Kia Orana Parents / Caregivers / Sunnynook Whānau,

‘Ātui’ia au ki te vaka o tōku matakeinanga meaning connect me to the canoe of my tribe'.

This week is Cook Island Language Week at school and we celebrate this along with the other kura around the country. Our children have been practising greetings and numbers in Cook Island Maori and finding out some interesting facts about the group of islands.   We would love to see our Cook Island students in their national dress at school tomorrow (Friday) for a photo. 

I would like to remind whānau Māori caregivers of our hui tonight, from 6-7pm in our staffroom to discuss the Āwhina Initiative and how we would like to see this continue as well as a consultation on our learner profile.  

It was encouraging to see so many caregivers attending our Student Learning Conferences last week.  I know our tamariki enjoy showing off their work and classrooms to their caregivers and this reinforces to students the importance and value of learning and of school. 

Our students participated in the Netball Super Cluster competition on Tuesday and there were a lot of tired, but happy, faces back at school at the end of the day.  Today was the Year 3 -6 Rippa Rugby Festival Day and our students left early this morning with great excitement.  Tomorrow Miss Lee and Mrs Hosken is taking some of our Year 5 and 6 students  to ‘Book Battle’ at Northcross Intermediate.  There are usually around 10 schools participating in the event.  It is great to see our students represented in both sporting and curriculum events across the North Shore.

  

Our Gymnastics programme has been continuing at school, along with our House Olympic events.  Please see the photos later in the newsletter to see how much our students have been enjoying this. 

Yesterday students participated in our Travelwise Park and Walk to School programme.  It was wonderful to see the number of children who walked to school and were given spot prizes.   I hope that caregivers will continue with Park and Walk to encourage fitness, confidence and independence in your child, as well as helping to avoid congestion around the school.  

Last week it was really good to see a good number of our caregivers attend the presentation from Constable Louise regarding the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme. For those who were unable to attend, please see more information and a link to the presentation later in our newsletter.

Ngā mihi 

Virginia

Banner:
Week 2:  
The banner went to Room 21 (ruma rua tekau ma tahi) their good general knowledge about the Olympics and awesome tessalations!
Week 3:
The banner went to Room 10 (ruma tekau) for their fantastic learning about different kinds of transport.  They are doing  amazing reading activities that they do each day to help the learning of different reading strategies.

Yummy Apples:
We have 66 forms - congratulations to:
R11 - Arthur and Mrs Heays
R4 - Arlyn
R12 - Ain
R18 - Raon

Caught Being Good:
Orlaith Rm 1 - for being a good kaitiaki and keeping our school clean.
Julius Rm 11 - for being a good kaitiaki and keeping our school clean.
Ann Rm 20 - for helping in the library and helping others.   

Respect Trophy:
The respect trophy is a very special award and is given out  to a student who demonstrates our school values.  The recipients are nominated by the teachers and this time, Noah Reekie-Brown, from Room 21 (ruma rua tekau ma tahi) was given the trophy for his genuine kindness and looking out for others.

Principal's Certificates Week 3:

As part of our team inquiry 'How do we tell stories',  Room 15 have been learning about myths and legends starting with "How Maui Slowed the Sun". 

Room 15 worked on individual paintings of the story and then followed up with a collaborative art work. Room 15 showed great team work and effort in accomplishing a big job together. 

Well done Room 15 on your beautiful art work!

To celebrate the start of the Olympics, we held a special house lunch eating and games during lunchtime on Monday! Children enjoyed sitting with others in their houses and had the option to participate in fun competitions on the covered court. This week, we had a gumboot throw and hoop competitions. It was loads of fun trying out new games and connecting with other children in our houses! The enthusiasm and team spirit were fantastic to see, with everyone cheering each other on and making new friends.

We’re excited to announce that we have another Lunchtime Olympics event planned for next Monday. More exciting games and challenges await, so get ready for another round of fun and friendly competition! 

On Wednesday Ngā Totara had a team assembly but it wasn’t our usual assembly.

