Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori Language Week - We have been blessed with another fabulous week of celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Māori with so many awesome opportunities again for our children to be the experts and there are so many. I loved chatting to lots of students talking about the challenges they were doing and how they were helping others in their class to korero maori - tino pai! Thank you to Danielle and the awesome team for all your mahi in putting together a plan for our week. Thank you to our whānau for your support and especially with our sharing of kai on Thursday. Thank you to all those teachers who helped prepare all our kapa haka roopu to get ready for our final assembly - much appreciated. To Whaea Moana and Whaea Danielle for your hard work and commitment to making sure our Moana, Te Awa and Papa teams get to be a part of kapa haka. 

NZPF Conference - I have the privilege of attending the NZPF (New Zealand Principals Federation) conference in Queenstown this week with 550 principals from across NZ. What a fabulous few days of networking and listening to some fabulous speakers. Leanne Otene the President, spoke highly of the Maori Achievement Collaborative and Tautai o le Moana as preferred PLD for schools with high numbers of Maori and Pasifika learners. There were 2 keynote speakers that really touched my heart and they were Abbas Nazari from Afghanistan who spoke about his journey when their family had to flee their country in the middle of the night - he was 7 years old. They left with the clothes on their back and a small bag of their belongings and crossed into Pakistan where they instantly became refugees! He shared his journey of being in the camp for years then fleeing to Australia to seek asylum. They were granted passage and fled on a boat that didn't look fit for purpose and they sailed for days trying to reach Christmas Island where they were told if they made it they would be granted asylum. Unfortunately the boat nearly sank but they were rescued by the Tampa container ship and all 470 passengers were loaded onto the ship. There they were told they were going to be deported but Helen Clark told Australia she would take 150 and that is how he came to NZ. He has written a book which I will purchase a copy for our school to gain a small understanding of our refugee students. It was so sad listening to him that many of us were in tears. 

Valerie Adams was my next favourite speaker. She is so real and down to earth and as she quotes 'what you see is what you get'. She is saddened that in NZ the Tall Poppy syndrome is alive and well and has learnt over time to take comments from people as opportunities to educate them. An example was when she won silver and not gold - well lots of people wrote to her with very unkind comments even though she was pretty much number 2 in the world. Then when her child was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes she received more hate mail asking what kind of mother she was... We live in an interesting society where we are quick to cut people down. 

Whole School Cross Country Event -A huge thank you to Tania Johnson for a fabulous whole school cross country event. Tania’s organisation was superb and we appreciate all your efforts. Our children have been working up to this event practising every day. It was wonderful to see lots of parents cheering on your children. 

Welcome back - A warm welcome back to Ms Louisa Clark who has returned from maternity leave. Louisa has started our new class in room 2. We also welcome two more Weymouth Angels - Asotasi and Cherry… we hope you enjoy your time at WPS.

WITH SADNESS

It is with extreme sadness that we say farewell to Ms Veisinia Ha’unga. Veisinia is moving to a higher position at another school where she is opening up the Tongan bilingual unit. She is very sad to be leaving us but also very excited for the opportunity she has been given. We appreciate all the work Veisinia has done for our school. She is an integral part of our team and we will miss her dearly. Veisinia is an excellent practitioner and has looked after all our staffs’ pastoral care needs and we are so blessed with all our treats and special notes Veisinia on behalf of all of us here, we wish you all the best on your next endeavour. 

This year we had 32 Year 4-6 students participate in this Maths Competition.  Congratulations to all who participated.  We had 6 students receive a Participation Award, 25 receive a Proficiency Award and congratulations to Azriel Yape (Room 20, Year 6) who received a Credit Award, being in the top 55% of his year group and NZ region.  Students were presented with their certificates today in our final assembly.  

