Kia Ora Koutou,
It's newsletter time once again! Dive in and discover the latest highlights and achievements from our incredible kura (school).

We have received part of our sports uniform order - the sports tee and shorts. We are awaiting our netball dresses and basketball singlets. We are currently in the process of organising a system for our new uniforms and once this has been sorted, we will issue the sports tee and shorts for our hockey teams.

Last week we celebrated our incredible support staff. We showed our appreciation for their mahi and valued contributions to our school. Our support staff are a special part of the RPS team and we value the way they work alongside us to make this the best kura.  We are all working together to build a culture of Manaaki, Haumaru and Kia Manawanui (Kind, Safe and Strong of Heart). 

Ngā mihi nui to the Board of Trustees for the generous staff morning tea on Tuesday. It is wonderful to work with a Board of Trustees who show their gratitude for the dedication and mahi staff do to make Rototuna Primary a great place. It is very much appreciated by the staff!

Below are the dates that school will be closed for instruction this term: 

Change of Clothes
With the winter weather upon us, can you please ensure that your child has a change of clothes in their bag just in case they get wet and muddy when playing outside! 

Attendance
The Government has made attendance at school a priority goal for NZ schools. The MInistry of Education analyse school attendance each term and send each kura (school) a report. Below is the Term 1, 2024 attendance report for our kura (school):

Our statistics show that only 67% of students attended school regularly in Term 1, which is  below the Government's 2030 target of 80% of students attending school regularly (less than 5 days absent a term). A third of our students were also late to school in Term 1. We know lateness can be very disruptive to learning and a student's progress over time.  Regular attendance at school helps build and maintain a child's learning and positive daily habits and routines, as well as promoting their wellbeing by connecting them to their peers and learning new things. We want our ākonga (students) to thrive and be resilient and active members within their whānau and community. Attendance matters and we can all work together to increase school attendance.

Ngā mihi
Kylie 

 At Rototuna Primary we promote healthy food options and water only in drink bottles. We are noticing that lunchboxes have an increasing amount of biscuits, cakes, juices and packaged food. Below are some ideas for healthier lunchboxes based on a mixture of main, mini and munch items. 

Below are our manaaki stars for the last two weeks.

Week 2: Thank you to the following students for showing manaaki and spreading their kindness! 

Unaysa R22, Felix R16, Suneke R12, Falcon R2, Jeremy R30, Kora  R32, Anav R23, Ruiyuan R6, Elena R17, Isra R8, Aieza R5, Dylan R13, Atharv R35, Tamara R36, Phoebe R34, Jayden R9, Nate R18, Sakona R24, Rynhardt Rm38, Kyelan R14, Alexis R39, Sativa -Jade R30, Tazmann R15, Micah R21, Matija R11, Elena R17, Mollie Rm 19, Carson R10, Helena R40/41, Varan R40/41, Matija R11

Week 3: Thank you to the following students for 'playing their A-game' and being noticed and celebrated for their manaaki (kindness) this week: Sophie R13, Amara  R6, Cullen R22, Aarav R34, Ryan R23, Kaimarnie-Rose, Yaya R10, Mehtab R12, Xander R11, Kate R35, Felix R21, Nadar R17, Lena R36, Thea R14, Harriet R18, Asher R7, Sifat R32, Samreen R8, Helen R16, Henry R15, Akuhata R5, Ananjay R20, Thehan Rm 19, William R9, Thanusanth R40/41, Iris R40/41, Teghroop R38, Willow R30, Mahlia R24

Thank you very much to everyone that contributed a response to our recent Sports Survey. We had a significant number of stakeholders engage in the survey and we value your input. Sport Waikato completed an analysis of the responses and identified that the key issue around student's participating in sports and parents volunteering for sports coaching roles at Rototuna Primary School is a lack of time. 

Our next step is to work with Sport Waikato to create a Sport Strategic Plan for our kura (school). Your responses will help us as a kura (school) to formulate this plan with the aim of growing student’s participation and enjoyment of sports. This will include looking for different ways to encourage students to be actively involved in an increasing range of sporting opportunities.

We will share the Sport Strategic Plan with you once it is completed.

Students are enjoying the Puna of Manaaki lessons each morning in classrooms  from 9.05-9.15am. Here is our manaaki focus for this week and next week:

We had a lovely time last week attending the Hamilton City Council's opening of the footpath art between St James and Coleraine last week. Members of our Te Rōpu Whai Mana and Kapa Haka group attended the opening and sang a karakia and waiata and had fun on the interactive footpath art!

I hope you are keeping well and surviving with the cooler weather!! I know at this time of year there can be additional sickness going around and I really appreciate your support with keeping students home if they are not well.

It has been a busy time recently for the Board of Trustees and we are very excited with the way the new school uniform is coming along. As previously communicated the school uniform for 2025 will be compulsory for all students, except Year 6 students.  

From 2026, the school uniform will be compulsory for all year groups. We have partnered with the The Brand Makers (based in Hamilton) to provide our school uniform. To keep costs as low as possible for all, the school will not add any charges or receive anything from uniform sales. The Brand Makers have done a fantastic job of putting together a range of items people will be able to choose from and things will be priced in an affordable way. As soon as the school uniform design has been finalised and we have the confirmation of the costs for each item, I will make sure this is shared with you. 

Thanks once again for your ongoing support to the school. I am personally delighted with how the school is progressing each day and feel very grateful to all of our staff, students and community members for making Rototuna Primary School such a fantastic place for all.

If at anytime you wish to speak directly to me please feel free to contact me directly on
matt.bot@rototunaprimary.school.nz

Kind regards, 

Matthew Hansen

Presiding Member 

Congratulations
Gurudab - Hockey Blue
Maneet, Mason  - Hockey Green
Dawn, Ahimsa, Indigo - Hockey Orange
Jasman, Elyse - Hockey Purple
Iris, Blake - Hockey Silver
Riddhi, Ruby  - Netball Diamonds
Erin - Netball Magic
Emily, Anajay - Netball Pulse
Ahisma - Netball Tactix

We have an exciting house competition programme coming up this term which includes:

We are all super excited for these House events!