First, Mrs Stirling had a little talk about the Olympics and she read a story about a school doing their own olympics. She told us we were doing the same thing but we were doing 100 day themed activities.  Most people were excited!

Then we got put into countries, went to different classrooms then made up some chants for our countries and colored the countries flag.

On the day of the Olympics we all were excited and waited in lines in our countries and we pinned our flags on our T -shirts. The sports were scoring 100 soccer goals, shooting 100 basketball hoops, 100 bonuses on the trampoline and much more! 

Thanks to our amazing house and cultural leaders everything went smoothly.

Over the past term, our students have been deeply engaged with their learning in Science and in developing their Science Fair projects. They began by posing their own intriguing questions and then set out to investigate them through different experiments. The process of experimenting and analyzing results has been both challenging and rewarding, and they would like to share their findings with you.

At the Science Fair, each student will have the opportunity to showcase their project, explain their research, and discuss the results with parents. This event is a wonderful way to celebrate their achievements and encourage their continued passion for Science.

We hope you can join us and experience the excitement of their discoveries.

Date: 16th August
Time: 9:30 - 10:30 AM
Location: Year 5 & 6 Classrooms

Looking forward to seeing you there!
Warm regards
Taelim Lee
Ngā Kauri Team Leader on behalf of Ngā Kauri Teachers:  Monica Duffield, Zoe Jones, Soniya Veran, Cheryl Klein, Michael Welsh, Mig McMillan and Sei Tereora

For the last couple of days we have been doing water safety to make sure  we are safe in the water. On Monday 5th of August we were learning about how a life jacket keeps us safe in the water. 

And on Tuesday we thought about the safety of being in a kayak/boat. Only 3 people were allowed on the boat after that. We flipped the boat over and we all got under the boat. We all were nice and warm. When we all got out under the boat and it was really cold, we thought about the importance of being warm by huddling to increase our body temperatures to keep warm in the water.

On Thursday the 25th of July, Room 1 demonstrated Collaboration and Kaitiakitanga, by tree planting with Anna from the Auckland Council and Tabitha from the Takapuna Trust.

Before planting, Anna talked to us about the benefits of plant restoration, plant identification, and how to carefully plant the trees.  At the end of the session, Room 1 planted approximately 150 plants at Lyford Reserve. We had a lot of fun and ended up incredibly muddy!
By Fina

From Term 3, we will be sharing the names of the students who have had a birthday over the last two weeks in our newsletter. 

Last Tuesday, 30 July,  Constable Louise presented an overview to whānau about the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme that is being undertaken by teachers this term. Keeping Ourselves Safe has been developed by the NZ Police and the Ministry of Education. 

Classroom teachers will teach it with the help of our local school police officer, Constable Louise.

Keeping Ourselves Safe has been designed to provide tamariki with the skills to cope with a situation that might involve abuse.

Key focus areas of the programme are:

To be successful, Keeping Ourselves Safe needs your help and support. There will be a variety of homework activities that will come home. Please take the time to discuss these with your tamariki.

If you were unable to attend the presentation information about the programme can be found here. 

As you will have read in our team newsletters, and as outlined above, this term we are covering our KOS (Keeping Ourselves Safe) programme. 

An important aspect of keeping your child(ren) safe is ensuring that they know their address and phone number. This is something that all children should know. If they were lost or needed help, this is important information to be able to give to a trusted adult.

- Start by showing them the number on your letterbox, your street sign and landmarks around Sunnynook so that they have a practical understanding of where they live.

- Ask them to copy you:  “I live at 87 Juniper Rd, Sunnynook”

- Ask them frequently where they live and prompt them until they remember. Ask them at mealtimes, in the car, before bed etc.

- When they have remembered, celebrate by asking them to tell Grandparents where they live.

- Next move on to them remembering their home phone number or Mum/Dad/caregivers phone number(s).

- As above, teach, support, prompt, provide opportunities for them to learn off by heart.

