Newsletter – Wednesday 12 February

SILVERDALE SCHOOL

School Newsletter

Learn to Journey – Journey to Learn

Ako ki te Haere – Haere ki te Ako

Newsletter – Wednesday 12 February

Kia ora, Talofa, Malo e leleli, Kia orana, Fakalofa lahi Atu, Taloha Ni, Ni sa bula, 你好, Namaste, 안녕하세요, Hola, Xin chao, السلام عليكم.

Welcome Back to Silverdale School

It was wonderful to see our students return to school on Monday, full of energy and enthusiasm for the year ahead. A special welcome to our new families – we are so glad to have you join our Silverdale School whānau.

We have lots of exciting things planned for this year, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher. We are here to support you and your child in any way we can.

Here’s to a fantastic year of learning and growth! All staff email addresses are on our website. www.silverdaleprimary.school.nz.

Te Rito – Our New Bilingual Classroom

On Monday marked a special milestone for Silverdale School with the opening of Te Rito, our new reo rua (bilingual) classroom. A beautiful dawn blessing ceremony conducted by Kereama and Trish Nathan from Te Herenga Waka o Orewa Marae, was held to officially open the classroom. It was wonderful to see so many people come together to celebrate this special occasion, including the children in Te Rito, their whānau, staff from our kura, staff from Orewa College and Whangaparaoa College, and local community leaders. Their presence shows the strong support for bilingual education in our community. Te Rito, meaning “new shoot” or “the heart of new beginnings,” is the first bilingual classroom in a primary school on the Hibiscus Coast. This groundbreaking initiative reflects our commitment to providing a rich and inclusive learning environment that celebrates Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique cultural heritage. We are thrilled to offer this unique learning opportunity for our 24 Year 5 and 6 students, who will be guided by Matua William on their bilingual learning journey.

Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu. (Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar.) – This proverb emphasises the importance of knowledge and skills for achieving success. In our context of te reo Māori learning, it will refer to the acquisition of te re Māori language and Māori cultural knowledge that empowers our learners to “soar” to new heights.

Welcome

Welcome to these children who started with us this week.

Lucy Coyle, Liam Brodie, Maya Nguyen, Nicole He, Carson Macleod, Sophia O’Dea, Michaela Greco, Lyla Smith, Jaivyn Barnard, Connor Louden, Declan van Tonder, Maya Al-Hasani, Nina Li, Amelie Ringleff, Sofia Comuzzo, Ani Malcolm, Elliott Melville, Akshaya Sunkara, Sienna Stretch, Isla Harrewijn, Lukas Peremans, Kymani Edwards, Edward Johnson, Teddie Baybut, Chloe Conaglen, Devin Feng, Griffin Grubbe, Amelia Peremans, Kashton Ngwaba, Jude Cooper, Rababdeep Singh, Harvey Watson, Pipi Ruka, Danesca Soru, Gabby Barnard, Evie Remihana, Evie Burgess, Jordan Thomson, Sammy Denton, Jade Armstrong, Indie King, Reiko King, Jayden Jin, Lachie Schwarzenberg, Brian Son, Poppy Macfarlane, Alex McFarlane, Via Caasi, Anya Mittal, Audrey Li, Elsa Li, Rishika Patel, Mihika Patel, Eunice Niu and Qiaoqiao Niu.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Sooin Kim, Bryan Peng, Bronte Smith, Emma Moradi, James Collins, Maggie Derriman, Mae Dalere and Dylan Sun.

Term 1 Dates

Meet the Parents – Week 3, Wednesday 26 February, Thursday 27 February 3.30pm – 6.00pm

Cultural Day – Week 6, Friday 21 March.

More information to come closer to the time.

Meet the Parent Evenings

Our Meet the Parent Evenings are being held on Wednesday 26 February, Thursday 27 February 3.30pm – 6.00pm on both days. These interviews will be 10 minutes and the main purpose of these interviews is for you to let your child’s teacher know about your child. It is also a time for you to gain some information about how your child’s class will operate and learn about the journey your child is embarking on this year. Children will not be required to attend.

Uniform Expectations at Silverdale School

In Terms 1 and 4, all students are expected to wear a Silverdale School sunhat when outside.

We have a “No Hat, No Play” policy to ensure the safety and well-being of our students.

Black shoes are part of the school uniform and must be worn to and from school. Acceptable styles include sandals, lace-up shoes, or buckle shoes. The only jewellery permitted is a watch and/or stud earrings.

Students should wear their full school uniform with pride.

Uniforms should be clean, tidy, and in good repair.

Lost property items can be found in the lost property box under the stairs outside the library.

Please ensure all uniform items are clearly named to assist with returning lost property.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring our students maintain a high standard of uniform presentation.

Our School

Vision/Moemoeā

Learn to Journey – Journey to Learn

Ako ki te Haere – Haere ki te Ako

Mission Statement/Tauākī Whakakanga

Actively prepare each child to take responsibility for their own life-long learning, values and behaviour, in partnership with the home and community.

