Kia ora Elm Park Whānau, 

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

Term 2 is turning out to be a busy and productive term.  Our weekly swimming is proving to be successful as it always is, and I’m pleased with the vast majority of students participating.  We have had great feedback from the swimming instructors with regards to how respectful and responsive our students are during their lessons.  

Students are undergoing mid-year assessment at present which will be shared with you at the 3-way conferences later in the term.  

Thank you to all who attended our recent Grandparent | Special Person morning.  It was very well attended and our morning tea with freshly baked scones were a hit!  The students really enjoyed hosting you all.  

A very warm welcome to Ellyce Best, who is starting our new Y0 class this term.  We have been extremely fortunate to secure Ellyce.  Miss Best is a very experienced teache, particularly in the Junior school.  Miss Best has come from Papatoetoe Central.  She has 16 years experience behind her so we are delighted to have Miss Best on board at Elm Park School.  

Staff have an MoE-approved day for curriculum development.  This is on Friday 30 May.  The school is closed for instruction.  Bizzy Bodz is operating.  

These will take place on Wednesday, 11 June and Thursday, 12 June.   On Thursday,  the school will shut for instruction at 12.30 pm so we can conduct all the interviews.  

The following information for booking: 

The event code is: 6qcs8.

Please book at:  https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code 

We will be ending the book week with our annual book character dress-up day and parade.  This is on Friday, 13 June.  Please feel free to attend our parade.  

Book Fair opening hours will be confirmed soon.  

Education is a partnership of what happens in the classroom and what happens at home. Parents, caregivers, and whānau play an important role in supporting their child’s learning and development. The new Ministry of Education webspace is designed to make it easier for parents, caregivers, and whānau to access clear and up-to-date information on the school curriculum, assessment practices, and ways they can complement their child’s learning.

Information for parents | Caregivers | whānau 

The school cross-country event will be held on Wednesday, 23 July. Your child will take part in training for the school cross country during  Term 2.  It is important for them to wear their sports uniform and shoes suitable for cross-country. They are not permitted to complete the course in bare-feet. The course is marshalled by our staff, with first aid kits, and the message to all students is to do 'their best' when training. In the event a student forgets their gear, they will be expected to walk the course.

If your child uses an asthma inhaler, we recommend they bring it to school for training and the event itself.

Please contact your child's classroom teacher if you have any further questions regarding training.

Further information will be sent out closer to the time regarding details around race day.  

The Ministry of Education defines regular attendance as present for more than 90% of the term. 

In Term 1, 76% of our students attended school regularly. While the attendance of some students was impacted by medical conditions, a significant number of these absences were due to holidays, including overseas travel.

As we begin this term, let's all aim to increase our regular attendance, which we know makes a significant difference to academic progress and achievement.

Below is a summary of attendance for EPS for Term 1. 

Nga mihi nui 

Sarah Baleicakau

Principal 

I checked with our library programme, and it is a very close tie between Definitely do not open this book by Andy Lee and Heath McKenzie, and Dogman by Dav Pilkey. Each of these titles has already gone out more than 30 times this year! It does not surprise me, as I have students asking me where the Dog Man and Do not open these books series are at least once a day. 

                  

Jason Mason & The World's Most Powerful Itching Powder by Jason Gunn & Andrew Gunn. This has been included in our East Auckland Primary School New Zealand Author Literature Quiz for the last two years. The students taking part both years have told me it is their favourite of the 10 books they have read. Written by Jason Gunn who I used to watch on TV a long time ago, this is a hilarious adventure ‘must read’ book for kids. 

I worked in public libraries for a long time in all kinds of roles. Then I was working with teenagers in a high school library, which I really enjoyed too. But honestly, working at Elm Park School has been the most rewarding job I have ever had. Every day is fun and different, and I just love seeing the joy and passion for reading that our students are developing. And I feel a bit like a rock star when I walk around the school and constantly hear ‘Hi Mrs Mucalo’. 

We have two mascots in the library already. Hairy Maclary and Slinky Malinki often pop in to visit our classes and listen to their stories being read. They particularly enjoy visiting nice quiet classes. I love that even our big Year Six kids are happy to see them when they pop in for a visit. 

Our wonderful students for sure. I love how excited they are when they visit the library either with their classes or at lunchtime. I am super lucky, because I get to work with every class in the school. And when I pull out a new book to read to them and they gasp with happiness because it is a new ‘Do not open this book’? The best feeling in the world!

Getting to build a fantastic collection of books and resources for the students to enjoy and to support the teachers in their classrooms is also incredibly rewarding.

Read to them. Start reading to them as soon as you can, and keep on doing it. Even when you have bigger kids that can read by themselves, still read to them, or read as a family. 

Sometimes it is all about finding the right book for your reader. Our graphic novels (comic books) and quick reads are fantastic for reluctant readers, as the pictures often give great visual cues to what is happening in the story. And you are never too old for a picture book! 

 

Kelly Mucalo
Elm  Park School Librarian

Welcome back to our fun ESOL programmes! This term, we have had a few important events for our community, such as Grandparents/Special person Day and Mothers day.  To celebrate these events and to make the best of the opportunity for our learning, our ESOL classes took time to make invitations for Grandparents /Special persons and also to write a thank you letter to our mothers. We talked about the best adjectives to describe our special person and our mothers, and what they do for us and how we feel about them. 

Later this term, we will explore the Solar System and our planet Earth.