Thank you to the whānau that came to the information meeting last week.  We are excited that through the Manaiakalani Trust our families can purchase a chromebook for their child for 2024 and get superb device care over three years.  Over the next three years, we hope to have all Year 4, 5, and 6 students with their own devices to support their learning.  Another information meeting will be scheduled early Term 4, and order forms will be ready for completing soon after.

Have a fabulous break - holidays are now upon us. Please enjoy spending time with your children and keep up with reading, writing and maths every day. Every day counts. Remember our local library in Clendon always has daily activities for the family to join in. 

Term 4 - we begin on Monday 9th of October at 8.50am. Please help us ensure your child is at school by 8.30am in order to prepare for the day. Our powhiri for term 4 to welcome all our new staff, students and families is at 10.30am under the cloud. We have a fun filled term ahead so make sure you send your children to school every day. Every day counts. Term 4 finishes on Friday 15th of December at 2pm. Keep an eye on the website, Hero and Class Dojo platforms for what is happening weekly. 

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TEACHER ONLY DAY - In order to continue working on the new curriculum, the Ministry of Education has stated all schools must spend a day, over a two week period in November to work on the new curriculum. On Friday 24th of November we will be having a teacher only day. School will be closed on that day. We thank you for your support. 

Our theme is ‘Whakapapa me te whanaungatanga’ . We will be learning about this through the arts ‘How do the arts contribute to our cultural identity?’. Classes will be exploring using music, dance, drama and art to develop this concept. 

I was given this a while back and thought it would be good to share with our school community. Enjoy. 

 Me and some other select children from my school had this trip today! It was really cool, and I want to share something about it with you. This trip was weird for just 1 reason, however; there were no buses. There were school vans. Unusual for someone in my school.

Eventually, we passed our “Manurewa Maunga”, Matukutureia. It looks a bit like a pyramid with a flat top, not a spike. And it's made out of grass, dirt and rock. Some of the boys said it used to be a volcano. We turned around and got out at this small, hut-like place with some mats and chairs in front of it. We sat down, and had a really long opening speech. Really long. Then, we learnt a song and met a new buddy we would need to stick with for the day until 2:00. Judging by the song’s first words, I think it's called Uenuku. I don't know. After this, my buddy, and the rest of us went to go and plant some Tarata trees on what I'd call a cliff next to a river or awa. The river looked very polluted, and the water was vividly brown. It was so brown, it almost looked gold. This may sound disturbing though, so I won't disclose any more details about this. Moving on, while some people were planting the trees, some had the snacks they bought. All of us had to plant at least 1 tarata tree. When all of us were done, we moved on to the actual eating time. There was pizza, some of our snacks we already have, and it was cool! After lunch, we went around the back and played a game that seemed to revolve around the Maramataka, the Māori Moon Calendar. There were varieties of game modes, I forgot all of their names because, well, I'm me! But they are meant to resemble the appearance and attributes of the moon cycles. Such as the full moon, crescent moon, half moon, etc. And after this, it was time to say our thanks and leave. This trip revolved mainly around saving and protecting The Environment before it's too late, which I think is a topic that everyone should focus on.

Thank you for reading and finding interest in this article.

Yes, this was written by a student if you think it was.

 

