Kia ora koutou
This afternoon is our Community Information Evening. We plan to fit as much into 1 hour as we possibly can. We totally understand how busy this time of year is for everyone but we really do hope you can come along. You will hear information about the following 3 things…
Structured Literacy: You may have heard about this approach to teaching literacy on some platform. It has been on various news channels and discussed widely on different social media platforms. Bulls School was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to engage with Liz Kane a leader in the structured literacy space way back in 2017. We were early adaptors and there is firm research that sits behind this approach to teaching literacy skills to our tamariki. This approach works across the entire school so while it is more concentrated in junior school, it is also used in the senior school.
Community Consultation: Every year all schools must submit a strategic plan to the Ministry of Education along with Annual Plans focused on how we plan to achieve our goals. This is written over the summer holiday period so Term 4 is the perfect time to seek input from our tamariki, whānau, staff, and Board of Trustees. We have included a copy of the format for you to complete and send to the office if you are unable to be here tonight
PaCT: Included with the end of year report will be your child’s PaCT report for Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. These are produced for all Year 4 – 8 students. We don’t produce PaCT reports for the younger students because the data is inaccurate due to the assumption in the system that all Year 0-3 children at achieving ‘AT’. The reports can be a little challenging to decipher and this information session will give you a quick reference guide to help you see where your child is at and what their next steps are in each of the areas of learning.
Swimming: You will see that the term calendar now has swimming lessons included in it for our Year 5 – 8’s. Our students will travel by bus for their lessons to Marton Swim Centre. A typical New Zealand summer usually involves swimming or water sports and for us prioritising lessons for these students is something the Board of Trustees supports us to do. All costs involved are covered by our BoT’s. Alongside this, we fill our school pool in term 1 for our Years 1-4 lessons.
Teachers Only Day: Reminder, this is Friday 17th November and we will be working here on the school grounds with two other schools for the day. Our focus is the refreshed curriculum document Te Mātaiaho.
Please keep a close eye on the term calendar, it is being updated regularly and there is a lot happening! Thank you to those who came along to the Wearable Arts Display last week – the students (and staff) had lots of fun with that!
Ngā manaakitanga,
Kim Gordon, Tumuaki.
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Maori
Portuguese
Russian
Samoan
Spanish
