Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa – warm greetings to everyone
Teacher Only Day – this Friday 8th March:
A reminder that all teaching staff and some teacher aides from all schools in our COL/Kahui Ako will be involved in professional learning over at the college this Friday. School will not be open for instruction on this day. These opportunities to learn together with other schools in our area are incredibly valuable. Our teachers are able to learn off each other and visiting speakers, growing their capability and becoming even better at what they do. You children benefit from this!
Paid Union Meeting:
Our next round of paid union meetings are on Monday 18th March 1:30 pm, and Tuesday 19th March 1:30pm. These paid union meetings are a critical opportunity for us to come together as a profession, to hear the latest from the collective agreement negotiations and to determine next steps. Hopefully this will include considering a new offer from the Ministry.
School will remain open on these dates, as we are fortunate to be able to send staff to different locations in Rotorua and Taupo. The school will not be fully staffed on these afternoons, but we will have you child/ren covered and catered for.
We appreciate the support of our community as we continue to aim to put right the educational concerns and improve the future learning for our children.
Internet Safety:
THE MOMO CHALLENGE
I wasn’t going to enter into the “Momo” discussion but it has been brought to my attention that our students ARE aware of this and are discussing it amongst themselves.
There is much evidence around to suggest that the Momo challenge is just an urban myth and what kids are actually seeing is screenshots perpetuating the myth on Facebook rather than terrifying videos that are somehow spliced into Peppa Pig or Minecraft or Fortnight videos.
The BBC actually published an article saying that it is in fact a big hoax and that schools and police have been too fast to warn parents, therefore amplifying a media-scare-story.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47393510
Youtube have also said that they haven’t received a single report about any “momo challenge” videos on their website.
But, because our kids are talking about it, you may like to spend some time with them talking about internet safety in general. This is a paragraph from the article below:
“Police have suggested that rather than focusing on the specific momo meme, parents could use the opportunity to educate children about internet safety, as well as having an open conversation about what children are accessing.
Broadcaster Andy Robertson, who creates videos online as Geek Dad, said…
“A better focus is good positive advice for children, setting up technology appropriately and taking an interest in their online interactions,” he said.
To avoid causing unnecessary alarm, parents should also be careful about sharing news articles with other adults that perpetuate the myth.”
Our IT support company TTS have also recommended the following:
TTS recommends that schools read the following article posted by Netsafe. It offers advice for parents that schools may wish to pass on to their families.
https://www.netsafe.org.nz/momo-challenge-advisory-february-2019/
Camps:
Thank You:
Thank you to all those people who donated milo, bread and spreads to the breakfast club. We appreciate it!
A huge thank you to Reptec for providing us with new poles to go over the soccer posts and for fixing our money bars on the playground. We appreciate your help!
Board of Trustees:
Sports:
Swimming:
Congratulations to all for a great swimming sports day. I enjoyed watching the junior school in the morning and taking the senior school in the afternoon.
Here are the results:
Staff:
Kōkā Piri (Jazmine Elkington) is our teacher in charge of sport and can be emailed at [email protected]
Jolene Guyton is our sports co-ordinator. She will be managing the entries, permissions, transport and sports uniforms for the teams.
Calendar:
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Other Notices:
School Account Details:
Account payments can be made directly to our school ASB account using online banking. The account number is: 123155 0134517 00
Remember if you get a new cell phone number to notify the school so we have up to date records, also the office needs your up to date email address so the newsletter can be emailed out – thanks.
FRIDAY LUNCHES:
Lunch menu
https://www.rep.school.nz/lunches/
Absences:
Reminder if your child is absent either text, leave a message or fill in an on-line absent form. We also are required to fill in the reason they are away, so remember to include this in your message – thanks.
Library News:
Library sessions happen every Monday for Rooms 1, 2 and 3.
Rooms 5 & 6 have theirs on alternate Fridays.
Books must be carried in a book bag or plastic bag to and from school. Please remind, or help your children with returning their library books.
Lost or damaged library books will be charged for.
Nãku i runga i aku mihi ki a koe – Yours with thanks
Richelle McDonald
and our team –Jill, Jazz (Piri), Debs, Chelsea, Susannah, Rachel, Julie, Maureen, Heather, Mary, Karla & Linda.
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