Meat Orders

Hi everyone

Just a reminder that meat orders are available for pick up today after school until 3:30pm. Please come to the PE shed to pick up your order. You need to be wearing a mask.

Thank you
SSG

Sorry – Picnic and Prizegiving for children only

Dear whanau

We are living in an ever changing environment and now with the introduction of the traffic light system we have to respond to event management with caution. The focus is always to protect your children.

After a meeting with the Ministry of Education online today the BOT and school management regret to inform you we cannot have the picnic or prize giving with parents attending. Logistically it is a challenge to check vaccine certificates, drivers licenses and meet health requirements.

The school will have the picnic for your children and record images for your enjoyment. We will do the same for the prizegiving. 

The Year 8 dinner will go ahead as a vaccinated event only. Non vaccinated parents cannot attend. I am sorry about this but it is the mandate we must adhere to. 

Unfortunately the school will also have to close the pool for the school holidays and no keys will be issued. Daily recordings and cleaning of toilets and facilities will not be able to be managed to meet Health requirements. 

Many of the schools in Mid Canterbury have also met online and most are doing the same as us. The MOE said that non-curriculum events have to be considered as non-essential in the COVID climate. With the recent Nelson outbreak we do not want to be the school that starts another cluster. 

I hope you understand that Rakaia School is totally focussed on the children and making the end of the year fun for them and we apologise that you cannot be fully involved at this point in time. 

regards Mark 

—
Mark Ellis

Rakaia School

Dunford Street, Rakaia 7710

Vaccine Passes required for Picnic, Prize-giving and Year 8 dinner.

Kia Ora Whanau,
It seems the new Traffic Light system will require us to have vaccine passes for events outside. There will be no number limits for us under Orange but because these events are classified as non- curriculum then all attendees will need to show their pass to join in.
This means if you want to attend the Picnic and Prize giving then you will need a pass.
Invitations for the Year 8 dinner will also need passes to attend.
If we do not request passes then our limit is 50 which we pass immediately with our 180 students.
If you feel this isn’t right then please share your information and I will check.
At this point in time , I am afraid that passes will be required to attend.
Please accept our apologies if this limits your attendance. We are just following the protocols set by the MOE and MOH to keep our tamariki safe.
Aroha Mai, Mark Ellis

School Picnic – 6th December – Parent, come along!

Kia ora e te whanau, 

We are getting very excited for the 6th December, our School Picnic! 

We would like to invite our community to celebrate the end of another successful year. Just remember, if you are able to come – please scan in with your tracer app, or use the sign in book at the main gate. 

We know there will be plenty of smiles, plenety of fun activitise – just remember to bring a picnic and a blanket. Come for some – come for all. We just hope to see you there. 

TIMINGS

Activities 10am – 1pm

School Picnic 1pm onwards

View Image

LAST SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE FOR THE YEAR

This Friday the 3rd of December will be the last second hand uniform sale for this year, to be held by the sports shed from 2.45 until 3.15pm.

We will require you to wear masks, write your name on the paper provided, hand sanitize and maintain social distancing as per the rules, but also we cannot go past the yellow line into the school grounds.

Thank you for all those people who have supported the uniform sale over the year by either purchasing items or donations of clothing.  Please keep us in mind if you are having a clear out over the holidays, as donations are always welcome and can be left at the school office.

We are looking at holding a uniform sale in the new year before school starts back, so keep an eye on the SSG face book page and school app.

Thank you

Clare Stewart (0274190020) and Nicola Vercoe

Just a reminder meat orders will be available to be collected by the shed this Friday 3rd of December at school pick up time.

Pet Day 2021 [no Pets] UPDATE

Morena e te whanau! 

Sounds a bit funny but ‘No pet Pet Day 2021 UPDATE’

We have plenty of excitment happening for this Friday – below is a list of drop off locations for each catagory 

Dropoff locations….. 
– Miniature garden – Verandah outside staff room
– Decorated Wine Biscuit – Mr P’s office 
– Lego and Decorated bike – Library
– Farm Dioramas and Animal artwork – MTJ (Big red table) 
– Decorated animal cakes – Small office in the staffroom 
– Vegetable novelty – Benches next to wheelchair ramp by Mr P’s office 
Make sure everything is labelled with child’s name, age & class

– Dressup with pets – please email images over to Mrs Smith amandasmith@rakaia.school.nz 
 

We will capture all the hard mahi done by the children along with placings, so keep an eye out for any further updates. 

Again, thank you for being so understanding and flexiable with our pet day this year, unfortunately we have had to accommodate due to our current health status. 

Any questions – please contact Mrs Smith or see the team in the office

Nga mihi nui!  

Ako Swimming at the School Pool

Team Ako Parents and Caregivers

We are incredibly lucky to have the school pool up and running! Now that production is finished, we are excited to take advantage of the nice weather and continue working on our swimming skills. If your child is in Ako, they can bring along their named togs and towel (starting tomorrow) each day for the rest of the term. Depending on the weather and our timetable, we are hoping to hop in the pool a few times a week!! Please remember to have your child’s togs, towel and all clothing named, including socks and underwear.

