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Newsletter - Term 2 Week 8
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Important Notices
Kia ora whānau, nau mai ki te pānui a te kura o Wairau Valley | Hello family, welcome to the newsletter of Wairau Valley School.
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Firstly, a sad farewell to our friends Patrick and Kyah, who have both moved to other schools with their whānau - Patrick to the West Coast and Kyah to Mid-Canterbury. We wish them and their families all the best!
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You may have noticed a dead tree felled over the holidays by the pool. That tree is currently awaiting a crew to cut it up so we can raffle it off as firewood. If you are interested and able to assist with this, can you please let the Office know, and we will let you know the date/time (likely a Sunday) before the end of the term we are planning to complete this.
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From today, you will be able to book in for parent-teacher interviews. These are happening in Week 11, Tuesday 30th June and Wednesday 1st July from 3:00 - 5:00 PM. It is expected that all families will come and discuss their child's progress and what we can do in partnership between home and school to ensure your child is 'proficient' at the end of the year. Running alongside the interviews, there will be a drop-in session in the staffroom with some light refreshments to speak with Adam about the revised vision and values of Wairau Valley School. This will be your opportunity to add any valuable insight that may have been missed or overlooked as well as an opportunity to check in generally and have a chat about how things are going at Wairau Valley School.
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As notified through Hero on the 11th May, a parent vacancy arose on the School Board last month, following the resignation of Stacey Lowther. The board opted to select a parent representative rather than go through a costly, time consuming by-election process. The mandatory stand-down time has passed, and we are pleased to announce that Elspeth McAuley was unanimously selected as Stacey's replacement. Welcome, Elspeth. We know already that you give a lot of time to the school (volunteering in the Wairau Room), and to the community. Your governance knowledge will be a real asset to our School and the Board.
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We now have another vacancy created by a further parent resignation. The board has decided to fill the vacancy by selection also. If 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the board, within 28 days of this notice being published, to hold a by-election to fill the vacancy, then a by-election will be held. Request for a by-election should be sent to: office@wairauvalley.school.nz
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Finally, we are excited to sneak peek our Matariki celebrations on the last day of Term 2. We are currently planning to open school up to our whānau and community at midday, including sharing some games, activities and kai. More details will come, but for now, save the date! If you need a note for work to have the afternoon off, let us know!
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Upcoming/Important Dates
- Small & Rural Schools Cross Country - Friday 26 June (ACTION REQUIRED ON HERO - Events)
- Mid-Year Reports sent via Hero - Friday 26 June (Available on Hero - Reports)
- School Big Day Out! - Tuesday 30 June (ACTION REQUIRED ON HERO - Events)
- School Interviews - Tuesday 30th/Wednesday 1st July (ACTION REQUIRED ON HERO - School Bookings)
- Matariki Celebration and last Day of Term 2 - Friday 3 July
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We highly recommend you sign up/subscribe to our school community calendar. Click the link here to access it. The calendar is also visible on our school website.
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Due to turn 5, let us know!
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If you have any children that are due to turn 5 before the end of the year, or know anyone within the wider Wairau Valley community with children due to turn 5, please let us at the office know. We welcome anyone with children to come for a visit and to check out the unique country school experience we can offer. Email office@wairauvalley.school.nz for more information or visit the enrolments page on our website.
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Wairau Valley School's trip to town
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On Tuesday 30 June, our Year 0-5 students will be travelling to Blenheim to attend a performance by the Marlborough Civic Orchestra at the Whitehaven Theatre. Please note this is a Tech Day for the Year 7-8 Children.
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This experience supports learning within The Arts learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to experience live music, learn about a range of orchestral instruments, and explore how music can communicate ideas, feelings, and stories. Attending a live performance helps students develop their listening skills, creativity, and appreciation of the arts while engaging with a valuable cultural opportunity performed by members of our local community. Following the performance, students will visit Te Kahu o Waipuna (Marlborough Library) and participate in a programme led by library staff.
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As students will be representing Wairau Valley School in the community, they are required to wear their school top and tidy school uniform on the day.
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Students will be walking between venues and carrying their own bags throughout the day. Please ensure bags are kept as light as possible, particularly for our younger students.
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- A named drink bottle
- Appropriate walking shoes
- A jersey and warm clothing suitable for the weather
- Morning tea
- Lunch (if you do not eat the school lunches)
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Students who receive school lunches will have their lunch delivered during the day.
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We appreciate your support in ensuring students are dressed appropriately and prepared for a day of walking and learning in the wider community.
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We are looking forward to a fantastic day of learning and experiencing The Arts together.
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ACTION REQUIRED: If you have not yet done so, open the Hero app and click on Events. There you will see this event. Inside the event, please give your child permission to attend. If your child doesn't have permission, we cannot take them and they will stay at school. If you need help to do this, please call in and see Lisa or give her a call at the office - 03 5722715.
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Budding Authors Visit Seddon to meet Ruth Paul
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Valentina, Aria and Erinn took a trip to meet and learn from the amazing children's author Ruth Paul last week at Seddon School, alongside Tua Marina, Rapaura, Spring Creek and Ward Schools. Ruth Paul is a Wellington-based children's author, known for books such as Stomp, Ghost Kiwi and Superpotamus. Ruth taught the children what a good story is made up of, and shared with them the frame on which her picture books are based. Feedback from the girls was very positive afterwards and they shared their experiences back at school with enthusiasm. Thank you to Seddon School for hosting us!
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The Fairies have come to visit - so has Ange from Enviroschools (MDC)
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The girls in the Fishtail Class have been working on a wee project - constructing a fairy garden where there used to be weeds and tyres. With help from Judith, Rachel and some supplies from Bev, the fairy garden is taking shape. The girls have requested if anyone in the community might have some "fairy garden things" around to donate, they would be very appreciative of that.
