 We are incredibly proud to celebrate a special group of boys who have been recognised with our Manaakitanga Awards. Each of these students was initially identified for the genuine care and kindness they show towards a younger student in our school, taking the time to include him, communicate with him, and ensure he feels a true sense of belonging. What has been even more powerful is that, once nominated, so many more stories from teachers and teacher aide's began to emerge. Stories of encouragement at camp, quiet leadership, supporting classmates with their learning, noticing when others need help, and consistently choosing kindness in both big and small ways. These boys remind us that Manaakitanga is not just one action, it’s a way of being. It’s shown through inclusion, empathy, respect, and the everyday choices to lift others up. You are all making a meaningful difference in our school, and we couldn’t be prouder. Keep leading the way. Manaakitanga is a foundational Māori value embodying hospitality, care, respect, and generosity, fundamentally aimed at uplifting the mana (prestige/spirit) of others. Derived from mana and aki (to uphold), it means supporting, caring for, and nurturing relationships, often extending to caring for the environment (kaitiakitanga).
 Skills for Growing Focus: COMMUNICATION We had the pleasure of having Ben Bell, our local Mayor at our assembly on Friday speaking to our tamariki about communication. Ben was excellent and used some great examples that our children easily related to. Key learnings: Negotiation, Voting, Compromise, Listening, Speaking clearly and articulating what we really mean. These are all things children are learning throughout their day at school.  Year 6 Camp We have welcomed back our wonderful group of Year 6 students, a great group of parents who have supported the camp and our three teachers, Rebekah, Sandi and Kasey. A group of tired faces who have all experienced a wonderful time together sharing in a variety of experiences. I am sure we will hear more about their three days away very soon. The aim of our camping experience is for our children to experience time in a communal environment, being self managing, participating in challenging physical activities that stretch their resilience and confidence. Working together to encourage and support each other every step of the way. This year they got to stay at the Otago Museum for the night which posed so many firsts for our tamariki, parents and teachers. We are very grateful to our teachers & parents who accompanied our students. These wonderful experiences do not happen without huge organisation and commitment from a willing team. Thank you to all that made this possible.  Southland Athletes The following children will compete at the Southland Athletics in Invercargill tomorrow. This is a huge accomplishment and we wish them the best of luck. You make West Gore School very proud. 
Attendance As you already know there is a massive focus on attendance in all New Zealand Schools. The rate of attendance across the country is just over 50% of children attending more than 90% of the time. This is a shocking figure, hence the focus for all schools to improve this dramatically. We will be providing you with pieces of information each newsletter to inform you valuable information. Todays focus is on Unjustified Absence. Unjustified absences are when the child is not sick, child medical appointments etc. and away from school. Our response around these are to record the reasons and we have a STEPPED process to manage these. Each term there is thresholds with actions. Some of you will have received phone calls, letters etc. Our aim is to help you return your child to full attendance by working with you to understand the barriers for you or your child.   We only have 10 school-days left before end of term 1. Last day of term will be 2nd April 2026.
Enjoy your weekend Ngā mihi Linda Fraser Principal  In Room 14, we have been writing stories about monsters using characters, similes and dialogue. Here are some snippets.
Furry the angry monster eats his prey in the deep sea where no one ever dares to go. Boats scattered all around the sea. Furry wished for a monster friend. Later that night, he looked around and saw the friend that he had been waiting for. He looked as friendly as a brother… By Fletcher The Megaoctopus emerged from the deep. He lived in the stormy seas where ships vanished to the ocean floor never to be seen again. Captain Seahong trapped the ships that vanished in 1847… By Mindy The Mermaid Monster was lurking in the forest to find water. Each day, she tried to look for more water but there was none anywhere. Then another monster came along and told her where to find some water. The problem was that the water was protected by a big boss… By Zodiac Robyir the monster robbed a shop. He was tired from robbing the shop so he went to his dark black cave. The next day a fox came to the little dark black cave. The fox ran into the cave and he hid there with the monster. The fo got a fright. The monster said, “Who are you?” I am Robyir… By Ollie The deep dark creature lives in the watery cave that is 400m wide and 400m tall. He has two eyes in the middle of his mouth as well as his teeth. His rib bones are exposed and you can see his beating heart. It is terrifying! By Elijah The Megladon crashed into my boat. I had to fight the Megladon. It lives in the deep sea. Don’t go near it, it will swallow you whole. He was as big as a blue whale. Along came Captain Barnickles, caught him and put a tracker on him. He swam as fast as a dog fish. “I’ll see you later, " said Captain Barnickles… By Landen The Megladon lurked under the waves. He was as huge as a tower. He wanted a new friend. One day a monster friend came along. He was named Fangor. By Jake The Teketeke is a no legged monster. He lives in Tokyo, Japan. He lurks around you on the trains. He is very dangerous. He comes out in the dark tunnels. People dare not go there because he is as slimy as an octopus. By Moana The Silk Monster, named Lilly, lived in a small silky cottage. It sat in the middle of a stormy island. But the problem was the Giant, Mr Stampalot. Lilly did not like the Giant. He stamped and crashed his feet everywhere when he walked. Lilly’s body shook timidly when he came in sight… By Indie The Hallway monster waits for its moment to pounce. He lives in the shadowy, scary ends of hallways. When his moment came, he jumped out of the shadows and landed on a little girl named Aleisha. Aleisha screamed so loudly that it woke the neighbours. When the neighbours woke… By Amalia As we continue our focus on our Skills for Growing, we were privileged to welcome Gore District Mayor
