Dear Parents and Caregivers
Tenei te mihi atu kia koutou. Welcome to Vincent N and Issy S who have started school recently.
Senior Learning Hub Opening
This week marked a significant milestone for our school with the opening of the newly refurbished Senior Learning Hub on Monday. This is the first completed project as part of the Christchurch Education Renewal Plan. This programme will see around $5 million dollars invested in upgrading our buildings over the next couple of years.
A lot of time and thought went into designing the Senior Hub. A major part of this process involved the collection and implementation of student voice. This began in Term 1 last year when the whole school took part in an inquiry unit about ‘what makes a great learning space’ and ‘what education might look like in the future’.
Many of you would have attended the Open Evening at the end of the unit where the children had the opportunity to share their learning with families. This was also attended by the OPUS architects which enabled them to hear directly from our students about their aspirations for the development of the learning spaces.
Another context where student voice was strongly incorporated was the development of our Cultural Narrative. Our Cultural Narrative was written by a group of our students with help from Mana whenua. It describes the significance Sumner had for early Māori particularly as an area rich in kaimoana.
Our cultural narrative is reflected in the ocean blues and greens the students have selected for the interior colours and in the art work on display. We were extremely privileged to have Fayne Robinson, who is a highly respected Māori artist design the artwork for the window manifestations. These artworks reflect the prevalent bird life and the different types of kaimoana that existed in and around Rapanui or Shag Rock.
The reason Rapanui has been highlighted is because although in the short term the building will be a Years 7&8 learning hub, eventually it will become the home for our junior children. Just as Rapanui was the entrance to the kaimoana grounds for early Māori, Rapanui will be the entrance point for our junior children as they start their journey through Sumner School.
The Senior Hub is a building that we can all be very proud of. It is a learning space that we know will help engage more children, more often and in more ways for many years to come.
Finally, our students have been involved in a large number of extra-curricular events and activities over the last couple of weeks including; the Christchurch Schools’ Cultural Festival, the opening of the new Community Centre, Robocup, Cantamaths and tonight’s disco. Many of these events have taken place in the evenings and/or on weekends and simply wouldn’t be possible without our teachers giving up their personal time. I would like to acknowledge our teachers for these efforts and thank them for the commitment and dedication they continue to show our school.
Have a great weekend.
Ngā mihi
Stuart Cameron
Principal
Spotlight on Excellence
Congratulations to the following students who received Surfer Awards at the assembly on Monday:
Empathy: Izzy D for her positive attitude in everything she does and showing empathy to her classmates.
Respect: Boh H for always showing respect to adults and children both in the classroom and outside at play. A respectful listener and always tries his best.
Sincerity: Sam C for being an outstanding role model at school. You always help and support others and try your very best with all your learning.
Respect: Joe P-J for consistently demonstrating respect to his friends and teachers by speaking with kindness and treating others with empathy.
Fairness: Joe O for showing kindness and fairness to his classmates and always thinking about their feelings.
Resilience: Ruby H for having a positive approach and putting in her best effort in everything she does.
Resilience: Juno I for having a positive approach and putting in her best effort in everything she does.
Resilience: Jack M for constantly displaying perseverance when faced with challenges in class. He has a fantastic can-do attitude towards his learning.
Resilience: Portia F for having a positive can-do attitude towards all her learning and approaching challenging tasks with a growth mindset.
Term 3 Activity Costs
Term 3 activity costs have been emailed to caregivers, or posted to those caregivers who have not provided an email address to school. Please contact the office if you did not receive a statement. It would be appreciated if these costs could be cleared before the end of term.
Thank you.
Sue Stevens
Executive Officer - sstevens@sumner.school.nz
Student Absences
A reminder to parents and caregivers to please contact the Office if your child is going to be absent from school either by leaving a message on the voicemail or by emailing before 9am. Phone: 326 6546 or email admin@sumner.school.nz
Term 3 activity costs have been emailed to caregivers, or posted to those caregivers who have not provided an email address to school. Please contact the office if you did not receive a statement. It would be appreciated if these costs could be cleared before the end of term.
Thank you.
Sue Stevens
Executive Officer - sstevens@sumner.school.nz
Student Absences
A reminder to parents and caregivers to please contact the Office if your child is going to be absent from school either by leaving a message on the voicemail or by emailing before 9am. Phone: 326 6546 or email admin@sumner.school.nz
Caregiver Portal for our Student Management System
The Caregiver Portal for our new Student Management System, Edge, has now been activated. This enables you to view your child’s contact details, attendance and payment details. The portal address is: https://parent.musac.school.nz/loginpage_caregiver.aspx
Login using your existing account and password at Google+, Yahoo, Facebook or Windows Live. Alternatively click on ‘manually enter your login details’ using the email address you have supplied to school and request a password via the ‘forgotten password’ option.
Your contact details are listed on the Edge Caregiver home page. If any of these details require updating please email the changes required to admin@sumner.school.nz. The school no longer forwards requests to parents to update their details. There are many occasions when school needs to quickly contact parents during the school day so it is important that caregivers are proactive regarding keeping contact details current.
Click on your child’s name to access the Summary, Attendance and Payments tabs. There are currently no reports loaded onto this site, but the school is looking at working towards this area.
Payments cannot be made via this portal, but you are able to see if there is unallocated credit on your account, the details of unpaid items and the balance.
Calendars and Cards
The children have been busy preparing art work for the calendar and card fundraiser organised by the PTA. This year we are pleased to introduce on-line ordering which will be available for a limited time in the last weeks of September. Further information will follow shortly.
Voting for the General Election
The Sumner School hall will be open for voting for the General Election from 9am to 7pm on Saturday 23 September. No stiletto heels please!
You're all invited to a Wine and Cheese Evening
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Come and join us for some Wine and Cheese and hear all about what the PTA are up to for the rest of the year. A great chance to put your hand up and help us out, especially with our Garden Tour fast approaching. DON’T MISS OUT!! Monday 4 September 7-8pm in the School Staffroom Any questions please contact Amanda Price 027 4888117 or email pta@sumner.school.nz |
Board of Trustees Meeting
Please note that there has been a change of date for our next Board of Trustees meeting. It will now take place in the staffroom at 7pm on Tuesday 26 September.
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