Te iwi tahi tatou - We are one family.
Tēnā koutou, Konnichiwa, As-salāmu 'alaykum, Hola,
PRINCIPAL'S PĀNUI
4 April 2023
Dear Parents & Whānau,
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who came to our Student-Led Conferences last week. It was great to see so many of our school whānau. Just a reminder that you are welcome to organise a time with your child's homeroom teacher at any stage if you have particular things you'd like to discuss.
Thank you to the parents who sent me feedback about the evening and to those who came in to speak with me directly. Your feedback helps us to improve our processes.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our school whānau for your understanding of the unusual number of Teacher Only Days that we've had this term and at the start of Term 2.
The Ministry of Education is currently running the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh programme, which is designed to ensure that schools and communities are better supported to create rich and responsive learning that helps every ākonga realise their goals and aspirations. Central to the refresh is ensuring that the curriculum gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, is inclusive, clear about the learning that matters, and easy to use.
The Teacher Only Days this term have focused on giving our staff dedicated time to understand, prepare and engage with the changes to the curriculum.
There will be three more Teacher Only Days this year:
- Thursday 6 April (THIS WEEK)
- Monday 24 April (between the holidays and Anzac day)
- and another date yet to be determined by MoE in Term 3 or 4.
We appreciate this has been a child-care juggle for some families, and I thank you for your understanding.
Have a safe and relaxing break over the holidays and we look forward to seeing you refreshed and ready for Term 2 on Wednesday 26 April!
Nga mihi,
Toby Stokes
Principal
Don't forget to check out the school's Facebook Page which has the latest updates about what is going on at school.
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Dates for Term 1
- 5 April - Kids Lit Quiz @ Wellesley College
- 5 April (Wednesday) - Last day of school for Term 1 for STUDENTS
- 6 April - Teacher Only Day (school closed)
- 6 April - 25 April inclusive - School holidays (incl Easter, Teacher Only Days & Anzac Day)
- 24 April - Teacher Only Day (school closed)
- 25 April - Anzac Day (school closed)
- 26 April (Wednesday) - First day of Term 2
- 1 May - SWIS Cross Country @ Macalister Park
- 8 May - School Board Meeting
- 24 May - Tough Guy & Gal Challenge
- 5 June - King's Birthday Monday (school closed)
- 12 June - School Board Meeting
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School Noticeboard
Lost property
The SWIS uniform and ipod device found at Island Bay Beach a few weeks ago has still not been claimed. Please contact Toby if this belongs to your child.
Enrolment Consultation
The Ministry of Education has identified that there is a need to develop a new enrolment scheme for South Wellington Intermediate to help manage growth in the region. After consultation with the school’s board, we have developed a proposed enrolment scheme for the school under section 72 of the Education and Training Act 2020.
As part of this process, we are consulting with the school’s communities and with people living in the area for which the school is a reasonably convenient school. The enrolment scheme could affect which school a student will be entitled to enrol in.
On Monday 3 April 2023, we opened the consultation phase of the process. Please follow this link for further information and links to maps and how to feedback.
South Wellington Intermediate Proposed Enrolment Scheme - Ministry of Education Consultation Hub - Citizen Space
If you have any feedback on this proposed scheme that it would like us to consider before the scheme is finalised, please provide it to network.lowerhutt@education.govt.nz by the 5 May 2023.
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NZ AIMS Games 2-8 Sept
We are very excited to offer the opportunity to attend this prestigious sporting event in Term 3.
SWIS will support registrations for both individual and team competitions, and will also send staff to attend this event.
To date, we have had interest from parents in supporting SWIS football, netball, and hip hop dance teams, and also some individual students representing SWIS in sailing and gymnastics.
SWIS will support whānau with fundraising opportunities next term, but it is important to note that parents will need to be able to self-fund outstanding costs.
In Term 2, we will hold open trials for the team events, as we want to ensure all children who are keen to participate, can do so.
If you have any questions, please contact Toby Stokes at principal@swis.school.nz.