Ben Bell to West Gore School today. Mayor Bell spoke with our students about the power of communication—a core pillar of our school’s Skills for Growing curriculum. He shared insightful advice on why it is often better to listen more than we speak and gave the children a practical introduction to using negotiation in their everyday lives. At home this week, we encourage you to keep the conversation going! Ask your child what they learned from the Mayor about being a good listener, and see if they can describe a time they might use negotiation to solve a problem at school or at home. A big thank you to Mayor Bell for investing his time in our future leaders.  With our year 6 students heading away on camp soon, we encourage all parents and caregivers to take a few minutes to review the school policies that guide how camps are run and how student safety is managed. These policies outline important information about supervision, behaviour expectations, health and safety procedures, and digital device use while students are away from school. You can access these on SchoolDocs via the SchoolDocs website. We encourage parents to take a moment to review the following policies:
Taking a few minutes to review these policies helps ensure everyone understands the procedures in place to keep students safe while enjoying their camp experience. Follow the steps below to read through the Policies and Procedures currently up for Review.   Dear Parents / Whanau, The term is racing by, with so many great activities /events already completed and many more to happen in the next 4 weeks of school. Teacher Only Day - this Monday March 9th SCHOOL CLOSED While we understand these days are a challenge for whanau, they are very necessary to ensure our teachers are keeping up to date with the ever changing landscape we are experiencing in our school. The Ministry of Education has granted two days for Maths development this year, the first on Monday and the second, Tuesday June 2nd , following on from King’s Birthday weekend.  Eastern Athletics - Tuesday 10th March We wish our large team of competitors all the very best for Tuesday. This is a great accomplishment to reach this level as the standards are very high.  Congratulations and the very best of luck for Tuesday. Children will report to Vanessa Bennett when they arrive at the grounds so they can be directed to their event. Our thanks to Sandi Pasco, our sports coordinator for her organisation of this event. 
Open Morning We had a wonderful morning welcoming our new and prospective families to West Gore School. Ms Flaus and Mrs Napier demonstrated parts of the programme and our new children loved meeting their buddies and joining in the programme. Our Open Mornings are held each term so our community can come and meet our staff, hear about our school and see the programme in action.   Dance Lessons & Festival We are very grateful to Rachel Ferguson for again offering weekly dance free lessons to our children for the next few weeks. These conclude with the Festival of Dance on Saturday May 10th. If you have missed this and would like your child to have this opportunity please email Anneke at [email protected] by Monday 3pm.  Year 6 Camp 16-18 March Year 6 students are very excited as camp looms very soon. This is always a highlight for our senior students with an added bonus of a night at the Museum this year…. so cool sleeping in a museum, especially after the Egyptian Mummy tour! Thank you to teachers & parents who have put in a huge amount of work to make it happen. Our thanks to parents for being available to accompany our children. We can't do this without your support and help.  Cultural Festival - rescheduled to end of term 2 We are now holding our Cultural Festival at the end of term 2, July 2nd This festival will now tie in with Matariki and will be a wonderful time to celebrate together.  Teachers have been learning about new ways to develop student’s understanding of the relationship between basic facts e.g. if you know that 2 x 4 = 8, you also know that 4 x 2 = 8. We are focusing on developing this understanding as well as maths vocabulary, between now and the end of the term. Teachers will be using whiteboards and materials to make this fun and engaging. Yesterday Room 12 had a go at listening to a word problem and being maths detectives, listening for the clues. Here’s what they learnt:
When a problem says ‘shared evenly’ it means to divide. The phrase ‘groups of’ means multiplication. When dividing, we always start with the biggest number. When multiplying, the biggest number always comes at the end - the product. The understanding of maths vocabulary and the ‘family of facts’ is crucial to all learning in the maths curriculum. When students know their basic facts, they can be more efficient problem solvers. Watch out in our upcoming newsletters for some news about how you can help at home!  Kia Ora Everyone,
It has been a very busy start to the new school year, a Mihi Whakatau to welcome new students and whanau, new classes settling in, a start to our swimming program and a very successful School Athletics Day. The Board extends a warm welcome to new staff member Kasey Owen-Wilson who has joined our Senior School Teaching team. Our first School Board meeting was held last week. Two important issues that relate to our Parent Community were revisited. School Attendance remains a high attention priority for the Ministry Of Education and for our Principal. The Ministry maintains an increased scrutiny on this issue. It is a legal requirement that children attend school. Absence falls under the following categories- Justified Absence Illness Medical/ Dental Appointments/Treatment Stand Down Period. Principal Approved- Bereavement, Specific Cultural or Sporting Event Unjustified Absence Holidays in Term Time Unexplained Absence Explained but Unapproved Absence Truancy Please consider all of the above if your child is absent. Communication with our Principal is key here if you are encountering difficulties getting your child to school. The Ministry has implemented a precise procedure for Schools to follow up on Unjustified Absence. As part of our Board obligation to both our School and Community work is currently being done to review School Policies and Procedures. This Term the topics to be reviewed are : Digital Technology & Online Safety, Sun Protection, and Alcohol, Drugs and Harmful Substances. A serious line up. We welcome Parent & Community involvement in this very important process. You can participate via - www.westgore.schooldocs.co.nz User Name- westgore Password - wiggie Select Current Review It is important you cast your eye over these topics. You will see a Review Button on each topic’s page where you can participate if you wish to make a comment or simply agree to the Policy as it stands. Our West Gore Staff and Board look forward to a positive and successful year. Nga Mihi, Susan Hasselman Presiding Member |
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