Extra-curricular Opportunities
We were proud of our students who represented the school so well at the Year 4-6 Northern Zone Cross Country event last Tuesday, supported by Cassie Woodhouse as sports leader. There is more information about this later in the newsletter, but we would like to thank Cassie for the time and energy that goes into organising these events for our students on top of her teaching role. Thanks also to the wonderful team of parents who supported this event - without you they would not be possible.
We are excited that Isabel of Year 4 has made it through to the Interzone Cross Country Event. We wish her kia kaha for 10 June.
Our youngest ākonga (26 of them!) attended the Junior Invitational Cross Country yesterday with Nic Taylor and twenty amazing whānau to help with transport / supervision. They represented the school and demonstrated our values perfectly and we are both proud and grateful to have this level of support with our school sports events. Ngā mihi!
On Friday, we had a special day as we celebrated the end of friendship week with our Pink day and had a terrific spread laid on by our team in acknowledgment of our support staff who do so much to take care of our tamariki and keep things running smoothly at Bellevue.
‘Pink Shirt Day’ which concludes Bullying Free Week was organised by our student council. We have an ongoing focus at school on empathy and integrity - doing the right thing even when no one is looking. This is a great opportunity to bring all the messages about kindness and valuing diversity in our community to the fore.
Hindi School Partnership
Since March last year we have been working in partnership with The Wellington Hindi School. They use our hall space on Sunday mornings to provide Hindi lessons that cater for school aged children. If you are interested in your child participating in these or would like to make an enquiry, the link to their website is below.
https://www.wellingtonhindischool.org/
This partnership has been mutually beneficial as the Hindi school have continued to offer a series of Hindi ‘Taster’ classes for students at Bellevue which started again last week. In addition to this, Dr Ramesh Sharma - one of their teachers and a highly skilled yoga expert, is currently working his way through our classes providing simple techniques for calm - using aspects of yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques.
Welcome Isaac
Issac Bloomfield, currently completing his study at The University of Canterbury is on placement at Bellevue, every Wednesday for the remainder of the term in Rātā hub. We welcome Isaac to our kura - please make him feel welcome if you see him around.
BSLA training - Leadership & Year 4-6 Kaiako
On Monday and Tuesday last week all our Year 4-6 teachers, including those who cover for our teaching team when they have classroom release, attended BSLA training ready to begin establishing the Better Start Literacy approach in Years 4-6. Myself, Deeann Daniels and Anne Smith also attended these days with a leadership focus - so that we are best able to support our kaiako in embedding this schoolwide. It is always such a privilege to take time away from school to develop our practice and we thank Megan Walters and Cassie Woodhouse (Hub Coaches) for their support of the school in our absence.
Mid Year Reporting - Learning Conversations 24/25 June
Our mid year ‘Learning Conversations’ three way conferences are fast approaching. This is the twice yearly (mid and end of year) face to face part of our reporting to families about their child’s progress and next steps so we strongly encourage all families to attend.
What to expect from this meeting is HERE (click link).
The conferences will be held over two evenings:
Tuesday 24 June (3:15 - 8:30 pm) and
Wednesday 25 June (3:15 - 6:30 pm)
To book for your child’s learning conversation please go to https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code and enter the event code 7smmg
Learning Support in Crisis - Report Launch
Yesterday, Deeann Daniels (Deputy Principal and SENCO) and myself attended the launch of the Aotearoa Educators Collective: ‘Learning Support in Crisis’ Report. Written by Dr Sarah Aiono, this report both speaks on behalf of, and shares direct quotes from, schools around New Zealand about the real challenges being faced by schools that impact student wellbeing, student achievement, attendance and recruitment and retention of the educator workforce. It is a concerning read but concludes (p38) by advocating a succinct but powerful lens through which government policy could be considered - if its genuine aim were to address the needs within the Learning Support landscape in New Zealand.
RNZ News Article
Read the report here
Ministry of Education Parent Portal - School Clarification
Last week we shared the parent portal developed by the Ministry of Education in case families find this helpful. This encourages parents to talk with the school about what is happening in regard to all the curriculum changes - please do. Please also see the FAQs from our reporting to families whānau evening shared in our mid Term 1 newsletter, which provides detail around how the school is responding to the curriculum refresh.
Please note the following clarifications which may be different to what you see on the portal:
Phonics checks at 20 and 40 weeks of schooling - Bellevue has been teaching phonics for the last 10 years so this is not new to our school. The Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) has phonics assessments at 10 weeks and 30 weeks of schooling. This is what we use to establish childrens’ next steps in the teaching of phonics. Adding additional checks at 20 and 40 weeks is not necessary and risks loading our tamariki with unnecessary assessment.
