WGS Newsletter - Week 7 - Term 2

Dear Parents / Whanau, 

We are enjoying the connection with you, our community. Community partnership is at the heart of great education. When you, our parents actively support your children’s learning journey, our children develop confidence, resilience and the skills needed to thrive.  We have had several opportunities to connect with you recently which we have loved. 

Eastern  Cross Country was held  yesterday where our team performed so well with two children now representing us at Southland next week. Congratulations to Lachie & Ollie. 

Our Busking was such a fun event with our children believing they were super stars on the street singing their hearts out to a large crowd. Thank you for making our children feel special and donating us $269.00 which we will spend on some musical instruments for next year. 

Thank you to all who sent back the Home and School sign up sheet. We are hoping this new system will allow more people to be involved in the way that suits your work and family needs. We will make contact later next week with families that are still to respond. 
Please send back early next week to still be in the Hot Chip and Grocery Voucher draw. 

We are planning our Cultural Festival for the end of this term. Information will be sent home today.
This was an amazing event last year where we all learnt so much about each other. We are excited to share in further activities, kai and culture together. 

And … I hope you have all seen the brilliant advert for our School App that was posted on Facebook and our app last evening. It was  enacted by our clever and creative Miss Prattley, Laya, Issy and Izette.  
No excuses now to not have this App. 

Thank you for your support of our Teacher Only day on Tuesday. Teachers had a full day learning the new Maths curriculum while our Support Staff participated in professional development relevant to the work they do. 

Enjoy your weekend 

Nga mihi 

Linda Fraser 
Principal

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Hello Everyone,
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Over the last weeks there have been so many activities West Gore students have been involved with. We have had the
Cross Country, well done to those who placed in their Girls and Boys age groups. Special congratulations to Ollie, Lachie, Harry, Lachlan and Malachai who did a stellar job of representing West Gore School!

At the Southland Festival of Dance our fabulous dancers took out First Place in the School’s section!
Our dancers achieved recognition in several categories, well done everyone for that hard work and your fantastic efforts on the day. Keep dancing Katelynne, May, Issy, Izette, Willow, Isabella and Aaliyah.

Pink shirt day was a valuable and engaging way for our tamariki to learn about and consider the effects and feelings
associated with bullying. An ongoing awareness, especially at such a young age can change the lives of so many young
people, now and into the future.

Our students who participated in the busking last Thursday gave such a joyful performance that was so well received.
Many parents came out and the positive vibe on the street that was full of parents watching their particular school
groups was so good.

To all of the students who took part in all of these activities, you did your school proud. The focus on learning at West
Gore goes hand in hand with the collaboration, fellowship and team spirit that these fun activities promote.

All of these really cool achievements are reported on our school app, check us out on Facebook too.

Of course the success of all these endeavours rests in large part on the staff , community and parent helpers who
offered their time, knowledge, experience and encouragement, our grateful thanks to you all.

Also last Thursday our school acknowledged and offered thanks to our incredible Support Staff who are a constant and
ever present strength not only in our school function but in the day to day experience of your children’s day at school.
I was very happy to be there on behalf of the Board and to express our gratitude.

At our Board meeting last week Principal Linda Fraser and Deputy Principal Rebekah Prattley updated the Board on the
new curriculum reporting that will be coming into effect over the next months. The repeated adjustments to the
curriculum over the last two and a half years have brought with them intense ongoing change.
The staff have been spending valuable time with curriculum advisors from the Ministry of Education trialing new assessment procedures, identifying issues and preparing early to best serve the needs and requirements for our students.
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We are fortunate indeed to have such experience in our leadership team to guide staff through a large amount of
change and the intense work required. We are in good hands and the Board appreciates this very much indeed.

Susan Hasselman
Presiding Member

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This amazing group of children did West Gore School proud at the Eastern Cross Country yesterday. They all ran hard and gave it their best! 
Congratulations to  Ollie and Lachie who will be going on to represent us at Southland Cross Country on 12th June 2026.

AGM - Thursday 11th June at 7pm in the staffroom

Volunteer sign-up sheets went home yesterday. A massive thank you to everyone who has already stepped up to join a sub-committee or offered to be a general helper on event days. We truly appreciate your support!

We Need You! If you haven’t sent your form back yet, our friendly office team will give you a quick call soon to check in. Joining a sub-committee is a fantastic way to help because these smaller groups work independently. This means fewer long meetings and more quality time back with your family!

Committees to sign up for are:
Heat Ups, Breakfast Club, Home and Garden Tour, Pizza Days, Disco, Sport Uniforms and Community Support.

Road Patrol – Supporting Student Safety

Did you know that Road Patrol plays an important role in helping keep our students safe when travelling to and from school? We encourage all parents and caregivers to take a few minutes to review our Road Patrol Policy on SchoolDocs to learn more about how crossings are managed, the responsibilities of students and supervisors, and the safety procedures in place.

The policy also highlights the important role that parent volunteers play in supporting the operation of Road Patrol. At present, we do not have enough volunteers to safely run the programme, meaning that Road Patrol has had to be scaled back, and not all crossings are always managed. If you are able to assist, even occasionally, we would love to hear from you. Together, we can help create a safer environment for all students travelling to and from school.

If you can help with Road Patrol in the mornings at either Robertson or Kitchener Streets, please contact Anneke in the office.