Since our last newsletter our tamariki have been enjoying some fantastic sporting opportunities.  Last week our Year 1-3 students in Tui and Pīwakawaka enjoyed a fantastic football session with the Sport Waikato team.  This week the same group of students had a go at learning some hockey skills.  On Wednesday 27th March, 25 of our older students, in Ruru and Karearea,  participated in the Ki-o-Rahi Festival in Taupō. 

Last Friday the whole school enjoyed a fabulous day at the Kuratau Boat Ramp.  Our annual school duathlon & triathlon was a fantastic day.  The new course layout was a big success and the weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold!  Our tamariki showed resilience, determination and excellent sportsmanship.  See a full list of results below.  Big thanks to Cath from Taupō District Council for supplying our bikes.  Huge appreciation to all the parent volunteers who helped out on the day.  We cannot run these events without your support.  Thank you also to Belinda Pyman and the rest of our staff for mucking in and making the day happen.  There is A LOT of behind the scenes organisation by staff to make these events successful and safe for your tamariki. 

In this week's newsletter you will see that we are due to 'consult with our community' about our school's Health Education programmes.  It is a requirement for all school to consult with their community, every two years, about the delivery of their Health Curriculum.  Our last consultation was in May 2022.  Please see more details below.

Last Thursday, all teachers enjoyed another professional learning session with Kirsty Tatere.  Kirsty spent time in each class either observing or modelling writing or reading lessons.  Our teachers are doing a fantastic job at taking on board Kirsty's advice and adapting their literacy programmes to ensure we are meeting the needs of all our learners. 

On Thursday (28th March), we will be holding our traditional school EGG HUNT.  This involves hiding 'coloured in eggs' around the school.  As each child finds a paper egg, they swap it out for a chocolate marshmallow egg.  This is a fun event that our tamariki look forward to each year. 

I wish you all a fantastic Easter break with your friends and whānau.  Remember, school will be closed Easter Friday (29th March), Easter Monday and Tuesday (1st & 2nd April).  We look forward to seeing our tamariki back at school next Wednesday, 3rd April.  The last day of term 1 is Friday 12th April. 

Mā te wā

Shirley Bailey
PRINCIPAL

At our recent Board meeting I was excited to share that our attendance rates have continued to improve this term.

Whilst we have almost hit the Ministry of Education's target of 70% of students attending school regularly (over 90% attendance), we encourage those students sitting in our 'irregular attendance category' to come to school just a little more often to help us reach our 70% target.  

This year's positive shifts  and latest data is shared below:

Whilst our 'regular attendance' category hasn't improved, we have more than halved the number of students who were in the 'chronic attendance' category. 

As mentioned in the last newsletter - statistics and research reports that ATTENDANCE DOES MATTER.

Keep it up whānau - we love having your tamariki at school every day!

Below is an image detailing the Ministry of Education's Target for attendance rates.  This information comes from the MOE's Attendance and Engagement Strategy (June, 2022).

The Ministry of Education requires all schools to consult with their community on the school’s delivery of the Health Curriculum every two years.  Health education is learning that is based around hauora (wellbeing), attitudes and values, relationships, body development and health promotion. Where possible this learning is integrated across all areas of the curriculum.  We invite our community to share their thoughts about our current Health Education Statement via our Health Education Survey.  Your feedback will help us to gather your thoughts and ideas about our Health Curriculum and help us to further develop our programmes. 

The Health and Physical Education Curriculum is divided into four strands:

Through these strands our teachers plan and teach various topics as a unit or by integrating concepts with other areas of the curriculum.  There are seven key areas of learning in the Health Physical Education Curriculum:

In some instances we work with outside agencies to add value to our programmes. 

Please see the attached document for more information about the programmes and services we use at Kuratau School to promote Health Education. 

Well done and congratulations to all our participants in the annual Kuratau School Tryathlon.  What a fantastic day!  The weather held out and the water remained warm(ish).  

Thank you to all our support crew.  Parents, teachers, support staff and even some siblings.  Without the many that help out these events would not go ahead.  We really do appreciate your involvement and its always awesome to see so many parents pop along in support of these events.

To all that participated and our place getters - what a fantastic effort and CONGRATULATIONS.

Results are as per the table below:

We are pleased to announce our 2024 Whānau Group Leaders.  Congratulations to the following students:

We look forward to seeing their leadership skills develop throughout the year as they organise and lead various Whānau Group activities.