Term 4 Week 5: Friday 15 November 2024
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Important Dates 2024
Friday 22 November – Crazy Colour Run, 1:30 pm on the Field: Sausage Sizzle & Iceblocks for sale.
Monday 2 December – Sports Prizegiving, 3:10 pm in the Hall
Thursday 5 December – Board Meeting, 5:30 pm in the Staffroom
Thursday 12 December – Year 6 Farewell Prizegiving, 5:30 – 6:30 pm in the Hall
Monday 16 December – Final Assembly, 11:15 am followed by a family picnic on the field
Tuesday 17 December – Term 4 ends – all students picked up at 12:30 pm
2025
Monday 3 February – Meet the Teacher Conferences
Tuesday 4 February – Start of Term 1 – regular classes commence
Please refer to the Hero calendar on your app or click here to see future events at Sunnybrae.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Meet the Teacher Conferences 2025
Spotlight on Year 3 & 4: Focus on Poetry
Sunnybrae School Uniform
International Students
PTA Update: Slime the Teacher, Colour Run Fundraiser
Celebrating Success: Mural Design Winner
Sports Update: Year 3-6 Athletics Results
Volunteers Needed
Yummy Stickers
Community Notices
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The PB4L focus for next week will be on:
Cooperation: Everywhere – Play safely and keep hands and feet to ourselves.
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Meet the Teacher Conferences – Monday 3 February 2025
At Sunnybrae Normal School, we aim to build connections with our students and their whānau/family. Strong relationships form the foundation for happy, healthy students who are prepared to learn. With this in mind, in 2025, we are starting a new initiative by holding our Meet the Teacher on the first day of school. Meet the Teacher conferences are an opportunity to:
Establish Strong Relationships: The Meet the Teacher conferences allow you to connect with your child’s teacher face-to-face. Building a positive relationship early in the year establishes open communication and mutual trust. Teachers are not just educators, they are also partners in your child’s growth and development. These initial conversations allow you to share valuable insights about your child, their learning style and any specific needs they may have. Teachers value learning about your child’s strengths and interests as this gives them ways to connect with your child to build a strong relationship.
Ask Your Questions: The Meet the Teacher conference is a time to ask questions. A direct conversation with your child’s teacher can clarify and make you feel confident and informed. This is your opportunity to learn about the classroom routines, homework, weekly timetables, expectations and teaching strategies that will shape your child’s school year and other things that interest you about school life.
Understanding the Classroom Environment: This is your opportunity to learn about the classroom routines, expectations and teaching strategies that will shape your child’s school year.
We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming Meet the Teacher sessions on Monday 3 February 2025. Students are encouraged to attend the conference with their parents/caregivers. The teachers will spend the whole day meeting with all of their parents/caregivers. The YMCA will provide a programme during the day if you need childcare.
Your involvement in these early conversations will help set the stage for a positive and productive year for your child. Together, we can create the best possible learning experience for every student. You will be notified in advance via the Hero app as to when conferences are open for booking.
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SPOTLIGHT ON YEAR 3 & 4
Focus on Poetry
Room 15 has been enjoying writing some poetry to continue practising our use of descriptive language. Last week we talked about things we look forward to as the weather warms up, and things that won’t happen until winter rolls round again. Enjoy this selection of Hello Goodbye poems.
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Room 14 has been discussing and sharing ideas about friendship, using an analogy of a melting ice cream. For example, have you ever felt your friendship is starting to melt? What do you do?
What are some signs that your friendship is starting to melt and how does that make you feel? The class brainstormed some excellent friendship character traits and drew ice cream scoops, picking out a trait to write on their scoop. Ka pai Room 14.
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Room 13 and 12 have written some Senses poems about our Athletics Day.
I hear kids shouting, cheering and screaming.
I see teachers very proud.
I smell the fresh wind.
I taste fresh cold water.
I feel the bar when I do the high jump. By Tylah
I smell the salty sand at the long jump.
I hear my friends cheering for me.
I see my opponents catching up to me as I run.
I feel my body touch the bar when I fall.
I taste the savoury water slipping down my throat. By Jeddah
I smell the green, fresh grass under my feet.
I hear kids scream so loud that I have to cover my ears.
I touch the ping pong ball when it falls to the floor.
I feel the cold, cool water go down my throat.
I see people doing sprints over and over. By Johanna
I smell sunscreen on my body.
I hear balls bouncing up and down.
I see teachers standing over there.
I taste water to drink.
I touch sunscreen for the first time. By Youen
I smell the gooey sunscreen on everybody’s skin.
I hear people cheering , yelling.
I see people throwing the discuses.
I taste freedom in the fresh air.
I feel the high-jump bar. By Tyler R
I smell fresh air coming through the trees.
I hear people cheering and yelling to their friend and classmates.
I see families coming to see their child.
I taste the fresh water running through my throat.
I touch the warm sand on my feet and the sunscreen on my dry skin. By Yuna
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Sunnybrae School Uniform
Why do we have to wear the correct school uniform?
Shows Our Identity: A uniform makes it easy to identify which school someone belongs to, creating a shared sense of identity among students and staff.
Instills Pride: By wearing the uniform, students show they are proud to be part of their school.
Promotes School Culture: Uniforms can reinforce a sense of belonging and unity within the school, helping to create a positive environment where students can focus on learning.
Summer uniform consists of:
Yellow polo shirt with Sunnybrae logo
Black shorts, skort or trousers with Sunnybrae logo
Shoes or sandals that are predominantly black (no boots or jandals)
Black or white socks/tights
Accessories:
Only black and white headbands / hair ties / scrunchies may be worn
Bucket hats during Term 4 and Term 1
Jewellery – Girls can wear one small silver stud in their ear
No rings, bracelets or necklaces
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Here is our Sunnybrae students proubly wearing their correct uniforms to school.
