We had such a great week for our first one back for the term. It was terrific to see all of the kids back from the holidays settled and ready for learning. We have been so lucky with the weather, which is surprisingly warm, so the children have all enjoyed some nice outdoors time, including lots of Cross Country training, which is only a few weeks away now. The course track is at the top of this page and will be the same as in previous years. A schedule for this will be confirmed shortly so you can plan your time to be a supported as the kids battle to beat their personal best time.

Winter sport has kicked off and it is great to see so many of our students getting involved in teams, learning news skills and developing the skills of how to be a great team mate. These are important life skills and sport is a great platform to develop these, and is also great for our physical well-being. Remember that as grown ups we also play a big part on the sideline and as a supported. Here are our Fairplay expectations for students and parents:

For Players –

Play by the rules
Never argue with an official
Work hard to do my best at all times
Turn up to practice
Be a good sport and recognize good players and good plays by all involved
Remember to thank my coach, the officials, the opposition and supporters
Help others in my team when I can
Avoid putting people down or bullying
Give it heaps and don’t get ugly
I will be at the venue/ground at least 30 minutes before the start of the game

For Parents –

Insist that my child plays within the rules and by the principles of Fairplay
Respect my child’s efforts the same regardless of whether he/she has won or lost
Display self-control on the sideline. Always be positive. Never shout at or ridicule players
Watch my child play and let him/her enjoy the game
Remember that my child plays sport for his/her reasons not mine
Be a positive role model for my child
Never place undue pressure on my child to play or perform
Make an effort to understand the rules of the game
Give it heaps and not get ugly

Bully Free Week

At Welcome Bay School we work really hard to develop a safe and inclusive culture and accept that part of our role is to teach specific expectations and behaviours that support this. Through our Welcome Bay Way we promote clear school wide expectations and reinforce these positively through specific clear feedback and praise to students, including HEART and POWER cards. On Friday 20th May we will join others across NZ to Celebrate Pink Shirt day, which aims to create schools, workplaces and communities where all people feel safe, valued and respected. We are going to have a Pink shirt/mufti day to acknowledge this and encourage kids to get creative, if a pink shirt is not possible, then what about a whacky hair do, or a shirt done up with things to celebrate the message. We may even have some prizes up for grabs!

What is bullying?

Bullying is when someone keeps doing or saying things to have power over another person.

We all think we know bullying when we see it, but bullying can also be something we don’t see. Often, people who experience it feel invisible.

Calling someone names, saying or writing nasty things about them, leaving them out of activities, not talking to them, threatening them, making them feel uncomfortable or scared, taking or damaging their things, hitting or kicking them or making them do things they don’t want to do are all forms of bullying.

Generally bullying has the following features:

It is repeated – this may be single acts with different targets or many acts with the same target.
It involves a power imbalance – this means that there is an unequal relationship between the target and the bully, this could be because of physical size, age, gender or social status. By not stopping bullying we increase this power imbalance.
It is harmful.

Generally, we think that bullying is deliberate. It is difficult for those being bullied (targets) to defend themselves and it can often be difficult for those doing the bullying (initiators) to learn new social behaviours.

There are four main types of bullying:

Physical – hitting and punching.
Verbal – teasing, taunting, unwanted threatening, homophobic or racist remarks and name-calling.
Social – ignoring or excluding, spreading rumours or gossiping, withholding friendship.
Cyber – repeated threats, unkind remarks or criticisms sent electronically.

Bullying may be directed towards people based on their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion or physical appearance.

New Website and newsletter format

We hope you all liked the new website and newsletter format including the email links. This is a new system and will take some time for some of us to get used too, so please remind your friends to check it out, download the app as this will take you directly to the newsletter each week, or get their email address into school so we can include them on the mail out.

Have a great week.

Kindest regards,

Nik House – Principal

Weekly Welcome #13