Newsletter - Term 3 Week 10

Launch of the new Vision and Values

It is with much pride and anticipation that we release to you the new vision and values of Wairau Valley School. Although the graphics are still to be finalised, we can share with you our vision statement and the 5 values we have chosen. Our vision for the students of Wairau Valley School is:

Navigating the R.I.V.E.R. with Courage

The R.I.V.E.R. is an acronym for the 5 values:

Relationships | Whanaungatanga
Integrity | Pono
Venture | Māia
Effort | Manawanui
Respect | Whakaute

We have gone with R.I.V.E.R. as the opportunity to tell stories and use metaphors about rivers are wide-ranging. Its source of inspiration is the Wairau River, a lifeline and landmark of the Wairau Valley. The vision statement plays on the fact that learning and life is like a river that we have to navigate to cross or flow down. Navigating means we are making conscious, strategic choices about the direction and paths we may take. It also acknowledges the traditional mātauranga | knowledge of our ancestors who were navigators and used te taiao | the natural world to explore. The courage part encourages our kids to be bold and brave - like other explorers would have been to navigate oceans and be world beaters at whatever endeavour they chose.

The first R is for relationships, as this is essential to everything. Relationships with other people, with the community, with the environment - all the foundation of what comes after. The Māori concept we are using is whanaungatanga.

The I is for integrity - doing the right thing even when no one is watching. That's a common catchphrase of integrity and we think that's a really important value to show particularly growing up in an increasingly anonymous digital world. The Māori concept we are using is pono.

The V is for venture. This is our learning value. Venture is all about being curious, using initiative, taking calculated risks, leading, being innovative and creative. It's what allows our tamariki | kids to show agency and to grow as humans. The Māori concept we are using is māia.

E stands for effort. When we think about effort, we think about it from our uniquely rural standpoint - digging in and doing the work, even if it is raining and blowing a gale outside. It's about showing up with discipline and simply completing what we start, to a high standard. The Māori concept we are using is manawanui.

Finally, the second R is for respect. We think of this as the banks of the river - the metaphorical boundaries that keep us safe. It's the keeping our hands, feet and objects to ourselves; looking after our stuff, people and place. It's what provides structure and guides who we want our kids to be when they leave Wairau Valley. The Māori concept we are using is whakaute.

For those in the community that engaged in the feedback process, thank you very much. We had some excellent conversations with whānau members who shared their ideas and their vision for the future of Wairau Valley School. We also unearthed and incorporated some feedback given a couple of years ago when Mrs O'Donnell consulted the community in September 2023.

In Week 8 of this term, we had a 'check in' with the Ministry of Education's Paul Johnstone, their Nelson, Marlborough & West Coast Advisor, who came and took a stocktake of sorts of how the rollout of the new values is going inside the school. His report stated:

You are to be congratulated for making such a strong start in embedding the School Wide framework at Wairau Valley School. The baseline score above reflects this and indicates that you have a very strong foundation for rapid and sustainable progress.

Once the graphic design has been finalised, we will share this with the community, alongside a number of other important documents that all flow together: behaviour expectations matrix, behaviour response framework, positive contributions page, whole school reward systems and lesson plans. We will also produce some little posters for home so if you choose to, we can have a consistent set of expectations (values) between home and school.

In the meantime, we encourage you to use the same expectations at home that fall under "All Settings". Consistency between home and school reinforces that these values (or expectations) are for life, not just confined to school. Once practiced, you will catch youself rattling these off at the drop of a hat!

STOP PRESS: IMPORTANT CHANGE OF DATE

Pet Day is changing to Friday 23rd October. Please amend your calendars, let all your friends know, and save that extra day's interest to splash on the cake auction!

Coming next term - important dates

First Day Back, 12th October - School Photos

Friday 16th October - Mountain Bike Madness (TBC)

Friday 23rd October - Pet Day (note change of date)

Monday 26th October - Labour Day, School Closed

Thursday 29th October - Group Day and Y7 Immunisations

Monday 2nd November - Marlborough Anniversary, School Closed

Tuesday 3rd November - Rural School Athletics

Friday 6th November - Wood is Good visit

Saturday 7th November - Election Day

Tuesday 17th November - District Athletics

Thursday 19th November - Y8 Transition Day

Week 10, 14-17 December - Fundamentals at Stadium 2000

Go The Choir!

