Week 7, Term 2 Newsletter

Newsletter Contents:

1. Message From the Principal

2. Fundraising Committee

3. From the Board

4. Welcome to new whānau

5. Important Dates and Reminders

6. From the classrooms – Room 1

7. School Events

8. Writer’s Corner

9. Community Notices

Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had a couple of fantastic weeks celebrating culture, diversity, and sporting achievement at kura. It was pleasing to see a strong contingent of runners at the recent Central Zone Cross Country last week. A huge congratulations to Roman Curtis and Tane Trenberth, who both made it through to the Interzone Cross Country to be held tomorrow at Trentham Memorial Park. We also acknowledged Samoan Language Week and Schools Pride Week, which provided our tamariki with a sense of belonging, fun, and understanding. It reminds us how important it is to embrace the diversity of our community, encourage traditions, and bring people together.  

We have introduced a new framework for reporting to parents, aligned with the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum. As part of this change, parents will receive a mid-year progress report on Wednesday, 25th June, via the HERO app. These reports will provide clear updates on your child’s progress in Reading, Writing, and Maths, using year levels as the new measure of achievement, rather than curriculum levels, which were previously used. This shift means you may notice some variances in reported achievement levels as both teachers and students adjust to the higher expectations of the updated curriculum. To support whānau in understanding these changes, more information will be sent separately from the newsletter this week. Additionally, we will be holding MANA hui in Week 3 of Term 3 to unpack and discuss your child’s mid-year report in more detail. 

Recently, our Board reviewed the school’s dog policy and how it is currently being implemented at our kura. The expectations for whānau remain unchanged — if you need to bring your dog onto the school grounds, please ensure you are following the established school guidelines. The policy has also been updated to reflect procedures regarding staff dogs. Staff must now seek written permission from the principal before bringing a dog on site or into school buildings. While we believe there are many benefits to having our canine friends in the school environment, we also recognise that safety must remain a top priority. If your child experiences anxiety around dogs, or if there are cultural or personal reasons that make their presence difficult, please let us know so we can ensure dogs are not present in those classroom spaces. Overall, we have had no issues with dogs on site or in classrooms, and this recent review has helped us to clarify and strengthen our expectations.

Our school roll continues to grow, with 184 students now enrolled—a significant increase compared to previous years, especially for this point in the school year. We hope this growth reflects the collective efforts of our community in making our kura a welcoming, high-quality learning environment. Over time, we’ve made strong progress in shaping our school identity and embedding a philosophy grounded in mana-enhancing practice and inclusive values. With that in mind, if you are intending to enrol a sibling of a current student or a new enrolment for 2026, we encourage you to do so as early as possible. Early enrolments help provide the Ministry of Education with accurate forecasts for staffing entitlements. While we have the capacity to grow, we are also mindful of maintaining the special character and close-knit culture that makes Dyer Street School unique. 

We now look ahead to our Matariki celebrations next week and then our Huttfest Performance in Week 9. Have a great week ahead whānau. 

Ngā mihi

Matua Lee

He tumuaki no te kura o Dyer Street

Week 4 Principal’s award winners

Week 6 Principal’s award winners

The Fundraising Committee is next meeting on Monday, 9th of June 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the school library. 

This year, Hero is being used to communicate about meetings and opportunities to contribute to fundraising and support for the school. If you would like to receive these posts, please let Ms Waghorn know – megw@dyerstreet.school.nz. We also have a Facebook group where information from Hero is duplicated, and some discussion between meetings happens: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1QS2HYTXXz/

Upcoming Fundraising Events:

Use the link here to book movie seats and optional snack packs: https://forms.gle/PA7Aw4f3GD8v7DP87

Welcome to the new students and their whānau who joined us over the term:

Room 1: Sophia

Room 9: Evie and Kirutthika

Room 11: Luke

Shoes 

It is a school expectation that all children wear shoes when outside in terms 2 & 3 – we are finding it challenging to get children to follow this rule this year. Please reinforce this at home with your children.

Staff Carpark and Street Parking

Please do not park in the staff carpark.  We have also been informed that there may be ticketing/inspections of parent parking in Dyer and Roberts Street during drop-off and pick up times. Parking on blue or yellow lines, or across neighbours driveways could result in getting a ticket.

Term 2

Week 7

Mon 9 June – Fundraiser Committee – 7:30 p.m. Library

Tues 10 June – Inter Zone Cross Country

Wed 11 June – Future of DSS meeting – Strategic Plan community consultation 3 p.m. 

Week 8

Tues 17th June – Board of Trustees hui

Thu 19th June – Matariki Whānau Evening

Thu 20th June – Matariki Public Holiday – School Closed

Week 9

Wed 25 June – Assembly

Thu 26 June – Hutt Fest Performance

Fri 27 June – Last day of term 2

Holidays

Mon 30 June – Movie Fundraiser

Term 3

Week 3

Fri 1 Aug – Naenae Kāhui Ako Teacher Only Day – SCHOOL CLOSED

Week 5

Swimming Lessons 

Week 6

Swimming Lessons

Room 1

Room 1’s Out-of-This-World Learning and Assembly Success! 

Room 1 have been reaching for the stars with their recent learning about space! The children were buzzing with excitement as they designed and created their very own rockets. They also shared their imaginative ideas about where they would travel if they could blast off into space — from visiting the moon to dancing with aliens!

To top it off, Room 1 were the proud hosts of our last school assembly. This was a wonderful opportunity for them to practise and demonstrate a range of important skills, including:

• Communication Skills: Speaking clearly into a microphone, using expressive voices to engage their audience, and sharing their own space journey ideas.

• Social and Emotional Skills: Showing confidence to stand and speak in front of a large audience, managing nerves, and patiently waiting their turn.

• Self-Management and Participation Skills: Sitting still and focused while on stage, following the order of speakers, and being ready to take part when it was their time to shine.
  

We are incredibly proud of how Room 1 worked together and rose to the occasion. They spoke with enthusiasm, listened respectfully, and represented our school with pride. Tino pai, Room 1! 

We are going to begin publishing writing from students in the school newsletter. If students want to submit writing, they can share it with Ms Waghorn megw@dyerstreet.school.nz. This can be work done at school or home, but must be to a publishable standard (e.g. no spelling errors).

Our first writer is Darsh, from Room 9.

Native Species

What are they?

Native species are the animals that are native in the country New Zealand. There are lots of native species in New Zealand. Some of New Zealand’s native species are flightless birds, especially the national bird Kiwi. Also, in different countries, except New Zealand, they don’t have flightless birds!

How do we protect them?

We protect native species by not cutting trees and planting more trees because it’s their place to live. Also, in New Zealand, some animals are endangered, and some are extinct. We should also trap possums, rats and rodents.

What are their threats?

Native species threats are from introduced predators like stoats, rats, dogs and cats. Cats pose a major threat to native birds, reptiles and other animals . These native species have no natural defences against these invasive species. For example, stoats are a significant threat to kiwi chicks, while dogs are a threat to adult kiwis.

Where do they live?

Most of the native species live in the forest, like kiwi, tui, kakapo and piwakawaka. The forest is surrounded by trees and bushes. 100% of the birds live in that forest are affected by predators. People are also cutting down trees and birds are losing their homes.

Conclusion

Native species are amazing and we need to protect them.        

By Darsh, Room 9, Year 4