Kia orana koutou 
We have a number of school families who are Cook Islands Māori, so it is marvelous to celebrate and acknowledge Cook Islands Language Week, their vibrant culture, and their language.

Did you know that the blue background of the Cook Islands flag represents the Pacific Ocean and the ideal of peace? The Union Jack acknowledges the Cook Islands' historical ties with New Zealand and the Commonwealth, while the circle of 15 white stars represents the nation's 15 beautiful islands. 

It has been a busy and productive start to this very wintery term.  How about that snow yesterday?  It has certainly been cold lately, and it looks like winter still has plenty of bite left. Of course we stay inside when it is too nasty but we like getting the children outside into the fresh air for PE, sports, and break times whenever possible. We have noticed quite a few students coming to school in t-shirts and shorts. Could you please ensure your child has plenty of warm layers and a good jacket so they stay cozy while outside.

Kia manuia - Best wishes 
Matua Mike 

Our students have had an absolute blast learning and playing touch rugby with Bronwyn from Touch New Zealand! She ran two fantastic, high-energy sessions with the kids last week, sharing great drills, teaching core passing skills. The excitement was infectious, and it’s been brilliant watching their confidence and skills grow with every game.

We have one final session coming up this Thursday to wrap up the programme.

Ngā mihi to our 25 keen Y4-6 swimmers who opted to compete in our competitive Swimming Sports this morning! It was fantastic watching our students give it their absolute all in the lanes as they aimed to qualify for the upcoming Tawa Zone event. There were individual and relay races which were great fun and exciting.  Not only did the swimmers give it 100%, the children really got behind each other with loads of encouragement and cheering.   

We would like to extend a special thanks to:

We will let you know the results later in the week and details about Tawa Zone on 18 August.  

As a heads up, later in the year, we are excited to run our whole-school swimming programme where everyone will get in the pool to build their confidence, water safety, and swimming skills together.

A quick reminder about that the new 30km/h variable speed zones are now active around school gates across our area. This applies during peak drop-off and pick-up hours on school days (8:00 AM – 9:00 AM and 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM).

Slowing down around school entrances gives drivers crucial reaction time and keeps our tamariki, families, and school staff safe as they start and end their day. Please keep respecting this and check your speed when driving around Greenacres and other school zones.  

After school, we’ve noticed children climbing over the fence near the top of the slip (above the bottom field) to get balls back. We have talked with them but please remind your children if they are playing after school not to climb over the fence or cross the safety barriers above the slip. The area is still very wet and heavy and we would hate for someone to get badly hurt. 
If possible, we can help unlock the gate and retrieve balls but we definitely don't want children going into the area. 

We know how popular the latest Ooshies collectibles are right now, but they have become a bit of a distraction at school.

To help keep our students focused on learning—and to prevent any upset over lost, swapped, or damaged collectibles—we kindly ask that Ooshies stay at home. Children should not be bringing them to school or be trading them during break times or afterschool

Thank you so much for your support!

Our phrase of the week is:

"Ka pai tō pānui" - Great reading!   

This builds on:
"Ka Tika" (That’s correct!).
"Tō kerewa hoki!" (You are clever!).

Feel free to use these phrases at home with your tamariki to help reinforce their learning and bring more te reo Māori into your whare!

SAVE THE DATE: Fundraising Team Meeting....

Our next fundraising team meeting will be held Sunday 16 August from 2-3.30pm in the school staffroom.

If you've been thinking about getting involved, this is a great opportunity to meet the team, hear about what's planned for the rest of the year, and find out how you can help.

All school families are warmly welcome to attend.

While Greenferns 1 didn't come away with the win today, they showed what being a true team is all about. Every player demonstrated the Greenacres mana values through determination, teamwork, respect, and encouragement from start to finish. They supported one another, never gave up, and represented our school with pride. On the scoreboard they lost, but in the way they played and the values they displayed, they were today's winners. Ka pai, Greenferns 1! 

Player of the day was Zac Jull. 

 

Greenferns 2 
Our team played a fantastic game of netball this week, against an evenly matched opponent and it was an exciting game to watch!  The team worked exceptionally well together throughout the game, and really stepped up and supported each other with excellent communication and strong controlled passes to get the ball to where it needed to be.  Well done Greenferns 2!! 
Player of the Day: Joshua 

 

Greenferns 3 

vs Discovery Magic. The team came back full of energy and confidence, putting on a dominant performance, working together so well that the ball stayed on our attacking half for most of the game. It was a fantastic team effort from start to finish. Player of the Day went to Keira, Best Effort Award to Kahukura. Thanks to Brianna and Shriya for being such awesome tuakana and stepping in to play for Greenferns 4. 

 

Greenferns 4 

Back into it after a long break with holidays and bad weather, GF4 came up against a very feisty Pukerua Bay team. We held on and kept playing our best right to the end, including lots of on court laughs. Player of the day was awarded to Hannah for playing well as C and then WD, and showing resilience by returning to play after getting hurt. Thanks to Shriya and Brianna from GF3 for filling in half a game each for us this week! 

 

 

Please continue to collect the labels from bags of Yummy Apples or the stickers from individual apples you purchase, and have your child place them on the collection sheets provided in their classroom.

At the end of the term, all of the labels and stickers will be collected and sent away to determine how much funding we have earned to purchase new sports equipment for our school.

We'll also announce the winning syndicate, who will win the Yummy Apple Sticker Trophy and, of course, the ultimate bragging rights!

Please note that the school will be closed for instruction on Friday 28 August.  This date has been listed in the "Important Dates" section of our newsletter throughout the year, but we wanted to provide another ‘heads up’.   

We appreciate that this can be a juggle for families and thank you for your support. Also know that Kelly Club will be open for bookings.  

Our school works with SchoolDocs to provide a website for maintaining, updating, and reviewing our school policies. To ensure we stay current and compliant in what we do, SchoolDocs updates policies in response to changes in legislation and Ministry guidelines, reviews/requests from schools, and regular research from the SchoolDocs team. Our school board has the opportunity to view changes/additions and comment on them before they are implemented. 

We invite you to visit the site at https://greenacres.schooldocs.co.nz (note that there's no "www.").
Username: Greenacres
Password: School

Through the site, you'll find a very wide range of our school policies, including our Raising Concerns and Complaints Policy. Of course, we always value open, regular face-to-face communication and encourage parents to raise things straight away with your child's class teacher, but these policies explain the formal steps to progress things further if ever needed.