A GREAT School for You! Ngongotaha School KIDZONE TERM: 3 ISSUE: 4 DATE: 10-9-20 Have you got the school app? It’s the way we spread the majority of our information. Download it free from app stores. Another busy two weeks at Te Kura o Ngongotaha. It’s lovely to see that the cherry trees are beginning to blossom, what a beautiful place to be. Athletics has taken up most of this week. We have deliberately spread it across three days to allow whanau to join us without breaking rules around large gatherings or jeopardizing safety under Alert Level 2. The children performed exceptionally well over the three days. We have some wonderfully talented athletes who will represent the school at Interschool Athletics early next term. Mrs Whyte has decided that, after 32 years dedicated service, she will retire from Ngongotaha School. In true Mrs Whyte style, she has decided to finish up the end of Term 1 2021 as it means she can support the rest of the office team with the craziness of Term 1. She’s not one for big assemblies, but we will do something to acknowledge her years of hard work. Whanau, community members, ex- students and ex-teachers will all be invited to a celebration of her time early next year. The classroom programs in Term 3 have been absolutely amazing. Lots of hands-on science and technology based activities. There will be a chance for you to come and view this learning in a few weeks. Keep an eye on our app for more information. Term 4 will see a school wide focus on Visual Arts. Whaea Jamie is supporting the teachers with a range of ideas so clear some wall space at home for some masterpieces. Term 4 will start back on Monday 12th of October. Please remember that we have a Teacher Only Day on Friday 23rd of October which is the Friday before the long Labour weekend. We scheduled this day late last year as a part of the new NZEI teachers collective agreement that set aside 8 TODs over the next three years to improve teachers wellbeing. Craig McFadyen “Iti rearea teitei Kahikatea ka taea” “Aim High, Stand Proud” Road Safety I met with the council recently to discuss creating official pedestrian crossings on School Road and on Ngongotaha Road to ensure our children are safe travelling to and from school. To my surprise, they provided me with information that they have obtained by monitoring morning traffic directly outside school over the past month. I was shocked to see the number of cars making a U turn directly outside of school, cars double parking on the road and letting kids run through parked cars, and even the amount of cars crossing the centre line and parking outside of school facing the wrong way to then let their children out of the car on the roadside so that they immediately step into traffic. The safety of 391 children is my priority. Please help us by following road rules around school. Not parking on yellow lines, not making U turns directly outside of school, not double parking, and keeping an eye out for all of our children. Each afternoon I speak to several people about parking and encouraging families to use the road patrol crossing. Thank you to those who support us in keeping the children safe.