Home

Russell School Art

Kia ora whanau,

This year we were unable to display our art as part of the Russell Garden Club’s annual show. Instead, we have displayed it at school and on Friday afternoon it was viewed and judged.

The art willl stay up for the next few weeks so you may have an opportunity to enjoy it when you drop your children off or pick them up.

We will give out certificates and small prizes on Tuesday the 23rd when all of our children are back together.

This is one of the ways that we are endeavouring to run as normal and end-of-year programmes as possible. I’d like to thank all the teachers who helped their students produce such beautiful work and then took the time to create our beautiful displays. 

Nga mihi nui

Melissa

Garden to Table Volunteers – We Need You!

Do you have an interest in cooking, gardening, health, learning something new whilst being part of our some real world teaching moments with our tamariki?

Garden to Table is an inspiring & unique programme teaching our children how to grow and harvest produce grown in the school garden, to then be prepared and
shared in the school kitchen.

You don’t have to be an expert! 
ViewIf you would like to know more contact Lara:
Email ReplyNga mihi maioha.

Prizegiving 2021

Kia ora whanau

If your child has a school trophy at home from the 2020 prizegiving could you please send it back to school this week.

Nga mihi

Melissa

Office Administration Vacancy

Kia ora whanau

Sadly we have accepted Lara’s resignation from the position of Office Administrator. Lara, Ru, Nico, and Ruby are heading back to Auckland for new opportunities.

We are advertising the position and would like to hear from anyone who has the skills and enthusiasm for a challenging and rewarding role. If you are interested please take the time to read the job description carefully, fill in an application form and submit it with an up-to-date CV (one page is fine) by 3.00 pm Wednesday the 24th of November. 

We have a short timeframe to fill the position in order to be prepared for a great start to 2022.

Job Description

 
Application Form

We will have an opportunity to farewell the Tauri whanau at our prizegiving on Wednesday the 8th of Devember.

Noho ora mai

Melissa

Office Closed

Kia ora whanau

Our office is closed today but Lara is still available by email at [email protected]

Please leave a message before the end of lunchtime (1.50) if you need to reach your child.

Kia pai to ra

Melissa

Armistice Day Service

Kia ora koutou whanau,

Our children conducted themselves beautifully today and we are very proud of all of them. Our very youngest children did a wonderful job of following the lead of our older ones, and the contribution of all was impeccable.

We must make special mention of George whose commitment to showing respect for the significance of this service was outstanding.

Also, we must recognise the contribution that Mackenzie and A.J. made. We love to see our rangatahi giving back to their community and pushing themselves to achieve great things.

It was lovely to be with our community again after such a long time apart. 

Based on the success of the organisation of the day, we feel that we can plan for a prizegiving that includes our whanau and wider school community. We will let you know the details by the middle of next week.

George – Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui e tama!

Nga mihi ki a koe

Melissa

Students leaving school before 3 pm

Kia ora whanau,

If you are picking your child up before 3 pm please remember to come through the school office and sign them out using our visitor’s book. This helps us track where everybody is and this is especially important in an emergency. 

If you have an arrangement for other parents or caregivers to pick up your child before the end of the day, please let the office know. If this is a regular arrangement that will help us communicate more clearly with our teaching staff.

To prevent missed messages we do not encourage you to text or phone your classroom teacher’s mobile. You can notify us through the app or by ringing the office. Please leave a message if nobody answers as we make sure we check messages before the end of lunchtime every day.

Those senior students who use the Paihia Ferry do a wonderful job of getting themselves organised. There is no need for you to contact us every time your child takes the ferry if we know it is an occasional arrangement that you are happy with.

Thanks for your support.

Melissa

Armistice Day Service

Kia Ora whanau,

by working closely with the R.S.A. we have been able to organise our participation in the Armisitice Day service on Thursday morning.

Our children will be taking part as usual, but with safety measures in place. These include keeping the two groups separate, requiring masks for any visitor on school grounds (although most remain on Church Street and so don’t come on to school grounds), sanitising all surfaces, and ensuring that we do not exceed the 100-person gathering guidelines.