For the safety and wellbeing of all students, we kindly ask that children do not ride bikes or scooters within the school grounds.  The school is very crowded during drop off and pick up, and this increases the risk of accidents or injuries.   It can be difficult for children to maintain proper control of their bike or scooter when there are a lot of parents and children around.  We appreciate your help in ensuring a safe environment for everyone at school.

Not only is it an important skill in later life to present well and appropriately for the circumstances, but we also believe that smart presentation helps the students to feel positive about themselves. 

We will be speaking to students about personal presentation at our assemblies.

For safety reasons no jewellery is to be worn. Students are reminded that hair over the collar or longer needs to be tied back, with a small hair tie that matches the uniform, and only one plain gold or silver stud worn in each ear lobe.

It is important that Year 4, 5 and 6 children have their PE gear every day.

ALL clothing needs to be named. Students are reminded that the school hat must be worn when they are outside, during terms one and four.

We want to maintain the high standards we have set and appreciate your support in ensuring your child is appropriately dressed when they set out for school in the morning.

We kindly ask you that you keep your contact information and your child's medical details up to date with the office.  This ensures that we can reach you in case of an emergency.  Please notify us via our email office@elmpark.school.nz of any changes as soon as possible to help us maintain accurate records.  

We understand that sometimes circumstances arise, but we kindly ask that you avoid picking up your child early from school unless absolutely necessary.  When children leave early it can disrupt their learning and may cause your child to miss out on important lessons or activities.  However, if you do need to collect your child for an appointment during the school day please contact the office 09 577 0070 or email office@elmpark.school.nz to arrange. If possible please arrange to collect your child before or after the morning tea and lunch breaks, as it is difficult to find children during these times. Morning tea is at 10.30am until 11.00am, lunch from 1pm until 1.50pm.

For the safety of our children and the entire school community, we kindly ask that you park your vehicle safely and drive with caution when dropping off or picking up your child. We know that parking is sometimes limited but please don’t park on the yellow lines. A reminder that the boom gate on the driveway is locked in the mornings at 8:30 am / opened again at 9:15 am and in the afternoons locked at 2:30 pm and opened at 3:15 pm.

 

Please use the pedestrian crossings at all times and remain on the footpaths. This is especially important in the afternoon in front of the school as there is a high volume of traffic at this time. We know it can be tempting to cross the road at the wrong place, but it is all about the example we are setting for our children.

 

When driving near the school, slow down, stay alert, and be mindful of students walking or biking close to the school especially around the pedestrian crossing immediately outside our school gate and the traffic lights on Gossamer Drive. Your ongoing support will help ensure that our school remains a safe environment for everyone. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our children safe!

At Elm Park School we use the Dollar for Schools lunch ordering system. You can order your child's lunch via their website.   Lunches are delivered to school and distributed by our lunch monitors.
School lunches are available to order Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays - orders need to be received before 9am.

You will need to create an account, confirm your email address and order lunches from the Dollar for Schools website: www.dollarforschools.co.nz.

HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING

Influenza Immunisation Programme starts today

Health New Zealand recommends getting immunised against the flu for everyone aged 6 months and over. The vaccine is free for those who have a health condition that may mean they are at risk of getting very sick from a flu infection. This includes pregnant people and those aged over 65 years.

Check eligibility criteria at:

Pharmac eligibility criteria for 2025 funded influenza vaccination [PDF, 304 KB]

The flu vaccine is available from 1 April from your local pharmacy, doctor, nurse or healthcare provider. Read more and book at:

Book a vaccine – Health NZ
Influenza Immunisation Programme – Immunisation Advisory Centre

Pertussis (whooping cough) update

Te Whatu Ora | Heath New Zealand has reported an increasing number of confirmed pertussis (whooping cough) cases. It is highly contagious and particularly serious for pēpi, tamariki and older adults – it can be fatal in some cases. Vaccination provides the best protection against pertussis and is free for children under 18.

Health advice is available here:

Pertussis (whooping cough) public health key messages [PDF, 137 KB]
Pertussis (whooping cough) public health key messages for pregnant people [PDF, 135 KB]

Staff are encouraged to stay up to date with immunisations – in particular pertussis and measles. Health New Zealand are recommending the free Boostrix vaccination for pregnant people.

To book a vaccination visit:

Book a vaccine – Te Whatu Ora

Measles – what you need to know
 
Not enough New Zealanders are immunised against measles, which means there is a very high risk of an outbreak.  The best protection against measles is two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine – free for all young people aged 18 and under in New Zealand and all adults over the age of 18 who are eligible for free New Zealand healthcare.  The first symptoms of measles are fever, cough, runny nose and sore red eyes, followed by a red or dark pink rash typically starting on the face or behind the ears three days after the first symptoms before moving down the body. If you observe these symptoms, encourage parents and/or caregivers to contact their healthcare provider or Healthline on 0800 611 116 immediately.  If in doubt that your child is immunised or not - please contact your GP or health provider.  

Please find the link to - A guide to the tools that are available to keep your whānau safe when viewing entertainment online in Aotearoa New Zealand.

https://www.classificationoffice.govt.nz/resources/items/parental-controls/

At Elm Park School, we strongly encourage students to have litter free lunch boxes to reduce litter and waste at school. Please encourage your child to return any wrappings and packaging that they may have, to their lunch box, to be disposed of at home. 

Some ideas for litter free lunches include:

Please do not use cling wrap or pack in muesli bars in wrappers, chip packets, juice boxes or yoghurt squeeze packs. 

If your child purchases their lunch from the our lunch supplier, please ensure that the wrappers are packed into their lunch box and disposed of at home. 

We appreciate your support of this initiative.

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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