Kia ora Koutou, haere mai, a very warm welcome back to school to Term 4, 2020!!

Welcome to our new families and new children that have joined us this week.

We have 6 new entrants, Matilda Cochran, Nikita Gorshkov, Milyn McCulluch, Elle Olivier, Thomas Pengelly and Ewan Scott.  We also welcome Taylor Mason, Year 5 and George Beaumont, Year 4 and Oliver Beaumont, Year 6 from England – yes they had two weeks in quarantine and are very happy to be out of the hotel and enjoying New Zealand life.

It is wonderful to have you all return under Level 1, this means for us all we can have our end of year events starting with Ag Day and the Country Fair to an overnight camp for the Year 7 & 8’s, EOTC for two days for the Tui team, athletics, kapa haka performances and a conversation about how we are doing in the area of Maori achievement and of course, ending the year with Christmas in the Country and Year 8 Graduation.  In Level 1 we ask that every time you come in you do swipe the COVID-19 app and if in for any length of time, please sign in at the office.

There is still good regular use of hand sanitiser in all classes and table surfaces being regularly cleaned and we still ask you to be vigilant in keeping children home if they are unwell as we will too as a staff (stay home if we are sick). We have certainly seen a huge difference this year in the number of colds and bugs hanging around, it has made a huge difference thank you everyone for doing your bit!!

THIS WEEK 

Pink Shirt Day 2020 will be held on Friday 16th October

Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a peer was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. In Aotearoa, Pink Shirt Day works to create schools, workplaces, communities and whānau where everyone feels safe, valued and respected. This October people across Aotearoa will come together to take action against bullying and fundraise to support the kaupapa.  We hope you’ll join us as we Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora – Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying! We have registered and will join in by wearing pink on Friday morning.

It is all go for Young Famer on Friday 16th October and Ag Day and Country Fair next week (Friday 23rd October) –  We are thrilled we can all go ahead with our biggest day of the year.  It may not be as big as usual due to the constraints that have been put upon us, but the FOWS team led by Kate Doherty and Nikki Brown, plus staff members Wendy Taylor, Kylie Allen and Shelley Ross all need a huge thank you.  They have been driving all the planning, the preparation, and organisation!!

So here is all the main information;

Please remember all children are expected to either have an animal that is a lamb, calf, goat kid, a chicken or a pet egg to show.   So if you are not organised, please get the egg and build it a special habitat. There will be a class prize this year of a pizza party for the highest percentage of participation.

No doubt by now you are well aware that Wainui School’s annual Ag Day and Country Fair will be held on Friday 23rd October 2020. Your friendly Friends of Wainui School (FOWS) team, along with the school have put together this bundle of information, so that all our new and old families have an idea of what the day entails.

The dress code for the day is “Country” so come along in your country clothes and you may win a spot prize!

• Timetable for the Day
• 7:30 am Grab a breakfast of bacon and egg butties and coffee.

• 7:30am – 9.00am Classrooms open for early viewing. 7:45 am-8.45 am Registration for all animals (including chickens)

• 9:00 am Roll call for all school children (on turf) and market stalls open

• 9:15 am Animal judging begins

• 9:00 am Roll call for all school children without animals (on turf)

• 11:00am-2.30pm Classrooms open for second viewing

• 11:30 am Animal judging concludes

• 11:45 am Animal prizegiving and Grand Parade of animals

LUNCH

• 12:30 pm Young Farmers Final

• 2:00 pm All stalls close

• 2:30 pm Roll call all school children (in their classroom) and collect art

• 3:0opm-2.55 pm Clean up and end of the school day

Wainui School’s Ag Day and Country Fair is officially a school day, though it is much more fun than your average school day! Children without an animal or parents / caregivers attending our Ag Day and Country Fair will be supervised by the teachers and engaged in planned activities. Throughout the day there will be periodic roll calls. These roll calls will be held at 9.00 am, 11.00 am and 2.30 pm.  If you’re taking your child home earlier than the usual 2.55 pm end of school time, you will need to tell your child’s teacher and sign your child out. The sign-out book will be located at the ticket booth. Buses will run as normal at the beginning and end of the day.

Layout for the Day

The layout for the day is set out below. Please note that the layout may change based on the weather on the day.