In addition to the practicalities of knowing their address and phone number, being able to share such knowledge when asked, increases their confidence in their own abilities and promotes independence which translates into other learning areas.

Learning things by rote (off by heart) is also an important developmental aspect which strengthens children’s brain, training it to learn more such as new words and maths knowledge.

Our Team Newsletters for Term 3 are now available on our website here

Dear Parents and Caregivers

You are warmly invited to Murrays Bay Intermediate Year 7 2025 Parent Evening on Wednesday, August 21st, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to see MBIS in action, meet our specialist teachers, and learn about our sports and music programs. You will also have the chance to speak with classroom teachers.

The evening will feature a school presentation, and we are excited to welcome our keynote speaker, John Meeske, who will discuss building resilience in our learners.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please see the article from 'Park Supplies & Playgrounds' regarding our fantastic playground project!

It was a fantastic morning on Wednesday, August 7th, for the Travelwise Park and Walk event. The weather was perfect, with the sun shining brightly and several of our teachers were ready to meet the students at various points. Students enthusiastically participated by walking to school from the park and walk areas. Thank you to everyone who joined in and walked to school.

We are fortunate to have multiple entrances to our school. Please consider using entrances other than the drop-off zone.

We encourage children to walk to and from school because it:

Thank you to Ms Fifield for her fantastic organisation of our Park and Walk event!

WEEKLY SPORT RESULTS Managers, here is the link if you would like to record results for publication in the newsletter: SPORTS RESULTS

Our year 5/6 team that plays on Sundays in this fun fast paced water sport is looking for players.  

Flippa Ball is a modified version of water polo designed for children aged 8-12 years. It's a simple game that can be played by all children regardless of swimming ability. It's a non-contact sport aimed at non-experienced water polo players and is played in the shallow end of the pool so players can touch the bottom. If you have a student wanting to play and would like to know more contact sports@sunnynookschool.nz

Amazing final results saw two of our Sunnynook Semester one Harbour Basketball teams WINNERS of their grades. This is a massive accomplishment to be proud of.

Boo Misal, Isaac Bell-Booth, Blake Wheeler, Vitas Huang, Sayf Youseff, Lewis Hamilton-Anderson, Joshua Bell-Booth - It was a nail biting finish going to two shoot-out rounds for the win! Ka Rawe boys!

Wahine Toa - Harbour Basketball year 5/6 Girls GRADE WINNERS from left Kiri Pou, Fern Witana, Vika Skumat, Maddi Hauraki, Mia Nikolic Asongono, Savana Smith, Ava Duzevich-Grey, Harnoor Kaur

20 Year 5/6 Sunnynook Netballers were selected to play in the Annual Netball Super Cluster against 8 other schools. Impressive resilience and teamwork was on display showing true Sunnynook Spirit. 

Thank you so much to Christina Tutakiau and Shanna Jerram coaching them on the day our amazing ex student Indie Coyle umpire and to all our amazing Sunnynook whānau who helped transport and were able to support the teams on the day.

Year 5 team 3rd Place!- Ava Duzevich-Grey, Fern Witana, Georgie Williams, Michayla Jeram, Sophie Hanley, Kiri Pou, Savana Smith, Amy Bishop, Sophia Reekie Brown, Summer Kupa

Year 6 team 7th Chanute Behrens, Honour Tutakiau-Mahoni, Kadyn Tutakiau-Mahoni,Talei Finau, Orlaith McDonagh, Meila Coyle, Chenei Kenny, Tayla Flusk, Chloe Jermain, Ava Bali

 On Tuesday 6th of August it was the supercluster netball at Pinehurst school. At 8:30 am the two netball teams that were chosen to compete were one of the year five teams and one of the six teams. We had a talk of what was going to happen and whose car we were going with. Half of my team was going with our coach and I was going with one of the parent helpers with Sophia, Ava, Chloe and Fern.

