Talofa i o tatou aiga Sunnynook (Hello to our Sunnynook families)

At our recent assembly, certificates were awarded to our students for their outstanding

collaboration skills. Collaboration is all about working together as a team and achieving great

things. These young students have shown exceptional teamwork, communication, and

cooperation in various activities, helping their classmates and sharing ideas. Well done, young collaborators!

I also introduced the next focus for school, the school value of atawhai, which means kindness in Te Reo Māori.  Kindness makes the world a better place. It means being friendly, helpful, as well as caring and sharing towards others. When you show atawhai, you create a welcoming and inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and loved. It also helps build strong friendships and creates a sense of belonging. This was evident on Friday ‘Pink Shirt Day’ standing up against bullying. This goes hand in hand with our kindness value.  Our assembly monitors this week, Mon and Theo read out Spike Milligan’s poem ‘Smiling is Infectious'.

National MP, Simon Watt,  attended our assembly last week to present Celine with a certificate for playing the trumpet at the Devonport ANZAC Dawn Parade.  He thinks she may be the youngest person ever to play the ‘Last Post’ in New Zealand. Listen to her performance of the 'Last Post' .  The whole school were amazed.

Manuia le vaiaso (Have a good week)

Virginia

I had fun last week with this delightful group of students, they entertained me with their stories.
I had been visiting Room 18 and they asked me what I was having for lunch so I invited them in.
They loved it so much, that I will do this once a week across the school.

 UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday 25 May:            Sunnynook's Got Talent Auditions Y5-6
                                            Year 5/6 Parent Health Talk 5pm CANCELLED
Friday 26 May:                  Photolife class/siblings/portraits
Monday 29 May:               Samoan Language Week
Tuesday 30 May:               SPS Cross Country                                       
Wednesday 31 May:         R20 - last swim
                                             Possible Strike (TO BE CONFIRMED)
Thursday 1 June:               SPS Cross Country (Saver Day)
                                             R21 - start swimming
Monday 5 June:                  King's Birthday - school closed
Thursday 8 June:               Super-Cluster Ripper Rugby (Yr 3-6)

                                     
2023 TERM DATES
Term 2
Wednesday 25 April - Friday 30 June

Monday 23 October - Labour Day (Public Holiday)
Wednesday, 22 November - ACCORD Teacher Only Day

Caught Being Good:
Jordan R6:  for showing respect and kindness.         
Joy R7:   for being a supportive friend.
Adley R16:   for being a 'tidy Kiwi'
Aaron R16:   for being a 'tidy Kiwi'
Dakoda R10:  for random act of kindness.

Yummy Apples Stickers:
R5 - Chloe with 2 completed forms!

Banner:
In week 4, the school banner went to Room 3 for being a great buddy class and helping to create some poppies for Anzac Day with Room 18.
In Week 5, the school banner went to Room 12 for their pink shirt designs using positive words about themselves and making posters understanding the difference between tools and toys.   

Principal's Certificates:
Congratulations to the students receiving the Principal's Certificate at Assembly in Week 4 and 5 for 'collaboration'.

Interested students have put their names forward to participate in this event held on Friday 23 June. Weekly practices will be taken by Mrs Bassett-Smith and Mr Jerram. A team will be chosen in the next few weeks and information will be sent home to the successful players.

Last week we completed our lockdown exercise and all students, staff and persons on-site were safely accounted for. 

Everyone did extremely well and responded to instructions. It was very beneficial to have a robust drill with Harrison Tew staff which meant that children all knew exactly how to respond to the lockdown bell and also gave us a chance to reflect upon and refine our procedures further.

Thank-you for the feedback we received. We have now reflected upon and evaluated our procedures with Harrison Tew and our staff.

Our first priority is always to ensure the safety of students and on-site adults.

The following statement from our emergency service provider Harrison Tew explains why the school website is our best form of communication:

Please do not hesitate to get into contact with us should you have any questions. 

On Friday the 16th of May, the students and staff of Sunnynook School celebrated Pink Shirt Day by dressing in pink.

Pink Shirt Day is all about promoting kindness and raising awareness about bullying. 

We had a great day and had a lot of valuable conversations about the importance of being kind to our friends and the people around us. Please see photos of how we spent our day.

In Room 9 we have been learning about height.  We have been learning the words tall, short, taller, shorter, tallest and shortest.  We decided to make a family of gingerbread men of different heights.  We had to roll the dough, cut the dough and decorate the gingerbread men.  Afterwards, we could eat one of the gingerbread men.  Most of us chose to eat the tallest gingerbread men.  They tasted delicious!

On Friday, 12 May, Room 4 celebrated winning the travelwise class challenge that took place last term with a pizza lunch.

Room 15 has been learning about how to be firewise! We explored what we already knew about fire, and then talked about the different types of fire, and the different things that could start a fire.

We organised pictures into different groups and worked in teams to sort them.

We have also spoken about an escape plan in the case of a fire and what we do if we find matches or lighters in our house.

"We have been learning about fire. We spoke about matches, lighters and candles. We know that if we find one, we have to give them to an adult". - Sam (Room 15)

"I made a plan with my mum about what to do if there is a fire. I drew it in my firewire book so that I know how to get out of the house. We will meet at the mailbox". - Eshaal (Room 15)

Two of our students, Madi Hauraki and Mika Fox, recently competed in the Global Games for Cheerleading in Hawaii.  Madi's team, the 'Snowflakez' won their division in the competition and received a gold medal.   
A huge congratulations to all the participants!

We have been advised by the NZEI that strike action might take place on Wednesday, 31 May.  
We will keep you  informed via Hero, as soon as we have further information or confirmation that the strike will go ahead.   Please be advised, if action does go ahead,  we would encourage you to keep your child at home.  We will be open for supervision.  