FIELD – The grass field will be used for animal showing and parking for trailers. At the far end of the field by the senior playground will be the ticket booth, Eftpos, first aid station and the raffles. The Young Farmers Final will also be held on the field in the afternoon. Also on the field there will be a tractor supplied by the team at Kiwi Bale – where you can stop and have your photo taken in your country outfits.

UNDER THE HALL – The food (bacon and egg butties, nachos, sausage sizzle, juices, ice cream cones, candy floss, and cake stall) and drinks (hot drinks, water and sparkling drinks) will be under the hall at the end closest to the carpark. The chickens will be under the hall too.

IN THE HALL – The market stalls will be in the hall. This will include both outside vendors and our Wainui school kids who are exploring their entrepreneurial skills by being stallholders. We have attached the registration forms for both the adults and kids’ stalls, should you wish to have a stall. See attached form  – Ag Day Information & Registration Forms 2020

THE COURTS – This will be where the 9.00am and 11.00 am roll calls take place.

TOP CONCRETE AREA – In this area there will be a games alley where the kids can try their hand at 10 different games. When they have finished the game, they will be given a number that they can take to the Harcourts Cooper & Co prize tent and they will be able to exchange it for a prize. This year as well as brand new prizes, we will also have a table of quality preloved toys, which the children can choose from instead of a new toy. This is our little way of reducing, reusing and recycling.

GRASS AREA BESIDES KITCHEN – There will be a coconut shy (thanks to Fruit World, Silverdale) and a bouncy castle (thanks SKIDS) on the grass.

GRASS AREA IN FRONT OF RIMU – There will be an inflatable obstacle course (thanks Simone du Bernard from Harcourts Cooper & Co).

CLASSROOMS – The classrooms are full of all of your children’s artwork and creations that they have made especially for Ag Day. The classrooms will be open from 7.30am – 9.00am and then from 11.00am – 2.30pm. There will also be a roll call at 2.30pm in the classroom for all school children and this will also be an opportunity for everyone to collect and take home their Ag Day art. The pet eggs will be on display, but the place will be dependent on the weather, so we will let you know where they are to be displayed on the day.

TICKETS – This event will use tickets. This means that each stall (except for all of the market stalls) will only take tickets. The ticket booth will be by the food and drink stalls and this will also have eftpos available (though there is no cash out facility available). One ticket equals $1.

ANIMALS – (Calves, Lambs, Kids and Chickens) – On Ag Day and Country Fair morning, priority parking will be given to all those with animals. Please park on Little Bush road, down by the field. When you arrive make your way straight to the registration desk which will be on the field by the hall. When you register you will be given a number. The registration desk is open from 7.45am – 8.45am.

All children, even those with animals will need to attend the first roll call at 9.00am on the turf, so please make sure you have someone to hold your animal or somewhere to tie them up if you have an animal.

Judging will start at 9.15am for all animals. We ask that all parents stay behind the white tape, as part of having an animal is that the child can control them themselves. Do, however feel free to bring your children food and drinks, just make sure the animals don’t eat them!

Our judges are local farmers and vets (thanks Lisa from the Lifestyle Vet), who regularly judges animals and they are volunteering their time for our day, so if you have a chance, please thank them for doing this.

Depending on the number of registrations received, there will be one goat and one calf ring (but judging will be for Junior handlers, Years 0-4 and Senior handlers, Years 5-8.). For the lambs there will be 3 rings broken into Years 0-2, Years 3-5 and Years 6-8.  At the conclusion of the judging, the judges will deliberate to find a Supreme Champion for each of the animals and the winners will be presented with an award by our Principal Sponsor, Simone du Bernard from Harcourts Cooper & Co. The children will walk around the field with their animals and their ribbons for the Grand Parade. After this has concluded it will be the official lunchtime.

Please find attached the registration form for the animals. It you haven’t already registered please do so immediately. The rules for animals for Ag Day can be found in the office and on our school website.

Pet Eggs – This year we are continuing the “My Pet Egg” activity for those children who do not have a calf, lamb, kid or chicken to show. The expectation is that every child at Wainui School has the opportunity to “rear” something.

The children need to choose an egg from home and create their egg character / home / habitat and then bring it to school on Ag Day and Country Fair. On the Ag Day and Country Fair morning, the pet eggs will be displayed and judged and rosettes will be presented to the best ones.  The pet egg registration form is included in the Ag Day and Information Registration Form (attached above).