We left school around 8:45 am. As we got out of the van I realized it wasn't as busy as last year and quarter of the teams uniforms were red or blue. It was the morning so it was freezing cold, but once everyone was there our team did some warmups like running, passing and shooting. Later on we got told by our coach that Ava and Chole are joining our team because their year sixes and we are the year six team. Once we got our positions sorted I was GK. We walked to our court and got in our positions. It was a fun and cold first half then me and Ava, and Chloe were off for the second half because there is ten people and each person must at least get one half off. After the game there was this loud horn that told us when all the times were like when the game starts and ends and when it's half time. We went to our lunch boxes to grab a quick snack  and then the horn blew and then we walked to our next game this one was a team we played before and I was with the very tall girl but I managed to jump high enough to defend but some people on that team were a bit rough but we had a good game. When we were having our morning tea we played and it started to rain hard. We all ran under an umbrella and stayed there, I felt bad for the girls that had to play in the rain. Once the rain stopped we went to our courts and started playing, but again this team was also ruff but we did awesome. After our snack we did some more warm ups to get ready for the next game. When we played, some of our teammates were off for the first half and they cheered us on, which was really supportive and kind win or lose so we had a good time. We were eating lunch and excited for our last game and it was also very sunny and hot. At our last game I was off for the first half with Melia and Kayden. We played master which was a game mainly about shooting. When it was the second half we went on and this team was scratching everyone but we did our very best because our team spirit can't be broken and in the end we won. At our break we watched the year five sunnynook team finish then it was prize giving the year five sunnynook team came 3 place and we were all so happy for them and for our grade we came 7 place but the important thing is we had fun. All of the sunnynook netball teams that competed would like to thank the parent helpers for driving us and for thor support. By Tayla Flusk Room 4

Aug 6 - Year 5-6 Netball Super Cluster

Aug 8 - Year 4-6 Rippa Rugby Festival Day 2

Aug 22  - Year 5-6 Hockey Super Cluster

Aug 28 - Sports Team Photos

August - Touch Rugby Registrations

Sep 19 - Year 5-6 Football Super Cluster

More information about sports available can be found on the Sports page on Sunnynook School Website. Any questions can be emailed to: sports@sunnynookschool.nz

We look forward to our winters sports continuing in this term with  zone days for Hockey and Football still to come.

SPORTS RESULTS :
Our latest results from our winter sports teams:

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

Through this partnership with Linewize access to a parent Cyber Safety Hub is available. The purpose of this hub is to provide you with practical guidance and information to further support you in engaging with your children in their digital development. 

The Cyber Safety Hub provides expert advice from leading cyber experts, ySafe, on the most pertinent issues and frequently asked questions around platforms like TikTok, Fortnite, Instagram, and more. There are app reviews with age and safety recommendations, along with a range of guides to help ensure healthy boundaries around screen time and gaming, plus step-by-step instructions for using parental controls and filtering out inappropriate content.

We are very excited to be able to offer you this level of expertise and support in an area that we know has been challenging for many parents to manage.

The online safety hub includes access to the Qustodio app for parents to use at home, so children remain safe online.

The digital well-being app from Qustodio provides the following benefits and more:

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

The link can also be found by using the Search icon 🔍 on  our website:

or clicking on the School Information tab:

 

Kia Ora, my name is Constable Simon Fox. I’m the local Community Constable. You will see me from time to time standing outside the school during drop of and pickups.

 

My purpose is to educate parents and children around the correct use of child restraints.  There are a few important things to remember when putting your child into their car seat.

 

Rear facing infant restraints should ideally be used until they are at least two years old. They should never be placed in a front seat if there is an active airbag.

 

Forward facing child restraints, the harness must fit snug and comfortable, the shoulder harness must always go over the shoulders and the seat itself must be fitted securely as per the manufacture’s guidelines

 

Booster seats are safest when used in the back seat. The seatbelt should go over the child’s shoulder and not against the neck. Best practice recommends that children stay in a boaster seat until they are 148cm tall.

