Dear Parents & Caregivers                                                                   7.05.09

 

I know it is only a week since our last newsletter but there seems to be so much to tell you again.

 

New Zealand Sign Language Week: This week is New Zealand Sign Language Week. This is the third official language in our New Zealand curriculum along with English and te reo. Many of our children have been signing their names this week. You might like to try yours with them.

 

 

Black Plastic Bags: What a wonderful response we have had from you this week with our black plastic bags! I am sure many of your cupboards must be quite empty! Thank you for your support with this project. The last day for black bags is tomorrow (Friday).

 

 Thank you PTA

This week our PTA ( Parent & Teachers Association) held it’s Annual meeting. We would like to take this opportunity to thank this wonderful group of people for all that they do for our school and children. Over the last year the PTA has raised funds to provide many extras including equipment and buses to events for us. Some of these include sandpit toys, bark for our playground, new sports shirts, and end of year trip subsidies.

 

Congratulations to these people for being elected to the following positions…

                        Chairperson      Margot Mitchell

                        Secretary          Elizabeth Dalzell

                        Treasurer          Liz Laskey

 

We look forward to another great year with the PTA.

 

Pie Orders:

Remember the blue order forms that we sent out last week?  Please obtain as many orders as you are able from friends and extended family to make this a great fundraiser for the P.T.A. All orders with payment need to be in to the school office by Tuesday 13th May.

 

A reminder – Road Safety

School Gateways: Both the Board of Trustees and PTA are very concerned that a child is going to get hurt at our gateways. We ask that you respect child safety by not dropping off children or arking on the yellow lines and in gateways and NOT driving into the grounds to pick children up. We would hate it to be your child that got hurt.

 

Chicken pox/ illness:  We have a child in the school who has been through treatment for a serious illness.  It is important that we know if any child in the school has chicken pox. Please make sure you phone the school to notify us and keep your child home for a week or until all sores are completely dry.

As there is a lot of talk on the news about flu and illnesses and with the onset of winter we would like to remind parents that the most important thing we can do to protect ourselves is regular and effective hand washing.  When coughing or sneezing cover your mouth and nose with a tissue.  Afterwards promptly dispose of the tissue and wash your hands.  Keep your hands away from your mouth nose, eyes and ears as mucous membranes can let the virus into your body through your airways or eyes.

Public Health Dr Shireen visit  Remember our Public Health Nurse and Doctor will be in the school Thursday 21st May.  This is a free service.  Please ring the school office if you would like the Dr and Nurse to see your child, and we will give you an appointment time.

 

B4 School Catchups (New Entrant Health Checks)

A team of Public Health Nurses will be in the school on 27th May to carry out the checks on children who have not had a health check before they started school.  Letters will be sent to parents who will be invited to attend the clinic.

 

Tidy Hair: We are asking parents to support us by encouraging your children to arrive at school with their hair tidy and if it is long to be away from their face. We ask this for two reasons, for both safety  (so it does not get caught in anything eg during sport and PE) and for health reasons. Unfortunately like most schools in New Zealand we from time to time have a problem with head lice. These little critters can often choose the cleanest hair to live in!  So to help discourage them by tying your child’s hair back may well help.

 

Head Lice

We have a supply of shampoo, gel, and spray at the office if you need to treat your child for headlice.

 

Kids for Kids…many of our children are busy practising for the Suzanne Prentice concert to be held in the Regent on June 11. We know they will enjoy this special event. During the day there will be a rehearsal.

 

Student Voice: Congratulations to our student council. This group were introduced at assembly this week and given their badges. We know they will come up with great ideas this year to help make our school exciting for everyone.

 

Hotdog/Pie Lunches

We will continue with the lunches on a Wednesdays.  Children can pick up a yellow order form from the office and place it in the box on Mondays for the following Wednesday each week.  A special thank you to the two parents who come in each week to prepare the lunches.

 

Safe and Happy: Our special words that everyone knows at Central Normal are safe and happy. We expect everyone who comes into our school to feel safe and happy. This includes adults, visitors and of course our children. We encourage children to tell us if someone is not making them feel this way. We really want them to tell us the day something happens. If we know straight away then we can fix it quickly. We would also like to remind parents that if you have a concern about another child not making your child happy come and talk to us. Please do not try and sort it out with another child yourself.