We are excited to announce there will be a ballot for out-of-zone enrolments at Sunnynook Primary School. Applications for 3 out-of-zone places in Year 2 are now being invited. There are also 2 out-of-zone places available in Year 3, and 5 places in Year 4. 

The deadline for applications is 12th June 2023. The ballot will be held on Wednesday 14th June 2023.

If you know of any families who do not live in our home zone and might be interested in enrolling their child at our school, please let them know. Further details are available available on our website - https://www.sunnynook.school.nz

                          

We are excited to announce our school wide Cross Country Event for 2023. This will take place at school on Tuesday 30 May. If this needs to be postponed due to bad weather, our save day will be on Thursday 1 June.

The children have been practicing the course and are familiar with it. Certificates will be handed out to the three top runners in each year level. You are all welcome to come along and support us at this event. Parents who are watching the Year 0-2 races are welcome to take their child(ren) home after the prize-giving, but please notify your child’s class teacher first.

Postponement decision:  8.30am for Year 3-4  / 10.30am for Year 5-6  / 1.00pm for Year 0-2. If any of the races are postponed, parents will be notified via Hero.

Ngā mihi nui,

Shona Fritsch (Sports Coordinator)

Emma Morrison (TIC of Sport) 

Willoughby Findlay-Clarke:
Kia ora, my name is Willoughby. I’ve been at Sunnynook Primary for 5 years and now I’m part of the 2023 student leadership team. I am very happy to be a part of this leadership team as I had to work hard to get in like everybody else. I am involved in Kapa Haka, peer mediator, bell ringer, road patrol and I love my jobs and this school and everything about it and everybody that's in it.

Mira Oliver:
Kia ora Sunnynook Primary, my name is Mira Oliver and I am a student leader. I have been here for five years, and would like to explain why I was chosen for this role. I am confident and hard working. I have always looked up to every student leader. I am a wet-day monitor and to do that I need to have courage to speak to everyone and to be firm but kind. I am responsible and cheerful. I love to work with everyone. I love Sunnynook because it lets me express myself in different ways every day. Since year one I have dreamed of being a student leader.

We are currently reviewing our EOTC policies.

Sunnynook School uses School Docs to manage all of our policy and procedures. You can access the policies and comment when policies are reviewed by logging in and following the review steps. This term the main policy up for review is Education Outside the Classroom.

If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.

Sunnynook Primary School uses Linewize to ensure online safety for students and staff while using their school login.

The online safety hub includes access to the Qustodio parental control and wellbeing app for parents to use at home, so children remain safe online. Many games and apps are discussed, and tips about online safety are provided. For example, Roblox, Snapchat and Tik Tok.

The digital wellbeing app from Qustodio provides the below benefits and more:

To access the online safety hub and Qustodio visit  https://sunnynook.onlinesafetyhub.nz/

With people travelling overseas again, there’s a risk that someone with measles could unknowingly bring the disease back to Aotearoa. 

 

Measles spreads easily and quickly, usually between people who are unimmunised or only partially immunised. It can be serious and life threatening. In the 2019 measles outbreak in Aotearoa more than 30% of the people infected had to be admitted to hospital.  

 

The best protection against measles is the free MMR vaccine. It will protect you and your whānau, and prevent the virus from spreading. 

 

You will be protected against measles if you: 

 

• had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine

• had measles before

• were born before 1 Jan 1969.

 

If you’re unsure if you or your tamariki have had any or both doses of the MMR vaccine, check by calling your GP or hauora provider. Alternatively, check your Plunket Well Child Tamariki Ora book. If you’re still not sure, be safe and get immunised – there are no safety concerns with having an extra dose. MMR vaccines are free at your local health provider and many pharmacies. 

 

As measles still occurs in many countries, if you’re travelling overseas these holidays it’s especially important to be immunised to prevent the risk of being unknowingly infected and causing an outbreak in Aotearoa on your return. 

 

More information about the measles vaccination can be found here:

 Measles vaccination – Ministry of Health

Please send your child's up-to-date Vaccination Certificate to: reception@sunnynookschool.nz

We are currently seeking the support of an adult volunteer to help supervise the road crossing on Tonkin Drive weekly on  Thursday mornings from 8:15-8:45am. If you are able to volunteer please contact Rebeccah Bassett-Smith. Your support is greatly appreciated.

A recent police check took place which focussed on ensuring that all adults and especially children kept their seatbelts on until the car was stationed at the top drop off point where Mr Colin is.  The constable said they do this randomly to all schools in the area.

The school doesn't know when or where this takes place.  It is a good reminder for all parents to talk with their children about car safety and ensuring seatbelts remain clicked until the car has stopped.  

School Hours
Our school day is structured as follows:

Late - Students who arrive after 8:50 am need to report to the office via the student entrance for their late pass before going to class.

Absences - If your child is going to be absent from school, please inform the school office every day that your child is going to be absent by either phoning 410 6534 option 1, via the Hero app or via our website. If possible, please inform the school office before 9:00 am.

New to Kindo
Working together with Kindo and ezlunch, our School offers you a simple and quick way to view and pay for items, order lunches and complete forms.  This is our payment system, so any emails you receive from Kindo will not be spam.

Please set up your Kindo account by following the instructions  on our website here.

This is our preferred method of payment and we encourage you to set-up your myKindo account today.

Hero App
We encourage you to use our Hero App. 
In 2023 our main form of communication with you - our school community, will be via Hero. On the Hero app, the little bell icon at the top right of your screen shows whether you have any new notifications.  At times if the post is a longer one you may need to click ‘read more’ to view the whole message. We would appreciate it if you could also use Hero to report absences.

Any parents/caregivers who haven't yet signed up for the Hero App can do so by clicking on this link.