Values/Ngā Whanonga Pono

Kindness/Atawhai

Excellence/Hiranga

Respect/Whakaute

Integrity/Ngākau pono

Learner Assets/Ngā Hua Ākonga

Self Manager/He kaiwhakahaere i a koe anō

Communicator/He Kaiwhakawhiti Kōrero

Collaborator/He Hoa Mahi Tahi

Innovator/He Tangata auaha

Resilient Hearts/Ngākau Manawaroa

A Calm Heart/Ngākau Marino

An Understanding Heart/Ngākau Mataara

A Grateful Heart/Ngākau Reka

A Loving Heart/Ngākau Aroha

Car Parking

There is no parent parking on the school site, an option during drop off and pick up is to park away from the school and walk to school, a great way of building you and your child’s fitness and help reduce the carbon footprint at the same time.

The drop off zone that borders the sloping bank will be a ‘manned’ stop, drop and go area from 8.30am to 8.55am and again from 3.00pm to 3.15pm. In the morning our staff will greet your vehicle and, if necessary, escort your child/ren to their class. This means you will be able to stop, drop and go in a minimum of time. You do not need to get out of your car. In the afternoon your children will wait for you on the bank to be retrieved. The teacher on duty will pop your child in your vehicle and you can quickly depart. You do not need to get out of your car.

Our mobility car parks are in operation in both carparks, so please ensure that these are used only for the purpose they were designed. Unless you have a mobility card and the card holder is in the car then the spaces must be kept clear.

A couple of reminders:

Both car parks are for staff cars only, please do not park in any of the carparks.
No parking in the stop, drop and go area until after 2.45pm.
At stop, drop and go please do not get out of your car.

Dental Clinic Parking

A reminder to parents that you must not use the dental clinic car park to drop off or pick up children, thanks for your cooperation in this.

Hats

Please make sure that your child has their school hat at school. The wearing of the school hat is compulsory during term 1. Children not wearing a school hat will have to sit in a shaded area during play and lunch times.

Getting to and from School

If your child/ren are walking/biking/scootering to or from school can you please go over with them how to do this safety. Below are some general tips.

How to stay safe when walking

Use pedestrian crossings or cross at traffic signals.
Stop and check at every driveway.
Walk on the footpath, close to the houses and away from the road.
Hold hands if walking with a young child near roads or in carparks.

Crossing the road, when there’s no pedestrian crossing

be patient and cross the road only when it’s safe to do so (it takes time for a vehicle to stop)
then use the kerb drill:

Stop one step back from the kerb.
Look and listen for traffic coming from all directions.
If there is traffic coming, wait until it has passed and then look and listen for traffic again.
If there is no traffic coming, walk quickly straight across the road.
While crossing, look and listen for traffic, wherever it may come from.

When using a pedestrian crossing

Use official crossings where possible – in fact, if you’re within 20 metres of a pedestrian crossing, the law requires you to use it.
Check that approaching vehicles have seen you and can stop before you step out.
Cross as quickly as you are able.
For crossings with signals, only cross when the green person or message shows.

School Donations

Our school donation is $200 per child. This money was used to pay for a large number of additional curriculum resources, subsidise a number of school wide activities such as swimming, production, art, dance and drama resources, sporting functions, developmental material and related photocopying and other essential resources. No child was excluded from using these resources but it does seem that quite a number of families relied on the goodwill of others to support their child.

Each term the Board puts all the names of those donations that have been made into a draw to give one child the chance to have their fees paid for the following term. The families that have received these in the past have been very grateful. We understand that a donation is voluntary and that it can be at times very difficult to manage. Mrs Reid in the office, is very happy to discuss possible arrangements for meeting this cost for your child. Each small contribution adds up across the course of time and helps to enhance the substance of this school.

A huge thank you to all those families who paid their donation last year.

Newsletters

Newsletters will be sent home each Wednesday. We will be emailing newsletters to each family. If your email address has changed from last year please send us your new email address so we can update our records.

2025 Term Dates

Term	Start	Finish
Term 1		Friday 112 April
Term 2	Monday 28 April	Friday 27 June
Term 3	Monday 14 July	Friday 19 September
Term 4	Monday 6 October	Friday 19 December

Pick Up and Drop off Students

Scheduled Appointments

If you have a scheduled appointment for your child during school hours please follow these instructions:

Email the teacher (all teachers emails are on the School Website) before 8.30am with the time you will be collecting your child.
You will pick up your child from the stop, drop, go area.
Please stay in your car and call or text this number 0273369199 telling us you are at school.
We will send your child to you, please stay in your car.
Please call or text this number 0273369199 telling us that you have your child.

Early Pick Up

If you need to pick your child up from school before 3.00pm please follow these instructions:

Email the office what time you need to pick up your child. office@silverdaleprimary.school.nz
You will pick up your child from the stop, drop, go area.
Please stay in your car and call or text this number 0273369199 telling us you are at school.
We will send your child to you, please stay in your car.
Please call or text this number 0273369199 telling us that you have your child.

Late Drop Off

If you are dropping your child to school late, please do not get out of your car just send your child to their classroom, they do not need to go to the office.

Cameron Lockie

Tumuāki/Principal

Hat orders via Kindo

The office runs a report at 9.30am each morning for hat orders. These are then labelled for the child and given to the teacher to hand out. Hats can also be ordered directly with the uniform shop.