Dear Parents

It has been great to welcome everyone back to school this week. Some families had stayed home to enjoy the sun, which began to make a belated Spring appearance, whilst others journeyed overseas to experience warmer climes. Everyone has their own story to tell and I know that the children have enjoyed catching up with their friends and teachers again.

The school was a hive of activity over the holiday with Mr Davy working particularly hard supervising a host of contractors cleaning the buildings inside and out. One particular development that the children were excited to see on their return was the wooden ‘boardwalk’ running along from near the Stirling Street entrance to the bottom of the junior playground. No more muddy path, hurrah!

You may remember that back in July the Hobson Community Board gave us a grant of $5000 towards creating the ‘boardwalk’ along the bottom of the forest area as part of the overall school development. I will be writing once again to thank them and send photos of the completed project but must also thank the parents from our gardening group who assisted with this application, Debra, Kate and Louisa; your efforts are greatly appreciated!

Grandparents Day
On Tuesday 26th October we will be welcoming many grandparents to school for this special day. The children are looking forward to both performing for their grandparents in a short concert and to sharing their school with them.

If for any reason you have not yet let the office know that your child has grandparents attending can you please do so tomorrow so that we can finalise arrangements, particularly catering requirements. The timetable for the day is given below. Our grandparents of children in Years 3-6 are invited to the morning session and those with grandchildren in Years 0-2 in the afternoon. Of course some grandparents may wish to attend both sessions!

9.15am Welcome and Assembly (Year 3-6)
9.25am Children perform a variety of Items
9.55am Grandparents to visit classrooms and tour the school with their grandchildren
10.30am Morning tea for grandparents in the hall
11.15am Book Day Character Parade
Early Lunch 12.00-1.00pm
1.15pm Welcome and Assembly (Year 0-2)
1.30pm Children perform a variety of Items
2.00pm Grandparents to visit classrooms and tour the school with their grandchildren
2.30pm Afternoon tea for grandparents in the hall

Book Sales and Donations
Last year we had a number of Grandparents who asked if they could contribute in some way to our school. As Grandparents Day corresponds to our Book Week we are inviting any Grandparents (or parents) who would like to purchase and donate a book to the school library to do so.

During Grandparents Day anybody who wishes to do so may visit the library and choose from a range of books selected by Mrs Clark, and on her wishlist for the library. We will then have a bookplate put in the book to acknowledge the generous donation.

Book Week Character Parade
Mrs Clark has been talking to the children about book week and on
Tuesday 26th October (Grandparents Day) everyone is invited to dress up.
The Character Parade will be at 11.15am that day.

Mufti Day – Red and Black
Tomorrow we are supporting, along with other Auckland Primary and Intermediate schools, the Canterbury Earthquake Gold Coin Donation Day. All money gathered by this event will be collected by the APPA (Auckland Primary Principals Association) and sent to help those schools affected by the earthquake.

We will show our support for the Canterbury schools by wearing their colours, so dress up tomorrow for our Red & Black mufti day! Now whilst the timing isn't great, particularly with Canterbury winning the Ranfurly Shield this weekend, we will just have to remind ourselves that it is all in aid of a good cause!

Sunsafe
We wanted to remind you that all pupils are required to wear a school sun hat during outside play in the summer months. Following Labour Weekend we require all pupils to have their school sunhat in school each day. We know just how harmful and damaging the sun can be even on overcast days and protection for our pupils is a priority.

This rule will be strictly enforced - no hat, no play. It would also be useful if families could ensure that their children have put on sunscreen in the morning prior to school. In addition each class has a pump bottle of sunscreen that is available to pupils at all times.

As was stated in the last newsletter, last year’s parent survey indicated an overwhelming support for a sunsafe hat to be introduced. Therefore, as previously advised, the school baseball caps can no longer be worn from the beginning of 2011.

The existing bucket hat may still be worn, and we are currently sourcing a new style bucket hat. As a consequence our remaining baseball caps have been reduced to $5 and the current bucket hats are now only $10.

A delightful rural family experience!