  Welcome back to term 3. While a wintery holiday break, our tamariki have returned happy and excited to get back into their work, reconnect with their friends and look forward to the activities and programmes of term 3. Parent Interviews - Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th We would encourage you to book an appointment and come in to speak with your child's class teacher so they can explain further aspects of your child's achievement and clarify any aspects of our new reporting. It is an opportunity to gain a fuller insight as to your child's progress and successes. On the school app, click on "Interviews" and follow the prompts. If you have any trouble booking, cancelling and re-booking, please see Anneke in the office. We look forward to meeting with you next week. Te Mana o Te Hā – Smoke/Vapefree Science Showcase - Year 5 & 6 students Te Mana o Te Hā is an interactive science showcase designed for students in Years 5–13. This engaging, hands-on experience helps young people explore the real impacts of smoking and vaping, from how nicotine affects the body, to the ways it is marketed, and the wider environmental and social harm. Through a series of practical activities and eye-opening demonstrations, students are encouraged to think critically, ask questions, and make informed choices. The programme also supports positive conversations at home, empowering rangatahi to make healthy decisions and take a leadership role within their whānau and community. Whānau are warmly invited to come along and experience the showcase for themselves between 3.15pm–5.30pm on Tuesday 28 July at St Peter's College Gore. Academies - Room 12, 14 & 15 Academies are always a highlight for our senior students with an opportunity to work in an area of interest or passion for an afternoon each week. This year we have the following on offer: swimming, ice skating, ukulele, drama, woodwork and art.  Life Education - Week 3 Pip and Harold are always welcome visitors in the school. The focus of the visits are as follows: Year 1 -3 - Friendships Year Year 4-6 - Resilience , Change and Stress Please let Anneke know if you would like to meet with Pip afterschool and see in the Life Education bus and chat about the programmes she offers.  Polyfest - Invercargill, Stadium Southland, Monday August 24th All children will be travelling to Invercargill on buses. All children will be on stage and participating . The performance group will lead with the rest of the school supporting in some waiata. This is always a wonderful event to attend so we encourage you to support our tamariki in Invercargill. More detailed information will be available soon.  School Production - September 23th St James Theatre We are excited to inform you we will be doing a school production, involving all children in the last week of term. Save this date and we will inform you of the details and progress reports as we go along. Attendance / Lateness While we understand there are several winter bugs affecting many children we do require all children to be at school if they are well. If your child is late to school or they need to leave for an appointment during the day, please come into the office and sign them in or out. Anneke is required to keep accurate records throughout the day as well. There is also a safety issue in the event of an emergency if your child has not been properly recorded as present or absent. Thank you for your help in keeping your child safe. Open Morning - Wednesday 19th August Please see the attached information about our NE Open morning coming up. Let your neighbors & family know they are very welcome to come along and see our new Entrant class in action and hear from our Principal and class teachers about the programme and what West Gore school has to offer. We look forward to seeing you all in and out of the school at our various events during the term. Nga mihi Linda Fraser Principal       Culture Festival 'Under One Sky' We were blown away with our wonderful cultural community evening last night. What a special community we have, and what a gift to come together to share food, traditions, stories and connection. Our children were amazing and loved the opportunity to try such a variety of beautifully presented food made by families. The explanations provided as to why the kai was special were interesting and told far more than the words. The deep connection to family, love and culture was reflected. The introduction by Laya and Ava focusing us on Matariki brought us back to our bi cultural heritage which was a special start to the evening. Our evening was uplifted by the clever & fun Chitty, as she compared and interviewed our wonderful performers. Our children were delightful and across the showcase showed their passion, knowledge and connection. Enjoy our wonderful photos taken by Aditya, one of our parents. They tell the true story of the wonderful time together. As the term draws to a close today we are grateful for your support and help during the term. We have tired children who have given their wee hearts to a full term of work. So many have made amazing progress and are feeling so proud of their work. A special thanks to our teachers who have navigated a challenging term with brand new reporting of a curriculum that we have so recently implemented and are still learning so much about. You are very fortunate to have a wonderful team working very hard for your children. Our support staff who support our children in their learning and a multitude of needs, our administration team and cleaning and caretaking are the glue that holds everything together. We have a wonderful school that has a beautiful culture of care, diversity and positive energy. A couple of reminders: > Term 3 starts : Monday July 20th > A chance to sort uniforms over the holidays and ensure we have everyone looking spick and span for the beginning of the term Have a wonderful holiday break and we look forward to seeing you all back on July 20th Nga mihi, Linda Fraser Principal  Kia Ora Everyone, A quick note to you all as you begin the Holiday period. As you all know School Reports are out. Prior to their release there were messages on the School App regarding the upcoming Teacher Interviews scheduled for early next term as well as detail around the new Curriculum reporting to parents. The Board acknowledges and is very appreciative of the thorough assessment and considerable time given to writing and formatting these reports for you. Much time and Professional attention has been given by our School Leadership and Teaching staff in meeting the demands of such significant change and moving forward with it. Principal Linda Fraser set out these new guidelines and benchmarks, known as descriptors in her Newsletter Week 9. A good plan would be to re-read these details before heading to your interviews. A special Morning Tea was held this week to acknowledge and celebrate the 17 years of full time work teacher Jill Robb has devoted to our School. A commitment of such standing to our tamariki, whanau, and the many colleagues and friends has brought so much to our School. Jill will continue with us on a part time basis so we will enjoy an ongoing benefit from her expertise, presence and significant relationship with our tamariki. Last night our School Cultural Festival was held. To conclude our term on such a positive and high note with such involvement of our School Community was a delight to all those who attended and participated. Delicious food from the Nations of our students was prepared and shared and was followed by a relaxed look at school displays. Then performances in the hall rounded out an engaging and uplifting event for everyone. We believe in the importance and significance of our school existing within a wide community of students, whanau, extended family and staff all having a real role in making West Gore School a great place to be. A big thank You to all of the staff involved in this special event. The feedback so far received about our festival has been wonderful. We commence our next term welcoming new families to our school. Details of this special assembly will follow. So to everyone, all on the Board of trustees wishes you a great holiday. Have fun, keep safe- and see you all next term. Susan Hasselman Presiding Member   Te Mana o Te Hā – Smoke/Vapefree Science Showcase
Our Year 5 & 6 Students will be attending this Showcase next term, how lucky are they! Te Mana o Te Hā is an interactive science showcase designed for students in Years 5–13. This engaging, hands-on experience helps young people explore the real impacts of smoking and vaping, from how nicotine affects the body, to the ways it is marketed, and the wider environmental and social harm. Through a series of practical activities and eye-opening demonstrations, students are encouraged to think critically, ask questions, and make informed choices. The programme also supports positive conversations at home, empowering rangatahi to make healthy decisions and take a leadership role within their whānau and community. Whānau are warmly invited to come along and experience the showcase for themselves between 3.15pm–5.30pm on Tuesday 28 July at St Peter's College Gore. |
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