Term 1 Week 8 25/03/24 - 28/03/24

From the Principal's Desk

Greetings Parents and Caregivers,

Greetings everyone, this term is flying by quickly. This weekend we have the Easter Holiday. We will close for Easter Friday and re-open again on Wednesday 3rd April. I am often asked why school's are closed on Easter Tuesday when most other businesses go back to work. To be honest, I haven't been able to find an answer to that one. This is an article first published by Newshub in 2018 looking at Easter Tuesday. 

Why did students have a day off on Easter Tuesday? First introduced in 1954, Easter Tuesday is part of the Education Act legislation. "The Tuesday following Easter Monday is a school holiday (not a statutory holiday), meaning schools must not be open," the Ministry of Education says.

The Tuesday after Easter Monday was a school holiday, but not a statutory holiday, meaning that schools had to be shut while everyone else went back to work.

According to the Ministry of Education, we usually don't notice the Easter Tuesday holiday.

That's because since the introduction of four term school years in 1996, the terms and holidays have been set so that Easter takes place during the first term break.

But in some years Easter falls earlier than usual, such as in 1997, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2016 and this year.

In years where Easter falls earlier, having the first two-week break then would shorten the school term to about 8 - 9 weeks instead of the usual 12. This would have a flow-on effect, meaning the other three terms would have to be longer.

Since the Ministry of Education tries to set terms of reasonably uniform length, when Easter happens early all or some of the Easter break takes place during the first term.

The rule to close schools on Easter Tuesday was first introduced in 1954.

It's unclear why exactly it was introduced, but the holiday has remained in place and is part of the Education Act legislation.

"Given the long standing requirement for schools to close on Easter Tuesday it is no longer known why it was introduced," a Ministry of Education spokesperson said.

In 2019 and 2020 the Easter break and Easter Tuesday will fall within the first term school break, so the school holiday won't be noticeable.

Easter is different to events with a uniform date such as Christmas, Valentine's Day or Anzac Day. It can fall anytime between March 22 and April 25.

Easter is supposed to fall on the first Sunday after the paschal full moon, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary.

Attendance

Our full time 'Regular Attendance' attendance rate so far this term is 66.19%. Last week our 'Regular Attendance Rate' is 73.94%.

We will continue to monitor this as the term goes on. 

Nga mihi,

Bevan Clark 

Principal 

Whenuakite School 

principal@whenuakite.school.nz

Excellence in Being a K.I.T.E Kid Classroom Award Winners

• Room 1 - Charlotte Hayes, Roxy Dunn
• Room 2 -  Chase Hayward, Kaan Oztekin
• Room 3 – Layla-J Moala and Arlo Guilford 
• Room 4 –Ari Hopkins and Jack Drewitt Fisher  
• Room 5 – Archie Hansby, Chris Olsen
• Room 6 -Zeke Palmer, Levi Nicholson 
• Room 7 -Zac Pauling, Vyper Hamilton

Principal Award: Flo Sheriff

Whenuakite School Board Update: March 2024

The full Board met on 19 March 2024 and covered a wide range of issues.

A big thank you to Bevan and his team for the superb start to 2024. A huge amount of work has been done to ensure we create the best possible learning environment for our students.

A big thank you to the students and wider school community as well as the staff for the way in which the recent Covid outbreak was handled.

The BOT focussed on several policy updates, financial matters and some key property upgrades and initiatives.

Key points:

The upgrade of the water collection and storage facilities to ensure both the quality and quantity of the water is of a high standard. (Planning stage)

The upgrade of the sewerage treatment system. (Planning stage)

The establishment of a Learning Support Centre (LSC). (Quotes underway)

The upgrade of the sick bay and the wider Administration block. (underway)

The upgrade of storage and security of key school documentation. (underway)

Attendance at the upcoming AIMS school sports and a Sports camp for our senior students. (Approved by the BOT to assess the feasibility of attending)

The heating of the school pool. (Quotes being followed up)

Providing cover for the astro turf area. (Quotes being sought)

Parking upgrades outside the school. (Roading engineer supplying options)

The new school pool project. (Foundational work)

A funding application for additional football kit. (signed off)

A Health and Safety Review to start term two.

