Term 3 Week 2 - 31 July 2024

Kia Ora Koutou

We welcomed back our students last week and had a wonderful first week of learning. We began the term with a whakatau for our new 5-year-old students starting school this term. A very special welcome to those families who are new to our school; we hope you enjoy your time at our kura (school).

We also kicked off the term with a Board meeting on the first day. It is wonderful to work with a group of volunteer parent representatives who are very supportive of our school and work hard behind the scenes to make sure that Rototuna Primary School is the best place for students and staff.

We are looking forward to the PTA Read-a-thon this term. I know the students will enjoy participating, and it will be a fantastic opportunity to foster a love of reading. Keep an eye out for more details coming soon, and let's encourage our children to dive into their favourite books!

The students have begun practicing for the upcoming Fun Run. It's going to be an exciting event, and we can't wait to see everyone in their house colours, ready to show their team spirit. Remember to ensure that your child wears comfortable running shoes and brings a water bottle to stay hydrated.

We have a few extracurricular activities starting this term - from a Gymsport competition, a Bricks4kids after school group, Lunchtime football lessons, a Year 5 and 6 football tournament, a lunchtime cheerleading group, and lunchtime Gymnastics lessons. Encourage your children to explore these opportunities and discover new passions.

We are also excited for the PTA Reading Challenge that begins this Friday 2 August. More details will be coming soon!

Lastly, a big thank you to all our teachers and staff for their dedication and hard work. Your efforts ensure that our school remains a vibrant and nurturing environment for our students.

Ngā mihi, Kylie

Hi all,

Thank you so much to everyone who had provided feedback about our proposed uniform policy for 2025. It was really important to our Board to listen to understand and get this right for all.

I wanted to share with you that post receiving your feedback, this has been reviewed and has allowed the board to make some additional changes within our policy, one of the common questions I was asked around was the shoes – so your valuable feedback and insights has allowed us to amend this. We have made a couple of other changes from your feedback and I have attached the policy for your reference.

A few people had asked me around the “why” for the uniform so I thought this would be a good opportunity to share around this given we have had new families join the school community this year. In 2023 the Board of Trustees recruited a new Principal with Mrs Kylie Morris to lead our school. As part of the recruitment journey we surveyed our students, staff and community members around what was really critical for the school and our new principal. This feedback was instrumental in our recruitment journey. An area that came up was “why don’t we have a uniform when most other schools do”. As a board – we reflected on this feedback and then gauged further community feedback via surveys last year to which we had an overwhelming response that people wanted our school to be a uniformed school. This outcome was confirmed in 2023 with the view we would phase the uniforms in from 2025 for all students excluding year 6 and then from 2026 for all students.

We have worked with the The Brand Makers which are a local Waikato based Uniform supplier and have managed to design a selection of garments that the students will enjoy wearing and look fantastic. In order to keep costs as low as possible for our families, the school will not receive any form of rebate, commission from your purchase – which means everyone is getting the items at the lowest possible price.

The Brand Makers do have some payment options to support our families and in some situations will be able to assist with a WINZ request if applicable. Later in the year the items will be available for purchase direct from the Brand Group. There is no requirement to buy every option – e.g if you do not wish to buy a jacket or wish to wait until the cooler weather that is fine. Its critical the students are dressed in the uniform and do have a school hat for the summer months.

There maybe some questions and we are keen to make sure support everyone so please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions as the year progresses so we can make sure you are all set well and ready for 2025 to start.

We have had fantastic feedback so far from our students about the great new Sports Uniforms that have been launched this year and the pride the students feel in wearing these – if you have not seen on our facebook website, please check out some of the pictures of the students in action.

Thanks for your ongoing support to Rototuna Primary School, it’s a real privilege to be part of the School and such a fantastic community.

It at any stage you have any questions for me or there is anything I can assist with – please feel free to reach out to me or any of our board members. My email address is matt.bot@rototunaprimary.school.nz

Kind Regards

Matthew Hansen

Board of Trustees Presiding Member

Rototuna Primary School

The Olympics have begun, and the best athletes from around the world are showcasing their incredible skills and dedication to their sport. This international event brings together competitors from many countries around the world.

