Tēna koutou e te whānau,

Hasn't the last week been interesting in the education space? Starting with the release of some (on face value) pretty concerning and definitely surprising data which has been used to support the speeding up of the roll out of a 'new Maths curriculum'. Whilst in principle I support the strengthening of Maths education in Aotearoa I am concerned at the speed at which this is being done, some of what the government is promising simply cannot be done well within 15 school weeks whilst we are still providing high quality education on a daily basis.

We have seen significant benefits of our implementation of structured literacy however there is not currently in existence the comparable programme in Maths. The Structured Literacy Programme we have implemented has come from many years in research, development and refinement, this is not possible for the Maths curriculum if the government wants this implemented in 2025.

I would however like to reassure you all that we will watch what is released by the Ministry of Education and we will adopt in a way and at a pace that we believe will ensure our teachers do not burnout (something all too common for teachers these days) and that it is in the best interests of our tamariki at Arataki School, that it is an improvement to Maths teaching at our kura.

Congratulations to all of our tamariki who have been participating in the Netball winter sports

Health and Safety

I really enjoy watching families and children use our school facilities after school hours. However, over the past few weeks, we have had a number of concerning injuries as equipment is not being used correctly. This is a friendly reminder of our rules that we implement with children throughout the school day:

Scooters are only allowed to be ridden on our scooter track. Children are required to walk their scooter to the scooter track, and to walk their scooter to & from class when they arrive and exit the school grounds.
Playground equipment - children are not allowed to climb onto the roof/top of the playground equipment or over the sides of the playground.

If you are using our school grounds out of school hours we would appreciate your support in enforcing our school rules with your children outside of school hours to ensure that they are safe.

Friends of School

Our BINGO night at Omanu Golf Club is fast approaching - Saturday 21st September. Tickets for BINGO night are for sale on Friday mornings before school. If you are unable to make it into school to purchase tickets, you can also contact and organise through the office. We have had some great donations for prizes and items for silent auction. All of the funds raised are going towards purchasing a brand new school van. The cost is $58,000.00. We have raised $32,000.00 so far.

As always if you have any questions please feel free to reach out, to your child's teacher in the first instance, then our Deputy Principal’s or myself.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Ngā mihi nui

Vicki Hiini

Tumuaki

Friday 100% attendance Treats

Article added: Friday 16 August 2024

Understanding Attendance

There is a nationwide focus on increasing attendance in our schools. The aim is for our students to have regular attendance, over 90%.

The Ministry of Education includes justified absences in the absent percentage. Meaning the Ministry data treats absences, such as tangi and illness, the same as absences for holidays, birthdays and general days off.

We believe it is important for everyone involved to understand what is being reported. It is a team effort if we are to increase the attendance of our ākonga. The correlation between attendance and academic achievement has been well documented which is why we are focussing so much on it.

Nationwide attendance brackets: