Newsletter

Tuesday 15 October 2019

Coming up

21 October 7.30pm PTA Meeting

22 October 6.30pm Sexuality Information Evening (for Year 7 & 8 parents)

25 October Teacher only day – school closed for instruction

28 October Labour Day – school is closed

30 October 6.30pm Board meeting

1 November Rugby World Cup Day

5 November Senior athletics at Mt Smart Stadium

28 November International Night

29 November Year 4 Sleepover

10 December Year 6 Moving on UP

11 December Year 8 Graduation

13 December School Prizegiving Assembly

Quick look: ● Teacher Only day ● KTS Performances

● Road Patrol - can you help? ● Talent Quest

Welcome back to Term 4 – ten weeks that will fly by in a whirl of learning, celebration and preparation for 2020. Please note the above dates in your diaries, there is a lot going on. We hope that you have spent two enjoyable weeks with your families over the break and that children are refreshed and raring to get back in the classroom.

A warm welcome to seven new students to the school: Rylan (Rm 1), Fathiya and Alistair (Rm 2), Grayson, Aurelia and Xinyue (Rm 3) and Leo (Rm 16).

We are also pleased to welcome our University students, Lisa (Rm 1), Alice (Rm 3), Kelly (Rm 8), Heidi (Rm 9), Arundhati (Rm 10) and Cameron (Rm 16), who are joining us for their final practicum until the end of Week 5.

Teacher Only Day As communicated at the end of last term, the school will be closed for instruction on Friday 25th October for a Teacher Only Day. As part of the teacher contract settlement, additional days have been allocated. The Board of Trustees has approved one for this term. Kohia Kids will be open that day – for details on how to enrol, click on this LINK.

Celebrating success Congratulations go to those students who have achieved highly in the Spelling Bee and ICAS competitions. Spelling Bee certificates were given out at the end of last term. Worthy of particular mention is Chloe who achieved the highest score for a year 5 student, nationwide. ICAS results for English and Maths have recently been made available online, students will receive log-in details by the end of the week.

Kohia Terrace School, 3 Kohia Terrace, Epsom, Auckland 1023 tel: 09 630 4525 email: office@kts.school.nz www.kts.school.nz

KTS Performs! We finished Term 3 with some big highlights, in particular the Koru Team production of Wild Family. An outstanding effort by the staff and students with a fabulous celebration of the performing arts. Another highlight was the Pohutukawa Team assembly on the last day of term. Their awards ceremony for the movies made by groups of Intermediate students in Term 3 was excellent.

This term has also started off with a hiss and a roar with our Indian Dance groups performing at the Diwali festival in Queen Street on Sunday. Credit goes to Daxa Solanki and Jess Field for their teaching and organisation, but the big kudos goes to the girls who danced. It was such a great performance.

Health education consultation

Thank you to the 30 people who have shared their perspectives around our Health programme. I would

love to hear from more of you though (in 2017 we had 100 responses). We would appreciate if you

could take just 5 mins to complete this survey by the end of the week. Thank you in

advance.

Celebrating leadership Every year the intermediates nominate someone for the Sir Peter Blake Young Leader award. This year it was awarded at assembly in the last week of term to Lipoi Tupou, our current head boy. Congratulations Lipoi, you are an amazing role model.

Road Patrol – we need your help A new team of road patrollers will be manning both Kohia and Gillies crossings this term. We thank the Year 8 students who have ‘retired’ from the role, along with several parent helpers. Your service to the school has been greatly appreciated. We have several rostered teachers who we would love to replace with parent volunteers. If you can spare 25 minutes a week, please contact Catherine (catherine@kts.school.nz).

Upcoming events Our annual talent quest takes place at lunchtimes in Week 4. Students can perform individually or as a group and auditions will take place within year groups during Week 3. It’s time to sign up in classes and get practising. More information is on the website.

Please keep an eye on the calendar of events on the school website – all the end of year activities and events are listed so you can update your diaries.

Rugby World Cup Day at KTS

On Friday 1st November, just ahead of the RWC final, KTS are holding their very own Rugby World Cup day. Children are encouraged to dress in either the colours, or cultural dress of the country they have been researching about in class. On RWC Day, children will be split into different classes and they will experience different activities with different teachers on rotation.

