The local newspaper picked up this story from our new entrants and Year 1/2 classes:

On the 25^th and 26^th August, we are having three way conferences for the first time. Three way conferences are where the teacher, the parent and the child are all present.

The conferences will be lead by the teacher but your child will play an important role by explaining the work they have been doing, areas they are particularly pleased with or are finding difficult, how they are working on their next steps, their attitude, their social skills and their behaviour. They will use their books to show you evidence of what they are saying.

If either the parent or teacher wishes to have a time at the conference without the child present, the child will be asked to leave the room towards the end of the conference. I don’t expect this to happen in very many conferences. If you wish to speak to the teacher without your child present, please e mail your child’s teacher so that they are aware of the request for time keeping purposes.

The sheet for interview times will be put up in the foyer next Monday for you to put your time in. You may also ring or email the office to ask the office staff to add your name to the list.

Seeds Fundraiser

Many thanks to the families who have already returned their money or unsold seeds to us. We really appreciate your speedy response.

Some families have also come back for more seeds so please return any that you don't intend to purchase or sell.

Please remember to return your money or seeds to the office by 16 August.

All children that participate will be given a code to enter on the Plant Me website to register for awesome prizes such as a swimming pool, outdoor furniture and a ride-on-mower. 
 
Two MP3 players and a garden tool set will be awarded to the three children at the school who sell the most seeds.
 
This fundraiser has the potential to make the school a lot of money so please give it your best support.

Cake Stall- Saturday 14^th August 10am

On Saturday 14^th August 10am-1.30pm we will be holding a cake stall at Churchill Drive Shopping Centre. 

Boxes will be coming home with your child next Wednesday 11^th August (1 x box per family).

In the past we’ve found that Russian fudge, brownies, cupcakes, gluten free biscuits and cakes in general, all sell particularly well.

If you are making anything with fresh cream, could you please drop it to the cake stall on Saturday, instead of to the staffroom on the Friday.

Please help us make this event a success by filling the boxes and returning them to school by Friday 13^th August.

If you are available to help on the stall, please ring Louise M on 9344 320.

Jumble Sale: Children’s Clothing

Thanks for the clothes donated so far in the bin in the office foyer.  We are still requiring more donations for our jumble sale next Friday the 13th 12-3.30 at the school.

Here is a visual and a floor plan for the new library, which is due to be completed around Week 6 of this term, and which will open (with celebrations!) at the beginning of Term 4. A full set of plans can be viewed in the school office area.

Following last week’s news item, we have had some questions from parents about the new school library project:

How are we paying for the new school library?

The library improvements are being made as part of the school’s Five Year Property Plan (5YPP), which every school must have for works that will maintain and, where possible, add value to the school’s grounds and buildings. Schools are not permitted to increase their ‘footprint’ with this funding, so cannot extend with new buildings.

The Ministry of Education provides funding for this work (a fixed amount), and must approve all works in the plan, prior to allowing this money to be claimed by the school.

Our school has always aimed to use this funding to do one big improvement project and use the rest for smaller enhancements and major maintenance on our buildings.

From our previous 5YPP budget, which expired last year, the school converted the boiler room into the teachers’ resource and server room, upgraded the security system, installed classroom heat pumps, repainted the school and other things like replacing toilet windows, partial replacement of the library roof, anti-slipping matting on classroom decking, etc.

The library upgrade is the big project in the new 5YPP funding. Also, the driveway and carparks have already been repaired as part of the new 5YPP budget.

Why does the school need a new library?

While our library has been a pleasant space to learn and work in, it is no longer big enough for teachers to take a full class group or for shared pod learning.

Sue and her staff also wanted the library to be a place which children can visit at any time to read, work and research. The new library is designed to ensure classes and individual children can share the library.

The board fully supports this project, as we also believe that a school library is a hugely important facility, providing an open and inviting environment for children to learn in.

Please note that the 5YPP only funds the school to upgrade building improvements, not a full fit-out of the new library with new furniture, bookshelves and ‘soft’ furnishing.