Thank you
Ako Teachers

Newsletter November 16th

View

SSG Update

Good afternoon everyone. Could we please remind meat orders should be at school today, so tomorrow is the last day. Thank you.

School Support Group meeting is on tomorrow evening at the Railway Tavern at 7.30pm. You are invited to attend.

Good morning everyone. Just a reminder that school is closed tomorrow , Thursday November 11th, for Teacher professional Development.

Good morning everyone. Just a reminder that school is closed tomorrow , Thursday November 11th, for Teacher professional Development. All 9 schools in the Kahui will be closed.

Newsletter Monday 8 November

View

Ako Swim Week

Evening Parents and Caregivers

Ako Swim week starts on Monday 8th November. We are swimming on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Please send along togs and a towel in a swimming bag with your child on Monday morning. Please ensure that all clothing is named, including underwear, socks and togs!! No matter how hard we try, something always ends up in the wrong bag. 

We also ask that on Monday 8th, the Ako children wear their school uniform and not mufti. We understand that the rest of the school is dressing in their house colours, but it makes it a lot easier to see the children at the pool as they are in our uniform.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your classroom teacher.

Thank you
Ako Teacher

Uniform sale

SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE

In this ever changing world we are going to have a second hand uniform sale, this Friday the 5th of November at school by the sports shed, from 2.45 until 3.15pm.

We will require you to wear masks, write your name on the paper provided, hand sanitize and maintain social distancing as per the rules, but also we cannot go past the yellow line into the school grounds.

Sorry we are unable to take cash so eftpos or internet banking only please, we can still do good clean swaps.

If you have any uniform to donate this is also very welcome, you can bring it along to the sale or leave it in the school office.  The second hand uniform sale is run by the school support so all the proceeds from this sale go back into the school via the school support group’s donations.

Thank you for your support

Clare Stewart (0274190020) and Nicola Vercoe

Message from the BOT

Good Afternoon School Community,

Welcome to November! We hope that you are able make use of the longer days and better weather both for work and play.

Last week I gave you an update around our take on Covid restrictions and noted that the information from Ministry of Health was hit and miss. The MOH has now issued a COVID-19 Vaccination Order that came to effect 25th October.

We acknowledge that many of you in the community contribute in person to the school more than just collection of children and we are grateful and lucky to have such support. With this in mind, the health order will affect some of you and you should be aware of the school’s new responsibilities.

We encourage our staff and community to be vaccinated so that we are to continue providing the same level of education.

This Vaccination Order makes COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for anyone working onsite at a school who may come into contact with students. It applies to:

· all school staff (teachers, support and other onsite staff)

· board of trustees

· contractors

· volunteers

· anyone else engaged to provide onsite services

The collection of children requires a face covering, regardless of vaccination status.

We hope that this information from the MOH provides some clarity. It is yet to be seen if case numbers will dictate further requirements, but we’ll stay in touch.

Regards

Grant Lorimer

Presiding Member

Rakaia School Board

Loosening wheels on bikes at school. This must stop.

Do not interfere with other bikes at school!

There seems to be a developing practice by some boys in the school loosening wheels on bikes. This must stop immediately! We will speak with the classes but urge you to inform your children that it is not acceptable to interfere with another person’s bike.

They seem to think it is funny until someone loses a tooth or face plants.

Our younger boys are also present and do not yet have some of the maturity to know the difference.

Thank you for your support

Hokonui 92.5FM or 96.5FM tomorrow morning from 7am. Logan and Peyton from Rakaia School. Tune in!

Please listen tomorrow morning from 7am to Logan and Peyton on the Hokonui station with Hoops. 92.5FM or 96.5FM. I am sure it will be a lot of fun.

Athletics – later start but send children along ready to go and warm. Normal school hours so children here for 8.55am start.

Good morning everyone. Athletics day is on at the moment but we will start at 11.15am at school and skip some rounds to check the weather underfoot. We will cover off those rounds on Thursday or Friday. Please send the children in their gear ready to go but keep them warm!

Miniball Y5/6 on Friday

The first game of Miniball for our Y5/6 team is on this Friday at 4.15pm at EA Networks Centre. 

Children will be given tops on Thursday. Please wear black or blue shorts. Remember that mouthguards are compulsory!!

Newsletter October 18th

View

Hats please for term 4

What a beautiful day to be at school. Please remember all students must have a bucket hat for the summer terms. No hat, No play! It can be any colour and must be named please. Thank you for keeping our children sunsafe.

Athletics Day 2021

Dear Rakaia School Parents, Caregivers and Community,

Due to Covid Alert levels, and to ensure we are following guidelines from the Ministry of Education, the decision has been made to run our annual athletics day as a within-school event this year. The other schools in our sports cluster, Dorie and Ashburton Christian School, will also hold their own events. We will still hold our event on Wednesday 20 October, the first week of Term 4.