Room 1 - Argentina Room 2 - England Room 3 - Samoa Room 4 - Wales

Room 5 - Namibia Room 6 - Uruguay Room 7 - Tonga Room 8 - Georgia

Room 9 - Fiji Room 10 - Australia Room 11 - Canada Room 12 - Italy

Room 13 - South Africa Room 14 - France Room 15 - Russia Room 16 - USA

Alison, Catherine, Erynn and Fe - Japan

Go the ALL BLACKS!!

School Uniform – some reminders There are a number of students who are regularly not wearing correct school uniform. Mainly this relates to items under the school skort or incorrect long pants. As per our Uniform Code, extra layers should be dark blue or black polypropylene only, and long pants need to be purchased from the uniform shop.

All students should also have a hat to wear each day. Any hat is fine but should be named.

Term 4 is always a busy term as we look at finishing one year and setting up for the next. Please keep an eye on the newsletter and website for key dates – Alison and Catherine

Update from the Board of Trustees

At our September meeting, Nicola Zimmerman presented an update on Mātanga Mahi — working as professionals and teacher agency. Nicola’s report detailed some of the work professional development and teaching observations KTS staff have been undertaking, the contributions several KTS teachers have made recently to the ACCOS Community of Learning network, and the most recent round of self-assessments completed by KTS teachers. The commitment of KTS teachers to their ongoing professional growth is inspiring, and the Board passed on their continuing support for this work. Erynn Riesterer also updated the Board on the Mana Tangata (enhancing the potential of all) strategic area, and spoke about the plans for discussing with parents about the benefits of reading aloud to children. More information about this important initiative will be made available in due course. Following extensive review over the last few months, the Board confirmed its approval of all the board policies and school procedures. These policies and procedures will be updated and made available on the school website. The Board approved Alison’s proposal to make Friday 25th October a teacher only day, for the purposes of staff planning, in accordance with the newly agreed Teachers’ Collective Agreement. Parents should make a note that school will therefore be closed for instruction on Friday 25th October. The Board also discussed School Donations for 2019 and 2020. After reviewing the Ministry of Education’s circular regarding school donations which stipulates that schools cannot “offer a discount on early payment of donations”, the requested donation for 2020 is $480. More information is available here: https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/publications/education-circulars/latest-circulars/circular-201801/

The Board also noted concern about the declining dollar value of donations, and the falling percentages of donations received, year-on-year. In 2016 and 2017 the August financials showed 100% of budgeted donations were received. In August 2018, 94% of the budgeted donations had been received by the school. In August 2019, despite the fact that the budgeted amount is slightly below the 2018 level, the figure is just 90%. This is a worrying trend as the school relies heavily on its community to provide additional teachers over entitlement (in 2019 $90K is budgeted along with $100K for teacher aide learning support). The Board thanks those who have paid their voluntary donation. As per the guidelines in the circular, the Board will send out 'requests for payment' at the beginning of each school year, and at the beginning of Term 3 and 4. Donations of course can be made at any time throughout the year. Please see the link in the School Shop (Kindo) to make your payments online or

directly into the school bank account 12-3048-0433992-00. More information about school donations is available on the school website: https://kts.school.nz/parents/school-payments-information/

You are also welcome to attend our next meeting, Wednesday 30th October, at 6.30pm in the school staffroom. The Board wishes to thank all staff involved in these reviews. Nga mihi nui, The Kohia Terrace School Board of Trustees

Belonging to KTS

Literacy Awards

Congratulations to the following students:

Bronze – Roman & Toby-Joe R 6 Cobalt – Gregor R 7

Congratulations to Nadia (Rm 4), pictured to the right. Author Melinda Szymanik presented Nadia with a copy of her new book for winning a colouring-in contest at her recent book launch at Time Out Books.

Certificates from week 10 assembly, term 3

Rm 1 Eddie Aarav Rm 2 Kanveer Rm 3 Tanveer Lawrence

Rm 4 Bella Bea Rm 5 Isaac Eloise Intermediates Jienshuo, Ben, Lana Honami, Thomas N Jessie, Thomas L Twinkle, Harley

Excellence certificates: Harley William (room 11)

Rm 6 Toby-Joe Timoci Rm 7 Alex Arlo

Rm 10 Tolson Kathy Rm 11 Emily Rachel

Rm 12 Lucas Kaja Sara Rm 13 Hazel Anderson

Rm 8 Dhivya Gavin Noah Rm 9 Linda Ed Hyunjun

Second-hand uniform donations please! The KTS PTA are planning a second-hand uniform sale for the end of this month. If you have any KTS uniform items you would like to donate, please drop them in to the office. Thank you!

