Heron Herald Term 2, Week 2, 2023

2 years ago

Kia ora koutou,

There is plenty of excitement around the school about the upcoming PTA Mini-Gala and Movie Night. We are thrilled that all this wet weather is getting out of the way and ready for a fine night next week. A massive thank you to Hayley Strong and the PTA for making this event happen for our community. Make sure you check out the Matua PTA Facebook for information, including how to buy tickets to the movie.

ATTENDANCE

The issue of low school attendance rates in New Zealand has been an area of focus for schools around the country. If you have followed this in the media, you know that the most recent data highlights just 50% of all students across NZ attend school regularly. The Ministry of Education considers regular attendance to be those who are at school at least 90% of the time. At this level, a child could be away from school up to 20 days a year and still be considered as regularly attending.

Since the beginning of 2023, Matua School typically has 90% of students at school each day. However, when we look at the data of individual students, we find that just 70% of our students are at school more than 90% of the time. While this data is better than the national average, we do know that regular school attendance is an indicator of success. The government’s focus on attendance centres on truancy, and we know there are many reasons why children miss days at school. While many of these reasons are legitimate, it is important to be aware of your child’s attendance rate.

You can check your child’s absence rate by looking at the ‘Absence’ button in the @School App. At the top of the ‘Absence’ screen is a percentage. If that ‘Days Absent’ percentage is greater than 10%, then your child will be considered as not regularly attending school by the Ministry of Education.

Thanks for working with us to get your children to school as much as possible. If they are going to be away, don’t forget to let us know before school starts and include a clear explanation of why.

CROSS COUNTRY

Next Tuesday, 16th May, we have our school cross country at Fergusson Park. We would love to see families at the event support children as they run. There will be an opportunity to grab a coffee and even take part in a fun parents’ race at the end. We will get underway from 1:00pm, with our older children starting first. Watch out in your @School App Messages for the schedule and everything you need to know about the day.

Ngā mihi nui

Marcus Norrish
Principal

RUGBY TRAINING

Rugby training has started at Matua.

35 Children have signed up which is a new record. The children enjoyed learning tackling technique in the rain with Mr Hull.

GARDEN TO TABLE

Team Tupu began Garden to Table this week. Every session was attended by a great group of helpers. Thanks so much for your support. The children really enjoy having help both in the garden and kitchen. It is going to be a great term with the support we have.

Thanks also to Brookfield New World, who continue to support the programme with a few items that aren’t grown in the garden.

Note the smiles on the children’s faces.

KOREAN CHILDRENS DAY

This Friday, May 5, is Children’s Day in South Korea.

It’s a public holiday in South Korea and a group of our senior international students created a display in the library to tell us about it.

To celebrate children’s day at school, the international students held a ddakji (simple Korean game) challenge.

EPRO 8

The Epro8 Engineering Team for 2023, ‘the Matua Gadgets’ after winning the school event, have now won the next stage of the competition at the Interschool event at Tauranga Intermediate. They now go on to compete in the semi-finals next Friday at Tauranga Girls College–

SCHOOL POOL KEYS

The school pool is now closed until term 4 and it is time to return to return your key.

Bring your key to the school office and collect your $25 key bond.

PARKING IN CLIVEDENE & STRATHMORE STEET

Parking in Strathmore and Clivedene Street during before and after school pick up/drop off times is becoming increasingly dangerous to our students. We are incredibly concerned that someone is going to get seriously hurt or injured.

Cars are parking on yellow lines, on grass verges and in entrances to private driveways. Cars are also parking on both sides of the street which reduces visibility.

Please park in designated areas and allow time to park further away, if you have to, and walk the extra distance to collect your child.

ONLY park in disabled car parks if you have the right to do so. We have families at school who need to use these spaces but they have often been taken by families who should not be parking in them.

Your child’s safety is important to us and we really appreciate your help and support in parking safely and in the correct areas.

PTA – MINI GALA / MOVIE NIGHT

Save the date!

Don’t forget that on Friday 12 May we’ll be having a mini gala and movie night at Matua School.

There will be food available and games to keep the kids entertained, starting from 4pm – then snuggle down with a bean bag, blanket, pillows and sleeping bags and watch a movie with your family and friends from 6pm.

Tickets are $10 each (you get a yummy hot chocolate with your ticket and BYO cup to save on waste). These will be available for purchase before and after school, outside the hall over the next two weeks.

We want to remind parents that the movie ‘Strange World’ is PG Rated. Children need a supervising adult with them. There is a trailer for the movie on YouTube and you can also visit www.commonsensemedia.org for more information on what you can expect.

As always, the PTA need helpers for this event – donations for cake stall, jolly jars, and prizes for games and anything else you want to help with – to make it a success so please get in touch if you can help them out.

Email the PTA – matuapta@gmail.com

MATUA ANGELS

We have an amazing group of volunteers that come into school on a Wednesday morning. They help with anything from laminating, making resources for staff and all those jobs that help with the everyday running of school life.

It’s a great way to meet other parents and also support our wonderful staff.

If you would like to be involved, pop into the school office on a Wednesday morning (9 -11am), have a cuppa and a biscuit, meet other parents and get involved. We really appreciate any help you are able to offer.

SCHOOL HOURS

A friendly reminder that school is not open until 8.30am. If you require childcare before these hours, please contact SKIDS either by email – matua@skids.co.nz, phone – 027 586 0408, or book online – www.skids.co.nz/Matua.

YUMMY STICKERS

2023 has already thrown us all some tough challenges, but together we will get through it.

Our orchards like many other growers in Hawkes Bay and Gisborne, have been badly affected by the recent cyclone. Yummy are fortunate to have orchards spread widely across the Bay, which has meant some of our orchards have been completely devastated but some have survived. It has been a tricky time for sure, but we are managing to pick the majority of our crop this season, so that’s some good news

The other good news is, we will push on with the Yummy School Sticker Promo again this year. This is something we really value being part of, and I’m sure schools will value free sports gear even more this year. Even in these tough times, it’s great to be part of a community and give back to schools and kids, so thanks for being part of this promotion 26 years on!

You can start collecting anytime now (if you haven’t already started), and some more good news – we will be switching over to compostable stickers in the next few months

SCHOOL INFORMATION

SKIDS BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMME

“It’s time to book your Before & After School sessions with SKids, and join us for some fun in the sun at www.sKids.co.nz/Matua”

HOMESTAYS FAMILIES NEEDED FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Homestay Families Wanted

Ōtūmoetai College International Office is looking for families within the school zone area to host international students. This is such a great experience for the whole family. Anyone interested please contact Andrea Notman directly on 07 5762316 Ext.760 or email anotman@otc.school.nz to request an information pack and application form.