T3 Wk 9 Friday 15 September 2023

Rm 1 Mali Sin For being a kind and gentle friend. Thank you for going out of your way to support others!
Rm 3 Cecelia Wi-Reneti For demonstrating a great attitude and effort in learning to say the longest place name in Maori. 
Rm 4 Anaseini Hasiata For managing herself during mat time consistently.Keep it up!!
Rm 5 Larson Tu’ua For always making good choices in class and helping his friends with their work.
Rm 6 Kuulei McShane For having such a great attitude to school and learning and always giving 100% in all she does!
Rm 7 Kaylyn Mills For focussing on her learning tasks and trying her best.
Rm 8 Nathaniel Sevao For always being polite, hardworking, and engaged with his learning.
Rm 9 Kristopher Satherley For being brave and courageous to perform during Tongan Language Week Assembly. Well done Kristopher!
Rm 10 Losaline Moala For always being a kind and helpful member of our class!
Rm 11 Evanna Heremaia For 100% effort and completion of all her mahi and set tasks. Tu Meke!
Rm 12 Sarkis Start For striving for the best in his reading and moving up a reading level!
Rm 13 Hohepa Cherrington For learning how to add one digit numbers and doing it perfectly.
Rm 14 Max Atama For presenting at our opening assembly for Te wiki o te reo Māori - tu meke Max!
Rm 15 Rourke Van Der Linden Demonstrating leadership and being a positive role model
Rm 16 Nivish Kumar Great effort doing the Basic Facts. You continue to exceed every expectation that we set. Great job!
Rm 17 Mark Hanno For being positive and striving to be better than before with his learning. Tino Pai Mark!
Rm 18 Daezzel Walker For having a positive attitude in his learning and showing the Weymouth Way. Tu meke!
Rm 19 Samuel Tuhua-Walker For showing pride in his cultural identity and sharing that with our akomanga. Ka rawe Samuel!
Rm 20 Kayla Tuia For showing the values of respect and honesty in her behaviour all the time.
Rm 23 Junior Teariki For being a positive role model by consistently demonstrating our values of respect and honesty

T3 Wk 10 Friday 22 September 2023
 

Rm 1 Anzac Matafeo For sharing his dinosaur knowledge with us at the museum. Ka pai!
Rm 3 Sophia Cole For sharing insightful and intelligent responses during class discussions.  You are amazing, Sophia!
Rm 4 Kalyrah-Lee Rhind Mataiti Aitken Hunt For always showing kindness to everyone and helping out all the time. Great job Kalyrah! 

Rm 5 Reyansh Bansal For making good choices in class and mixing around with others so well.
Rm 6 Shanaya Prasad For focusing on her learning tasks and always trying her best in everything.
Rm 7 Trish Dev For making a fantastic start in Room 7.You are amazing.
Rm 8 Wilson-John Koluse For always giving his best and working hard in his group lessons. Ka rawe Wilson!
Rm 9 Isabella Wayne For always showing kindness and empathy towards her peers.You are a star!
Rm 10 Vei Manukau For giving 100% during the Kapa Haka performance! Ka Pai!
Rm 11 Matilda Van Der Linden For achieving significant progress with her reading this term. Ka rawe!
Rm 12 Lamatagi Tatolu For making a more consistent effort to manage himself!
Rm 13 Aaron Naidu For learning various strategies of multiplication and using them correctly.

Rm 14 Tony Fainu Tekeu For ‘whāia te iti kahurangi’ - consistently striving for the best all day, every day!
Rm 15 Siaosi Lousiale For working hard to demonstrate a positive attitude in the akomanga.
Rm 15 Jezzamey Mataiti Roberts For having such a positive attitude to her learning. Ka rawe!
Rm 16 Calla-James Wilson For her great effort in doing the challenges for Te reo Maori Week and for her dedication towards learning Te reo Maori. Ka pai Calla-James!
Rm 17 Kaden Porter-Humphreys For showing a positive attitude towards his learning and attitude. Tau Ke Kaden!
Rm 18 Aaron Kumar Well done Aaron for completing the School Cross Country run! We are so proud of you!
Rm 19 Tominika Turetahi-Henry For his awesome effort in the School Cross Country. Ka rawe Tomi!
Rm 20 Azriel Yape For always giving his 100% in every aspect of his learning.
Rm 23 Bronx Martin For participating with enthusiasm in all te reo Māori learning and for striving to learn more kupu. Tino Pai Bronx!
Eco Warrior Award Memory Williams Rm 23 For taking a lead role when working in the māra with Whaea Deirdre. You confidently shared your knowledge and skills, as well as being extremely trustworthy. Tau kē Memory!
Road Patrol Award Pippa Davies Rm23 For amazing clear calls, always on time and enthusiasm for her Road Patrol duty.