Permaculture Association Sustainable Backyard Garden

1. Rotokauri School
Newsletter
Issue No: 8 31 May 2012
ENVIRO GROUP TRIP
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Our school Enviro Group is made up of 14 students from Rooms 3 to 7. The purpose of
our group is to gain relevant gardening knowledge that can be passed on to their class
members and to take a lead role in school environmental projects. On Friday, 25th May,
the Enviro Group had an interesting trip to the Hamilton Gardens and Rhode Street
School. We met up with Cheryl Noble from the Permaculture Association in the
Sustainable Backyard garden. She explained how plants and animals work together in
gardens. We learnt about composting, worm farming, organics and companion planting –
how it is beneficial to plant some plants together.
We then headed to Rhode Street School where we saw a holistic approach to gardening.
We were impressed by their orchard and enjoyed hunting through their sensory garden
looking for different types of leaves. We got some tips for our worm farms and found their
hydroponics greenhouse very interesting. The children and I came back very inspired and
look forward to putting some of our ideas into practise. A big thanks to Kim White and
Michelle Tyrie for providing transport and supervision to our group.

2. ROTOKAURI SCHOOL Telephone (07) 849 5068
462 Rotokauri Road Fax (07) 849 4371
RD9
HAMILTON 3289 Email: office@rotokauri.schoolzone.net.nz
Dear Parents
Nga mihi o te wa kia koe me to whanau.
ROTOKAURI SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT
Our positive environment will actively engage our students in learning.
ROTOKAURI SCHOOL VISION
We are responsible, confident learners and communicators.
ROTOKAURI SCHOOL VALUES
Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Persistence and Excellence.
PARENT AND VISITOR CODE OF CONDUCT
We are proud to offer a very open school where parents and visitors are welcome. Our
parent roll is now in excess of 300 and visitors within our school too numerous to count.
Due to the increasing numbers we need to be aware and consider the possible distraction
to the children that visitors, during class time, can cause and additionally we need to be
aware of behaviours or standards that are unacceptable.
Our school values were developed over the last five years through consultation with
students, parents and staff. They are relevant to all members of the Rotokauri
Community. Our Staff has a code of conduct as do the Board of Trustees, the PTA has a
meeting code and our students have values and rules to abide by. Unfortunately, when
Rotokauri staff have been in situation where behaviour has been unacceptable the
resolution has been difficult as Rotokauri School has not developed and published what
the expectations of a parent or visitor are. Fortunately, these situations have been rare
but the issue must be addressed.
The Board of Trustees believe it is appropriate that we facilitate the development of a set
of expectations and / or etiquette for how we speak and act in front of our students, fellow
parents and staff and that there needs to be true ownership for this to work from the
community. Every parent has the right to have a say in how this code should look. Send
your thoughts to Mark and he will give them to a committee of parents to be self-selected
at a later date. Additionally, the children’s thoughts and ideas on what is important to
them will be included, therefore, we will seek their input by having the Student Council
survey and consolidate the children’s ideas. For parents wanting to put ideas into the mix
please email Mark at mark@rotokauri.schoolzone.net.nz Any comments will be passed
onto a committee anonymously. Comments need to be in relation to this article. Please do
not make comments regarding individual students, fellow parents or current or past staff
members.

