Term 1 2026, Week 2

Together we grow; our rural communtiy

Email: principal@waikari.school.nz
Website: https://waikari.school.nz
Location: 23 Princes Street, Waikari, New Zealand
Phone: (03)314 4250

Nau mai e te whānau,

A big warm welcome back to school for the start of 2026! It has been wonderful to see our Waikari School Whānau back together, making the most of the warmer weather, enjoying the trampolines, and showing great curiosity about our ongoing building projects.

Our Dedicated Team

We are incredibly lucky to start the year with our familiar teaching team remains unchanged - Kerry, Zoe, Caryn, Vicki & Pip. We are grateful to have Kevin, Ian, and Regan with us, looking after our school and our students both inside and out.

During the holidays, our entire teaching staff came together for an inspiring professional development session with Madeline Armstrong-Wilcox from the Neurodiversity in Education project. This was a fantastic opportunity for our team to dive deeper into how our brains function and learn.

One of our primary takeaways was understanding how our brains interpret sensory information first. For some of us, the sensory environment of a classroom can be overwhelming, which directly impacts learning. To better support our students, both Kerry and Zoe have already conducted sensory audits within their classrooms. They explored several key questions with the students, such as:

• Do they work better with the lights on or off?

• Do they prefer working with or without music?

Interestingly, the music audit was conducted during a basic facts assessment, allowing students to see the similarities and differences in their own results based on the environment - unsurprisingly to us students got a higher result correct when working in silience. These insights have already begun to change how we arrange and manage sensory elements in our learning spaces.

We are excited to continue our work with Madeline throughout the year and look forward to sharing more findings with you as we progress.

It has been a great start back at school, and we are so pleased to have everyone back on site. Thank you for your continued support as we kick off another exciting year and we will see you all at our Back to School BBQ.

Noho ora mai,

Phoebe McIntosh

Tumuaki

We welcome the Brown Family to Waikari School. Petrie, Teddy & Wilf have started at Waikari School and we are so excited to have them as part of our school family. Charli has also started at Waikari School in Weka class and it is great to have Charli join Kirsten at school (a photo of Charli will be coming).

We also welcome a new staff member - Regan Schofield (Autumn & Reiko's Stepmum). Regan has joined us as the school cleaner and our classrooms have been shiny and clean all week. Thanks Regan for your hard work already.

From the start of 2026, the government has mandated that all schools require an attendance management plan. This is a plan which guides our school staff and board to ensure that we are reaching and maintaining high attendance data which aligns with the governments goals. You will see our attendance management plan below. Please understand that we are required by law to contact you to find out why your child isn't at school, and its your duty as caregivers to inform us.

Please note that if your child misses 5-10 days of school we are required to contact you for a meeting to create a plan to support your child's attendance at school.

1 day of school missed every fortnight doesn't seem like much but over the school year it is 4 weeks of school, and over their entire schooling that is a year and half missed - which means it is equal to finishing Year 11 - is this providing your child with the best chance to succeed?

Thanks to everyone who came out last night! It was a great evening, with a very muddy slipNslide, lots of splashing in the pool, jumping on the tramp and sausages being eaten. The teachers reported that we have all set lots of great goals (I can't wait to read them all and see us working hard to achieve them). We are already looking forward to the next community event!

There has been lots of work happening over the holidays at our school. Although some of our projects are delayed it is great to see them all coming to shape. We have completed:

• Playground Upgrade with the installation of 2 new trampolines.
• Fencing Upgrade with the installation of our new school fence.

We are in the process of completing the:

• Cloak bay and Student Toilet Update (we are just waiting to replace the floor and we should be ready to go).
• Ramp into the Library & Classrooms (aiming to be completed at the end of this week).
• Door replacement & widening - All doors will be widened and replaced.
• Concrete paths to the playground, room 1 and swimming pool.

These upgrades have been part of the MOE Accessibility Upgrade - ensuring that our school is accessible for all students and whānau. Thank you all for your flexibility and understanding as our school undergo these upgrades.

The finish line is in sight - yay! We won't know ourselves with all these modern improvements.

We are very excited to share with you all our Strategic Plan for 2026-2028. Thank you all for your community consultation last year. As you will see many of the initavies we have started this year align with our Strategic Plan such as - Goal Setting Conferences, Neurodiversity PLD & EOTC. We look forward to sharing more with you in the future.

Its been great to hear that so many students have completed their home learning already.

We have high expectations for students to complete their home learning this year. We believe this builds responsibility, accountability, and independence, while enabling whānau to be part of their children’s learning and success. It is vital that students complete these tasks to support their development and meet the refreshed curriculum expectations for 2026.

Every student will have received a Home Learning Book. These will be handed out on Monday mornings and should be returned on Fridays. For those who do not complete their home learning at home, there will be an opportunity to finish it before school or during lunchtime.

Expectations for Kea Class:

• Practice spelling words.

• Complete the weekly maths challenge (can be done as a family) or basic facts sheet.

• Read for 20 minutes, five times a week, and complete the reading log.

Expectations for Weka Class:

• Practice spelling words (younger students will have letters and sounds to practice).

• Practice reading high-frequency words.

• Practice the "basic facts brick" and complete the fortnightly maths challenge (family participation encouraged!).

• Read for 10 minutes, five times a week, and complete the reading log.

As we continue our journey toward becoming a fully neuro-inclusive school, we are placing a strong focus on student well-being and emotional resilience this term.

Flourishing in "Flocktime"

During our Wednesday morning (20-minute) Flocktime Hui, we are currently working through a dedicated unit on The Zones of Regulation. While many of our students may have encountered these concepts in the past, we are committed to unpacking them more deeply. This involves completing the comprehensive teaching curriculum that accompanies the visual tools you may have seen around the school.

What are the Zones of Regulation?

The Zones of Regulation is an emotional coaching program designed to provide students with:

• Language: Specific words to identify and express their complex emotions.

• Empathy: The understanding required to recognise and respond kindly to the emotions of others.

• Tools: Practical strategies to manage and regulate their own emotional states.

This week we had some inital discussions regarding different emotions and identifying which "Zone" they belong in. To help bring this to life, the students have been busy creating School Zones Roadsigns.

By integrating these practices into our school culture, we are building on our previous professional development in neuro-informed education and our commitment to quality teaching practices. We look forward to seeing these tools in action out on the playground and in the classroom!

REMINDER - Please remember to adhere the following rules when on or around a school bus.

Direction: The 20 km/h speed limit applies to traffic travelling in both directions.

Safety: The 20 km/h limit is designed to protect children, who may be crossing the road, especially in rural areas.

On the bus: Keep your belongings in your bag. Enjoy the ride - but don't distract your driver!

Bus families: Remember to message Caryn before 7.30am if you are not going to be on in the morning.

Pick-up times will remain the same as last year.

Please remember to keep track of your child's school account via the HERO app. These are updated with any expenses or payments each month. Let us know if you need help with accessing this function or if you would like to set up regular payments. There are many unpaid school events i.e. Kea & Weka camp/ski trip that need to be paid asap please.

Absences

• REMINDER - If your child is not going to be at school it is important to contact the school before 9:00am. This can now also be done through the HERO app.

Office Hours

• School office will be manned by Caryn from 9.00-9:30 and 1:30-3:00

Break Times

• 10:45-11:10 Morning Tea
• 12:45-1:20 Lunch

Waikari School uses SchoolDocs to maintain a comprehensive, up-to-date set of policies and procedures online. These policies and procedures follow guidelines and legislation and best practice, and have been tailored for our school.
Policies being reviewed this term are:

• Alcohol, Drugs and Other Harmful Substances Policy
• Sun Protection
• Digital Technology & Online Safety
• Cellphones & Other Personal Digital Devices

Username: waikari

Password: pride.

We as a Board appreciate your feedback.