MBS Paanui Newsletter Term 4 Week 1

MBS PAANUI – NEWS

‘Together we care, we learn, we succeed’

‘Aroha, Ako, Angitu’

Term Four – Week 1 – Issue 9

Student Inquiry Theme Term 4 2024

  Tuhono O Mua, Tuhono Whaanau, Tuhono Hapori

 ‘Making Connections’

‘Connections with the past/history, our Planet Earth / our community, ourselves and special celebrations’

Term 4 Curriculum Focus Area: Health and Physical Education

‘Mitey’ Mental Wellbeing Programme – Weeks 1 – 4

Celebrations – Weeks 5 – 10

Concept: Connecting with Ourselves and Special Celebrations 

Tumuaki/Principal Message

Kia Ora Koutou, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Kia Orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Namaste and warm pacific greetings. Welcome back to Term 4

Poowhiri 

We welcomed our new students, whaanau and staff on the first day of Term 4 with our Haka Poowhiri this included Mereana Teka the Kaiawhina for Te Hiaroa and Leleiga Tuaimalo the new teacher aide. 

Niue Language Week!

Last week we celebrated ‘Faahi Tapu he Vagahau Niue’ Niue Language Week and finished off the week wiith a whole school assembly where our students performed a play about a traditional Niue story, a fashion show and some amazing Niuean performances.  A big thank you to Whaea Maxx and her team Whaea Hala, Matua Jono, Whaea Cecily and Paul for organising the wonderful assembly on Friday. Thank you to all of our parents who came to support their child. Fakaaue

Friendly Reminder – Teacher Only Day

Our Teacher Only Day will be held on Friday 25th October 2024 as per the previous newsletters and notices. The purpose of the Teacher Only Day is for our teachers to participate in professional development of the New Curriculum and planning for 2025. The school will be closed for instruction on this day according to Ministry of Educaiton guidelines. 

Term 4 Student inquiry and Calendar Dates

in Term 4 our student inquiry will continue with the ‘Mitey Programme’ for Weeks 1 – 4 and the last 5 weeks of school will be focussed on ‘Celebrations’ as we finish off the year well. Please continue to refer to the Term 4 Calendar dates and any updates. We have had a good start to the first week of Term 4 that included our Farewell for Whaea Annie who has now retired and we wish her all the very best. We also had our Te Hiaroa Whaanau Hui led by Matua Haki and our kaiako in Te Hiaroa. Thank you and ngaa mihi to our parents who attended the hui. We look foward to other events throughout the term. 

MBS is turning 135 Years old – Birthday Celebration 

We are excited to celebrate our school turning 135 years old this year. We welcome students who have previously attended MBS to come along to our birthday celebration held on Friday 15th November 2024 at 11 am. There will be some fun-filled activites through out the day for our tamariki supported by the PTA. Please see our programme with more detail in this newsletter.

2025 Calendar Dates and Curriculum Days

We have finalised our School Calendar dates for 2025 where we will be starting school on Tuesday 28th January (day after Auckland Anniversary). The Minister of Education has approved two Maths and Paangarau Curriculum Days for 2025 to support and embed new curriculum content from the start of the year. The dates of school-wide events for Term 1 2025 have also been included and we will provide any other dates in our final newsletter at the end of the year. 

Finally we look forward to celebrating our students learning and shifts in their achievement this term. 

Ngaa mihi, Fa’afetai tele lava, Fakaaue Mrs Mata’utia

Welcome to our new students for Term 4

Nau mai Haere mai!

Farewell Whaea Annie

It was Whaea Annie’s last day last Tuesday at MBS and we were able to celebrate both her milestone birthday and her retirement. We would like to acknowledge and thank Whaea Annie for the mahi she has contributed towards our students and our teachers in her role as one of the teacher aides. Whaea Annie will be sadly missed by her close teacher aide colleagues. She also played a huge role in supporting one of our students who passed away this year, Rosini. We would like to wish Whaea Annie all the very best on behalf of the Board, staff, students and parents at MBS. 

‘Faahi Tapu he Vagahau Niue’

Niue Language Week

Sunday 13th – Saturday 19th October 2024

The theme for Faahi Tapu he Vagahau Niue – Niue Language Week 2024 is ‘Leveki mo e Feaki e Vagahau Niue ma Anoiha – Protect and Nurture Vagahau Niue for the Future’ Fakaaue lahi! 

This year’s theme aligns with Sustainablity. 

OUR WHY?

Why do we celebrate Vagahau Niue Language Week at Maangere Bridge School?

• There are 2.9% (11 out of 379 ) students who identify as Niuean at MBS.
• There are 36.7% (139 out of 379 students) who identify themselves as Pacific Island at MBS.
• The Niue Language has been clasified as endangered. Preserving the language is important to support connection between New Zealand-born Niueans and their culture and heritage.
• To rasie awareness of the Niue language.
• To involve and encourage our Niuean Parents, children and staff to take part in our learning programmes.
• To promote initiatives to maintain and grow recognition, learning and use of the Niuean language in the home, in education, work, government, media, sports, arts and the community.
• As well as celebrations to mark Faahi Tapu he Vagahau Niue, Niue Language Week, the country has also been celebrating Pule Fakamotu, 50 years of self-governance.

