Week 3, Term 3 Newsletter

We are really looking forward to welcoming parents, grandparents and supporters to come along to watch our annual School Cross Country next Thursday the 13th of August. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. If not, the postponement day is Wednesday 19th of August.

Maungatautari and Pirongia will be holding their cross country during the morning block, with the Taupiri cross country starting after lunch at 1:15pm.

Here is an outline of the days races: Races will start at approximately 10.00am, in this order:

Year 6 Boys

Year 6 Girls

Year 5 Boys

Year 5 Girls

Year 4 Boys

Year 4 Girls

Year 3 Boys

Year 3 Girls

Lunch approx 12pm-1pm

Taupiri Races will start at approximately 1.15pm, in this order:

Year 1 Boys

Year 1 Girls

Year 0 Boys

Year 0 Girls

Year 2 Boys

Year 2 Girls

Children are to wear their Whanau shirts, suitable running shorts (Skorts are okay along with uniform shorts or any Tamahere sports shorts) and running shoes. Please ensure your child brings a change of warmer uniform to put on after their race, as they may get wet, muddy and cold. Please also make sure your child has plenty of food and water.

Disclosure of Risk:- Below are the possible risks your child could be exposed to on this day and the safety measures that are in place.

1. Medical Safety – All students / parents are asked to ensure each child has their asthma inhalers with them and epi pens and other medication, where required. Please ensure your classroom teacher is aware of your child’s medical conditions. Our teachers are 1st Aid trained and we will have first aid kits available.

2. Exhaustion / dehydration / exposure – All children need to have plenty of food and drink for the day and sunscreen along with enough warm clothes in case the weather changes. If the forecast is for rain – bring a waterproof raincoat, to wear outside of our uniform.

3. Loss – Every year whanau shirts and other items seem to go missing – please ensure all clothing items are clearly named and there are bags to carry them home.

The Country Schools Cross Country will be held at Newstead Model Country School on Thursday the 28th August. This team will be selected from our top runners in Year 4-6.

Thank you,

Ann Marie Copponi & Jo Metcalfe

We are looking forward to celebrating our Annual School Agricultural Day during the first week of Term 4, on Thursday 15th October.

On this day our school will be open to our community, family and friends to celebrate our children’s achievements and our agricultural heritage.

We are very excited to be welcoming calves back this year, and also creating a new section for Ponies! Further details to come on Pony entrant criteria.

To enable our whole school to be involved in the day, all students will have the opportunity to bring an animal, a caged pet or our students who do not choose to bring an animal, will compete in the ‘Horticultural Happenings’ activities, which will be notified closer to the time.

Having the opportunity to rear a pet is very special. The skills and hard work put in to raise and care for a live animal are also a great way of learning very important life skills and responsibility.

If you are new to Ag Day, welcome! There are a number of resources and information leaflets that can be picked up from our school reception or local vets.

How to enter an Animal for Ag Day

Each child that wishes to enter an animal into Ag Day will need to complete an entry form, which can be collected from the School Office. Entry forms will need to be returned by the end of Term 3 to allow for all the data to be entered and ribbons to be ordered.

We will be holding an Animal Demo and Judges Visit day during Week 8 of Term 3, to give advice on how to look after the animals and prepare for Ag Day. All children entering animals should attend and parents are also welcome.

A Free Animal Health Check day for lambs, goats and calves is also kindly offered by one of our Sponsors, Cambridge Vets, where they will offer free vaccinations and tail docking. The date for this will be September 12th (Saturday) 9-10am in the TCC carpark.

Pet Diary

Children are also encouraged to keep a “Pet Diary” with details about their Pet’s breed, date of birth, feeding and health details. It is up to the child as to what they choose to submit for this, there is no set criteria. This year children have two options: the first being a hard copy notebook, clear file etc. The second is to create a google slide pet diary. You can click on this link to view an example.

Pet Diaries will need to be submitted for judging at the end of the term.

Animal Contacts:

If you do not already have your own animals, then we have the following contacts available:

Lambs:

Contact Amy Beech 021 542 547

Amy will be offering lambs to be raised, available from mid-August through to October, however the sooner people get in touch with her the better. Lambs are $65 each, then this money is refunded on the return of a weaned, healthy lamb after Ag day. Amy is also able to offer advice on rearing.

Calves:

Contact Roger Duncan 021 929 163

Roger (and his wife Karen) will be offering calves for sale (not to be returned to farm), they are also available to offer advice, and can sell feed/colostrum etc to assist with the raising of the calf as required.

Goats:

Unfortunately our previous contact for goats does not have any kids available this year. If any parents know of anyone in the community we would love to hear from you.

Chickens:

Eureka Poultry Farm will be able to supply 7 week old Hyline chicks for anyone that wants to raise a chicken. Cost is $24 per chick and they will be available from 9th September. They will be feathered and old enough to go in a cage outside. Will need to keep an eye on them if the weather turns cold.

Maria at Eureka Poultry Farm will be arranging a day for the chicks to be dropped off and picked up from school.

We will also be having a section for “Show chickens” this year, if children have a special chicken which they would like to bring to show.

Caged pets

A caged pet is an animal that is happy to be caged, so no cats or dogs please, Any questions as to whether it is appropriate please ask your classroom teacher.

Ponies

As this is a new section this year, further details on entrant criteria and judging categories will be provided shortly.

Trophy Return: Can we please ask that all 2019 trophies now be returned to the school office as soon as possible.

This day could not be achieved without our sponsors and parent helpers. If you have a local business who wishes to sponsor any prizes, or are available to help out our Ag Day committee in anyway please contact:

Frances McKenzie (021 206 9451) francesmcknz@gmail.co.nz

or Rachel Algar (020 422 6711) rachelannealgar@gmail.com

Tamahere Model Country School receives 20% of the sale whenever you buy a pot of Tui Bees delicious golden honey! At the same time you can support a local business and help save NZ bees!

Tui Bees offers two types of honey, a Kanuka / Manuka blend & a Multiflora Manuka honey. Both are available in 500gm & 1kg sizes. If you want your honey order delivered to aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents or friends, Tui Bees can deliver anywhere in NZ!

Tui Bees are offering a great discount of $5.00 off their Manuka 40+ 1kg pots, making them just $24.95 each, for the month of August!

If you purchase any honey products, please select “Tamahere Model Country School Fundraiser” from the Fundraising drop down list, which appears on the Shopping Cart page and Tui Bees Honey will donate 20% of your purchase to support our school. Please go to https://tuibees.co.nz/ to start shopping.

Thank you for your support!

Kan tabs are bringing in thousands of dollars to help kids suffering from Kidney disorders and they need our help to collect more.

It would be great if all children and their families could start collecting ring top tabs off soft drinks and canned foods and bring them into school.  There is a special collection tin in the office.

The tabs are sold to a recycler and the funds raised are passed on to the Kidney Kids Support Group.

At the moment there are about 1250 children who require dialysis treatment or additional support from Kidney Kids. Kidney Kids is a not-for-profit parent driven organisation that assists parents of children who have kidney disorders.