Newsletter Week 9 Term 1

Easter Holiday Break Reminder:

Please Note there is NO SCHOOL Friday this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week.

School opens again next week on WEDNESDAY - thanks.

Paid Union Meeting:

Thank you for your support for our teachers during this important meeting for our staff.

I am so proud of the team we have at Western Heights - our success is down to them - pure and simple. It is a joy and a privilege to work alongside them each day. I see one of my key roles as looking after them so that they can continue to give their best to and for our children.

The reality is that a number of our people have only remained in Auckland and with us because of their job satisfaction and the strong bonds they have with children, parents and colleagues here.

Unless we and the government look after them, we will lose our fine young teachers to points south where the cost of living and housing is much more affordable than it is here in Auckland.

Our Union is working with Education Minister Chris Hopkins to try to help address this problem. We appreciate your support is helping us to have a better chance of attracting and retaining the fine young teachers we need to remain a highly successful school.

Our Western Heights Cross Country for the Middle and Senior School will be held on Tuesday 10 April.  This will take place after morning tea at 11am. The finish line will be on our basketball courts.

Our children will be running in their age groups.  We will start with the 7 year old age group first. There are separate girls and boys events.

Please make sure your children are dressed in appropriate clothing for running such as running shoes, shorts and a t-shirt. Running shoes are a must for Years 3 - 6 as they will be running on the streets immediately surrounding our school.  Children will need a water bottle too.

Our Junior School hold their Cross Country in the first block.  They will be assembling on the basketball courts from 9.15 am.

We would love to see you come along and cheer for the children.

Nuree Greenhalgh and Tim Taura

Sports Coordinators

Next term we will have a “Seasons for Growth” support group running onsite at school for year 4 - 6 children. We only have a limited number of spaces available but please email Adele if you would like your child included and she will be in contact.   adelen@westernheights.school.nz  

These sessions are aimed at supporting children through understanding that, like the seasons, our lives shift and change. Friends come and go. We may lose someone we love. Parents and families separate. We move to a new place. We experience a natural disaster. Illness impacts our life or a family’s work-life changes.

Seasons for Growth is an innovative grief and loss education program that uses the imagery of the seasons to illustrate the experience of grief. It aims to strengthen the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people (aged 6 - 18) who are dealing with significant life changes by exploring the impact of change and loss on every-day life and learning new ways to respond to these changes. 

Trained adult ‘Companions’ facilitate the small group program, where participants support and learn from each other in age appropriate and engaging activities.

Young people learn that they are not alone in dealing with the effects of change, loss and grief and build their communication, decision making and problem solving skills within a supportive peer group.

Cohort entry will be allowed to continue even after the law is amended, but it will only apply to children after they turn five years of age. 

We are proposing to go with the alternative the Ministry is offering, which is two cohort entry dates per term - at the start and at the mid point of each term. The cohort start dates would be

Term 3: 23 July and 27 August

Term 4: 15 October and 12 November

This means all children with birthdays before 10  June can start on April 30.

If the legislation that allows this change by term 3- propose (needs to be passed by BOT) we do 2 entries a term from then and kids have to be 5 to start.

Term 3:    23 July and 27 August

Term 4:    15 October and 12 November

Some of the Reasons Behind cohort entry are as follows:

Many countries use a cohort entry system - some have one start date for the whole year, some have two start dates for the whole year. The government’s new option will allow for eight start dates for the year.

There are many reasons why cohort entry is preferable to having a constant stream of newly enrolled children arriving into class on an almost daily basis.

Having children start as a group at the beginning of the term allows a consistent and progressive induction, rather than the induction process being repeated every week throughout the term as new individuals start. 

This way our children are all receiving the same message at the same time about being school children and learning together.It supports their teacher to best meet the social and emotional needs that children have when they’re transitioning to a new environment. We can assimilate them into our school as a whole group so the transition process is much better, their peers and friends are going through the same thing and can support them.

It helps us as school leaders to better plan to meet our staffing needs. Previously we have asked parents to hold off so we could start a class with a reasonable group of children, rather than just one or  two who were eligible to start at the start of the term.

We need to know your views on having eight start dates for our children for the year - at the start of and mid point of each term.

Please email me at macash@mac.com or call in for a chat to share your views with me or with Deputy Principal stele Nummy. Thanks.

We will get back to you with more information soon.

Dear Parents,

Our thanks to parents who have already paid this year’s School Donation - which is a voluntary payment.

As the tax year draws to a close, we would like to remind parents that where the School Donation is paid in full, before or on 31 March, you are eligible to claim a tax rebate for 2018. Our School Donation for the year is $100 if paid by March 31. After this date it is $110 per child.

We cap our donations at a maximum of $200 per family (no matter how many children you have) if paid by March 31, or $220 after that date. 

Your voluntary  donation makes a big difference to what we can do for your children at Western Heights, and we thank sincerely everyone who is able to pay this annual donation.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING is the best way to keep fit during winter!! Fun runs, relays, and races are on Saturdays at 2:30pm at Moire Park and interclub events held at other venues around Auckland.  The season starts at the end of March and continues to the end of September.

The Massey 1K Challenge, a free event for kids aged 8-16 years old, will be held on Monday 26 March at 5pm at Moire Park, Massey.  Monday 2 April at 5pm will be a time trial at Moire Park.

 For more information, phone Phil 027 2102727, e-mail masseycrosscountry@gmail.com, or visit www.masseyathletics.org.nz.