Kia ora e te whaana, please see this week’s newsletter shared out.

It has been a busy and rewarding few weeks at Glenbrook, with plenty to celebrate and look forward to. Firstly, thank you to the whaanau who reached out to wish Alex well as she competed at her first World Cup in Spain. I’m incredibly proud of her achievement in reaching the quarter finals in both events and finishing equal fifth.

Last week, I spent the first few days in Christchurch attending Kokirihia, where a key focus was equity in education and how schools across Aotearoa can be better supported to achieve it. I then travelled to Wellington to work alongside colleagues at the New Zealand Principals’ Federation. A central focus of our advocacy has been establishing a bipartisan Curriculum and Assessment Centre to provide greater stability for education and reduce the impact of political change on curriculum.

Alongside this, we have been contributing to work across several new curriculum areas, advocating for stronger school engagement with ERO, and preparing submissions on Initial Teacher Education. We are proud to contribute a strong, practical voice from schools and their communities to this important work.

Celebrating Our Learners

Group Day Calf Club: Congratulations to our aakonga who competed at Group Day Calf Club. They were amazing. We are very proud of their efforts and delighted that Glenbrook won Overall. Ka pai to everyone who helped prepare and support our students.

EPro8: Well done to our EPro8 teams and thank you Mr Green for coaching our teams. Year 7’s placed 3rd, Year 8’s placed 5th, Year 5’s placed 8th and Year 6’s placed 4th. Their creativity, teamwork and problem solving were excellent to see.

Funletics: Team Piwakawaka had a great time taking part in Funletics. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day such an enjoyable opportunity for our tamariki. We have shared photos on our facebook page.

Jump Jam: Our Jump Jam team has been working hard as they prepare for their competition next weekend. We wish them all the very best for their competition. Thank you Miss Thorby for coaching our team and leading.

Franklin Touch: Good luck to all our teams competing at Franklin Touch this week. Thank you to all our parents supporting our teams.

Staff Development Day

Thank you for your support yesterday while we held a Teacher Only Day. Staff spent the day unpacking and developing our Glenbrook Curriculum and Assessment Strategy. This work will help us strengthen the learning experiences we provide and how we understand and support each learner’s progress within the new curriculums.

Looking Ahead

This Friday, 30 October, students are welcome to come to school in Halloween themed mufti. Cost is $2.

There is plenty happening next week. Book Fair starts next week. The Library will be open from 8.00 until 8.30am before school and again 2.30 until 3.00pm after school to purchase items.

We have Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday 4th November. We invite all our grandparents to come and join us for a cup of tea from 9am in the hall. We invite you to bring a favourite book to share with a small group of students. Teachers will also organise activities for visitors and students to enjoy together. Visitors are welcome to spend time in the classrooms of each of their mokopuna. Students will remain in their own classrooms throughout the morning and may go home with their whaanau afterwards. The Book Fair will also be open to purchase items during this time.

We have a second mufti day on Friday 6th November to celebrate book week. The theme is: Favourite Book Character.

A reminder that all Roles and Responsibilities applications are due on November 10th at 3pm to the office. No late applications will be accepted.

Swimming and School Pool

Our school pool will be open at lunchtimes from next week, Monday 2nd November for years 3-8.  All long hair must be tied back. Girls must wear a one piece and a rash shirt. Girls who wear bikini bottoms and a rash shirt will not be allowed to swim. Boys must wear swimming shorts and a rash shirt. No t-shirts will be allowed. All swimming items must be named please. Class swimming will start once the pool is a little warmer.

Pool Keys

Our pool season is now open.  Pool keys will be available for the summer season to current Glenbrook School families from Monday 2 November. Thank you to the Glenbrook School Board for its generous subsidy, which helps keep this opportunity affordable for our families.

Before a key will be issued, your school account must be paid in full (or a confirmed payment plan must be in place), the pool key fee must be paid in full and the adult responsible for the key must sign a Pool Use Agreement at the school office.  Please note keys will not be issued to students. The cost for the season is $150, including a $10 bond, which will be refunded when the key is returned at the end of the season.Please note that a limited number of pool keys are available.

No Hat No Play

A reminder that all students need a Glenbrook school hat when outside. We have a no hat no play policy. Students without a hat will only be allowed to play in shade safe areas. All our classes have sun screen and students are required to apply sun screen before going outside. If your child requires their own sunscreen, then please send this to school and remind your child to apply it when asked.

Staffing Update

At the end of the year, we will farewell Ms Sarah Burt, who is looking forward to working closer to home, and Miss Tayla Thorby, who has been successful in gaining a teaching position in the Cook Islands. We thank Sarah and Tayla for the care, commitment and contribution they have given to Glenbrook School and our tamariki. We wish them both every success and happiness in their next chapters. They will be greatly missed. We currently have two positions advertised.

We are also excited to announce that Ms Buchanan is expecting and baby is due at the end of March. Congratulations Ms Buchanan!!

Elections: Voting Place

Glenbrook School is a NZ Elections Voting Place. We are open for voting on Saturday 7th November from 9:00am. We hope to see as many of our whaanau as possible and we encourage you to vote.

E mihi ana ki a koutou i te tautoko. He rawe teeraa.

Ms Lysandra Stuart
Tumuaki | Principal