Term 1 Week 3 Newsletter No 2

From the Principal

WOW,WOW AND WOW. The past few days have been the most humbling, exciting and tiring times with a group of enthusiastic parents, Board members and staff. In 48 hours we came up with the most beautiful vision for Tomarata School, and 4 value statements that we will all live and learn by. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you that were able to give up precious time to share your ideas, thoughts and dreams. Where the school is going has been created and is owned by you, and now I have the privilege of making it happen. The vision and values will be on display at the Hui tonight, the Whanau Fun Night on Monday, and on the website and Facebook. Please read them, and if you wish to critique or comment feel free. This is for you and your children for the future. Here are our new Values:

• We take RESPONSIBILITY for our actions
• We show EMPATHY and UNDERSTANDING towards each other
• We see MISTAKES as learning opportunities
• MANAAKITANGA– we feel safe, welcomed and cared for

We will be spending the rest of the year unpacking what these values look, sound and feel like for staff and students. It would be fantastic if you could talk about these values at home to see what they look, sound and feel like in the home environment. I wonder if you have noticed my Principal’s mailbox in the office under the staff photos? This is not just for students to write to me with ideas or concerns. It is for parents too. You could put your views on the vision and values in there for me to read if you wish. I look forward to seeing you at the Hui tonight . Sausages and bread ( and of course tomato sauce) will be provided. Come to share your stories and knowledge about Tomarata!

You may or may not be aware that we have started a new Maths programme at Tomarata School. It is based on problem solving authentic issues. That is really what we should be teaching our students to do for maths, as that is what they will be using knowledge of maths for, in their future roles/jobs. In the Forbes Top 20 skills to succeed list-Critical thinking; problem solving; creativity; judgement and decision making; emotional intelligence; working & co-coordinating with others; negotiation; cognitive flexibility & service orientation are the top 9. SO that is what we will be teaching your children to do. We will still of course be covering addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and strands such as Geometry, Measurement, Statistics and Algebra. However they will be taught in the context of a real problem e.g. building a chicken coop.

Tech/manual has started again at Rodney College for our Year 7 & 8 students. We have had some concerns over the behaviour of students from other schools towards our students . Please be assured that we are following this up and Mrs Ashe is spending time visiting Rodney to check on our student’s well being every week.

The Coronavirus is big news in the media as you will all be aware of. The Ministry has given us guidelines on what to do. Luckily we do not have students or families that have been in the affected countries that come to Tomarata School. I will include the Ministry guidelines in the website and on Facebook for you to read.

It is vitally important that we have your correct details , especially for phone numbers. If you have a new number, or your details have changed, can you please ensure that you have let Vicki know in the office. We need to know how to get you, and other family members in the event of an emergency.

We have a number of old desks and chairs that are no longer used at school., If you wish to take any for home ( free) please contact Mrs Ashe and she will organise it with you.

I will leave you with our new motto ” Poipoia te kakano kia puawai-Nurture the seed and it will blossom”

Reminders

School Photo’s

Thursday 20 Feb; Class Photos (minus room 3 – Friday 9.15 instead) Starting with the youngest classes, moving through to senior classes.

Friday 21st; Individual portraits

Starting with the youngest classes, who we’ll ask to collect any older siblings for portraits together as well, moving through to senior classes. Each child is photographed individually.

Please let the photographer know if you do NOT want your child photographed.

Two weeks after the photo shoot, a link will be provided to Tomarata School, to access a password protected online album with all the photos.

From this album, orders can be made using PayPal or debit cards.

(Please do contact the photographer for any spread payment plans) There will be a choice of 2-4 portraits per child, and they can be printed in either colour or black & white. And different prints can be chosen for each image in a package.

Pricing;

Prints;

$10 for a 6×4 inch or three for $25

$15 for a 5×7 inch or three for $35

$25 for an 8x12inch or two for $40

Laminated Named Class Photo $15

Two Class Photo Special $25

Single Print quality digital image $40

Five digital images; $150

We would like to thank Bayleys Wellsford for their sponsorship