Newsletter T1 W2 – 11 February 2023

T1 W2: Friday 11 February 2023

Important Dates
Monday 13 – Friday 24 February – Swimming Lessons
Tuesday 14 – Thurs 16 February – Dental Bus on site
Thursday 23 February – Vision and Hearing testing
Friday 10 March – Sunnybrae Family Fun Festival, 4.30-7.30pm
Thursday 6 March – Term 1 ends, 3pm

IN THIS ISSUE:
Principal’s Letter
Extreme Weather Situation
Positive Behaviour for Learning
ESOL Graduates
Vision & Hearing 
Family Fun Fest – PTA Fundraiser
Join the PTA 
MyKindo: Ezlunch Promo
Enrolments at Sunnybrae
Community Notices

Principal’s Letter
Dear Parents, Caregivers & Whānau,

After a rather unexpected delay, I wish you all a heartfelt ‘welcome back’ to the 2023 academic year. Our staff have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare the school grounds, all classrooms and our academic programmes in preparation for the students to arrive. A special welcome to all our new students and staff that started school this week. We trust this will be a wonderful year full of exciting learning opportunities for everyone. The weather has been rather fickle over the summer break, but I trust you all got some time to spend with your whānau and friends. It was wonderful to see the students arrive back with great excitement, ready for the very busy term ahead.

Flood Damage
Our thoughts go out to those who endured damage to property over the last week or so. You will have received an email from the Board of Trustees last week regarding the remedial building work that will be carried out after the floods. We appreciate your patience and will do our very best to keep you informed as we progress through the stages. Thank you again to all the parents who spent hours helping us get the school ready to open. Also, thank you to those who allowed us to use your water blasters, wet vacs and dehumidifiers. Fingers crossed we won’t need them again!

Parking
I sincerely hope that everyone will play their part in keeping our students safe during drop-off and pick-up times. As parking is difficult close to the school, I suggest that you park on one of the neighboring streets and walk your child/children to the gate. 

Please Read the School Newsletter
Please read the information provided in the newsletter. For new parents, the newsletter is a great way to keep you up to date with what is happening around our school. For parents that have been with us for a while, please have a read-through each Friday to refresh your knowledge about what happens and to learn of new initiatives or changes to programmes. 

Drop Off
8:30 am and 8:45 am at the Gate – Sunnybrae Road, Ellen Avenue or Northgrove Avenue. Please do not drop off your child before 8:30 am. Before School care is available in the School Hall – contact YMCA at 021 962 295. YMCA is open 7:00 – 8:30 am. Casual rates are available. 

School Day
School starts at 8.55 am and finishes at 3:00 pm. Kindly allow your child plenty of time in the morning to unpack their bag and settle into the classroom. If your child is late and arrives after 8:55 am, they need to sign in at the office. After School Care is available in the School Hall with the YMCA from 3:00 – 6:00 pm. Casual rates are available. To get signed up contact YMCA at 021 962 295.

Announcing New Sunnybrae Staff Members
Learning Assistants: Melissa McIntyre and Candy Wong
Teachers: Brittney Hight (Room 5) and Jasmine Kim (Room 17).
Deputy Principal Year 4 – 6: Jane Sharpe

Parent Teacher Communication
Communication between the school and parents/caregivers is important. Please feel comfortable contacting your child’s teacher if you have any queries about their learning. You can also contact the Learning Leaders if you have any questions or concerns:
Year 1 – Wendy Frazer
Year 2 – Anna Blair
Year 3 – Viv Morley
Year 4 – Anita Knight
Year 5 – Hannah Horgan
Year 6 – Stephen Gordon

May the challenges we face bring out the best in all of us. Thank you for being part of our Sunnybrae Normal School community and we look forward to working with you this year. 

Kind regards
Lorene Hurd
Principal

Extreme Weather 
I appreciate that the fast-changing nature of weather events makes it hard to know in advance what might eventuate and the implications for our school and community.
It is likely to be Sunday before this becomes clearer, and I encourage you to stay informed with news and weather reports. 
Depending on how the situation unfolds, this could include the Ministry of Education considering a further directive for schools to close across a region. Any such directive will be based on advice from emergency management services and will be carefully considered in terms of the safety of children and the wider public. And in such a case, we will communicate this as soon as possible via email. 

Kind Regards
Lorene Hurd
Principal

The PB4L focus for Term 1 Week 3 will be  on 
Respect Everywhere: Looking after our belongings – Use equipment correctly
Excellence in the Swimming Pool: Practising skills
Cooperation in the Swimming Pool: Playing sensibly in the pool – Sharing pool equipment

ESOL Graduates 
Congratulations to the following students who graduated from the ESOL programme at the end of Term 4: Na’a Anitoni, Yuxi Meng and Ray Liu.

Vision & Hearing

The Vision and Hearing Technicians will be visiting Sunnybrae as part of the Vision and Hearing Screening Programme on Thursday 23rd February 2023 at 9.30am.

Children eligible to be tested include:  New Entrants to the school who have not had a B4 School Hearing and Vision test at Pre-school.  Children who need rescreening or were absent from previous testing.  Children new to the school who have not been tested in New Zealand.
N/B Foreign fee paying students are not eligible for the screening programme.  Children do not need to be tested if they have completed the B4 School Check.

If you think your child needs to be checked please contact the office for a consent form.

Book it in your calendar… Family Fun Fest
The biggest fundraising event for the year is coming to Sunnybrae. Make sure to check out our Facebook page for regular updates of the fun rides and carnival activities that will be on offer.  To make this a great success the PTA will need lots of helpers – if you can assist in any way please click here to register your details.

PARENT HELPER FORM

PTA UPDATE:

The Sunnybrae Normal School Parent Teacher Association (PTA) are currently seeking parents willing to help at school fundraising events. 
This is an opportunity to meet parents already involved with fundraising for the school, and how you can volunteer to help the Sunnybrae community and its students.

> Come and find out how your children already benefit from the PTA.
> No commitment to attend all meetings.
> Be a friend of the PTA.
> Provide us with feedback.
> Share new ideas for fundraising.

Please send an email to office@sunnybrae.school.nz to register your interest for our next meeting.

Ezlunch @ MyKindo
Just a reminder to have your MyKindo account ready to go for the start of the year. Mykindo is our preferred way to pay for all school activies, fundraising and sports team – and is also where you can order online lunch order. Ezlunch are running a Valentine’s Day giveaway! Between 13-24 February, all orders delivered during that time will go into the draw to WIN a $50 voucher to do something you love! There are three chances to WIN.

SAFETY AROUND SCHOOL:
Parking
We are asking that all parents/caregivers be considerate of our many neighbours by ensuring that you leave their driveways clear when you are dropping off or picking up your child/children. For security, please lock your vehicle at these times.

The Lost Property Room will open to parents/caregivers from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 December. Please check for any missing items as all property left after this date will be donated to charity.

Kind regards
Lorene Hurd, Principal
SUNNYBRAE NORMAL SCHOOL

REMINDER:
Please note that all children are to be collected from school by 3.15pm. If you are unable to collect before this time, you my be interested in booking your child into the YMCA after school club held in the hall.  

COMMUNITY NOTICES: