VOGELTOWN SCHOOL TE KURA O HUATOKI

What a great time the Whānau Fiesta was - the whole evening had such a fantastic vibe.

Our Home and School Committee did a wonderful job creating an opportunity for all of our school whānau to come together. It was wonderful to see so many people there and so many happy faces! We are very fortunate to start the year with an event like this and I hope that everyone had the chance to connect with someone new or share a moment with a teacher or two.

A huge thank you to the Home and School Committee and to Laura Seed for the time and effort they put into making this event such a success. There was plenty going on behind the scenes to bring it all together, and the way the evening unfolded so seamlessly was a real reflection of the work that had gone into it.

The night was a great reminder of the strong sense of community that exists here at Vogeltown School. That feeling of belonging and connection was definitely front and centre – and a lovely reminder of how lucky we are.

Thank you to everyone who came along and helped make the evening a success, especially our parent volunteers and the sponsors who supported the event. If you have the chance, please support these businesses in return.

We look forward to many more opportunities to come together throughout the year.

Congratulations to the following tamariki who received principal's awards at today's full school assembly:

Luca Skilling, Lucy Shotbolt, Mason Lowl, Niko Brears, Kaahu Izett, Mylo Robinson, Arlo Nelson, Nakoa Little, Nico O'Neill, Kyrie Robinson, Toby Rosser, Indianna Hintz, Eddie Vooght, Alia Darbyshire, Charlie Taylor, Miles Cowley, Isabelle Penberth, Beau Hikaka, Luke Ackerman, Isla Fox, Fred Miller, Skyla Cameron, Asha Gibbins, Max Gnoth, Thomasin Coates, Paddy Yukich, Penelope Boynton, Carter Christiansen, Tessa O'Donovan, Tuuaga Sione.

Ka mau te wehi!

Behaviour situations can be sensitive to navigate, particularly when children or whānau are upset or when different accounts of events do not always match.

I would like to acknowledge the time and care our staff take when working through these moments. We always try our best, and our aim is always to ensure that situations are dealt with in a fair, consistent, and timely way.

Our usual approach is to:

· Take time to understand what has happened by speaking with everyone involved.

· Check in with any witnesses to help establish the facts.

· Consult with other teachers to understand whether there have been previous behaviours or patterns.

· Refer to our school behaviour plan when determining appropriate responses or consequences.

· Inform parents when behaviour incidents are serious or when someone has been hurt.

If you ever have concerns, please feel welcome to approach the appropriate staff member to talk. We simply ask that these conversations happen in a respectful and open-minded way, as we work together to resolve things.

Our Term 1 Learning Conferences are being held on Tuesday 31st March and Wednesday 1st April. These learning conferences are a great opportunity to meet with your child's teacher to understand your child's progress, what they are currently working on, and how to support them at home.

Bookings can be made through the Skool Loop App - just click on Bookings and follow the prompts.

If you have any trouble booking, please contact the senior office who will be happy to do the booking for you.

Learning Conferences will start at 3:15pm, so school will finish as normal at 3:00pm on both days.

We are keen to ensure any issues or concerns are resolved at the lowest level possible. Anyone who has a concern or complaint should raise it as soon as possible with the most appropriate person. This is usually the staff member directly involved.

Simply contact the person involved to arrange a time to discuss the matter privately. Indicate what the concern is about and let them know if you’ll bring a support person to the meeting. Be prepared to listen to different points of view and try to work towards a resolution. In some cases, finding a resolution may require another meeting and/or involve senior management.

If you have a concern about a student who is not your child, our school policy is that you contact the school rather than approaching the student or their whānau directly. Please speak with an appropriate staff member, share what has happened, and we will take the time to look into the situation and get back to you.

We are still on the hunt for some keen parent helpers for our pedestrian crossing!

If you have some free time in the mornings or afternoon to help get our kids safely across the road then please contact Laura (laura.seed@vogeltown.school.nz) or the school office.

Road patrol in the morning is from 8:15am - 9:00am and ideally, we're looking for parents and whānau who can commit to this for the term. Times we are looking to fill include Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings; and Thursday afternoons.

Our Home and School committee have organised a pizza day for Wednesday 18th March.

Orders can be placed in Kindo up until Monday 16th March at 8:00pm. No orders can be accepted after this time.

If you haven't used Kindo before, you can register using the following link:

https://www.vogeltown.school.nz/school-information/kindo-shop/

The Home and School Committee is always looking for people who can spare some time to help. If this sounds like you, please come along to one of the meetings or drop by the school office, and we’ll help you get started.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 25th March at 6:30pm, held in the staff room on the senior side.

We look forward to welcoming some new faces!

We recognise the individual efforts of children reading outside of school hours with certificates that acknowledge the number of nights that they have read. Children are awarded a certificate for every 25 nights of reading that they do. A night is a minimum of 10 minutes reading for children in the Taranaki syndicate, 15 minutes for children in the Huatoki syndicate, and 20 minutes for students in the Paetoki syndicate. With certificates being given out, it is important that children are having their reading signed off by a parent at home on a daily basis.

The Weetbix Tryathlon is being held on Wednesday 25th March. If you added your child to the Vogeltown School team when you entered them, their entry pack should be sent to school for us to distribute. We have given out all the packs that we have received so far, and will continue to do this as they arrive. If your child's pack does not arrive at school, you will be able to pick it up from the collection point at the venue on the day.

Our Vogeltown School hoodies are available for purchase. These hoodies are great for winter, and can be personalised with a name printed on the hood.

You are welcome to try these on for sizing up at Gamechanger, on the corner of Huatoki and Carrington Sts, and you can order a hoodie online at

https://www.gamechanger.org.nz/vogeltownschool

Learning can feel daunting at times, but with perseverance comes the rewarding sense of accomplishment when you finally master something new. This is the essence of The Learning Pit — a concept that highlights how learning happens when we push through challenges.

Great learners understand that success requires effort, that learning isn’t always easy, and that the more we challenge ourselves, the more we achieve!

Want to learn more? Just search The Learning Pit on Google or YouTube to find excellent resources explaining this concept.

All winter sports are now open for registrations on our Kindo Shop. Please sign in to your Kindo account for all the details and to register.

If you do not have a Kindo account set up yet, please use the following link for first time users. https://www.vogeltown.school.nz/school-information/kindo-shop/

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

michelle.sleep@vogeltown.school.nz

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 1 2026

16 March: Pizza orders close off at 8pm

17 March: BOT meeting, 6 pm

18 March: Pizza Day

20 March: Four Year Old Friday, 10am -11am

25 March: Weetbix Tryathlon

25 March: Home and School Meeting, 6:30pm, senior school staffroom

26 March: Whole School Assembly

31 March: Learning Conferences - school finishes as normal at 3pm

1 April: Learning Conferences - school finishes as normal at 3pm

2 April: Final day of Term 1

3 April: Good Friday - School Closed

20 April: Teacher Only Day - School Closed

21 April: First day of Term 2

15 May: Four Year Old Friday, 10am - 11am

29 May: Four Year Old Friday, 10am - 11am

12 June: Four Year Old Friday, 10am - 11am

26 June: Four Year Old Friday, 10am - 11am

2 July: Final day of Term 2

3 July: Teacher Only day - School Closed

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 the 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

Website link to Schooldocs.