This changes the organisation of our event, and due to this please note the following changes:
– No spectators allowed
We are very sorry, but parents and family will not be allowed at our event this year
– No barbecue for lunch
Please ensure you send your child with a full packed lunch
– We are needing 5-6 parents or adults to help run our stations
Volunteers will need to be fully vaccinated and adhere to our Covid-19 protocols. Please be in touch with Mr Ellis, Miss Anderson or the school office if you are available, fully vaccinated and willing to help.
– Counties and Zones Athletics competitions are still to be decided
We will update you further as to whether these events will go ahead once Canterbury Primary Sports make a decision

Further details for what your child needs for the day will be sent home on Monday.

Last week of school – Update

Dear Parents and caregivers,

This week is the last week of school and also Mental Health Awareness Week. Your own mental health is vitally important to how you act and conduct yourself with your friends and family. If you are not well then how can you support others? I have attached a PDF to support activities for the week. I hope you enjoy them.

https://www.mhaw.nz/get-involved/schools-and-kura/

We have just received our staffing note for 2022 and unfortunately we are losing a teacher due to a fall in the roll. Rent prices, jobs and other social issues have affected the Rakaia area and the base of children is smaller. Our New entrant enrolments look good and classes will be mid twenties for next year but overall we will be down and so the BOT now go through a process of identifying a position in the school that is surplus. This is a very difficult time for staff and we ask that you keep your eyes open for information and continue to “Gossip the Good” about our school. We have everything we need at Rakaia and we respect a family choice to look at other schools but ask that you communicate with us so we know what we can do to improve or change our approaches.

We do not have an enrolment zone and therefore can take children from the school area and wider but we have Transport zones where we run our buses and so do other schools. If you look to go to the Intermediate then you will have to catch the bus in Chertsey, to go to Mt Hutt you will need to pay the annual bus fee of approx: $2000 per pupil . We are extremely proud of our story and the work the teachers and BOT do to promote learning for your children. Rakaia School Rocks! Please remember to have the courtesy to advise the school if you are going. Every child in Rakaia School contributes to the funding and staffing of the school.

Level 2 continues and so our full school assembly will be pupils only and we will post on facebook any awards and celebrations.

School is back on October 18th and we will welcome back Miss Bell. She will teach in Whanau 7 on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with Mrs Gosling doing Thursday and Friday for term 4.

Our school production will be November 18th and the last day of school is Wednesday December 15, Prize Giving December 14 and the picnic is December 13th at Rakaia School.

Pet day will be November 26th if the alert levels go down to level 1. Level 2 will mean no pets but other novelty items will be judged. A note will be home this week.

Thank you

Mark Ellis

View PDF

Second hand clothing sale and SSG meeting.

SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE

In this unusual world we are going to have a second hand uniform sale, this Friday the 24th of September at school by the sports shed, from 2.45 until 3.15pm.

We will require you to wear masks, write your name on the paper provided, hand sanitize and maintain social distancing as per the rules, but also we cannot go past the yellow line in the school grounds.

Sorry we are unable to take cash so eftpos or internet banking only please, we can still do good clean swaps.

If you have any uniform to donate this is also very welcome, you can bring it along to the sale or leave it in the school office.  The second hand uniform sale is run by the school support so all the proceeds from this sale go back into the school via the school support group’s donations.

Thank you for your support

Clare Stewart (0274190020) and Nicola Vercoe

School Support Group Meeting

This Tuesday 21st of September we will be holding a meeting at my house 521 Mainwarings Road starting at 7.30pm, if anyone is interested in coming to discuss future fundraising and donations to the school then you are most welcome.

Clare Stewart

SSG President

Sausage Sizzle

All pre orders from lockdown will be carried over for the next three Fridays. New orders should come to the office as normal. Thank you 

Sorry team , late notice, but no sausage sizzle today.

All children back to school Thursday September 9th

Hello everyone.

We are all back at school on Thursday September 9th. Those children who have been with us for level 3 will be able to attend Wednesday September 8th , as they have been, however no new children can be with us on Wednesday.

Online learning will occur Wednesday but no afternoon sessions will be on offer tomorrow as staff prepare for Thursday at school.

We are excited to see the children .

Level 2:

Masks are recommended for 12 yrs up but not compulsory.
Parents will be at the gates.
Staff on gate/bus duty will need masks.
You will need to sign in with your scanners
Assemblies will be internal and can be live online if you wish.
Parents of New entrants can come onsite but will need masks and to sign in.
RTLB and special needs staff can come in.
No off site events at this point in time.
All children to return to school
Those who do not will have a small amount of work placed online but teachers will concentrate on their face to face delivery methods.

Bubbles have disappeared in school and so children and staff can move around as normal in the school grounds.

Basic hygiene principles are to be followed and encouraged actively.

Sanitizers and wipes available in class

Masks and gloves are available but not required

We encourage children to bring their own drink bottles

Parents encouraged to drop children at the gate

Contact tracing document in the office for any visitors

RTLB and visiting teachers/specialists will work/meet in the office.