THE FLASH - WHAKATANGATA 'PLAYING THE GAME OF LIFE'

Tena Koutou Katoa
Greetings to you all

School Roll: 149 students

Teacher Only Day - As a staff, we spent Tuesday at Waitomo Caves School participating in the Writing Revolution Professional Development Day with Cheryl Hickford - Ōtorohanga South School Deputy Principal and Across School Lead for the Ōtorohanga Kāhui Ako. We are excited to continue this journey with Cheryl, building on our explicit teaching of Writing across the school.

Paper4trees - Paper4trees is a waste minimisation and tree planting programme for New Zealand schools and preschools. As an incentive to divert as much paper and cardboard from landfill as possible, each school is rewarded with native trees/plants for paper and cardboard recycled. Last week we were excited to receive 8 trees (Hebe, Korokio, Manuka, Red Kaka Beak) from Charlie and Stella Smart of Smart Plants. These trees have been planted in our Native tree area along the top field. Many thanks to SmartPlants and Ōtorohanga District Council for sponsoring this initiative. The Enviroteam leaders will oversee the upkeep of these trees.

The Enviroteam tending to the Native Tree area.

Production Costumes/Props - Many thanks to Katie Krukerink who spent hours sorting out our costumes and props from past shows. We have been putting off this job for a while now, and it’s so nice to have these costumes all sorted and organised into storage containers. Thank you so much, Katie!

SCHOOL POOL
The school pool is closed for the season.
POOL KEYS NEED TO BE RETURNED TO THE OFFICE ASAP.
Kanya O'Carroll
Tim Thomas
Jolie O'Reilly
Lawry family
Tripp Family

STUDENTS ENTERING & LEAVING SCHOOL
Please make sure that your child/ren are dropped off and collected from the bus shelter each day.
We are enforcing safety rules at school pick-up and drop-off. Children are NOT to open our school gates. Parents are required to drop off inside the gate and come into the school grounds to collect their children. This is a safety measure. Our carpark is very busy at the end of the day and we need to do everything we can to keep everyone safe.

STUDENT ABSENCES
If your child is going to be absent from school, please advise the office by phone (07 8731816), School mobile 0273981725, email (admin@kiokio.school.nz) or the absent tab on the Parent APP with the reason so the absence can be marked correctly for the Ministry of Education. If the school is not notified, the child is deemed TRUANT and marked accordingly. If your child is late to school, they must come to the office and sign in on the electronic register.

TREE CLIMBING
The Board of Trustees have suspended all tree climbing at school until they have assessed the risks and how to minimise them.

BUS BOOK REMINDER
Please ensure that the school office is informed early if your child won't be on the school bus in the afternoon. We also need to be contacted if your child/ren are getting off at another stop. You can do this by phoning the school office on 07 8731816 or emailing admin@kiokio.school.nz

LOST PROPERTY
There is still an abundance of lost property. Please ensure that your child's name or initials are placed on their clothes, hats, and footwear, so we can return them immediately. Please feel free to call at the school and look through the rack. Any uncollected items at the end of the term will go to a local charity.

BREAKFAST CLUB VOLUNTEER NEEDED
We are on the lookout for a PARENT VOLUNTEEER to run the TUESDAY morning. If you are able to help please contact the school office. Our Breakfast Club will run on Monday - Thursday each week beginning at 8.30am. All students are welcome to receive a bowl of milk and some weetbix before settling into the days work.

NEXT BOT MEETING to be held on the 12 June at 6.30 pm

ATTENDANCE
One of the things we are continuing to focus on this term is student attendance. You will hear us talking about this with you, with our students and it remains a strong subject of conversation in the staff room.

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.

We know that autumn has certainly brought its crisp mornings and winter is coming with all its chills, bugs and colds. Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school can be tricky at times. Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora have refreshed their guidance for schools and parents to use to help make that call. Check out the Ministry of Education website for more information. If you are still unsure, get in touch with us.

At our school we have strong processes and hygiene practices in place to make sure our school environment is as healthy as possible for our students and our staff.

If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, talk to us! Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance by having:

· School staff who have strong relationships with students and whānau.

· A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who they are, where they come from and who they want to be.

· A school community that does everything to make sure students are at school, and they are participating, and progressing in their education.

Parents and caregivers can find more information here.