Newsletter Term 1 Week 8: Friday 22 March 2024

Term 1 Week 8: Friday 22 March 2024

Important Dates 2024
Wednesday 27 March – Whānau Hui in the Staffroom 5:00 pm.
Thursday 28 March – Whole School Assembly 2:15 pm, All parents/caregivers and whānau are welcome to attend.
Friday 29 March – Easter Friday, School closed.
Monday 1 April – Easter Monday, School closed.
Tuesday 2 April – Easter Tuesday, School closed.
Sunday 7 April – Shore to shore fun run.
Friday 12 April – End of Term 1 at 3:00 pm.
Monday 29 April – Start of Term 2.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Spotlight on Year 5 and 6
Cricket Zone Day
Swimming Carnival
Family Fun Fest
Lockdown Drill
After School Sports Trainings
Shore to Shore Fun Run
PTA Update: Parent Survey
Donated Uniforms Needed
Parking Around School
Community Notices

The PB4L focus for next week will be on:
Respect: Playgrounds and Fields – Follow the staff or peer mediators instructions, talk to a peer mediator or duty teacher when I need help.

SPOTLIGHT ON YEAR 5 & 6:
It has been a busy couple of weeks for Sunnybrae and the Year 5 & 6 students. Below are some student reflections about some of the events.
Year 5 & 6 Boys Cricket Zone Day
Some of our Year 5 and 6 boys headed out to a cricket tournament on Tuesday 12th March held at the Takapuna Cricket Club.
Despite the grey weather the day went ahead and for many of the boys this was their first experience playing cricket. It was great to see and hear that everyone got involved, tried their best when learning a new sport and of course showed our Sunnybrae values while out of the school grounds. Thank you to our parent helpers that made the day possible and Stephen Gordon for going down and supporting the teams.

Student Recount:
On Tuesday the 12th of March we had a cricket zone day. Everyone who signed up gathered around Room 20. My dad came as a helper and so did Joseph’s mum, Megha’s dad also came. It was a cloudy day but that wasn’t going to stop us.

When we got there it started to lightly drizzle. We lay our bags down in a tarpaulin that Mr Gordon brought and then we all played in the nets for a bit. Then we all got separated into teams and played our games. The group I was in stayed in the nets with some Westlake trainers because we had a bye. When we all rotated we settled into our new spots. We had a game and I got 1 wicket bowling and 35 runs batting. Unfortunately, we lost that game but in the second game Ronal hit an unexpected six that came out of nowhere and that led us to win our game. Campbells Bay won the whole competition but I was pretty happy about what we all did representing Sunnybrae. On the way back to Sunnybrae it was raining but again that wasn’t going to stop us. We sang some funny chants that Mr Gordon was leading and one of them went like this – Sunnybrae, Hurricanes, We wear the black and gold, We are young Mr Gordons old! By: Deacon Room 20

Swimming Carnival
Thanks to all the parents and caregivers who attended our Swimming Carnivals last week.
The children had a fabulous time swimming in events and putting to use all the skills they have learnt at the recent swimming lessons. It has been wonderful to see how much confidence they have gained in the water from these lessons.

Family Fun Fest
What a fun night we had for our Sunnybrae Family Fun Fest even if it was a bit wet.
Thank you to all who came and braved the rain and supported this event. We were lucky to be able to make use of our previous fundraising project, the Covered Turf for shelter and locate the games and garage sale in the Hall. We saw many happy faces and that is always our main goal. All the carnival games were well received but the most popular by far was the chocolate coin toss game! That was so much fun to watch. We are still tallying the final expenses, but we are pleased to say we will have raised over $6000 with this event. This is a great start to our year of fundraising. This couldn’t be achieved without your support, the generosity of our sponsors and people who donated towards this event. And of course, a big thank you to our PTA team who are a small but mighty group who have managed to create this wonderful event for everyone to enjoy. The PTA are looking forward to a lot more fun this year as they fundraise for a new playground.