3. BOARD UPDATE
There have been a few changes in members of the Board recently. Ron Woolerton has
been a valuable asset to the Board organising the property side of the school around his
extensive work commitments. Unfortunately, Ron and his family are moving to Chile and
Ron has stepped back from his role and offered to be a mentor for a new person. The
property manager role, as you can imagine, is very time consuming so we would like to
take this opportunity to thank Ron for his work and organisation. Most recently Ron
oversaw the building of the stage outside Room 3 and it was definitely enjoyed by the
school in the ‘People Like Us Show’. Nick Spiers has been co-opted onto the Board and
we thank him for stepping into the role. Miranda Collinson has also been co-opted onto
the Board in the role of Secretary. The other Board members are Darryl Yorke
(Chairperson), Tim Dashfield (Personnel), Fiona Webber (Finance), Mark Goodson
(Principal), and Janice Skiffington (Staff Trustee). It is an exciting time for the Board with
the 5 and 10 year plan to be decided upon and the new area outside the junior school to
be upgraded.
PARENT HELPERS SUPPORTING OUR CHILDREN
Over the last couple of terms we have had a lot of parents coming in to support the
teachers and students in Maths, Reading, Writing and Spelling programmes. I have
watched with great interest those that have worked with our students in the staffroom or
surrounding buildings. Thank you to the following parents - it must be a great feeling to
know that you are making a difference. Hopefully I haven’t missed any parents out.
Apologies if I have. Anne-Maree Vincent, Donna Hayde, Bridget McLaughlin, Antonia
Withey, Hayley Yorke, Cate Thorley, Carla Duncan, Leigh Westgate, Heather Perring,
Kim White and Marie Carlson.
SUPER SUPPORTER
Congratulations to our Super Parent Supporter Claire Halpin! She did a fantastic job of
organising the pie orders in Week 4. Thank you…and the pies were yummy too! 
HAPPINESS
This year we have talked a lot about happiness with our students and parents. The
Herald published an interesting article on Friday 18th May that basically said people are
happy when they have friends and family. Yes, it sometimes can be that simple.
If you want to extend this concept of happiness into other areas a book called Flourish
which I have quoted before talks about the five elements of well-being. These five
elements of well-being include - positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive
relationships and accomplishment.
Using this 5 point criteria as a means of happiness across nations makes for interesting
reading. The happiest nations in the world are as follows (in order) – Denmark,
Switzerland, Finland, Norway and Ireland. New Zealand did not appear in the top 20
nations. We were even beaten by countries that are experiencing social and financial
turmoil e.g. The Russian Federation, Spain and Portugal.
It’s vitally important that in front of our children we always remain positive and happy.

4. WRITING GOALS
Over the course of this year we have shared some of our 2012 goals with the community.
One of our major goals is to improve the quality of writing in years 2-8. The staff and
students have worked very hard to achieve this goal. Here are some writing samples
from the junior students.
My tooth is wiggly. It is nearly going to come out.
Cooper Miller (Room 1)
I went down the bottom field to have the cross country. I was cheering for my
buddy and I was cheering for my sister Jaimee.
I went so fast that I couldn’t stop running because I went past my buddy. And I
went down the hill and I stopped at the finish line.
The green team won. And then we went off to lunch and then it was class time.
Next I did the race with my buddy and I was fast. And I went past Ella because I
couldn’t stop.
Rylee Carlson (Room 8)
On Thursday we ran down the hill. It was our cross country for all of our children. I
almost won it but my sister won it and she got skittles.
I ran so fast and my sister ran like a rocket. My sister got in first place. I saw a
fresh cow paddy.
I sat on a chair with Cole. We watched the race begin and it took 2 hours. I watched
my sister running with her friends and she won it.
Brooklyn Snelgrove (Room 8)
This doesn’t usually happen but it did!
It happened on Thursday at the park. I fell off my bike.
Me and my Dad and my little sister were riding at the park.
I was going down the hill on my bike and I crashed into the light. It was
sore. I had to go to the doctors to get some stitches.
Shaelyn Erasmuson (Room 2)
Here is a light brown soft teddy bear. The teddy bear is as soft as a pillow
and her nose is as rough as a cat’s tongue. Underneath her she has a dark
purple ribbon. She has got gleaming gold glasses that gleam in the sun. The
teddy bear’s name is Isabella. Isabella has a black dress and a tie that is as
bright as a sun.
Mya Ruediger (Room 3)