The school finances are in a healthy state and funding has been allocated or applied for to cover most of these updates.

The school working bee is on 6 April. It would be great for the school community to be fully involved as Matt has a long list of tasks to be completed. More information in the next few days.

The Board finished with around 90 minutes of Board training on Governance and related matters.

Stay safe everyone and enjoy this wonderful autumnal weather.

Ray Van Beynen

Presiding Member

Whenuakite Board of Trustees.

Whenuakite School Working Bee Saturday 6th April – 10am – 2pm

We are planning to hold a working bee on Saturday the 6^th of April to help tidy up some projects around the school. We will need a wide range of skills to help on the day. We have jobs requiring carpentry skills, jobs needing many hands to make light work and amazing people to add to the environment. If you are available, please contact Donna in the office.

The BOT will be putting on refreshments afterwards.

We are still working on the specific job list and will be able to allocate tasks to individuals when you register.  

Parent/Teacher Meetings

This year we will be having our Parent/Teacher Meetings at the end of this term on Wednesday 10^th April. School will close at 12.30pm Lunch will begin earlier at 12.00pm, with the first interviews scheduled to begin at 12.40pm.

The purpose for having these meetings in place of our Term Two interviews is to develop a stronger parent -teacher relationship, increase the communication between home and school and to give you an update as to how your child has settled in this year. We would also like to discuss and set goals for your child and talk about how we will work together to achieve them.  

The interviews will be 10min in duration. Please fill in the return slip below and we will compile an interview schedule and share back to you your allocated time. You may not receive your preferred time slot with a specific teacher however we will endeavour to get it as close as possible.

Whenuakite School Football Muster

Cooks Beach Fire Station Open Day

Whenuakite School Policies

All of our school policies are avialable online at: 

https://whenuakite.schooldocs.co.nz/

This term, these policies are up for review: 

Who to contact if you have something you wish to discuss.

If you have something you would like to discuss about your child, your first connection point is your child's classroom teacher. Often, they will be in the best position to answer any questions you may have. If after speaking with your child's classroom teacher there remains further points to discuss then our senior leaders are the next best contact.

Mrs Riedinger (Nicola) as well as being our Deputy Principal is the senior leader of our Junior School. Mrs Thompson (Shona) is the senior leader in our Senior School. If further discussion is required following these meetings, then please feel free to contact the principal.

If you do not have a contact email for your child's teacher, then please contact the office and our Office Manager (Donna) will be able to pass a message onto the relevant staff member to contact you. 
We are all here working hard to provide the best educational outcomes for your children. The best results will always be achieved by working together. 

Up Coming Events

Please check here for any up coming events this term.

Week Eight

Wednesday 27th - School Cultural Festival Assembly.  9.15am Start.

Friday 29th - No School - Easter Friday 

Week Nine

Monday 1st April - No School - Easter Monday 

Tuesday 2nd April - No School - Easter Tuesday 

Thursday 4th April - Super Smash Cricket Tournament

Week Ten 

Wednesday 10th April - Parent / Teacher Meetings School closing at 12.30 pm

Thursday 11th April - School ANZAC Service

Friday 12th April - Last Day for Term One. 

Whenuakite Staff 2024

Day Camp

Mercury Bay Day Camp at Cooks Beach will be held 16 -18th April 2024. Every year 300 youngsters in Whitianga and surrounding districts will come to camp and have a wonderful outdoor experience. They have the choice of 9 fabulous Electives, songs and stories in the Marquee, find new friends, and create memories that last a lifetime. 

The camp is overseen by The Mercury Bay Community Support Trust, a charitable trust. Our website is https://www.daycamp.co.nz/ if you would like to check it all out.

We need Teen Leaders and Adult Helpers.  Everything you need to know can be found on our website - daycamp.co.nz.

Registration opens Monday 4th March