A warm welcome to our new students: Aedan Kerr-Hine, Wesley Hopkins, Yuna Park, James Bell, Connor Bell, William Bell, Adam Shin, Esther Shin, Kelly Choi and Lily Ku.

Nau mai hoki mai,

Welcome to Term 3! It's been wonderful to see the tamariki back after their break, ready to start the new term. Many of them shared that they were able to visit family over the holidays and do fun activities such as going to the movies and there were plenty of nice new haircuts on show too to start the fresh term. 

At the end of last term, we shared our Reporting to Parents process, which included the Powerful Learning report and achievement graph, the Learning Journals with Reading, Writing, and Maths report comments next to work samples, and the Student-Led Conferences. We were pleased that 86% of families participated in the Student-Led Conferences. We gathered some student feedback from our Puaawai 5-8 students about the conferences, which showed how much they value this time with their whaanau and teachers to share their learning.

Here is a summary of the student feedback about the Student-Led Conferences last term:

• Pride in Work: Many students expressed great pride in showing their hard work, writing, art, and other accomplishments to their parents and family. They enjoyed sharing their achievements and receiving positive feedback.
• Parental Involvement: Students appreciated having their parents involved and seeing their reactions. This involvement enhanced their sense of accomplishment and validation.
• Teacher Feedback: Positive comments and feedback from teachers were highlighted as a favourite aspect. Students valued the recognition and encouragement from their teachers.
• Personal Expression: Several comments mentioned specific projects or subjects, such as writing, art, and maths, indicating that students enjoyed showcasing their strengths and interests.
• Emotional Connection: The emotional connection with parents, teachers, and family members through shared experiences and feedback was a significant positive aspect for the students.

Overall, the comments reflect a strong sense of pride, achievement, and satisfaction from sharing their learning and receiving supportive feedback.

We also sent out a survey for parents to give feedback about the updated graphs on the report, the Student-Led Conferences, and taking the Learning Journal home. Although we only received a small number of responses, the general feedback was that most respondents found the Curriculum Achievement Graphs easy to read and could see where their child was achieving in relation to the New Zealand Curriculum Expectations. Those who attended the Student-Led Conferences felt they were either very well or quite well informed about their child’s learning. Some parents mentioned they would like some time to chat with the teacher without the child present, and we have taken this on board. Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey and we appreciate the feedback given.. 

If you would like to have a one-on-one meeting with your child’s teacher, these are being offered in Week 3, on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th of August. You would have seen the details for these in the class newsletters sent out earlier this week. These meetings are there if you would like time with the teacher without the child present or to follow up on any specific questions you may have after the Student-Led Conferences. These meetings are optional, and if the time does not suit you, you are always welcome to email the teachers and arrange a time to talk at any time of the year.

This term we have our biennial Puketaha Spring Fair. It is a positive community experience where we all come together to create an amazing day, with the bonus of raising money for our school and students. Although the PTA runs this event, it’s an event that many people from across the school get involved with. There will be a variety of ways you can contribute, such as raffle prizes, baking, and donating items to the garage sale. On the day itself, we need as many parents as possible to help by taking turns manning a stall for an hour or so. Please see the PTA message for further information.

We look forward to another exciting term!

Ngaa mihi

Nyree Olliver

Every term a large amount of lost property from school is sent to charity. 

Getting children to reclaim their personal belongings such as clothing, water bottles, and lunch boxes is an ongoing problem and losing items can be upsetting for both caregivers and children.

Please help reduce this problem in the following ways:

1. Labelling Items: Please ensure that all your child's belongings are clearly labelled with their name. This greatly increases the likelihood of lost items being returned to their rightful owner.  There are permanent markers available at the school office if you would like to take one home and label your children's clothes.

2. Checking Lost and Found: Encourage your child to check our lost and found area regularly. We regularly collect lost items in boxes in the learning spaces and in the lost property box by the PAC and attempt to get them returned to their owners

3. Valuables: Remind your child not to bring unnecessary valuables to school. We discourage items like toys and collectable cards. 

Your cooperation and support are greatly appreciated.

A huge thank you to so many of our families who got behind this fundraiser and have made it a huge success.  We appreciate that support that you, your work colleagues and friends have given. Final numbers have not yet been done but it the profit will be approximately $6000.

If you have not already done so please credit the school bank account 12-3171-0283600-00 with Chocolates and last name as reference, or bring cash into the school office.

Spring Fair

Welcome to Term 3 everyone! It is a big one for the PTA, as hopefully, you all will be aware that the Spring Fair is to be held on September 21^st, towards the end of this term.

Planning is well underway so watch this space for details of how you can help! There are a lot of upfront costs involved with this event and we are looking for sponsors to help cover the costs.

Platinum $1000, Gold $500, Silver $250 and Bronze $100. Please let me know if you can help us out in that regard.   We are still on the hunt for a car for the “Smash-a car” attraction.  This year we will be having quick fire raffles as well as a raffle table so if there is anything that you could donate suitable for these we would appreciate your contributions.  Also, if you have beads for a bead booth can you drop them in to Christine.  Thanks to those who came to the first dedicated Spring Fair meeting last night. Your input is essential!

Yummy Stickers

Just a reminder we are still collecting Yummy Fruit Co stickers for free sports gear for schools programme. We will be sending off the sheets early term 4 so there is plenty of time to hand in your sheets/stickers or labels.  Please ask your family to collect them as well. Further information can be found on School Sticker Promo | The Yummy Fruit Co website.

New World Kitchen Aid Promotion

New World supermarkets are running a promotion which involves collecting stickers again. If you or your friends/family are not going to be using your/their stickers, we would love to get them as we can combine resources and get free stuff we can use as raffle prizes!

Next Meeting

PTA Meeting-  Week 3-   Tuesday 6^th August , 7.30pm.  School Staff room.  All welcome.

Kind regards,

Merynn Connors

PTA Chairperson

M: 027 629 6820  E: pta@puketaha.school.nz

We have some generous community businesses that have kindly sponsored our Year 7 and 8 Sports Camp. Their support has helped keep the cost of the camp down for the students.