Do you know what the 5 Olympic rings represent? The five rings represent the inhabited continents of the world — Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas (North and South) and Oceania. From left to right, the colours on the official symbol are blue, yellow, black, green and red.

As we cheer for our favourite teams and athletes, and learn about the history of the Olympics and some of the incredible athlete stories of grit and determination, let’s also celebrate the spirit of sportsmanship and unity that the Olympics represent. It's a great reminder of how people from different backgrounds can come together to celebrate excellence, effort and teamwork.

Each team has organised learning activities focused on the Olympics for the next two weeks.These include:
He Puna Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa: Activities around flags, medal tally, bean bag throw activity inside,

Ngutuawa: Medal tally charts for the countries our class represents, I spy, design a medal, make a 3D torch, watch videos of Paris, France, outdoor activities based on athletics events

He Puna Tūkaha: Each class is researching a country, their flag, their anthem and some fun facts and then will compete as them in some fun tabloid sports. We are also planning on holding an opening and closing ceremony and having medals.

He Puna Pūmanawa: Writing motivation (Olympics, France, Paris) watching events, making flags, making medals, tally chart for medals, Olympic poetry

He Puna Ngāwari: Watching different sports, talked about countries, medals, flags, tally charts

He Puna Pūmau: Watching the Olympics on TV, literacy activities relating to Olympics. Countries and athletes unpacked.

He Puna Māia: We have the Kiwi Kids research project. Classes are doing a medal tally and each student selects their own country. Timetable of events.

In the spirit of the Olympics we are having a whole school dress up day on Friday, 9th of August. Students can come dressed up in a sports uniform, the colour of their favourite country, their favourite athlete, or they can wear any medals they may have won, or flags they have!

Go team! 🌍🏅

Term 3 Week 2 - 31 July 2024

In This Issue

A Message from Kylie

School Building Names

Middle School Playground Extension

A few words from Matt Hansen, Board of Trustees Chairperson

Rongohia Te Hau

Attendance Data for Term 2, 2024

Attendance Matters

Enrolment at Rototuna Primary School

Puna of Manaaki

Manaaki Stars

Term 3 Events

Rototuna Primary School Year 3 - 6 Fun Run /Cross Country

RPS Player of the Day

Olympics

Enviroschools

Term 3 Policy Review

PTA News

A Message from Kylie

School Building Names

Middle School Playground Extension

A few words from Matt Hansen, Board of Trustees Chairperson

Rongohia Te Hau

Attendance Data for Term 2, 2024

Attendance Matters

Enrolment at Rototuna Primary School

Puna of Manaaki

Manaaki Stars

Term 3 Events

Rototuna Primary School Year 3 - 6 Fun Run /Cross Country

RPS Player of the Day

Olympics

Enviroschools

Term 3 Policy Review

PTA News

Important Dates

PTA Reading Challenge

ICAS Digital Tech Competition

9:00am - 10:30am

ICAS Writing

9:00am - 10:30am

Y4-6 Fun Run

9:30am - 12:00pm

ICAS English

9:00am - 10:30am

Postponement day for Y4-6 Fun Run

9:30am - 12:00pm

ICAS Science

9:00am - 10:30am

ICAS Spelling

9:00am - 10:30am

GymSport Tournament

9:00am - 12:30pm

Board Meeting

1:00pm - 3:00pm

Y4-6 Interschool Cross Country

9:00am - 12:30pm

ICAS Mathematics

9:00am - 10:30am

Postponement Date Y4-6 Interschool Cross Country

9:00am - 10:30am

School Photos

All Day

Wig Wednesday

9:00am - 3:00pm

Hui NohoTahi (Parent Teacher Interviews)

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

Te Āo Māori Whole School Celebration

11:00am - 12:30pm

PTA Disco

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Chinese Language Week

Board Meeting

1:00pm - 3:00pm

Community Notices

Phone

Email

Street Address

Social