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International Students
In Term 4 we will have three short-stay international students who will study at Sunnybrae. These students come from various parts of the world, bringing with them a wealth of cultural diversity and unique experiences.
To help our new students feel welcome and supported, we encourage everyone to make them feel at home. Over the coming weeks, we will be organising several activities and events to celebrate our New Zealand culture and foster a sense of belonging.
We believe that the inclusion of international students will greatly benefit our school’s learning environment and broaden our understanding of the world. Let’s all come together to ensure they have a positive and memorable experience. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm in welcoming these new students.
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Transition buddies, Hannah and Joshua, with our international students Ayoon and Alin enjoyed a scone making session with Mrs Ford.
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PTA UPDATE:
Colour Run Fundraiser
A big thank you to the students who have raised money for our Crazy Colour Run fundraiser. At lunchtime today, as a reward for raising the most money as a class, Room 15 got to Slime a Teacher of their choice. The victim was Mr Vella and he was a great sport in letting the kids cover him in blue goop – all in the name of fundraising for our playground upgrade.
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WHAT TO BRING ON THE DAY
All students will need to bring a change of clothes (a white t-shirt will show the colour best), a towel, a hat and goggles/sunglassess if they are concerned about the powder in their eyes. It’s advisable to pack a plastic bag for any wet clothes. Please make sure all items are named. Don’t forget some gold coins to buy an iceblock or sausage in bread at lunchtime from the PTA stall. We would love to see as many parents and caregivers as possible to cheer on our students as they run the colour course. Join us from 1.30pm on the school field. Make sure to grab yourselves a sausage or iceblock for an afternoon tea snack. $3 Sausages $2 Iceblocks.
GETTING INVOLVED
Not only can you support the school and students with your sponsorship – but you can join in on the fun. A huge thank you to the six parents who have offered to help on the day – but we need more helpers. If you would like to volunteer on the day, please click on this link to complete the Parent Helper form. We will need helpers to set up the course, cook sausages on the BBQ and sell iceblocks. I can’t wait to see you at our event.
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CELEBRATING SUCCESS:
Carus Painting Mural Winner
Earlier in the year, Carus Commercial Painting invited all our Sunnybrae students to draw a picture of a mural they would be proud to have painted on a wall at school. From the hundreds of entries all around New Zealand, we are proud to announce that Dinura from Room 20 was one of the chosen five designs. Carus will be recreating Dinura’s design on a wall at school for everyone to enjoy. We are so proud of his talent and a big thank you to Carus. www.carus.co.nz
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Sunnybrae School has four values Respect, Independence, Cooperation, and Excellence. And the bee is the main mascot. In my mural art, the bee hive represents the school, the queen bee represents all the teachers and the flowers represent the children in the school. The honey of the bee hive is nourished with the four school values and they are spread amongst the children and the children grow with those four values. By Dinura, Room 20
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SPORTS UPDATE:
Year 3-6 Athletics Day
On Tuesday 12 November, we held our annual Year 3 to 6 Athletics Day (finals results below). We were very lucky to have glorious weather so all children could participate in a variety of fun activities and/or sprint and field event finals. Thank you to all the staff who helped leading up to and on the day, and to all whanau who came along to support.
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VOLUTEERS NEEDED:
Drone Filming and Editing
We are seeking a volunteer with experience in drone filming and video editing to help create a promotional video showcasing our school grounds. This would involve filming aerial footage and helping to edit it into a short, engaging video. If you have the skills and equipment needed and are interested in supporting this project, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out if you can help bring this vision to life.
Chess Lessons for Students
We are looking for a volunteer to help run a lunchtime chess session at school. This would involve guiding students as they learn and practice the basics of chess in a fun, supportive environment. No formal chess experience is required—just a willingness to help students develop their skills. If you’re available to assist, please let us know!
Sewing Helper
We are seeking a volunteer to help sew up the hem of the black stage curtain. If you have sewing skills and a little time to spare, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. The work needs to be done on-site at the school, and we’ll provide all the necessary materials.
Crossing Duty Monitor Needed
We are desperately seeking a parent volunteer to assist with crossing duty on Thursday mornings from 8:30am to 8:55am during Term 4. Your help would be greatly appreciated in ensuring the safety of our students as they arrive at school and need to cross Sunnybrae Road at the pedestrian lights.
Please let us know if you can help for any of these tasks by calling the office on 443 5058 or email office@sunnybrae.school.nz
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PTA UPDATE:
Yummy Stickers
A huge thank you to all our families that suported the Yummy Stickers promo and sent into school your sheets loaded with all the labels off your apples. We are excited to announce that this year we raised $661 to go towards purchasing more sports equipment for Sunnybrae.
If you would like to start saving the stickers off your apples over the school holidays please click here to download a sticker sheet. Click here to download.
Collect Yummy stickers for our share of $200,000 free sports gear for schools. Visit www.yummyfruit.co.nz/schools/ for more details.
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Kind regards
Lorene Hurd, Principal
SUNNYBRAE NORMAL SCHOOL
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Save the Date…
Harcourts Cooper & Co Shore to Shore 5K Fun Run, happening on Sunday 6th April 2025! Last year Sunnybrae had 91 participants therefore received a sports voucher to the value of $418. For every participant who registers through our school, $4 will be contributed back in the form of a sports voucher. The more participants we get, the larger the total voucher value will be. This includes parents, teachers, siblings, and anyone else who wishes to join through our school. It’s a fantastic opportunity to restock our PE Equipment!
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