Year by year curriculum - There is a bit about this in the media which suggests that Year 4 students will just be taught Year 4 content. This will not be the case as we know that students’ learning trajectories do not work like this and all educational research talks about the ‘zone of proximal development’ as the most effective for learning. That is the space between what the child can do confidently and independently at present and their next learning step. The Minister advises a balance between exposure to explicit teaching at the child’s year level AND the use of teacher judgement to define what the appropriate next step is for learning:
‘Whole-class explicit teaching is a vital component of effective practice. Every student deserves access to rich learning that covers the knowledge, skills, and competencies aligned with their year level ….For students significantly ahead or behind, teacher professional judgement is essential to ensure learners are progressing at the right pace and getting the support they need.’
Erica Stanford Principal Update 28/4/25
Professional Learning Day 3 June - School closed 31 May - 4 June
Following the King’s Birthday weekend, school is closed on Tuesday 4 June for all of our staff to attend our Te Korowai ō Horokiwi cluster Professional Learning Day at Newlands Intermediate. This day is organised by the cluster principals as a chance to network, share skills and learning across our kura and build strong partnerships in order to support our students most effectively. This year we have a range of workshops on subjects including AI for administration, Supporting Neurodiverse Learners, Using Assessment to Inform Learning, Trauma Informed Practice, Restorative Practice, Mindfulness and Lego Therapy.
Property update
We have exciting news on the property front!
- Library - this week the entrance to the library is open, following the roofing and guttering work and work to stabilise the entrance canopy. If you get a chance to get in and enjoy the new theme - ‘In the Garden’, you won’t regret it. Our wonderful librarian Sarah and the amazing Nita have transformed this space into a Reading Wonderland!
- Rimu/Tōtara Block - Yesterday it was confirmed that the remediation work to the Rimu/Tōtara block (to remove rotten timber, to remove heat pump units from the roof and repair this, and to replace the end room windows) is now complete. The two ends have been painted with the same colour scheme as the new admin block and the final step is to have the remainder of the block painted in the July holidays with some dashes of bright colour.
- Accessible Walkway - Some final retaining is being worked on currently following the heavy rains and engineers advice. We expect this to be at least a couple of weeks more until fully open. The positive note here is that the fencing is providing an adequate chance for our beautiful grass to come back outside the hall.
Home Learning Update
Thank you to the 49 families who provided feedback in the second half of last term about what they wished to see in regard to Home Learning at Bellevue. This survey is currently being collated to identify themes which will guide our approach to Home Learning. Information on Home Learning at Bellevue will be published before the end of this term to our families through this newsletter and on Seesaw to guide families from the start of Term 3.
2024 Annual Report now available online
Last year's Annual Report (Analysis of Variance) has now been published on the school website. The report contains information about last year's annual goals.
Please go to the Board page of our website to view these if you are interested. The 2024 annual financial statement, which outlines the school's end of year financial position, is currently being reviewed by the Board and will be published to the school website next week.
Kelly Club and Teacher Only Days
A reminder that Kelly Club is starting at Bellevue from the coming Monday - 26 May. Unfortunately, with only just getting set up this term, Kelly Club are not able to provide care for the two Teacher Only Days scheduled for this term - Tuesday 3 June and Tuesday 23 June. This is, however, part of their usual service and so from the start of Term 3 families can expect to have this service available on Teacher Only Days for future.
Minecraft School Disco - Next Week!
The much anticipated Minecraft Disco is on Thursday 29 May. A hard copy notice about this was sent home last week and tickets have been selling fast!
Please note if this is your first time at a school disco, that the junior rooms opposite the hall will be open for families to wait while their child is ‘dancing the night away’. We will have tea and coffee here and ask that parents leave space in the hall for the children to dance. Also, please note that we have a system for connecting students to families at the end of the evening so please bear with us if you have to wait a little for your child. It will be dark at this time and it is very important that we keep our tamariki safe.
Also Coming Up
There are a plethora of fantastic events still to come this term -
Thursday 23 May Dojo Acknowledgement afternoon - celebrating our values
Easy Moves Gymnastics continues every Tuesday and Wednesday for all students
National Young Leaders Day - a small group of Kahikatea students attend this in acknowledgment of their leadership on Thursday 29 May.
Rātā are off to see the NZ Symphony Orchestra on Thursday 29 May.
Keep an eye on the important dates and your child’s Seesaw page under the 'notices' section, to keep up to date on what’s happening around here!
Hei konā mai
Annette
