A warm welcome to our new students: Emily Park, Laura Park, Jay Hyun, Donavan Kerr

Kia ora koutou,

Recently our teaching team have been actioning some of our initiatives from our Strategic Direction by building our professional knowledge and implementing aspects into the learning programme. 

One of these aspects is social and emotional development and regulation. This was something that came through strongly in our 2023 Community Survey, where overall, the idea of children developing their social and emotional learning was ranked highest in terms of what parents want their children to learn.

Interestingly, research has shown that children with higher emotional intelligence tend to perform better academically as well as being able to manage stress, maintain focus and can better navigate social interactions with their peers.  

This type of learning also supports well-being: Developing emotional intelligence helps children understand and manage their emotions, promoting greater well-being and resilience. Children who can identify and manage their feelings can better regulate their behaviours and form positive relationships with others. Personal emotional intelligence is a critical skill for children. By teaching children how to manage their emotions effectively, we can help them become more resilient individuals better equipped to navigate life's challenges. 

We have engaged in an approach called Zones of Regulation and are looking at gradually embedding this into our teaching practice across the school. The Zones of Regulation is a systematic, cognitive-behavioural approach used to teach self-regulation by categorising all the different ways we feel and states of alertness into four zones. 

These zones are:

The Blue Zone: This zone represents feelings of sadness, boredom, or feeling low. In the Blue Zone, individuals may feel tired or sluggish.

The Green Zone: The Green Zone is for when we are in a calm and focused state. This is the optimal zone for learning and engaging in daily activities.

The Yellow Zone: The Yellow Zone signifies a heightened state of alertness and intense emotions such as frustration, anxiety, or excitement. It's a zone where individuals may need to be cautious and use coping strategies to manage their emotions.

The Red Zone: The Red Zone indicates an extremely heightened state of alertness and intense emotions, such as anger, rage, or panic. It's important to recognise when we are in the Red Zone and employ strategies to calm down and regain control.

The programme teaches children about how to identify their emotional state, as well as how other people are feeling and teaches them strategies to get themselves into the ‘Green Zone’ for learning. Lessons also include teaching children about ‘the size of the problem’ and how to navigate social interaction positively. 

There are resources online for parents if you are interested in this at home. https://zonesofregulation.com/

Our full Charter and Annual Implementation Plan can also be found on our website. https://www.puketaha.school.nz/charter-implementation-plan

Last week Scott our caretaker moved on to further his contracting business, Scott has been part of the Puketaha team for over 5 years and we have appreciated his attention to detail and the care that he has taken keeping our school looking good.  We wish him well for the future.  We have welcomed Richard Tarrant into the position, Richard will be working in the mornings if you see him out and about please say hello.

Have a lovely rest of your week and enjoy the upcoming weekend,

Ngaa mihi nui,

Nyree Olliver

We are offering students in Years 5- 8 the opportunity to try out for our Kapahaka Performance group. This is a new element to our Kapahaka programme for 2024 and will provide Kapahaka extension for approximately 40 students. Our P.T.A. will also be supporting this group by fundraising for Kapahaka uniforms. 

Next Thursday, any students who would like to be considered for this Roopuu are invited to try out. They will meet in the PAC after lunch.

The Roopuu will start in Term 2 and will take place during school hours. 

Please remind your children that they are not to cross the road without an adult, both in the morning and the afternoon. We ask that adults come on site so they are there to walk their child across the road, particularly if the duty teacher is held up for some reason. 

If you park on Sainsbury Road, please walk your children along the path and cross your child at the crossing area, rather than along other points on Sainsbury Road. We have found traffic doesn't always slow down quickly as they enter the 60 km zone. 

It's also worth making sure your child doesn't assume a car will stop for them when they are waiting on the side of the road to cross. Drivers, please feel free to not stop to help us reinforce this message that you don't cross until the road is clear and to not assume that if a car has slowed, that is stopping ready for someone to cross. Reminders about walking across the road, not running, is helpful too.

Thanks for your support.

The Golf Day is coming up on the 24^th , we do have room for a couple more teams if there are any late entries out there. Plus we would love to get some auction items if there is anyone with something special out there that they can donate I would love to hear from you. On that note, thank you to Toni Leefe who has donated a fabulous painting. Plus, thank you to the hole and prize sponsors so far: Sculpture Hospitality, Prolorus, Ingham Hyundai, Lugtons Real Estate, Kukri, Superior Pet Foods, Chaytor Fencing, Sniks, Parnell Veterinary Pharmaceuticals, RAW Construction, Inghams Waitoa, Bunnings and Good George.

Also a reminder next Tuesday (19^th) is our AGM so our meeting starts at 7pm before the regular meeting begins at 7.30pm. Please come along, all welcome!

Kind regards,

Merynn Connors

M: 027 629 6820 E: pta@

puketaha.school.nz

The school board is currently reviewing Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Board Responsibility,  Documentation and Self-Review Policy.

Parents/caregivers are invited to be a part of this review.

1. Visit the website School Docs
2. Enter the username (puketaha) and password (puketaha).
3. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
4. Read the policy.
5. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
6. Select the reviewer type "Parent".
7. Enter your name (optional).
8. Submit your ratings and comments.

If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.

On Thursday 30th May there will be a Hell Pizza lunch for your children. Please note that orders for this lunch close on Tuesday 28th May at 12pm so that they can be processed.

All other Friday lunches provided by Fastlane Fitness will continue with close off 9am on Friday mornings as usual.