CLASSROOM ART DISPLAYS – This year the classrooms will be open for viewing in two blocks:

• 7.30am-9.00am
• 11.00am-2.30pm

We ask that after 2.30pm you collect your Ag Day displays and take then home. This is especially important, as it is a long weekend and we do not want anything perishable sitting in the classrooms over this time. Please do not remove any items before 2.30 pm, to give everyone a chance to see your amazing work.

Please find the information about what each class will be making for Ag Day and Country Fair in the attached Ag Day and Information Registration Form (attached above) If you have any questions please let your teacher know.

DONATIONS – Of course, this day cannot happen without a lot of donations of time and products from our community. Simone du Bernard from Harcourts Cooper & Co, has once again come on board as our Principal Sponsor for this event, so please thank her if you see her.

Over the last little while, we have also been asking for weekly donations of items that we can use for prizes, raffles, lolly bags etc. Please find in the attached Ag Day and Information Registration Form the donations list, for those of you that haven’t already donated. Any donations are gratefully appreciated!

Also, on the Monday before Ag Day and Country Fair (19th October), each family will be given a cake box to take home and return filled on Ag Day and Country Fair morning to the cake stall (under the hall). This year we’re asking everybody to preferably fill their box with a whole cake (as people love buying these for the long weekend) – but any homemade goodies are gratefully accepted!

VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME – Each year we ask each class to find between 5-10 volunteers to man a stall for an hour on Ag Day and Country Fair. This year we’re trailing using the School Interviews system to allow this to be done online. Don’t worry full instructions on how to run each game will be set out at each game and a FOWS member will be coming around to check whether you need any help.

Manning a stall not only helps out on the day, but is a great way to meet other parents. Of course, if you can do more than 1 hour, we would really appreciate that too. Don’t forget that if your child has an animal and you want to watch them, don’t roster yourself on before 12.00pm. The timing for each volunteer hour is as follows:

• 9.00am – 10.00am
• 10.00am – 11.00am
• 11.00am – 12.00pm
• 12.00pm – 1.00pm
• 1.00pm – 2.00pm

Here are the instructions for booking your volunteer slot online:

• To book your Ag Day Volunteering – click on https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and enter the Event Code: de3vq
• Step 1:Enter your email address, parents full name and mobile number. Click the “Go” button.
• Step 2:Select your child’s classroom under the first dropdown box and select the stall stated under the second dropdown box. Click the “Go” button.
• Step 3:Choose the time/s you would like to volunteer for by clicking on a time slot that suits you. Missing checkboxes mean that the time has already been booked by someone else. Click the “Go” button.
• You have the option to print out a copy of the time/s you have booked, a confirmation will also be emailed to you. You can view, change or cancel your booking by using the link in the email confirmation.

Here is the stall allocation for each classroom:

Rata                                       Duck Fishing                1 or 2 parents

Karaka                                   Ball in a Bucket           1 or 2 parents

Miro                                       Hoopla                          1 or 2 parents

Manuka                                 Fish Bowl Toss            1 or 2 parents

Puriri                                     Tin Can                                 2 parents

Puriri Rua                             Splat the Rat                1 or 2 parents

Kohekohe                              Lucky Dip                    1 or 2 parents

Pukatea                                  Prize Tent                            2 parents

Kowhai                                   Cake Stall                            2 parents

Totara                                     Chucko Choc               1 or 2 parents

Matai                                      Drinks/Juicies                    2 parents

Rimu                                        Nerf/Target                       2 parents

Kahikatea                                Assault Course                 2 parents

Kauri                                        Coconut Shy                     2 parents

Please note due to the number of volunteers that we get, we may have to juggle around stalls and volunteers, so please don’t be offended if we ask to move you to another stall.  If you do not have access to the internet please email fows@wainui.school.nz and we can add you to the roster.

GENERAL INFO – There is also an Ag Day and Country Fair booklet which sets out all of the other bits and pieces of information about our Ag Day and Country Fair. This booklet was sent home with your eldest child on the last day of Term 3. However, it is also available on our website and you can pick up another one from the office if it has been misplaced.  We have tried to cover off as many things as we can think of, but if we have left anything out please let us know by contacting fows@wainui.school.nz.