Term 4 Calendar Dates

2025 Calendar Dates

Term One 2025

Reminder – Teacher Only Day

Friday 25th October 

School will be closed for instruction

Labour Day – Public Holiday

Monday 28th October 

School Closed!

MBS Community Hui

(Non-Maaori and Non-Pacific Island)

Wednesday 23rd October 6 pm 

In the Auditorium

We will be having an MBS Community Hui for our MBS Parents/Caregivers and families who are Non-Maaori and Non-Pacific island held on Wednesday 23rd October at 6 pm in the auditorium. The purpose of this hui/meeting is to share our student achievement data and provide an opportunity to gather your feedback and voice about what is working well, what is not working well at MBS and your aspirations for your child. We look forward to you attending this meeting. According to our school enrolment information on etap (SMS system) we have the following other ethnicities that are Non-Maaori and Non-Pacific Island. 

There are 30 (7.9%)  students who identify as Asian, 44 (11.6%) who identify as NZ European, 13 of our students identify as African, Middle Eastern, Latin American and other European countries. 

MBS is turning 135 Years old!

You are invited to attend a birthday celebration on 

Friday 15th November at 11 am 

Volunteers to help!

We would appreciate your help with any of the following jobs!

Thank you to everyone who has supported our Working Bees ‘Mahitahi’ this year. We will not be having any more working bees this year  however we would appreciate your help to complete some of the following jobs to make our swimming pool area space tidy. 

*Gardens need to be mulched * Weeding *Mesh to be put up in the changing rooms *Seating to be repaired in the changing rooms *Some cleaning 

We know you are all busy parents and appreciate your support and time. 

Ngaa mihi 

Whole School Swimming will start after Labour Weekend. 

PTA Paanui/Notice

If you would like to be part of the PTA or help out with upcoming school and community events please email your name and mobile number to mbschoolpta@gmail.com

Year 6 School Camp

Tuesday 29th – Thursday 31st October

The Year 6 Camp is only a week away and we are looking forward to taking our students on camp together with our Year 6 parent helpers. This week our students will be reminded about what they will need to bring to camp and also the cabin they will be sleeping in as part of preparation for camp. A big thank you to our parent helpers for volunteering your time to come on the camp to support our staff and students. We also acknowledge our parents who were not chosen this time round due to already having enough parents. There will be one more notice sent out this week. 

Blessing of the

‘Ketherene Prasade’

Memorial Garden

Wednesday 4th December 

A friendly reminder that we will be having the blessing of the Ketherene Prasade Memorial Garden on Wednesday 4th December in the morning (time to be sent out via email). Ketherene Prasade was a reliever at MBS who passed away. She shared about how much she loved our MBS school values ‘Kotahitanga, Maanakitanga, Kaitiakitanga and Rangatiratanga’ and her passion for gardening. We invite you to attend the blessing ceremony in memory of Ketherene and her service to our MBS Community. 

MBS Community Notices

Paanui/Notices

Important – New Date

Friday 8th November 5.30 – 9.30 pm

For more information contact Norma on 02108853324 or norms75@gmail.com

Mangere Bridge School promotes sun protection practices to reduce the risk of sun-related harm to students and staff as part of our commitment to providing a safe place to learn and work. We would like to remind our parents/caregivers and whaanau for your child to bring a sun hat to school in Term 4. All students must wear a sun hat or sit under the shaded areas if they do not have a sun hat. We continue to help inform our students about sun safety. 

Important Notice 

Please ensure to close the school gates during pick up and drop off’s.

We would like to remind and inform our parents/caregivers and MBS Whaanau that our school gates are unlocked in the morning for our students to enter the school grounds and they are locked after our school bell rings at the start of the day. When school has finished the gates are unlocked by our caretaker  just before 3 pm for parents/caregivers to pick up their child. 

We ask that you please close the gate behind you when you are entering or leaving our school premises for the safety of our children at all times. 

Our students are not allowed to leave the school during school hours unless permission is requested by parents/caregivers and given by the school. The student must sign out at the office. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding. 

‘Everyday Matters’

School Attendance

In April 2024, the Government announced a regular attendance target of 80 percent of students to be present for more than 90% of the term by 2030. Here is a summary from our ‘Everyday Matters’ Report on attendance showing a shift in regular attendance from 37% in Term 3 2023 to 44% in Term 3 2024. We continue to work in partnership with all whaanau to ensure everyday matters and our students are attending school regularly. We have our Kotahitanga Whaanau Liason Whaea Belle who has been working alongside  our DP/SENCO, School counsellor, SWIS as well as other external agencies to support our whaanau.