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Newsletter T1W6

10 March 2023

From The Principal

Kia ora tatou katoa

Teachers’ Strike Action
You may have heard that both the Primary and Secondary Teachers’ unions will strike this Thursday 16th March. At this stage, our school plans to remain open for instruction, although there may be some minor disruptions to classroom programmes as we cover for staff who will be absent.
AIMs Games
This year we will be supporting our students to participate in AIMs Games. We had hoped to send some teams, however, this is proving to be very problematic due to either the lack of suitable accommodation, or accommodation being prohibitively expensive. We plan to offer the opportunity for students to participate in individual sports providing they are supervised and managed by their parents for the duration of the competition.

A meeting will be held on Tuesday 28th March at 5.45pm in the Mini-hall. A full list of sports options will be shared at the meeting.

Year 4 Triathlon
We had some wonderful weather for the Year 4 Triathlon this week! It was a great morning that finished with some exhausted looking students.

Caretaker
Sadly Mr Umma Chand will be leaving us at the end of this term. Umma has been working here for the last year, helping with our grounds and property, and we have really appreciated his diligence and hard work. Thank you for your care Umma. We will still see Umma around school as he will continue to be our after-hours cleaner.

We will be advertising locally for a caretaker. If you know anyone who may be interested in this role, please let us know at the office or pop in for a chat with me. We can be flexible with the hours to be worked, and it is mostly just during term time with minimal work during the holidays. This position may suit someone who is semi-retired, or perhaps a parent who would like to be able to take time off during the holidays to spend with their own children. No special skills are required but you must be friendly, trustworthy and reliable and have a willingness to pitch in and help, working independently but with guidance and support from Mr Kloppers, our Property Manager.

Evacuation
Please be informed we will be holding evacuation drills throughout the year including for fire, lockdown and earthquake.

Payments to School
Thank you to those families who have already paid the voluntary donation, it really is appreciated. Our preferred collection method for these, and for class trips and activities, is via Kindo (www.mykindo.co.nz), but we are also happy to accept payment by eftpos or cash at the school office, or direct to our bank account (Glendowie School Board of Trustees, ASB, 12-3027-0305676-00). Unfortunately we are not able to accept payments by credit card, but if you prefer to use this option then Kindo has the facility for this.

Finally, I wish all our happy campers a fun filled time at the annual camp out tomorrow night. Thanks to the PA and Mr Kloppers for their hard work in making this event possible.

Noho ora mai!

Paul Crowhurst | Principal

Cyclone Gabrielle

Thank you so much for your generosity in making gold coin donations last week. We collected $1,173 from our wonderful families, and our Parents' Association also offered to donate the proceeds of last week's Frosty Friday, which adds another $448 to the fund. This means we were able to send a total of $1,621 to Eskdale School, who were extremely hard hit by the effects of the cyclone.

We know that Eskdale School has really appreciated us thinking about them at this time -
"Thanks so much for doing this fundraiser on our behalf, the school community are very appreciative of the assistance."

Board Meeting

The next Board meeting is Tuesday 28 March at 7pm. Anyone is welcome to attend and a copy of the agenda is available from the school office after 3pm on the Friday before.

School Triathlon

I was excited about the triathlon, but I was a little scared too! First we swam. I was so happy because I am good at swimming. I was so proud of myself. I love to swim. Then I went onto the field and rode my bike. It was wobbly, but it was joyful. When I went up the hill I got stuck! I fixed it. It was hard. I crossed the grass. I got stuck twice! One more hill. I ran with my bike up the hill and down the hill. I was at the finish line. I was happy. Then I said, "run, run, run, and run". Everyone cheered me up. I had more energy to run. "And one more step", and finally I got to the finish. I think I was good at it. Leina, International student from Room 5.

I could not stop my legs from going so, so, so fast. I did not want to run, but I did it. I just had to keep running. I finally got to the bottom of the hill. My legs were in pain. I ran around the cone. Suddenly I had people cheering me on. I realised I was at the last cone to go around! I came to the finish line, pushing as hard as I could. My head was sweating, drops of water were coming down from my hair. I was dreaming it was water. Finally I came to the finish of the triathlon! I was so proud of myself. Duncan, Room 5

Thank you to the Year 4 teachers and Mr Kloppers for a successful triathlon. Thank you also to all the parent supporters that came along to cheer on our competitors.

Auckland Regional Dental Care

Auckland Regional Dental Services (ARDS) provides free dental care for New Zealand students across the greater Auckland area. To ensure that ARDS is able to provide their service, we will be sharing our school roll with ARDS as required. For more information about why we are required to share this information you can check the webpage of the Privacy Commissioner.

