Newsletter – 26 August 2019

At the time of the 2013 census, there were over 60 000 New Zealanders who identified as Tongan. Currently, there are more Tongan people born in New Zealand than there are in Tonga, giving lea faka-Tonga (the Tonga language) and anga faka-Tonga (Tonga culture) a special place here. Tongan Language Week / Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga gives students of all ethnicities the chance to learn some basic lea faka-Tonga, and gives students who speak lea faka-Tonga the chance to be experts in the classroom.

Thank you to our parents who have children in the school production. We appreciate there is serious commitment in terms of time on Saturday, learning lines and everything associate with school productions. The production team led by Mrs Bronwyn Horne, are working hard to ensure we have another outstanding show.

Thank you to everyone who ensures their children are at school ready to start before the bell. Absenteeism is not just about having full days off school but arriving late, leaving early etc.

What’s the Problem With Being Late?
When students are chronically late to class, they’ll experience a wide range of problems. First and foremost, a late arrival is disruptive to the entire classroom. Instead of being focused on the beginning of class procedures, students turn to look at the late student – especially if they make an issue of being late or try to turn it into an excuse to get everyone looking at them. Other common issues with late arrivals include:

• Students who miss information that’s shared at the beginning of class.
• Students who are unable to complete work in a timely manner and struggle to keep up through the rest of the class.
• Disruption to the entire classroom environment, including a lack of respect for the teachr.
• Lateness impacts the entire class–especially when it happens on an ongoing basis. At its most extreme, teachers may have to start class 5-10 minutes in order to account for late arrivals, which means that students will miss out on valuable instructional time on a daily basis.
• Chronic lateness creates problems for students and teachers alike. By correcting the chronic lateness problem, students and teachers alike can experience smoother-running classrooms where learning time is valued by the entire community.
• At primary level it is rarely the child’s fault so we do appreciate everyone being on time.

Interschool activities
Kapa Haka 
Good luck to our students who will be representing our school at the HPPA Interschool Kapa Haka Festival at Howick College this Friday.

Netball and Rugby 
Our netball team has had a great season winning most of their games. Our rugby team season comes to an end next week. The team have made huge improvements over the season.

Property Update 
Room 22, Mrs Vaevae’s classroom will need extensive repairs to the toilet floors due to a leak. This has been approved to be repaired by the Ministry.

Removal of the caretakers shed and boiler room is now approved. We are no longer using the diesel generated heating system so the Ministry will remove this. This will open up the area in front of senior classrooms allowing more play area for the students. Mr Mears will be relocated into the old dental clinic which has been renovated so it is fit for purpose.

Classroom fire replacement and roll growth classrooms in the senior school. The workmen have been busy and the new decks and ramps are nearly completed. I know the plumbing and drain laying is nearly complete so once the insides have had a complete refit, Mr Jack Hopkinson’s class can move back in.