Drama competition success Recently, Jemima and Madeleine had fun competing in drama competitions. They were both successful, winning the overall prize for their respective age groups.

Kids Marathon The Auckland Kids Marathon is this Sunday, 20 October. A total of 27 KTS runners have registered to participate, which is superb. This group has trained hard over the last 10 weeks and we wish them all the very best! Enjoy crossing the finish line to complete your marathon.

Rugby Tournament Lipoi was selected to play for the Auckland West team in the Roller Mills Rugby Tournament 2019 which was held at St Peters Cambridge school from Sunday 29 September 2019 through to Thursday 3 October 2019. The tournament had teams from Auckland West, Auckland East, Counties, Waikato, Thames Valley, Bay of Plenty, King Country and Northland. The Auckland West team was made up of players from various schools in the Auckland Western area. It was great to have Kohia Terrace on the list. The Auckland West team came 4th in the tournament. It was a great experience for Lipoi who has grown as a young rugby player and has made lifetime friendships! The atmosphere was epic. Community Notices

Are you going overseas next year? Know a house for rent?

A KTS junior school family (two kids, 5 and 7) are looking for a house to rent in 2020 while we do

renovations to our Mt Eden home. Ideally in Mt Eden/Epsom, walking distance to school, 3-5 bedrooms.

We are not smokers or pet owners and would be responsible tenants. Our contact details are with the

school office if you are interested in discussing further.

FINE YOUNG ARTISTS: ART CLASSES AT SCHOOLS, AFTER SCHOOL

Fine Young Artists is an inspirational fine arts programme designed for children who are

passionate about art. Every term children take part in an exciting new programme based

on the works of a well-known artist. Our 8-week course is the perfect way to develop your

child’s artistic potential.

Term 4 2019 @ Kohia Terrace School is “This Land is My Land” (drawing & painting on loose canvas)

Classes commence Monday 21st October for 8 weeks at The Gifford Gallery, Poronui St, Mt Eden. There

is a supervised walk provided from Kohia Terrace School.

ENROL NOW! www.fineyoungartists.co.nz E: enquires@fineyoungartists.co.nz P: 09 6341995

WANT TO LEARN CHINESE?

Pistachio Mandarin Language Centre is offering Chinese lessons on Saturdays from 5+. Classes are 1 hour for total beginners, 1 hour for higher beginners & 1 hours for Adults for term 4 2019. Focusing on speaking, listening. Fun activities to engage students and to immerse them in a Mandarin speaking environment. Come for the first free trial lesson. Start: Term 4 Saturday 19/10/19 Venue: Kohia Terrace School, Epsom Please Email: pistachiomandarin@gmail.com Website: www.pistachiomandarin.weebly.com; Facebook: Pistachio Mandarin Language Centre

Screenies children's film festival this weekend This free (koha) event run by our charitable trust is on at TAPAC, 100 Motions Rd, Western Springs (opposite the zoo) this weekend – 19/20 October and has films and programmes from around the world and NZ for tamariki aged 3–99 years! We aim to provide engaging content in a dedicated festival for children so they can see new perspectives and share stories from around the world. There will be animators from the celebrated Mukpuddy animation studio and filmmakers following the students' climate strike, as well as international short films, features and workshops. https://www.facebook.com/events/944928895840403/ Auckland United Softball Club COME AND PLAY SOFTBALL AND TEE-BALL!!

The softball season is approaching and there is room for more players and teams to join in and play tee-ball and softball in Mount Albert on Saturday mornings at 9.00am. The tee-ball module has teams from Auckland United Softball Club along with teams from other local softball clubs. Games are 60 minutes long and players get to hit the ball, run the bases and field, all the time developing their softball knowledge. Join in the fun, excitement and atmosphere of this great summer game.

If you are interested in giving this fantastic sport a go and are aged between 5 and 12 years then check out our website aucklandunitedsoftball.co.nz, or on Facebook: Auckland United Softball Club or contact us via email: softballau@gmail.com Great summer fun in the sun, lets go balling!

Host Families Needed

STS are looking for caring host families to welcome our students from Europe arriving in NZ in January

2020. If you want to experience another culture without leaving New Zealand contact STS today.

Call 0800 991 991 or email: highschool@sts-education.co.nz