Ollie, Valentina, Xanthe, Eva, Caia and Quinn all represented Wairau Valley School with such pride at the Marlborough Primary Schools' Choir Festival two weeks ago. We featured Valentina doing the solo for Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music, Eva as a host introducing an item and Ollie as a 'race car' driver for Life is a Highway. The feedback was incredible and it highlights the awesome opportunities we get (that aren't just sport!).

A huge ngā mihi nui | thank you to Mrs Malcolm for rehearsing and looking after the Choir this year - we cannot thank you enough for giving the kids these experiences!

Congratulations, Superstars!

Kyan Hoogeveen: He iti te mokoroa, nāna i kati te kahikatea.
Kyan, I want to acknowledge the contributions you make that makes our space awesome. I suspect many are unintentional, but it goes toward illustrating the mana you have and how others look up to you as a leader. Never underestimate the power you have in making a difference, even small, to those around you.

Ollie Chaney: For an outstanding day of learning on Friday! You showed us just how capable you are by following instructions the first time, getting involved in your learning, and being a kind and helpful class member. It was lovely to hear such positive feedback from other teachers about the choices you made throughout the day. You’ve carried this into the start of this week too, doing things the first time you are asked and making positive choices. What a great way to start the week — keep it going!

Caia Bingham: You have made tremendous progress across all areas of the curriculum this term. You have really stepped up, showing a positive attitude towards your learning and giving your very best effort. You consistently demonstrate our school values and are becoming a confident and responsible learner. Amazing effort this term. Keep up the fantastic work! So great to see you enjoying all the songs in Choir.

Ned Saville: You are settling into our classroom very well and are becoming familiar with our routines and timetable. It is wonderful to see you managing your learning tasks so well and making a positive effort each day. It is also great to see you happily playing and joining in with everyone in the playground. Keep up the fantastic work!

Orienteering on the Wither Hills

Earlier today, the Year 7-8 students took part in the annual Y7-8 Rural School Rogaine (Orienteering) event on the Wither Hills. Piling into the Tautoko Community Trust van (shout out to Carmen and the team!), the 9 students and Mr A made their way into town to participate in the event. We split into 3 teams of 3 and the teams were given maps to plan their routes on. These were then handed to the race controllers and they were off. They had 2 hours to get to as many checkpoints as they could.

All the kids had a lot of fun, and some teams did some serious steps! To top it off, they represented our kura with pride and were awesome mingling in with the other groups. We even got to say hi to some old friends - Aria and Erinn.

What's going on, Wairau?

The Wairau Room tamariki have been busy learning and creating across a range of curriculum areas.

In Te Reo Māori, we have been learning our pepeha, creating carvings for our necklaces, colouring our school values, and practicing simple Te Reo phrases as part of our Te Reo o te Wiki.

In Mathematics, we have been learning about probability. Our tamariki have been investigating questions such as, “What are the chances of getting a hot chocolate or an ice block from the river stones we collect each week?” They have enjoyed making predictions, discussing possibilities and using probability language such as certain, possible, unlikely and impossible.

Our Narrative Writing has also produced some very interesting and creative stories. The tamariki have been developing characters, settings, problems and exciting events to bring their stories to life.

There is so much wonderful learning happening in the Wairau Room, and the best way to see it is to come and have a look for yourself! We would love you to visit our classroom, see what your child has been learning, and be proud of all they can do. You are always welcome to pop in and celebrate their learning with us.

Wairau Valley School Board Update

At our September meeting, the School Board looked ahead to a number of exciting developments for Wairau Valley School. The Board approved the Year 5-8 camp at Teapot Valley for May 2027 and supported applications for additional structured literacy and mathematics staffing next year. We also discussed the development of our new school logo and agreed we want to hear more from our students and community before settling on a final design. Work is also progressing on our long-term property planning.

The Board also received an update on teaching, learning and student wellbeing. Early Term 3 achievement results are looking positive, our PB4L work continues to strengthen the way our R.I.V.E.R. values are embedded across the school, and a new Learning Support Register is being developed to help us better identify, coordinate and monitor support for individual learners. Enrolment remains steady at 31 students, and we continue to focus strongly on ensuring every child is known, supported and able to make progress.

Bram Hoogeveen

Presiding Member

Enrol your soon to be 5 year old now!

No need to wait until your child nears 5 years old. If you have younger siblings at home who will be starting Wairau Valley School in 2026 or 2027, enrol them now! This gives us a good indication of numbers and allows us to apply for extra staffing so we can keep our class sizes at an optimum level.

Have a friend who has pre-schoolers? Send them the link below so they can enrol their children too! It's never "too early" and we can always change things if we need to.

Enrolment Information