The school will re-use a lot of the current library equipment first and will try to fund further enhancements using grant applications and some targeted fundraising.

We are confident that the new library will deliver the desired improvements. Please have a look at the plans, which are sitting in the school office area and will also be published on the school website soon.

If you have any further questions about the library, please do not hesitate to see Sue or any other member of the school Board of Trustees. All of us would be happy to provide you with more details and background on this, and other, board decisions.

Frank Schulpen

Chairperson

Cake Stall- Saturday 14^th August

On Saturday 14^th August we will be holding a cake stall at Churchill Drive Shopping Centre from 10am. Boxes will be coming home with your child on Wednesday 11^th August (1 x box per family). Please help us make this event a success by filling the boxes and returning them to school by Friday 13^th August.

If you are available to help on the stall, please ring Louise M on 934 4320.

PTA Jumble Sale

The PTA are organising a Children’s Jumble Sale for Friday 13 August, weather permitting, in the school courtyard from 12-3.30pm. We are looking for good quality children’s clothing only. This is a chance to clear out your child’s winter wardrobe and purchase new items.

A collection box for the clothing will be in the office foyer and cleared each day. Thank you for your donations

Are you arty? Or do you know someone who is an artist or famous?

The PTA is planning a Postcard Art fundraiser and we have lots of blank postcards ready for artwork.

The idea is that we (or you!) ask artists, illustrators and people who are famous, to complete a small piece of artwork for us to sell. This could be original art produced for us, or something like a piece of sketchbook cut to size and attached to the card. We are also hoping to get some ‘big names’ who could doodle or sketch something simple and sign their name. The remit is really open to interpretation.

The cards will then be exhibited and sold alongside postcard art by the children in school.

We are really excited by this original fundraiser and hope you can help get postcards to the right people, locally, nationally and internationally.

We will be co-ordinating names of people approached, so please contact Louise Gusterson in Room 5 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Mike T (father of Ella in Room 5 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for more information or to get postcards. We are very aware that a personal approach can be far more successful than cold calling and hope you can help.

Seed Fundraiser this week

Plant me Ltd has supplied the school with seeds for our latest fundraiser.

This fundraiser will work in the same way as the Chocolate fundraiser. (Don’t worry it will be coming later). Further details will be supplied with your pack.

New library

You may have noticed that construction work has started on our new school library.

Architectural plans for the enlarged and improved library can be found on the table oustide the school office – anyone who is interested is welcome to take a look. The plans will also be on the school website by the end of this week.

The overall footprint of the library is to be extended to include the PE shed and the walkway outside the current library. The finished interior will be a fresh and modernised space for the children to enjoy, including a separate sunny area that can accommodate a whole class while leaving the rest of the library free.

The work is due to finish in week six of this term, and the new library will open at the beginning of next term. The new building will be the beginnings of a great library, and will be further fitted out over the next year as more finances become available.

For the safety of children, staff and visitors during construction, a suitably high fence has been placed around the site. Contractors will only be able to drive through to the building area between 7.00 and 8.30am and after 3.30pm.

Plans are well underway for a new home for the PE equipment - and the for opening celebrations for our new library!

Matsuri

The Matsuri Gala date had been set this year for the 13^th November.

We are hoping that this will be a lucky day as far as the weather goes this year!

Please put it in your diaries.  This is our main fundraiser for the year and we require your support on the day to assist on stalls.  For those involved last year, you may wish to stay on the same stall or try something different.  The PTA will make contact soon with each family to see where you may be able to assist.

As well as the favourite toys, books, white elephant, clothing stalls, we are well known for the wide variety of food stalls.  We would like to increase the variety and number of food stalls available this year.  Please advise if this is an area you could help us with.

Although planning for the Matsuri begins now we have some other fun activities planned for term 3.

Other Events in the Planning:

A disco for the children at the end of term, 17^th Sept.

A cake stall hopefully on the 14^th August

A movie night sometime in September.

Fathers Day stall in September (start hunting for small gifts).

Seed packet fundraiser

And more.

If you have any ideas for the PTA we would love to hear from you.