5. A Time I Tried Really Hard
I was at the starting line. The man was counting down from three. Then he
slammed the bricks – woosh we were gone! My heart was beating and the wind
was slapping in my face. My feet were stinging. The creek with sharp rocks
must have cut them. My mouth was leaking with spit. I couldn’t really
breathe and swallow properly.
Nicholas Westgate (Room 3)
FEEDBACK ON RESILIENCE
I love when parents give us feedback on articles that we have shared with the community.
Jake Taylor shared this concept of Resilience -
Resilience is the strength of spirit to recover from adversity. When we experience
disappointment, loss or tragedy, we find the hope and courage to carry on. Humour
lightens the load when it seems too heavy. We overcome obstacles by tapping into a
deep wall of faith and endurance. At times of loss, we come together for comfort. We
grieve and then move on. We create new memories. We discern the learning that can
come from hardship. We don’t cower in the face of challenge. We engage fully in the
dance of life.
CAR SHOW MEETING
The car show was a great success for our school and our community last year. We have
taken on board new and exciting ideas from last year’s review. This year the students will
be fully involved in setting up and running stalls as part of their enterprise programme.
The tentative date we have set for the car show and it’s important that we don’t clash with
other car events is Sunday 11th November.
We will have our first committee meeting for the car show on Thursday the 28 th June at
7.30 p.m. in the staffroom. Everyone is welcome to be a part of this committee.
MĀORI CONSULTATION MEETING
There will be a Māori consultation meeting on June 5 th at 6:00 p.m. All parents who have
their child or children enrolled as Māori will receive a phone call and a letter about the
meeting, but anyone can attend. We have put it at a later time in hope of getting a few
more parents attending. We will be discussing Māori achievement in New Zealand and
how it is reported on. We have a few questions to get your opinions about aspects of
education for Māori students.
Mike Watkins and Lisa Mitchell
COMMUNITY CONSULTATION
Please feel free to give feedback regarding the sorts of questions that should make up the
community consultation survey. At the time of writing this I have not received any
feedback from previous invitations to comment.

6. BIKE RIDE
Last year we had a couple of Sunday bike rides around the river bank track. It was fairly
simple - we turned up at 9 o’clock outside the Café at The Hamilton Gardens Lake and
away we went. The only rule was that you brought your child and that you were totally in
charge of their safety at all times.
We would like to do this again on Sunday, June 17th. This is a great family bonding
session.
SCHOOL DONATIONS
Remember we said that we will have a prize draw for everyone who has paid their school
donations. This will take place on Friday 29th June. So be in to win.
TEACHER UNION MEETINGS
There is a lot to discuss in education these days isn’t there? The Government wants to
increase the class sizes and they want to have performance pay just to name a couple of
things.
There are a number of union meetings taking place around the Waikato in mid June. We
have, as a staff, selected 12th June. This will not cause any disruption to our teaching
programme as the meetings will be starting at 3.30 p.m. We would ask that all students
who are not going to the after school programme be off site by 3.15 p.m.
SICKNESS
Yes, it’s that time of the year when students and staff get sick. We have tried to promote
simple hygiene habits e.g. washing of hands after going to the toilet. It could be a long
winter ahead of us. Please inform us if your child is too sick to come to school.
THANK YOU
Thank you to all the parents who have managed to get their children to class on time.
This definitely has helped the disruptions of lessons caused by children walking in late.
SCHOOL BALLOT
From time to time our school runs ballots for people who would like to join our school but
currently live outside of the zone. On Saturday, 2nd June an advertisement will appear in
the Waikato Times. We will be asking for 4 students turning 5 in either July or August.
We will also be asking for 4 Year 3 students who will start on the 16th July – the first day
back of Term 3.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
During the last couple of days our management staff have been at writing courses to help
support our writing strategic plan. The new skills and techniques they have been learning
during these professional sessions will be passed onto other teachers and then find its
way to all our students. Over the coming months we will publish some of the writing
course literature so that you too can support your child’s learning.

7. FRUIT AND VEGETABLES FOR SALE
Fruit and vegetables are for sale by the school gate every Wednesday from 2.45 p.m. The
vegetables have been grown in the school gardens by our students or have been donated
by families that have too much in their own gardens. All money raised goes towards
school camp at the end of the year.
If you have got excess fruit on your trees or extra vegetables in your garden that you
won’t be able to eat, please bring them to Room 6 and we can sell them to our Rotokauri
families. In our school garden students have been growing lettuce, spring onion, snow
peas, carrots, broccoli and cauliflowers this term. Some have been harvested and others
are not far from being ready.
A big thank you to Kim White for gathering all the fruit and vegetables together each week
and selling them after school. This wouldn’t be possible without her.