Kia ora Vogeltown whānau

We're now over halfway through Term 2, the days are short, it's cooling down and winter is well and truly on its way.

It's been a challenging start to the year for the school with the new curriculum and ministry funding really stretching the operations side of our school. Through this, the Vogeltown School Board is always chipping away to ensure school operations are supported and teachers have what they need to deliver a quality VS education to all children, in a safe and inclusive environment.

Part of that support has been putting together a new annual plan. The Board has worked alongside Mr Hunt to revise our plan and to set clear goals for the school. The one page version of this is being finalised and will be released to the community as soon as we receive the final artwork. We look forward to sharing this with you, and receiving your feedback.

To bring our strategy and vision to life, the Board works alongside Mr Hunt. The Board provides support, challenges his thinking and gives candid feedback. We do this to get the best out of him and the school. The outcome is a Board that trusts each other, is unified and that sets specific and measurable targets to track our progress.

Earlier this week, information was shared with the community about Board elections and nominations. The Board acts as the school's governing body, representing the Ministry of Education and the community to deliver 4 key objectives set out in the Education Act:

• Educational achievement
• Student safety
• Being inclusive of, and catering for, students with different needs
• Giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi

To do this, the Board often works in the following areas:

• Strategising for the future
• Compliance with legal obligations
• Employment of all school staff
• Setting policy and procedure
• Management of budgets

If being on the Board is something that interests you, please get in touch with Mr Hunt, Mrs Wolfe or ask any of the teachers to point you in the direction of someone to talk to. Alternatively, get in touch with a current Board member for a chat. Board member details are available from the school office, or you can get in touch with me at presiding.member@vogeltown.school.nz

On a personal note, I'm in year two as the presiding member of the VS Board. I've learnt a lot in my time on the Board, and finally feel like I have a good handle on the direction and vision for the school. I've also made some great connections with lots of kids, parents and staff.

Last year we experienced much change but this year it feels as though we're growing together. I see the leadership team strengthening, the teachers bought into the academic standard, and the kids continuing to exemplify our values.

I've always respected teachers, as I think they have a hard job that is high stakes. Moulding children into quality human beings is no small feat. In my time on the Board, I've been exposed to a whole lot more than the average school parent, and from my experience I can now tell you that teachers, school staff and principals are superhuman. I want to personally thank each of our school staff on behalf of the VS Board and the community for the tireless work you put into our kids. We applaud you, value you and appreciate you.

To the VS community, I'm sure this year won't be without its challenges. We'll overcome a few and likely learn some lessons along the way, and that's what the learning journey is all about.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have something to discuss.

Sincerely

Paul Gibbins

Presiding Member - Vogeltown School Board of Trustees

Thank you for your support as we held our Teacher Only Day today. The focus of this day was for our teaching team to continue deepening their understanding of the new national curriculum refresh, including how it will shape teaching and learning within our school. This learning is important to ensure we are well prepared to deliver a curriculum that meets the needs of our learners.

Please note this Monday 2nd June is King's Birthday, so school will be closed. We look forward to welcoming our learners back to school on Tuesday 3rd June.

Beginning on Monday 9th June, we will be teaching the personal safety programme Keeping Ourselves Safe.

Keeping Ourselves Safe is a programme developed by the New Zealand Police to help children learn how to keep themselves safe from abuse. It supports children to develop the knowledge and skills they need to make safe decisions and seek help when needed.

This programme was last taught in 2023. In light of some behaviours we’ve recently observed, we feel it is timely and important to revisit this content with all students. It is part of our Health and Physical Education curriculum responsibilities.

Through this programme, students will:

· Recognise their own personal strengths and develop confidence in who they are

· Understand that their body belongs to them and they have the right to feel safe

· Be able to identify the difference between safe and unsafe touch

· Be able to recognise the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships

· Know what to do, and who to go to, if they ever feel uncomfortable, unsure, or unsafe

The programme will be delivered by your child’s classroom teacher. All staff have taken part in meetings to ensure the content is taught confidently and appropriately for the age and needs of their students.

You are welcome to view the full programme content through an internet search of Keeping Ourselves Safe. Please be aware that we have tailored lessons to address things we have noticed (so not all of this content is being covered) and that the lesson content will vary between year levels.

We invite you to a parent and caregiver information evening on Wednesday 4th June at 5:30pm, held in the school hall. We will provide an overview of the programme and be available to answer any questions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher.

To celebrate Book Week, the Junior School held a vibrant dress-up day, where students came to school dressed as their favourite book characters. From classic fairytale figures to modern literary heroes, there was lots of colour, creativity, and excitement. The day included a special parade, where each class showcased their costumes, and teachers joined in the fun too! It was a joyful celebration of reading, imagination, and the magic of stories.

Keep gathering those sponsorships as we gear up for our Mathathon testing day on Thursday 5th June. Don’t forget to bring your completed form and sponsorship money back to school by Wednesday 11th June. You can also pay sponsorship money online - all details are on the form that came home.

