PARENTS NEWSLETTER TERM 4 WEEK 5 17 November 2017

Maranatha Christian School 180 Hill Road, Belmont, Lower Hutt 5010

T 565 0749 F 565 0747 E office@maranatha.school.nz W maranatha.school.nz

Dear Parents & Caregivers, What an eventful two weeks we have had!

In week 4 we continued with the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme, which is all about ensuring that our children know what to do about situations which make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable. Constable Blue was in to share some of the teaching. It is so good to have a member of the police force in, talking to the students, as it reinforces the concept that the police are our friends and are available to help.

This week we had Fire Fighter Paul in, teaching us to be fire-wise. The students enjoyed meeting a real fire fighter and listening to what he had to share and practising what they needed to do in the event of a fire. On Thursday, we had the novelty of the smoke room set up by Mr Farrand. He had a smoke simulator in the hall and the older students practised crawling down low to get out of a smoke-filled room. The Fire Department came in with their fire truck and the students were allowed to climb up on the truck and have a look around. They also had a go with the fire hose which was very exciting!

On Wednesday, Mr Viljoen and Mrs Swartz and some of our parents took a team of Year 4-6 athletes to Naenae Park for the Central Zone Athletics meeting. The weather was beautiful and our athletes performed well. We await the final results and then we’ll know who qualified for the Inter-Zone team.

Missions and Ministries has been a great success again as students engage in activities designed to draw on their strengths in order to serve others. Next Friday will be the last of these very popular sessions. Thank you so much to all the parents who have been involved. We so appreciate what you do!

This will probably be the last time I’ll write the Newsletter, so I’ll take this opportunity to thank you all for the happy two years I have spent as part of the Maranatha Whanau. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and will leave with many wonderful memories. I wish all the Maranatha families the very best for Christmas, the New Year and the future. May we all grow in our love and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In His Service

Nicky Heyns

“And the angel said to her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favour

with God. And behold, you

will conceive in your womb

and bear a son, and you

shall call his name Jesus.”

Luke 1:30-31

Mark your Calendar

Tuesday, 21 November Assembly, 2.00 pm. Ruru & Kereru presenting

Thursday, 23 November Scholastic Book Club orders due

Thursday, 30 November Year 6 Leavers Afternoon Tea, 2.30—3.30 pm

Friday, 1 December MCS Athletics Fun Day (Kelly Sports)

11.00 am—2.45 pm All parents welcome!

Thursday, 7 December Year 8 Graduation Dessert Evening, 6.30 - 9.00 pm

Tuesday, 12 December Prizegiving at Hope Centre, 7.00—8.30 pm

Wednesday, 13 December Special Certificate Assembly, 2.00—2.45 pm

Thursday, 14 December MCS Fun Day

Friday, 15 December Last Day of Term 4

School closes at 1.00 pm

LIFE Awards

Congratulations to last week’s LIFE Award winners:

Tapiwa D - Excellence

Amaia P - Love

Selena L - Excellence

James M - Faith

Nathan V - Love

Katy d - Faith

Tadiwa K - Integrity

Alicia M - Excellence

James B - Excellence

Excel E - Integrity

Olivia R - Excellence

Erwin B - Love

Brooke F - Excellence

Natalie M - Excellence

Nut Free at Maranatha

Maranatha is a Nut Free environment due to a number of students

with severe/life threatening allergies.

We ask that any food items containing nuts remain at home

please. Thank you for keeping our kids safe!

Love: We love as God

loves us.

Integrity:

We live by the example set by Christ

Faith: We believe & trust

God for all things.

Excellence: We aim high,

doing our best for God and His Kingdom.

FIREWISE WEEK What a fantastic way to end our Firewise Week! Thank you to the Hutt City and Avalon Fire Stations for

sending out their Fire Truck and Fire Men to teach and show the children how to stay safe in a fire!

Scholastic bookclub The last brochure for 2017 was sent home earlier this week. Please place your orders before 23 November, however if you forget, ordering will remain open online until 1 December. If you are buying for gifts either or-der online under Office or order under the child’s class but let me know via an email to me (susannag@maranatha.school.nz) and I will contact you regarding collecting the order. Thank you to all those who have pur-chased books through the year. We have been able to add 50 books to the library collection from the rewards.

Term 4 School Accounts:

Please note that Term 4 accounts were due 14 days from the start of the term, which was Monday, 30 October. Please make sure that all sports and activity fees have been paid too.

Please do notify the school office in writing if you think your child/ren might be leaving at the end of the term, even if you aren’t certain, otherwise you will be liable for a term’s

Attendance Dues in lieu of a term’s written notice.

Our school has been working with SchoolDocs to create a website for our policies and procedures. We are excited to announce that the site is now live and available to our school community. The school works on a subscription basis with SchoolDocs to maintain, update, and review our policies. SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive core set of policies which have been well researched and follow the Ministry of Education National Administration Guidelines. The policies and procedures are tailored to our school and its special character with the school suppling specific information such as our charter, and procedures for behaviour management, reporting to parents, etc. SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools, and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team. Our board of trustees has the opportunity to view changes/additions and comment on them before they are implemented. We will advise you when policies are up for review and how you can take part in the review. We invite you to visit the site at http://maranatha.schooldocs.co.nz/ (note that there's no "www"!). Our username is maranatha and password MCS .

Public Notices

Thinking of Selling? Talk to Tony! Tony Pitiroi has been gifting $250 from every house he sells to Maranatha over the past two years—we are truly blessed to have received these gifts. Please give Tony a call on 021 562 564 if you are considering selling.

Thank you Tony!