March 2024

Dear Parents/Caregivers and Whānau of Elm Park School

Greetings, Kia ora, Fakaalofa Lahi atu, Bula vinaka, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Taloha, Kia orana, Ni hao

The last week has been a busy one for our school. We've seen a lot of exciting learning activities and experiences taking place across the school including sport and trips. We are always proud to see our students demonstrating the school values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience when participating in learning outside the classroom.

Book your child's parent interview for Thursday, 11 April.  You have received a newsletter about this.  This is the first check-in for the year regarding your child's learning journey.  We have again provided the two options of face-to-face or online interviews.  We aim to get a 100% turnout for every class.  

An update on our admin building.  You may have heard in the media that schools have had pre-approved building works halted by the government.  We became a casualty of this and were told by the MoE to stop all works as the funding was being reviewed.  This has caused the school considerable strain and uncertainty.  However, after much back-and-forth communication with the MoE we should see work starting very soon.  Thank you for being understanding as it is not ideal to have the admin building located where it is.  

Road Safety
Unfortunately it has come to our attention that a number of children and parents  are crossing Gossamer Drive without using the crossing. Often this is because parents are calling for them to cross the road rather than come up to the crossing. This is particularly happening at the end of the side road by the Elm Park Reserve. To keep all our children safe we ask that all children and parents use the school crossing when crossing Gossamer Drive. Please do not call your child across the road to meet you. I appreciate your support with this. 

I look forward to seeing you all around the school around parent interview time, and hope you all have a restful and pleasant Easter break which is coming up.  School is shut for Easter, no school from Friday 29 March to Tuesday 2 April. School re-opens on Wednesday 3 April.  

Nga mihi nui 

Sarah Baleicakau

Principal 

In a harmonious twist, the talented students of Room 9 have been skillfully strumming away on the ukulele. Musical notes fill the air creating a delightful symphony within our classroom. An impressive journey into the world of music is underway!

Sport- Term 1 2024

Cricket :

Elm Park’s cricket team had their first day at Lloyd Elsmore for the HPPA Cricket tournament. They played their hearts out. We won two games and lost two games. Great job ākonga! We look forward to our second game on Thursday 14th March!

Batfirst : 

The Year 3/4 students were very fortunate to participate in the BatFirst initiative!

Each student got their own cricket bat and ball to decorate. The coaches showed us how to hold a bat and to balance and bounce a ball on the bat. Thank you Auckland Cricket Association. We had a fabulous time!

Softball : 

What a blast we had at the HPPA Softball field day!

The sun was shining and the energy was through the roof! From the crack of the bat to the cheers from the sidelines, it was a day to remember. Whether we were sliding into home base or making an epic catch in the outfield, every moment was filled with excitement and laughter. We truly showcased what it means to work as a team. Ka Pai Elm Park School!

Tennis :

The Year 1-4’s spent some time in the sunshine learning about how to play tennis! We had so much fun with our classmates, learning how to throw the tennis ball, hold a racket and hit the ball. A lot of smiles, fun and laughter while trying our best

So far this term our ESOL students  have been celebrating their identities i.e. who they are, where they come from and what makes them special. We made an amazing display connecting our posters about ourselves to the countries which our families are from. We also had a fun craft activity making paper lanterns to celebrate the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival.  

We have an increasing number of lost clothes, a lot which is NOT named. Most of the lost clothing is Jackets. If your child has lost a jacket it is likely to be in one of the two Lost Property boxes. One box is by Room 9 and one is by Room 15. Please have a look or ask your child to. It also pays to look inside and outside the classroom, hats and jackets are often left there. Please remember to name all parts of the uniform and if you are using hand me downs they need to be renamed.

Transmission

Measles virus is highly contagious. It is spread through the air by infected droplets or by direct contact with secretions from the nose or throat of infected persons, for example by touching contaminated items or surfaces. It can survive for up to 2 hours in the air. A person with measles is most contagious from when symptoms start until three to four days after the rash appears.
Anyone who has not received at least one dose of a measles-containing vaccine or who has not already had the disease is at risk of catching measles.

Symptoms

It usually takes 10-12 days from exposure to the first symptom. The illness begins with fever, cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis (inflammation in the eyes), which lasts for 2-4 days. It may be possible to see small white spots (Koplik spots) inside the mouth. A rash appears 2-4 days after the first symptoms, beginning at the hairline and gradually spreading down the body to the arms and legs. The rash lasts for up to one week.

Please see the link for more information.

We recently received $688.93 from New World Howick through their Howick Heroes programme.

Thank you so much New World Howick for choosing us and for supporting Elm Park School.

Thank you to our local community for voting for us.

 

Its all go at the PTA! We are set and ready to 'rock and roll' with the hugely popular Junior and Senior School Discos - Thursday 21st March. Come dressed in your brightest "Colours of the Rainbow". Thankyou to all of the parents and whanau who have kindly offered to volunteer for the event. If you haven't returned your form, please do so as soon as possible. We are just about to launch our Juicie Fundraiser, selling boxes of juices to fundraise for the very important middle school playground replacement. Please sell as many boxes as you can to, family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues, or at activity groups.... there is no limit!! The Juicies are sold as pre-orders in boxes of 10x, delivered just in time for the Term 1 school holidays. We would also like to welcome Terri Wells who has joined the PTA as Treasurer. 

Parent/Teacher interviews will be held on the 11th April 2024 - school will close at 12.30pm.

Bizzy Bodz will run a half day programme from the school hall from 12.30pm-3.00pm and before and after care will run as normal.

 

Bookings can be made via families Aimyplus profiles. To make a booking for the early finish, parents will need to log into their profiles, select Elm Park as their school, select “special day” and then proceed to book for the 12.30pm-3.00pm session. If families have a regular after school care bookings that fall on this date, care after 3pm will tick over to normal hours.

 

Care from 12.30pm-3.00pm will be $20 and care after 3pm will be aftercare prices.

 

Bookings are now live for families if they wish to secure their spot.

Each term, the school community (Board, Staff, Parents/Whānau) is invited to review and comment on specific policies and procedures. This term the following are to be reviewed:

The Elm Park School Policy and Guidelines documents inform and guide our school practices. The documents can be viewed here through the SchoolDocs website.

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