12 February, 2009

 

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

 

Welcome to our new year. I am delighted with the way children have come to schools happy and enthusiastic about starting the year. We have 449 pupils. A special welcome to all of our new families. I hope you enjoy being part of the Central Normal Family. Our new pupils are Edith, Gina, Keziah, Tylah, Tryton, De-Shawn, Lyric, Kailesha, Gemeni, Tamara, Nathaniel, Elise, Keaton, Shae, Hayley, Denzelle, Tanya, Justyce, Lourdes, Joell, Tanika, Ashlee, Kaitlyn, Elisabeth, Felix, Seamus, Ngarimu, Darndre-Judgement, Sandra, Kapereira, Potiki, Shanaia, Sarrason, Antonia, Javahn and Joely.

 

We have also welcomed several new staff this year Cara Ferrar, Rahera Filiata, Nadell Karatea-Kokiri (returning), Margaret Whyte (returning short term) Selina McKenna, Michelle Thomas, and Heather Taylor (Fixed Term RT Lit when Debbie Trail is on study leave).

 

There is a lot of news.  We hope you are able to take time to read it.

 

Virtue of the month – Respect - Whakaute

Is caring about the rights of others.  It is honouring yourself and other.  It is treating others with courtesy.

 

 

 

Meet the Teachers We would love you to join us this Wednesday at school so that your child can introduce you to their teacher.

       Date: Wednesday 18 February

          Time: 5.30 – 7.00 p.m.

       Place: The courtyard areas outside the

                   staffroom and Room 11

Bring a picnic tea or buy from our sausage sizzle.  Games will be set up on the field to occupy the children.

Note: This is not a time for indepth discussion about your child – it is an  opportunity to begin the important partnership between home and school, and to meet the staff and other families in the community within a casual setting.

 

 

Board of Trustees: I would like to acknowledge the wonderful Board of Trustees we have governing our school. I have met with them twice now and appreciate their absolute commitment to our school and children. Their next meeting is Thursday 26 February @ 7.30pm.

 

Builders on Site – We are excited that our next building project is starting today.  Alterations in the Room 19-22 area are beginning and we ask parents to reinforce our message to the children  about safety when in the area.  Please keep away if at all possible.

 

Stationery: A special thank you to everyone who has already purchased their child’s books. We know that there are big financial demands on people at this time of the year. Thank you for preparing your child so well to start their year.

 

Permission to Attend Slips:  These bright green slips came home last week for a parent signature.  This signature allows our staff to take your child out of the school for a short visit locally i.e. supermarket, public library, Te Manawa.  Within the city boundary.  Please return the slip to the class teacher urgently!

 

Sunhats: It is great to see nearly all of our children wearing the Central Normal sunhat. These are so important at this time of the year and we expect all children to have a school hat.

 

Camps: Our year 5&6 children are getting excited about their camps later in the term.

Please support us with paying camp fees as soon as you are able.

 

Information Booklet: We have included with this newsletter a copy of our “Information for Parents Booklet”. We thought as it is the start of a new year it would be good for all parents to have a copy. We hope this is useful for you. Please KEEP IT to refer to as the holidays and school times are within the booklet.

 

Can you Help Us:  We are considering re-starting the American Hot dog lunches on Wednesdays and Fridays.  If you are able to commit to an hour each Wednesday or Friday to assist with cooking etc please leave your name at the school office.

 

Sewing names on Sports uniforms:  We would love to hear from you if you have a sewing machine and are able to assist with sewing school name tags onto sports uniforms.  Again please leave you name at the school office if you are able to assist us.

 

Staff List:

Principal: Shona Oliver                          Deputy Principal:  Catherine Cameron

AP Special Education Kerry Howard                Acting AP:  Jo Scott

 

Matanginui:

Room 9            Tracye Katon                           Room 10          Leone Cooper (team leader)

Room 11          Maryanne Mamone                  Room 12          Cara Ferrar

Room 4            Lizzie Ash & Nerolee Devery

 

Maharahara  

Room 6            Shelley Mitchell                        Room 5            Jo Scott  (team leader) & Shona Eccles

Room 7            Glenys Shore                            Room 8            Lesley Blackmore

 

Wharite

Room 19          Hilary Duncan                           Room 20          Emma-Rose Lummus

Room 21          Melissa Van Echten                  Room 22          Elizabeth Lawn

Room 1            Matt McKenna             Room 2            Lois Cheer

Room 3            Catherine Pallesen (team leader)                      

 

Te Arawaru

Room 13          Jonella Smith                            Room 14          Rahera Filiata

Room 15          Nadell Karatea Kokiri              Room 16          Margaret Whyte

Room 17          Shelley Black (team leader)       Room 18          Mihi Williams

 

We also have a number of teaching staff not in classrooms and a wonderful team of support staff who are valued by everyone.

elp

 

Finally  a little about me. I have spent the last 11 years as Principal of Ashhurst School. It is a school of 400 pupils which caters for year 1-8 pupils. Prior to that I was principal of Linton Camp School. It now feels like I am coming home as I was Deputy Principal here at Central Normal before I became a Principal. Also my grandparents lived in Beresford Street and both my parents attended this school. So this is a very special school for me.  I look forward to meeting many of you throughout the year and developing a strong partnership so that together we can provide the best learning opportunities for our children.

 

 

Shona Oliver

Principal