Winner of the Giant Bee Raffle was Lachlan from Room 8

Student Recount:
What an afternoon! The air was filled with the sound of cheering, laughing and moaning. Delicious smells wafted from the food. Titters of laughter rang, clear and loud. Students and parents strolled around the covered turf and the hall holding onto their prizes. I breathed in the scent of sausage sizzle and steak on a bun as it crackled on the grill. I was bursting with excitement. It was the day of the Family Fun Fest. When I arrived at school, the scene was festive and busy.

The line for the chocolate toss seemed as long as a blue whale so I wandered around the school with my best friend. Then I found myself back at the covered turf and purchased a cupcake. Wandering aimlessly, I decided to risk my tickets and have a go at the chocolate toss. Woefully, my coin did not land on a chocolate bar. I had better luck with the bean bag toss and the toy toss. Near the end of the evening, Mr Vella announced the winner of the raffle and the mammoth bee. It was a successful event for Sunnybrae. By Annika Room 20

My mind was racing with excitement that made me rush to my car as I didn’t want to miss the Family Fun Fest. After school, my body was in a big rush. I swiftly got changed into some different clothes and arrived back at school at exactly four-thirty. Then I went to do the Kapa Haka performance in the hall. We were very loud.

After the Kapa Haka performance, I went with my parents to get some food. The food was very appetizing and we paid for it with tickets. Next, I thought I wanted to do some games so I went to the chocolate toss but unfortunately didn’t win a single chocolate bar. Surprisingly my brother did the beanbag toss and won a stationary set. Later I bought myself some sushi with my leftover tickets and that is how the Family Fun Fest ended for me. By Dinura Room 20

Lockdown Drill
As part of our ongoing monitoring of our Emergency Procedures we had an indoor lockdown drill on the morning of Wednesday 20 March.

After the lockdown announcement was made, staff ensured all students were safe and quiet in their classrooms. At the end of the drill members of our Senior Leadership Team walked around the school releasing classes. These drills also test our indoor and outdoor speakers ensuring emergency announcements can be heard. Following the drills and the ‘all clear’ announcement was made, teachers completed a debrief document with their class.

In a genuine incident, should you become aware of a lockdown or evacuation at the school, can we please ask that you do not attend the school or phone, as we will not be able to respond. Your presence or contact may make it more difficult for us or the emergency services to manage a situation.

Sport Trainings & After School Sports
As after school sports trainings are getting underway, please remember to be at school to meet your child when their training is finished at a pre-arranged location and time. Siblings of students training are not permitted to remain at school unaccompanied by a parent/caregiver.
If your child attends the YMCA After School Care, please ensure the Y Staff members know when your child has an after school sports session or training.

Shore to Shore Fun Run
My name is Elliot. I am in Year 6. On Sunday 7th April at 9am, I will be doing the Harcourts Shore to Shore fun run/ walk with my family.

This event brings together the North Shore community and supports local schools by providing them with an opportunity to raise funds for much-needed sports gear. It’s a great opportunity for Friends, Parents, Aunties, Uncles and Grandparents to get together, dress up, and join in the fun! I would like other Sunnybrae families to join in too! Spread the word and the more people who sign up through our school, the more money we get to spend on sports equipment. We hope you will join us!!

More details can be found on the website. https://shoretoshore.co.nz

Click Here to View Event Promo
Parent organiser: Lucy Farquhar email deano.lucy@gmail.com

PTA UPDATE:
Parent Feedback
The PTA would welcome feedback from the recent Family Fun Fest. Please take a few minutes to complete this quick survey.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SURVEY

Second-Hand Uniforms Needed
If you have any spare uniforms that your child may have grown out of, please consider donating these back to the school for our Donated Uniform Store. Clean items can be dropped off at the office.

Parking at Pick up and Drop Off
We have been notified of some dangerous driving around school at pick up time.
Please be extra careful when parking your car that you have checked for students in your blind spots. Parking in the bus bay at pick up time is not encouraged so please use the angle parking along the side of the junior playground. Please obey the traffic signs. Thank you for your co-operation.

Kind regards
Lorene Hurd, Principal
SUNNYBRAE NORMAL SCHOOL

REMINDER:
Please note that all children are to be collected from school by 3.00 pm. If you are unable to collect before this time, you may be interested in booking your child into the YMCA after-school club held in the School Hall.