 

If no longer in a booster, seatbelts must go over the shoulder, not behind the back. Children should be wearing the seatbelt the same way you wear yours. Bags should not be worn on the back with a seatbelt.

 

What I have seen is a large number of cars pulling into the school where the child has taken their seatbelt off too early. Please remember that seatbelts stay on until the car has stopped and the child is ready to get out.

 

Please remind yourselves that your child is the most precious thing in your life and it’s your job to do everything you can to keep them safe, so please make sure each time you go out in the car that you’re doing everything you can to keep them secured nice and safe.

Kia ora School whānau,

 

I hope you have had a fantastic start to term 3! We are now officially over half way through the school year and I don’t know about your school but it feels like there is a lot going on out there with sports and school shows and parent teacher interviews getting closer by the day. At Parenting Place we are continuously developing our content to ensure we stay relevant to current parenting challenges. Some topics tug on the heart strings of parents across the board and currently anxiety in children and the ramifications of technology top parents’ lists. So, in this newsletter we are focusing on both of these.

 

You may be aware that we have just released our first self-guided digital course “Untangling Anxiety: Supporting kids through worry and fear” and we would love to offer your parents and caregivers a 20% discount on their first course purchase. The discount code is schools and the course can be purchased at www.parentingplace.nz/courses/anxiety-online

There isn't a simple fix for anxiety, but there are lots of simple, practical ways that parents and caregivers can support kids through those fearful feelings that tangle up everyday life. Our new course has been developed in collaboration with clinical psychologist Dr Melanie Woodfield and our parent coaches here at Parenting Place, Jenny Hale, Sheridan Eketone and Kristin Ward, so it's attuned to our local and cultural contexts and the needs of New Zealand kids and whānau.

 

The course costs NZD $95, which gives lifetime access to all course modules, including bite-sized videos, expert insights, real-life stories and downloadable resources. 

Take the stress out of parenting!  

Online with Parenting Place
Parenting Place’s online Toolbox courses take the stress out of attending a six-week course in person - no need for babysitters or getting stuck in traffic. Join in from the comfort of home! 

Over six weeks, Toolbox delivers evidence-informed practical strategies, ideas and insights to inspire and equip parents on their parenting journey – wherever they’re up to!  

Course dates for 2024 

Primary Years (5-11 years) 

Start Date: 21 Aug 2024

End Date: 25 Sep 2024

Time: 19:30 PM - 21:30 PM

Venue: Online via Zoom

 

All courses are run by Parenting Place facilitators via Zoom. Toolbox costs $90 per person or register as a couple and pay $120 for two. This price includes a workbook. If paying for Toolbox is a barrier for you, please get in touch with us, support@parentingplace.nz to discuss subsidies. 

 

Book online at https://parentingplace.nz/courses 

 

Schools around the North Shore have different start times.  At Sunnynook Primary School, our day begins at 8.50am.  We ask that all students arrive at school at 8.30am. Arriving at school on time sets students up well for the day!

We are currently seeking the support of parent volunteers to help supervise the crossing on Tonkin Drive on Friday afternoons.  Afternoon supervision is from 2.50pm-3.15pm.
 

Without parent volunteers we will be unable to supervise this crossing on a daily basis.

If you are available to volunteer, please email Mrs Bassett-Smith at rebeccahb@sunnynookschool.nz

Thank you! 

Kia ora whānau,

We would like to create a space for parents/caregivers and or extended families to share something from your culture - such as stories, legends, artefacts, history, art, dance, songs. 

The following language weeks are coming up in Term 3:

It would be amazing if whānau can come and share during the language weeks. Please contact Sei Tereora seit@sunnynookschool.nz or Bedelia Matthee bedeliam@sunnynookschool.nz to arrange a date and time or to answer any questions. 

Tēnā koutou e te whānau.

Message from the Ministry of Education:
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.  

Hero School App
In 2024 our main form of communication with you - our school community, is 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.

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. It is important that your child arrives on time.

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.