Alternatively, if you want to register a team or an individual, please contact Chris Hickey (chris.hickey@swis.school.nz).
Students can only be registered through a school, not directly with NZAIMS. See more about AIMS Games here.
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School News
Update on the new mural
 The SWIS mural on the Rintoul St side of the hall is looking fabulous!
Art for Art's Sake - Mona Liza!
Our Friday Enrichment Art for Art's Sake team has been experimenting this term with lots of different techniques and tools. The raindrops were created for the front of their cards they gave Betty for her 100th birthday at Village At The Park Retirement Home. The techniques used were observation of a leaf and using a frame to section off a part of it. Special water colour pastels and white tempera paint were used. For the background, a contrasting dye was used to make it pop!
The Mona Lisa’s were simply for fun and discussions around who decides the value of an art piece? Why is there a bullet proof shield around the original? Is she actually smiling? Students traced the lines from the original then used cotton buds with black chalk pastels to create value and form. The background consisted of tempera paint with oil pastels in contrast - the students used the colour wheel to work out the complementary (opposite) colours when applying the curved lines for the illusion on hills.
Fame Jr at Porirua Little Theatre
Congratulations to Maeve who has been up to some really cool things with Porirua Little Theatre recently. She will be taking the stage in FAME Jr! While the show will be on from April 13-22, Maeve will be in her leading role on 14, 15, 19, 21 & 22 April. She is playing the role of ‘Serena'.
The show follows the lives of aspiring performing art students and touches on subjects affecting young people today. Maeve would love to see you in the audience. Book your tickets here https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2023/apr/fame-jr
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Wellington South Community Anzac Service
The Wellington South Community Anzac Service will be at 1pm Monday 25 April at
Island Bay School by the bell tower.
It's a lovely service with the Last Post played on a bugle, the tolling of the bell, and
laying of wreaths under the bell tower by various community groups. All are welcome
to come along.
People are invited to meet on the grass at St Hilda's Anglican Church (311 The Parade) at 12.30pm and we will parade down the footpath to Island Bay School with a lone bagpiper leading us at 12.45pm for a 1pm Service start.
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The South Coast Arts Trail 2023 (15-16th April) is set to be bigger and better than ever, with nearly 40 galleries, schools, churches and artists opening their doors to the public! Stay tuned on here for artist introductions and any updates.
Our map and trail booklet (with artist bios, open times and more) can be accessed digitally here: www.linktr.ee/SouthCoastArtsTrail
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Wellington Harriers Children's Cross Country
Registrations are now open for the 2023/24 Season
Register at - www.whac.org.nz
Our Open day is Saturday 22nd April 2023.
We meet at that the Wellington Harrier Club rooms on Alexandre Road Mount Victoria, at 1.45pm. (This gives a chance to do morning sport as well!)
New members are welcome to come along and give it a go at our open day on Saturday 22nd April, and give it a try day on Saturday April 15th.
We have Saturday club runs, mid-week training, club races and there's an interclub competition, which is held on Saturday afternoons.
We also assist with training for primary/intermediate age children competing in the school's cross country competition.
Our coaches are qualified and Athletics NZ Accredited.
For more information please contact:
Julie Richards
Children's Manager
juliemaerdy@yahoo.co.uk
0212959026
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Pride Escape – Summer 2024 – Open To Receive Enrolments
Our Pride Escape Summer Adventure is now open to receive enrolment. This adventure programme is extremely popular and fills up very quickly well before the early-bird deadline. The programme details are attached for your perusal. Please note that this programme is age restricted, 9years and up. https://pridelands.org.nz/services/pride-escapes/
Adventure Weekends – Mid-Term Breaks
Three more Adventure Weekends to go in 2023.
Our Autumn Adventure Weekend is full and the other 3 seasons that are yet to take place are filling up and they are as follows: Winter (2nd – 4th June), Spring (25th – 27th August) and Summer (10th – 12th November). Please make your booking. Here is a link to our new service to support families across Wellington Region: https://pridelands.org.nz/services/adventure-weekend/
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