Glendowie Parents' Association

Camp Night: The weather forecast looks perfect for our campers to spend the night under the stars on the school field! For those who haven't purchased a tent/campervan site but would still like to come and join the festivities, you are more than welcome. The school pool will be open, the BBQ will be fired up for a sausage sizzle, ice blocks will be on offer and there will be plenty of lawn games and entertainment. Alternatively bring along a picnic dinner and join us from 5pm. See the poster at the end of the newsletter.

Frosty Friday: Every Friday at 3pm on the courts outside the hall. Bring a $2 coin or purchase your punch card on Kindo. Punch cards will be available for collection from the school office.

Second Hand Uniform Shop: We have had a much anticipated location change, we will now be operating out of the corner room to the right hand side of the main entrance to the office. We will be open on the first Monday morning of each month from 8:30 - 9am; the next two dates are:
  • Monday 3rd April
  • Monday 1st May
We are gratefully accepting second hand uniforms donations, please drop these to the office anytime or directly to the uniform shop during opening times.

Parents Quiz Night: Please save the date for this event - Friday 5th May 2023. We are bringing back a night of fun, laughter, costumes, spot prizes and trivia! Organisation for this evening is underway, tickets will be available via Kindo in the following weeks - keep an eye out as these will be limited and are expected to sell out quickly! In the meantime, we are looking for anyone willing to donate spot prizes of any sort - please send us an email with ideas/offers.

Class Reps: Our Class Rep groups are up and running successfully. We are still looking for parent class reps for rooms 10 & 23 please contact us via email if you are interested. If you have not yet heard from your class rep, please send us an email.

New Members: If you'd like to join us on the PA, please get in touch via email. It's a great way to be involved with the school community and meet lots of other wonderful parents!

Friends of the PA: Are you interested in helping out with PA events without the time commitment of joining the committee? We have put together a group of parents who are willing to volunteer as able/required. If you are interested in joining this group, please send us an email with your contact details.

Facebook Page: We are keeping our Facebook page up to date with events, follow us at
Glendowie Primary School Parents' Association for updates.

Glendowie Primary School Parents' Association for updates.
Email: glendowieprimarypa@gmail.com
Website: http://glendowie.school.nz/pa
Facebook: @GlendowiePrimarySchoolParentsAssociation

Upcoming Events

  • Monday 13 March - Y7/8 Swimming Sports at Sacred Heart
  • Tuesday 14 March - Y5/6 Swimming Sports at Sacred Heart
  • Wednesday 15 March - Y7 Camp (day 1 of 3)
  • Wednesday 15 March - Senior Montessori Camp (day 1 of 3)
  • Thursday 16 March - Y7/8 Eastern Zone Swimming Sports
  • Friday 17 March - Y5/6 Bay Suburbs Swimming Sports
  • Tuesday 21 March - Y1-4 Swimming Sports
  • Wednesday 22 March - Y5/6 Bay Suburbs Softball (new date)
  • Sunday 26 March - Weet-Bix TRYathlon
  • Tuesday 28 March - Board Meeting

Community Notices

Junior Rugby Pre-Season 2023: Tuesday 14 March, Rippa Rugby 4pm-4.45pm, Tackle Rugby 5pm-6pm. No booking required, free sessions. Contact JRDO@aurfc.co.nz

Music Lessons at school with Lewis Eady: Enrol for music lessons at school with Lewis Eady! We currently offer individual and group lessons during the school day, in keyboard, guitar, and ukulele at Glendowie School. Our tutors are friendly, motivated, and accomplished musicians themselves – musicians teaching music!

Term fees (based on a 10-week term): Individual lessons $400, Group lessons $175. Complete our online enrolment form today at https://bit.ly/LEMSMusicLessons and begin your music journey with Lewis Eady Music School! N.B. Lessons can only go ahead once we receive sufficient enrolments, so please encourage your friends to enrol too!
Email: musicschool@lewiseady.co.nz Website: www.lewiseady.co.nz/music-school

Sacred Heart College Fair: 250 West Tamaki Road, Glendowie is on Sunday 26th March from 9am-2pm. We will have food, quick fire raffles, silent auctions, toys, clothing, sporting goods and many other stalls. We have two drop off dates for donations at the bottom of Gate 4, at 250 West Tamaki Road.
  • Saturday 11 March from 8am to 10am
  • Saturday 18 March from 8am to 10am
So if you are de-cluttering your house, we'd love to receive your good condition donated goods. We are taking toys/puzzles (not broken and all the pieces), clothing/shoes (not ripped and in good condition), books in good condition, household items in good condition, furniture in good condition. Thanks for your support.