Kia ora koutou,

Well, here we are at the end of Term Two!  I am immensely proud of what our students and staff have achieved this term.  Our targeted and deliberate focus on specific areas of the curriculum have had a noticeable impact on learning.  Specifically, the in-depth Science focus we have had on forces and motion within our school-wide Inquiry and the Literacy skills linked with this have seen learners challenge themselves with new knowledge, concepts and understandings.  Tomorrow (Thursday), we are hosting our Open Afternoon from 1:45 pm where you are invited to visit your child's Learning Community so they can share the learning they have been doing throughout the term.

Thank you to those of you who completed our Board Survey.  We had 46% of our families respond to our Whānau Survey.  We also completed a survey with our Staff and Students as well.  In this newsletter, you will see a breakdown of some of the key themes and feedback we received from the Whānau Survey.  Next term we will share a summary of the Student and Staff survey as well as our next steps moving forward into 2024 and beyond.  

Over the last couple of weeks, we have had a big increase in the number of Winter bugs and illnesses, and unfortunately this week a surge in Covid cases again.  We hope you are able to take time in the school holiday break for your kids to catch up on much-needed rest and relaxation so that they are healthy and ready to start another busy term.

This Friday, the last day of term, we are holding a Pyjama Day Fundraiser.  See further details about this within the newsletter.

On behalf of our TK Team, I wish you all a relaxing break and we look forward to seeing you back on Monday 25th July.

Ngā mihi
Juliet Dickinson

This week on HERO your child’s teachers will have posted a Learner Quality comment that shares with you the Learner Qualities your child has been showing strengths in and what Learner Qualities they will be focusing on in the second half of the year. They will also give you an update on how your child has been progressing with the goal they set with you at our Learning Conferences held earlier in the term. 

You will also be able to see where the classroom teachers have placed your child against the mid-year curriculum expectations for the three core areas, Mathematics, Reading and Writing. When on your child’s page in HERO you will be able to read the statement that tells you what curriculum level your child is currently working at and you will be able to see this plotted on the progress graph (like the image below).

If you haven’t had a chance to look at your child’s post under Learning Across the Curriculum we suggest you look under that tab as well. In there you will see a sample of your child’s work in Numeracy. The teachers will have shared with you what you can support your child with at home as part of their next steps as part of this post. 

** Please note students who have just started in Te Kakano this year will only have a Learner Quality post posted for this term **

If you are yet to get into HERO below are the details of how you can log in.

Visit https://hero.linc-ed.com or there is a HERO app that can be found through the app store. 

Your username is your email address that you have previously shared with the school. Enter your email and then click ‘Request Password’. (please let us know if your email address has changed as it will not work if there is a different address). 

An email will be sent to you containing a link for you to click on. The link will take you to a page where you can enter your own secure password. 

Join us for some Pyjama Day fun! Friday 30th June 2023
(last day of term 2)

That’s right, forget about getting dressed in the morning - you can wear your PJs all day long! All we ask is you get involved, wear your pyjamas and donate a gold coin.

The money raised will go towards supporting Ronald McDonald House helping keep families together when their child is unwell.

We can't wait to see everyone in their favourite pyjamas for the comfiest day of the year!

LC4 and LC5 students are selling raffle tickets for Garden to Table.  AFFCO have kindly donated enough porterhouse steak to make 4 awesome meat packs.  Each includes 12 steaks and a pack of sausages.  
These are for sale this week before school outside the pavilion as well.
Tickets $5 each

The raffle will be drawn on Friday 21st July, so sales will continue throughout the holidays.  If your children would like to help sell some raffle tickets over the break, raffle sheets can be picked up from the office up until Friday.  There are prizes for those students who sell the most tickets.

These images show a snapshot of information we gathered from the Whānau Survey.  At our last Board meeting, we analysed the feedback and identified the key themes and ideas.  See the images below for a summary of these.

We also carried our surveys with our staff and students which we will share the results of next term.  Throughout Term 3, we will be confirming our strategic priorities for 2024 and beyond.

Also refer to the home page of the school website

is Ag Day this year. This is the Saturday at the end of week 1, Term 3.
Click the link to find out about raising a young animal.

Please note Hamilton North Ag Group Day is Monday 16th October and Waikato Show is Friday 27th October.

Students get acknowledged for their attitude and effort with Pride Hui's. 
It is great to have this recognition which ties to aspects of the School Charter.

Below are the students who were so delighted with their certificates from Week 9's Pride Hui.

Please Covid-test all children that are unwell, even if mildly unwell, as they may have COVID.  We are experiencing a strong surge of it at the moment. It may present with a range of symptoms (tummy bug, flu-like symptoms, sniffle). 
We have RAT test kits here at the office and are happy to give out.  Just pop in to the office to collect or email kerryc@tekowhai.school.nz to arrange to go home with a child.

ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise 'Academic Excellence'. Students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. ICAS Assessments will be offered for English, Mathematics, Science and Digital Technologies. These assessments take place online. 

Please note: These assessments do not align with the New Zealand curriculum and there is no prep done in classes prior to your child sitting these assessments. 

If you would like for your child to sit these exams this year please complete the form here before Friday 7th July.

Sitting Dates are between 7 August and 1 September 2023

If you have any questions about these, please contact Nikki Willis (nikki@tekowhai.school.nz)

Reminder to check lost property before the end of the term.  Unnamed items will be donated to charity.

Our Kickstart Angels visited Te Kōwhai Kindergarten recently.  These photos show them before they head off with Mrs Cutler and Miss Payton and also show them having fun with the pre-schoolers.
Kickstart Angels are senior students who have taken on a supportive role, helping pre-schoolers bridge across to Primary School life.

Yey!  If you need help with childcare in the holiday - this may work out perfectly for you!
For details, see the images below and click the YMCA link.
Click this link to book the holiday programme.