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The fairy garden also provides a genuine opportunity for our tamariki to learn about respecting other peoples' spaces and hard work, alongside appreciating the effort and commitment these girls have put in to creating such a cool space. If you get 5 minutes, come and check it out. You'll find it behind the pool by the caretaker's shed.
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Ngā mihi nui | a big thank you to Ange Wentworth from MDC Enviroschools for coming and lending a hand (pictured above with Aria and Valentina) as well as Arthur Phillips of Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora for donating some more vegetable seedlings.
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Sharing Spotlight
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Here is some of the fantastic work from around the kura the last two weeks.
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Beau very proudly shared his writing about whaling stations in the Marlborough Sounds. He has put a lot of effort into this writing this term - great stuff Beau.
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The Wairau Room followed Denise Fiedler's 'paster paper collages' method to create these wonderful dogs that have brightened up our corridor. Come and check them out in person! Thanks Mrs Wadworth for this artwork.
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Fishtail students completed these fact files about Gallipoli around ANZAC Day.
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Cross Country Information
The Wairau Cluster Schools' Cross Country is at the end of June and planning is underway. Permission to attend will be sent out via Hero by the end of the week, and parents must respond to this. If you have not responded to this, please so do now. Go to the Hero App and under events at the bottom, find 26 June and click on the event. This will bring up the options to reply.
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Where? Waiview Farm - Campbell’s Road, Tua Marina. The courses are challenging with mud, streams, hills and farm paddocks. The approximate distances are: Year 1-2 = 1 km; Year 3-4 = 1.5km; Year 5-6 = 2 km plus; Year 7-8 = 2.5km plus. Might even be 3km!
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When? Friday 26th June at 1pm sharp. We will run the; Year 7-8’s first at 1pm, Year’s 1-2 at 1.20pm, Year 3-4’s at 1.40pm and the Year 5-6’s at 2pm.
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General information:
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Sausage sizzle: Our school will be running a sausage sizzle on the day. Sausages will need to be pre-ordered, so we will send out order forms prior to the event. (We will still be getting our school lunches delivered to Tua Marina School as well - no need to pack a lunch, just morning tea as usual).
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Clothing: Children are expected to wear a Wairau Valley School sports top (most are now kept at the school office). All runners need sneakers and shorts. A change of footwear is suggested as there is a stream crossing, mud and wet grass. Warm jackets, pants and hats are advised as the venue is exposed and can be cold.
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Marshalls: each school needs to supply two adults for marshaling roles on the course. We will call these people to a briefing just before 1pm. Please let Mr A know if you can be a marshall!
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Travel: We will be traveling as a school on the bus. Your child needs to be on the bus going to the event, and in our care/control during the event. This is an EOTC expectation. After the event, you are welcome to take your child - this needs to be indicated on the Hero excursion event.
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The Sad Reality about our Ski Trip this Year
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As many whānau will know, Wairau Valley School offer the opportunity to go skiing as part of our Health and Physical Education programme each year. Unfortunately, Rainbow Ski Field have made the call that they will only be open Saturday and Sunday this year, stating "additional midweek operating days may be offered". They go on to say that "there will be no scheduled schools programme in 2026".
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If you would like more information about this disappointing news, read Rainbow's full statement here.
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Congratulations, Superstars!
This fortnight, we celebrate the following superstars:
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- Dakota Kahu: Dakota, this award recognises the positive effort and growth you have shown across all areas of school life. We have been impressed by the way you are listening carefully, taking on feedback, and making a conscious effort to be the best learner you can be. Your organisation in class, focus during learning time, time management, and commitment to learning activities have all improved, and your hard work is already paying off. It has also been wonderful to see you beginning to use your WITs and demonstrate our school values in the playground. These positive choices are helping you grow as both a learner and a valued member of our school community. These lifelong skills you are developing will continue to serve you well in the years ahead. Keep up the fantastic work—you should be very proud of the progress you are making!
- Ryan Boon: You are settling in to school well, following routines and progressing steadily in all areas of learning. Great to see giving his best in cross country practice too.
- Beau Beattie: I see how hard you try in your learning. The process of getting frustrated is the brains way of telling you that this new information is important and it will get in there somehow. Keep the struggle up, as that is what is going to pay off in the long run!
- Tanveer Ali: Rachel has given you a shout out because of your great choices and role-modelling behaviour on the bus. It's great we can rely on role models like you to show our teina (younger students) the way! Ka pai e hoa.
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We also want to give a huge shout out to the 4 students that so far have 100% attendance at school this year. That's a huge feat, it's also a major focus of the school and government. Some might consider it lucky avoiding the winter ills and chills, but worth celebrating nevertheless! They are Penny Eaton, Declan Wolland, Finny Callahan and Erinn Denniston. All 74 days of school so far and counting!
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Y8 Transition to College
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Below you will find information relating to the transition to MBC/MGC.
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Marlborough Boys' College
- T3W1: Enrolment information letter sent.
- T3W1-3: Visit from MBC Principal and Y13/Y9 students.
- 20th August - Parents and students are invited to attend an information session at MBC, followed by a walk around of the school. 4pm - 6 PM.
- T3W5-7: Student testing - MBC administer reasoning tests on all boys enrolling.
- 19 November - Y8 Orientation Day, 8:50 - 3:15 PM.
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Marlborough Girls' College
Below you will find the information MGC have sent through...
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That's right, nothing so far. You can still enrol at the link below. We will email it directly to the affected whānau when it comes through.
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