THIS WEEK’S MEMORY VERSE
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Principles Notice
Tena koutou whanau ma – warm greeting to everyone
Welcome back to the final term for 2025. We trust that you have all had the opportunity to spend quality time with whanau and friends over the break. Back to the reality of school for our students, staff and whanau means a refocus back into the demands of school-life for the next nine weeks.
I love the book of Ecclesiastes which tells us that there is a season for everything and that in whatever we do we should do it wholeheartedly and with joy, for the things that God has given us to do are a gift to be enjoyed (Chapter 9). This is a truth that we can grab hold of and bring into our daily lives – we can choose to embrace and enjoy what is before us. Sometimes the situations we find ourselves in are difficult or even stormy and you may say, “How can I enjoy this situation that I am in?” The answer is that our joy is in our unity with Jesus – remember when the disciples were with him in the storm? Joy isn’t something that we produce on our own – it is an outcome of being in the will and purpose of God. He produces the fruit through His Spirit in us and this includes joy (Galatians 5).
A major focus this term is improving our attendance outcomes. This is going to need a BIG push to get the next level of improvement. Let’s encourage one another to push through this term and to enjoy the hard work and the great rewards that it produces.
Attendance
Our attendance stats to the end of the term showed an overall attendance rate of 82%. For your information I have included some of the reporting requirements (to the Ministry of Education) NZ schools have.
- We are required to report on ethnicity, gender and year level outcomes.
- We are required to report chronically absent stats.
- We have a national target of 90% attendance for every student.
This is chart that shows a small part of the data we work with each month – as you can see there are 53 students whose attendance is 90% or above and meeting the MOE target. We unfortunately have a significant number of students whose absences are considered to be ‘chronic’.
Schools have been instructed to take a more deliberate approach to addressing absences which means we need to work differently to address the issue. The following is a brief summary of the guidance we have received…
| For students regularly attending:
(Less than 5 days absent/term) |
Stay in regular contact with parents about their child’s attendance.
Follow up to find out the reason when they aren’t at school. |
| For students who have some absences:
(6 to 10 days absent/term) |
Work with parents to identify any barriers to attendance
Provide support to help students catch up and stay on track. |
| For students with many absences:
(11 to 15 days absent/term) |
Work with parents to develop a plan to support their attendance and learning
Seek support of the Attendance Service or other agencies to remove barriers to attendance |
| For students who are frequently absent
(more than 15 days absent/term) |
Work with parents to implement the plan to support their attendance and learning.
Refer to the Attendance Service or other agencies to support their return to school. |
| For students whose attendance remains frequent and unresolved: | Notify ENROL – NEN Referral (unenroll student). |
The following are the processes we have in our school for when a student is absent…
Expectations
| Who | What |
| Parents/Caregivers | When students are absent, parents will contact the school to inform of the absence (reason and duration) |
| Office staff | Receive notification from parents and record on KAMAR rolls
Review attendance daily at the end of Form Time and contact parents of any students absent for unknown reasons, and record on KAMAR rolls. |
| Form/Primary Teachers | Take the roll first thing in the morning.
Review the attendance register for your class and remove “?” codes on Fridays. |
| Subject teachers | Take the roll at the beginning of each lesson. Follow-up any “?” codes. |
| Department heads | Review Primary, Middle and Secondary attendance to check rolls are complete. Look for patterns.
Refer to SENCO if SENCO support is needed e.g. to coordinate agency support. SENCO refer to Principal if initial contact does not result in improved attendance. |
| SENCO | As requested, coordinate support needed to facilitate regular attendance. |
| Principal | Upon referral, communicate formally with parents/caregivers, using Rock-On letter templates.
Notify ASA if absences exceed 10 days in the term. NEN for student with 20 days consecutive absence or earlier repeating pattern exists |
As you can see, we really rely on parents and whanau to notify us of any absences quickly, and we thank all of you who are doing that.
FYI, the acronyms are explained as follows…
SENCO = Special Education Needs Coordinator (at our school this is Bev Baines).
ASA is the Ministry of Education Attendance service
NEN is a Non-Enrolment Notification made to the Ministry of Education.
We can do this – He waka eke noa
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Nga mihi mahana
David Rogers
PRINCIPAL
KEY DATES:
IMPORTANT SCHOOL DATES
| PRIMARY | |
| Term 4 | |
| Term 4 | |
| SECONDARY | |
| Term 4 | |
| Term 4 | |
| WHOLE SCHOOL | |
| Term 4 | |
| Term 4 | |
SCHOOL TERMS
| Term 1 | Start | Tuesday 28th January 2025 |
| End | Friday 11th April 2025 | |
| Term 2 | Start | Monday 28th April 2025 |
| End | Thursday 26th June 2025 | |
| Term 3 | Start | Monday 14th July 2025 |
| End | Friday 19th September 2025 | |
| Term 4 | Start | Monday 6th October 2025 |
| End |
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
| Term 4 | Labour Weekend ( School closed on this day) | Monday 27th October 2025 |
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Meeting Dates:
| Term 1 | Tuesday 18th 2025 |
Minutes:
TEACHERS NOTICES
Business Trip
STUDENT NOTICES
FOR PARENTS AND WHANAU
Sports Uniforms
Kia ora whanau, This is a reminder for parents who’s children have any sports uniform at home, could you please get your child to return these back to school as soon as they can please. Nga mihi
Whaea Nelly.
School Board Parent By- Elections Notice
Nominations are open for the election of 1 parent representatives to the school board.
All eligible voters will receive a nomination form. Use this form to nominate yourself or someone in your community. You will also receive a nomination cover letter calling for nominations. Information on who is not eligible to be a board member is provided with this notice, and the nomination form.
If you need more nomination forms, contact the school office.
Nominations close at noon on Wednesday 19th September 2025. You may provide a signed candidate statement and photograph with your nomination.
The electoral roll is held at the school and can be viewed during normal school hours.
As nominations are received, there will be a list of candidates’ names kept at the school up until election day, which you can view.
Voting closes at 4pm on Wednesday 12th November 2025.
Signed Joni Erueti
Returning Officer
PARENT BOARD ELECTIONS
YOUTH 412
Celebration Youth 412. Youth event for those aged 12 and over at the Celebration Centre (school hall) on Friday at 7:00 pm. Contact Josiah Shaw 021 022 42000 or Brian Heihei 022 198 1757.
Mike Shaw
CEO Celebration Trust
PO Box 235 – Kaikohe
Phone +64 9 405 3996
Cell +64 21 842 302
WHAT ARE ATTENDANCE DUES?
The Ministry of Education does not fund building related costs at our School. Attendance Dues are only used to pay for building related costs. They can not be used for any other purposes. Paying Attendance Dues is a condition of enrolment for all students attending our School. Attendance Dues are compulsory – there is a legal requirement for parents and caregivers to pay Attendance Dues under the Education and Training Act 2020. They are not a donation.
Mike Shaw
CEO Celebration Trust
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Lunch For The Week
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