School Newsletter 11 December 2019 Term 4

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Families
Kia ora, kia orana, talofa, malo e lelei, fakaalofa atu, hello and greetings

From the Principal

Well I can’t believe it is the end of the year. Only 3 more days of school and then weeks of rest, relaxation, sun, sand, Xmas and LOTS of ham! I intend to sleep in, read books and spend time with my gorgeous kids and grandies. We will be welcoming Grandbubby Number 7 in the New Year so 2020 will start off with more than fireworks celebrations. I want to take this time to say a HUGE thank-you to all of the parents who have made me feel so welcome, and have told me that they have been enjoying the new direction of the school. I especially want to thank the gorgeous Tomarata School kids for being the light of my life ( besides my grandies of course).

Next year we will be starting the school year off in a slightly different way. On Friday 7 February we will be holding Day 1 interviews. This will be a time for you to meet your child’s 2020 teacher for a 15 minute interview to start those all important relationships right from Day 1. This will be a chance for you to have a conversation with each other about the likes & dislikes of school; passions and hurdles to overcome; strengths and weaknesses; hopes and dreams. It is vitally important for the teachers to know their students well, and this is the first step. To book an interview you will go online and choose which time suits you. Class reports for 2019 will go home this Friday. In the envelope will be the report; the link for the booking site; your child’s class and teacher for 2020; the stationery list; and a note re the newsletter. Please make sure you book your interview asap. You and your child will go home after the interview and we will see you all on Monday 10 February for an 8:30 am start!

Have you seen the wonderful job that our Year 8 leavers did of repairing, re-roofing, painting and decorating the bus stop on the corner of Mangawhai and School Road? It looks absolutely fabulous! Every year the Year 8 leavers will do some sort of community or school project to be a legacy reminder. Massive thanks to Chris Rhodes and Jason Kerrisk from our Board of Trustees who organised the materials and helped organise the kids. Shout out to the following businesses who sponsored us with materials at almost zero cost….we love you! Duncan Mackenzie and his team at Carters Mangawhai and Mark at Only Concepts based in Warkworth for providing the awesome Tomarata School sign.

I am wondering if any of you have found those escapee readers that have left the school buildings in book bags and are now lurking under beds, behind couches or in toy boxes. If you find them please return them to school. There will be House points and a lollipop as a reward. They are $12 each to replace, and we need at least 8 copies for each title to use for class groups.

I have had a request from our bus drivers to ask that parents please stop parking in front of the old bus sheds. This area is used for the buses to either turn around in or to get into the waiting space in front of the school gate easily.I would really appreciate your co-operation with this .

Monday 16th December Last Day of School. Prize Giving will start at 9.00am and school will finish at 12.00pm. The buses will leave school at 12.00pm.

There have been requests for how to get in touch with our Board of Trustees if you have any questions. The person to contact is our Board Chair- Sheila Russell at boardchair@tomarata.school.nz.

Lastly I want to remind you to put the February dates in your diaries for the 16/17th. It will be a great day of brainstorming for revisioning and revaluing the school with some very distinguished educators- Mary Wilson, and Bill all the way from America. I wish you all a very safe and enjoyable Christmas and Summer season. Tis the season to be jolly falalalala . lalalala

Key Dates for this Term

Accomplishments

Atiu Creek Regional Park run by Lactic Turkey.

Congratulations to Clancy Ryan coming 1st overall/1st junior male 14m 41sec.

Aurelia 3rd overall. 1st junior female in 15m 16sec.

Ran came 7th overall/5th male. Ran’s time wasn’t in the results) we estimate it was around 18min 45sec.