ECS Update Term 2, Week 8 – Friday 21st June 2024

ECS Update Term 2, Week 8 – Friday 21st June 2024

Kia ora Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to the Term 2, Week 8 Newsletter. 

We are looking forward to celebrating Matariki with the school community next week and especially the traditional Hāngi dinner on Wednesday evening.  Please note; Hāngi orders close later today.

Blessings,

Alistair

This newsletter contains information on the following:

• Important Dates
• Matariki Celebrations and Hāngi Dinner
• Hāngi Dinner Orders
• School App
• World Vision 40hr Challenge
• Swimming Lessons in the School Holidays

Important Dates

Wednesday 26th June – Matariki celebrations and Hangi Dinner

Friday 28th June – Matariki

Friday 5th July – Last day of Term 2

Monday 22nd July – First day of Term 3

(The School Calendar and full 2024 Term dates can be found here)

Matariki Celebrations and Whānau Hāngi Dinner

Our school has a really special day coming up soon and we’d like to let you know about it so you can join in the celebrations.

Matariki is the Maori New Year and as a Christian School there are lots of ways we can use it to celebrate God’s goodness to us. Some of the special things we can be thankful for and celebrate at this special time are our whānau (families), our tūpuna (family members who have passed on), things that God  has done in the last year, things we’d like to see Him do in the future (like we do at New Year’s Eve), and learning and talking through the lessons we have had to learn over the past year.  

Another thing we can also thank God for is the awesome community that we have at Emmanuel Christian School. There are so many people who work incredibly hard in many ways to support our school that we would love to have our families join together for a meal to celebrate our unique character. So on Wed June 26 we are going to do something special. 

We are going to use the day at school on the 26th to join our children into their whānau/house groups. They may come in their house colours, and until lunch time they will rotate around activities that will help them to join in the celebrations of Matariki. Then, for dinner, we would like to invite everyone who is a part of our school community to join us to share our evening meal together. You may choose to enjoy our delicious traditional ‘cooked in-ground’ hāngi of chicken and veges, or vegetarian, or bring some takeaways of your own.  Hāngi meals will be presold for $6 (small) and $10 (large) and prepackaged. The hāngi will be unearthed at about 5:45pm (in the evening) for people to enjoy for dinner.

As you can imagine there is a lot of work to be put into an event like this so if you are able to assist in preparing the food on the afternoon of June 25th, helping lay the hāngi from about 8:00-10:30am on June 26, or helping teachers with running crafts/ activities before lunch on June 26th then please let us know before Fri 21st June by filling out the form below. We’d really appreciate the help.

After our meal, some of the school Kapahaka groups will perform for the families, as well as there being some other whānau related activities. We are thinking everything will be finished at about 7:00.  This is going to be a really special time for our school and family to build what the Māori term as “Whānaungatanga,” – a developing of togetherness and community… We really hope and pray that, as a part of our school, you and your family can join us to celebrate.

Notices have been sent home with all students and we have also attached this notice below.  Please fill in the slip and return to the Office if you are able to help.

Hāngi Dinner Orders

Please place your orders through www.lunchonline.co.nz
Select ‘School Items’ rather than ‘Lunch Orders’ to order the Hāngi.
You can add your family’s orders under your child’s name.
All Hāngi orders placed through Lunchonline will go in the draw to win one of four $10 Lunchonline vouchers!

If you haven’t used Lunchonline before you will need to register which is a simple process.  See the ECS website for more information on Lunchonline.
We plan to use Lunchonline more in the future as a way to order sausage sizzles etc.

Alternatively you may hand in your order form at the school Office (you can use one order form for your family) with payment by Eftpos or via online banking to
06-0821-0208431-00 using your name and Hāngi as the reference.

Orders close at 3pm in the Office or 9pm  via lunchonline on Friday 21st June (Today).

School App 

Our School App is an easy place to get updates and share information with regards to absences etc.  It includes:

– Absence reporting

– School Calendar

– Newsletters

– Updates on school events, cancellations / postponments

-Important notifications

The KiwiSchools Connect App can be downloaded here.

World Vision 40hr Challenge

The 40 hour challenge is where you choose a challenge to complete over the weekend of the 21st-23rd June and ask friends, family, and your community to sponsor you to complete it.

Possible challenges include:

• 40 hrs no technology
• 40 hrs no furniture
• 40 hrs creating no waste/rubbish
• 40 acts of kindness in 40 hrs

(Younger students can still get involved by completing a 20hr challenge if 40hrs is too long)

This year all funds raised will go towards Timor Leste and helping to set up their community with the tools and skills required for farming and growing their own food, along with restoring their lost forests.

If your child would like to sign up and register use the link below to join the ECS Team page.

https://my.worldvision.org.nz/d/ss/CEXHZ6/emmanuel-christian-school

Blessings,

Miss Steele, Mr Dowers, and the World Vision Team

Swimming Lessons in the School Holidays

Looking for something to keep your tamariki busy these school holidays?
Bookings for Swimsmart school holiday lessons are now open.
You can now book into a week of lessons for $25.
A 25% discount is availablefor Community Services Cardholders.

Lessons are held for 25 minutes each day and will be offered at Graham
Condon, Jellie Park, Matatiki Hornby Centre, Pioneer, Taiora QEII, Te Pou
Toetoe Linwood Pool.
• Week one – Monday 8 July to Friday 12 July
• Week two – Monday 15 July to Friday 19 July
Children can enrol in lessons for one week, or both weeks.
Holiday lessons are a great opportunity for school aged children to rapidly
improve their swimming skills and burn some serious energy.

Please see the attachment below for more information and to book.