COMING UP

Team Newsletters – These will go home online this week and they contain details of all the important dates and the activities your children will be involved in, so please ensure you have seen these.

FINALLY  

Thank you for reading this huge amount of information about Ag Day and the Country Fair!!  Thank you to Nikki Brown for getting this all together.  I always say every year “if there is one day you take off work this year let it be Ag Day” (I know with Covid-19 this is even harder, but we would love you to join us to have some fun).

Teachers Term 4 2020

The Teaching Staff – We had a great day in the holidays altogether, planning, reflecting and reviewing the very positive ERO report we received earlier in the year.

Ka kite ano,

Gillian Bray

FOR YOUR CALENDAR

• Wednesday 14th October – FOWS Meeting 7.00pm in the staffroom
• Friday 16th October – Pink Shirt Day
• Tuesday 20th October – BOT Meeting – 6.30pm in the staffroom
• Friday 23rd October – Ag Day
• Monday 26th October – Labour Day – No School
• Friday 30th October – Team Assembly – Years 1-4 – 9.15am
• Friday 30th October – School Disco
• Friday 6th November – Group Day
• Friday 6th November – Whole School Assembly – 2.00pm
• Friday 13th November – Year 7 / 8 Interschool Athletics
• Tuesday 17th November – BOT Meeting – 6.30pm in the staffroom
• Wednesday 18th November – FOWS Meeting 7.00pm in the staffroom
• Tuesday 24th November – Years 5 / 6 Interschool Athletics
• Thursday 3rd December – Christmas in the Country
• Monday 7th December – Graduation for Year 8’s
• Tuesday 8th December – BOT Meeting – 6.30pm in the staffroom
• Wednesday 9th December – Music Performance – 9.15am
• Wednesday 9th December – Helpers Morning Tea – 10.00am
• Friday 11th December – Prizegiving
• Monday 14th December – Last day of Term 4

OTHER

Term 4 Basketball –  Are you interested in playing basketball this term? We’d love to have you in a Wainui School team!

CERTIFICATES

At the last assembly, the following students received certificates for “Reflective”.

• • •  Rata: Bill Coghlan, Nyana Santos, Helena Mlody (Relational).
    •  Karaka: Alfie Keane, Emma-Rose Waldrom, Lily Fincham (Resilience).
    •  Manuka: Kyla Erasmus, Donal Lim, Liam Doherty (Respect).
    •  Miro: Vincent Bryant, Jack Huggins, Jackson Magan (Resilience).
    •  Puriri: Georgina Coupe, Liam Ingleton, Camryn Colquhoun (Resourceful).
    •  Puriri Rua: Eden-Rose Dixon, Sophie Elliott, George Jarvie (Resilience).
    •  Pukatea: Eden Allen, Lucian Allen, Michaela Van Den Bos (Resilience).
    •  Kohekohe: Samara Allen, Noah Ouzoun, Scott Tucker (Reflective).
    •  Kowhai: Haelee Coglan, Emily Gray, Kian McMillan Mayes.
    •  Totara: Ava Elliott, Quinn Richardson, Kelly McMillan Mayes (Respect & Relational).
    •  Matai: Zahara Patterson, Marli van Dyk, Logan McDermid-Venter (Resilience).
    •  Rimu: Noah Murtagh, Alex Tucker, Oscar Price (Reflective).
    •  Kahikatea: Bella Browne Hale, Lucus Bartrom, Pearle-Lake Cameron (Relational) and Cody Climo (Reflective).
    •  Kauri: Gabe Brewin-Brown, Kayla Paladin, Boston Jones (Resilience).

Our amazing Hellyer Cup Winners were – Chloe Epp (Rata), Franklin Jarvie (Karaka), Mikaela Scott (Manuka), Kenzie Banton (Miro), Jake Robertson (Puriri), Viviana Hellyer (Puriri Rua), Travis Dunning (Pukatea), Sterling Purdie (Kowhai), Sunny Odedra (Totara), Violet Clayton (Matai), Harry Browne Hale (Rimu), Isabella Green (Kahikatea), Phoebe Walker (Kahikatea) and Mia Thomson (Kauri).

COMMUNITY

Brain Play – coding, robotics, and 3d printing classes. After-school, weekend, and holiday courses. Free trials available. Ages 5+. Email us for more information on info@brainplay.co.nz or see brainplay.co.nz.