open invitation to members of the community to join us on this day. This is great training that can support us in many different situations, given that all of us can experience conflict. Please let me know by the end of term if you would like to take part. We need to know numbers attending to ensure we have sufficient resources. We will be able to provide some morning tea but will all need to bring our lunch.

Reports
The first written school reports for the year will be sent home with students on Friday. These will share their learning progress for the first half of the year. Next term, parent/caregiver meetings with teachers will be held on the 1st of August. You may find it helpful to bring your child's report to that meeting. Early in Term 3, you will be advised when Skool Loop is open for bookings.

Teacher Aides
There may be new opportunities for part-time Teacher Aide work at school next term. I welcome enquiry from anyone who thinks they might be interested, with or without experience. Please contact me by the end of next week at principal@maihiihi.school.nz

THANK-YOU!
I'd like to thank all of you for making me welcome at Maihiihi School. I have really enjoyed my time here and feel you (the community) and the school have so much to offer students, in collaboration. I have valued the ongoing support from staff and the Board of Trustees.
I wish you all the very best as you embark on the next stage, with Lisa as your Principal.

Kia kaha, kia manawanui, manaakitia tātou katoa.

Ngā mihi nui,
Phillippa

Important reminders to all parents;-
SCHOOL HOURS - 9am - 3pm Mon - Firday
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 them 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, Phone Call 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 parent picking them up etc please ring the school on 07 873 2887 follow the voice prompts and leave a bus message.  If your child has a regular swimming, dance, sport lesson then 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 ie Lunch, Uniform, Sport, RDA etc
BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS
ASB - Te Awamutu
Maihiihi School
12-3134-0049006-00

This term as part of our inquiry we have been learning about space. As part of this learning we each chose a planet to explore and learn more about. The students found this researching and inquiry lots of fun and they have all learnt a lot of new facts and information about the planets. After we researched information about our planet we thought they needed some art work. We created our artwork using sponges and paint. The students had a picture of their chosen planet and then used the selected paint colours to accurately paint their planet.

As always feel free to contact me through email or class dojo.
Charlotte Ferguson
cferguson@maihiihi.school.nz

Wow, where did this term go!? Only 2 weeks left until our term 2 holidays! We have been doing some exciting learning this term and it has been heart-warming to see the excitement and curiosity in these young people. Here is a snapshot of what we have been up to. 

Our focus over the last few weeks in Maths has been Geometry. We began this topic by discussing what 2D and 3D shapes we know. After that we went for a hikoi around the school to find as many of these shapes as we could. We kept a tally of all the shapes we could find. The students were really thinking outside the box for this activity and found many shapes that even Mrs Albert hadn't noticed!

What better way to explore Geometry than with marshmallows! We spent the afternoon making the 3D shapes we have been learning about. We had to think about how many toothpicks and marshmallows we would need to make each structure. The best part of this activity was definitely eating them at the end!

To infinity and beyond.....! How awesome are our astronauts and moons.
Over the last few weeks we have been creating our space themed art, using clay and of course we needed sparkly, metallic paint. This was a timely process and each step required several days for drying/painting/coating, but it was worth it to see the final result! I hope you all enjoy seeing these displayed in your home!
I would like to take this opportunity to say ka kite to 6 of my fabulous year 3 students moving on to Mrs Crotty's class next term. It has been a pleasure having you all in my class and I can't wait to hear and see all of the great things you will achieve this year.

As always, if you need to contact me regarding your child please feel free to pop in and see me or alternatively you can email me at the address below. 

Ngā mihi nui.
Kayleigh Albert
kalbert@maihiihi.school.nz

Room 3 has been talking about Matariki (the Māori New Year) and looking at different stories about Matariki. 

In Science we  related the stars of Matariki to the learning we have been doing about Space. We researched and found that the Matariki stars, the seven sisters, are the constellation called Pleiades. 
Another topic we have researched in Science are the Zodiac Star signs. We found out what star sign related to our own birthday then learnt more about our individual star sign. We published our research, which included an image of the constellation and the image of the picture that was given to that star sign. The tamariki found this very interesting especially when they read about the specific characteristics people were given under their star sign.

Written Language - The tamariki have been planning a piece of writing that relates to Matariki and the coming together of families. They have written ideas about what they like to do with their family and what they see is special about their family. It has been a privilege to read their thoughts and feelings about their families.
We have been busy this week creating and decorating kites that we will fly on Thursday as part of our Matariki celebration. The tamariki can't wait to take their kites outside to fly them.

Roz Crotty
rcrotty@maihiihi.school.nz

 

In writing, our year 6's have been creating descriptive planet writing to display on a hanging mobile. They had to research  the atmosphere, weather and other facts of the planets and write a descriptive paragraph, imagining that they spent a day on the planet. Here are some examples of students writing so far.

On Tuesday 11th June it was National Corn on the Cobb day. So what did the year 6 students do... make corn fritters! Yummy!! Before starting, the students discussed what learning was involved in cooking. They said how there is math with measurement and fractions, reading the recipe and following instructions, science with the eggs being used to bind the ingredients. They were given the recipe and the rest they had to do for themselves. Luckily, they doubled checked their measurements before they almost put in 1/2 cup salt, instead of the 1/2 teaspoon. Check out the photos of the action.

Katie Robinson - krobinson@maihiihi.school.nz

Over the last two weeks we have been making kites for to fly in our Matariki Kite festival. It was a fun and challenging experience. First we all designed and painted our kite sail/skin. Then we used two bamboo sticks and string to create the frame. We then carefully attach our kite sail to the frame and attached our tails and flying strings. We can't wait to fly them, and to see all the other kites the rest of the classes have made.

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. 

With the winter months here, we are starting to notice a number of bugs are circulating and absences due to illness are high.
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.
**Covid numbers are increasing so please be vigilant and keep you child/ren home if they are unwell.

We would like to thank the Otorohanga Lions Club for their generous donation towards our schools Ka pai Kitchen and lunchtime club programmes.
The Otorohanga Lions Club have been a fantastic support to our school over the years, so please support them however you can. The club has a shop located in the main street of Otorohanga, open 11am - 3pm Fridays and 9.30am - 12.30pm Saturdays. If anyne has any furnsihings they would like to donate, please give Pat Edwards or Ron Hamilton a call.