If you would like to attend please help us by joining the group on Church Street instead of coming on to our school grounds. That way we are able to host the R.S.A. Executive, their guest speakers, and our more elderly residents who will be seated under the pohutukawa tree without concern for numbers.

If the weather is poor and the service moves inside we will not take part.

As we plan anything this term we must keep in mind the ongoing public health situation. That means that we are making some changes to how we run our speech competition, end-of-year celebrations, and prizegiving. Next week we will send home a letter outlining how these events will work under Level 2.

Nga mihi ki a koutou

Melissa

School Office Closed Today

School Office Closed Today

Please send any absences or late notifications through the app this morning. We will clear the answerphone at the end of lunchtime (1.50) and pass on any messages about after-school arrangements.

Don’t forget Gumboot Friday for the I Am Hope Foundation tomorrow.

Noho ora mai

Melissa

Gumboot Friday – I am Hope

Kia ora koutou whanau,

This Friday is Gumboot Friday. We would like to encourage all our students and school whanau to wear their gumboots and make a gold coin donation to the I Am Hope charity.

This foundation supports New Zealand youth to get access to support for their mental and emotional health. It is fronted by Mike King, who many of you will have heard speak recently in Russell.

Any money gathered through school will be counted and donated through Liz and Alwyn at Wood2Water. It is a great charity to get behind, especially in times like this when doing something for someone else can help us all feel good.

Kia kaha

Melissa

Lunchbox makeover: Back to school ideas for kids to try!

Here are three veggie-filled lunchbox favourites that are perfect for the freezer, making filling lunchboxes in the morning a breeze. The recipes are all written to help kids take over the kitchen and try something new, whether they’re packing a lunch for at school, learning from home, or preparing a picnic lunch for the whole whānau.

Give freezer frittatas, fruit rollups, and cheesy snail bread a go! Please do email your delicious delicacies to us if you would like to be featured on the Garden to Table blog.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā.

Lara – Garden to Table Champion

Lost Property 27 October 2021

Please check the lost property for your belongings and advise the office if you see anything that belongs to you.
Unclaimed lost property is taken to the Op Shop at the end of the term.
View

Epic TV Series Equipment Sale 23 & 24 October 9am – 4:30pm Russell School Wananga.

There’s something for the whole family…..

View

Flower Show Schedule 2021

This years Flower Show schedule is attached. Due to the current covid climate there are a few changes to the schedule, we will not be taking children down to the town hall, prizegiving will be held at school.
ViewNga mihi.

Level 2 from Wednesday

Kia ora whanau,

Northland moves into Alert Level 2 tomorrow night. Because of the hard work by our support staff and teachers, we will be ready to open on Wednesday the 20th of October. I would like to particularly thank Lara and Simon whose ongoing efforts keep us ready to go at short notice.

The bus run will be at the usual times. We encourage all whanau coming into school to either wear a mask or to drop their child off outside the gates. Our teachers have been locked down just like you have, so please give them some time and space to settle back into their normal routines with our children.

We are very excited to see our lovely students again and hope for no more interruptions. To give ourselves a bit more certainty we are planning for this term as if we are staying at Level 2. This means that we restrict outside visitors, we don’t plan trips or events, and we hold all school functions in school time and at school. This will have some effect on the usual end-of-year activities but not on the quality of our classroom programmes.

Take care of each other and keep in touch.

Melissa

Basketball Clinic – School Holidays

Kia ora whanau,
Manuera Riwai is a Northland Basketball Development Officer associated with the Kaitaia Basketball Association. He will be at Russell Schooll each Friday in the holidays from 10.00 – 2.00 running basketball clinics with any of our children and young people in the area. All ages are welcome. 

Manuera and his daughter Freda will also be working with our students next term, so this is a great time for them to try out something new or just enjoy a game together.
If you would like any more information, please call Manuera on 021 658 303.

Nga mihi nui

Melissa

 Kaitaia Basketball Association Sees Huge Growth