All students who return their forms will go in the draw to win some awesome prizes, including vouchers from Event Cinemas, The Arizona, Fulton Swim School, Mega Bounce, and even a Warriors jersey! Let’s keep the momentum going - thank you for your support!

The New Plymouth Schools Rippa Rugby Tournament has now been rescheduled to Monday 9th June 2025. A new permission form has gone out to all children participating to reflect the new date. Teams will remain as they are with no changes. Fingers crossed for some great weather on the 9th!

Next Wednesday 4th June we are off to Woodleigh for our interschool sport exchange. We will be taking our rugby, netball and football teams and will be walking there and back.

Details about our day are as follows:

• Expected arrival time at Woodleigh: 11:15am
• Welcome in hall: 11:30am
• Warm up: 11:50am
• Rugby, Netball B start: 12pm
• Football and Netball A start: 12:30pm
• After match kai and speeches: 1:30pm
• Return to Vogeltown School: 1:45pm

Whānau are welcome to come down to Woodleigh and support us.

As part of our focus on lifting student achievement we have introduced a new, knowledge-rich and internationally-comparable curriculum this year for Maths in Years 0–8 and English in Years 0–6, and Te Reo Rangatira Years 0-6 and Pāngarau Years 0-8 wāhanga ako.

This means we are currently changing from the old to the new curriculum. We want to acknowledge that schools and kura will only have been using the new curricula from the start of 2025, which includes new teaching and assessment methods and content.

This means you could see a change in your child’s progress or achievement compared to previous years, which may be the result of changes in the curriculum expectations for your child’s year level. If you have concerns or questions about your child’s achievement, we strongly suggest you talk with your child’s teacher or kaiako. They will also have used their own observations, classroom tasks and other tests to report on the progress your child is making.

You may have noticed some changes to the way we are reporting to parents. This year we concluded Term 1 with learning conferences, where teachers met with parents and whānau.

This term the changes continue, with teachers busy writing reports using a different format that aligns with the new curriculum and updated teaching expectations. To support them with this change, we are providing additional time for the preparation of these. As a result, all written reports will be sent home in the first week of Term 3.

This extension allows more time for drafting, moderating and ensuring consistency across the school. We appreciate your understanding and support as we work to strengthen our reporting processes.

On Friday 13th June we are holding our biannual 'Dads and Lads' breakfast. We alternate between Dads and Lads and Dads and Daughters each year, and this year its the lads turn!

A notice was sent home last week - please contact the school office if you need a copy, otherwise you can fill out a form online on the Skool Loop app.

The awesome team at GameChanger have Vogeltown School Hoodies available to order. You can try a sample on for size at their store, which is on the corner of Huatoki and Carrington Street. The link to order is below:

For our Year 6 whānau - please note that enrolments for 2026 open on Tuesday 1st July 2025. We will receive enrolment packs to distribute in the last week of Term 2. All information and dates can be found on the Highlands website - https://highlands.school.nz/zone-info-enrolment/enrolment/

TERM CALENDAR

Put all these dates in your diary or your phone! Remember we will put all updates on Facebook, Skool Loop and Seesaw.

TERM 2 2025

2 June - King's Birthday Public Holiday - school closed for instruction

4 June - Interschool vs Woodleigh (at Woodleigh)

4 June - Keeping Ourselves Safe Information Evening, 5:30pm, school hall

6 June - 4 Year Old Friday, 9:00am to 11:00am

9 June - Paetoki Team - Rippa Rugby Tournament, New Plymouth Racecourse

10 June - BOT meeting

13 June - Dads and Lads Breakfast, 7:30am, school hall

13 June - Whole School Assembly hosted by Room 13

16 June - Kiwi Math Competition, Kiwi Science Competition

17 June - Kiwi English Competition

18 June - Interschool vs Welbourn (at Vogeltown)

18 June - Starting School the VS Way, 5pm to 6pm

19 June - Whānau event (gumboot throw)

20 June - Matariki - school closed for instruction

25 June - Interschool vs Central (at Central)

26 June - Vogeltowner Assembly

27 June - Whole School Assembly

27 June - 4 Year Old Friday, last day of Term 2

Thank you for the ongoing support of Vogeltown School, we really appreciate the efforts everyone makes to ensure our kura is such a great place to learn and work!

On behalf of the Vogeltown team, ka kite ano! Enjoy your long weekend.

The VS team

Email: office@vogeltown.school.nz
Website: www.vogeltown.school.nz
Location: Vogeltown School Huatoki Street, Vogeltown, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Phone: (06) 753 6843

Our school policies, like many schools, are now in an online system through a portal called 'Schooldocs'. Any time you want to bring up a school policy, just log in to schooldocs and you can access the policies.

The login is: vogeltown

The password: huatoki

The website link to Schooldocs is below.