Kia ora, Hello, Hallo, مرحبًا, নমস্কাৰ!, হ্যালো Hyālō, 你好 Nǐ hǎo, Kamusta, નમસ્તે Namastē, नमस्ते Namaste, こんにちは Kon'nichiwa, ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ Namaskāra, ជំរាបសួរ Chomreabsuor, 안녕하십니까 Annyeonghasibnikka, ഹലോ Halēā, नमस्कार Namaskāra, ꯍꯦꯜꯂꯣ, ဟယ်လို Haallo, Witam, Olá, ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ Sata srī akāla, Talofa, Malo le lei, Mhoro, ආයුබෝවන් Āyubōvan, வணக்கம் Vaṇakkam, హలో Halō, ہیلو,, Xin chào, السلام عليكم As-salamu alaykum, ¡Hola!, Pẹlẹ

It’s hard to believe we’re nearly halfway through the term!  The weeks are flying by, and it’s been wonderful to see our tamariki so involved in learning, and making the most of the opportunities on offer.  We are very excited to see our Show Quest team take to the St James Theatre stage on Thursday night.  It's looking fantastic and the audience are in for a real treat!  Huge thanks to Hannah Ward and Brianna Pratt for their mahi in getting the tamariki ready for the stage.

Teacher Only Day
A reminder that our Teacher Only Day is this Friday 23 May.  This has been allocated by the Ministry of Education for kaiako (teachers) to unpack the refreshed Maths Curriculum.  School is closed for our students on this day.

Regular attendance continues to be a big focus for us here at EHS. The Government has set a target for 80% of students to be at school more than 90% of the term by 2030. We’re proud to say we’re heading in the right direction. In Term 1 this year, 76% of our students met that goal, up from 73% in Term 1, 2024.  To reach the target, we need your help in ensuring your child comes to school every day, and gets to school on time.
 

The main reasons for students being away in Term 1 were illness and holidays. While we completely understand that sickness can’t be helped (and we really appreciate you keeping your child home when they’re unwell), we’d like to remind whānau that holidays during the school term are counted as unjustified absences and affect your child’s attendance record.

Every day at school makes a difference - have a look at the table below to see what the impact of attendance is on a child's learning.

Punctuality is just as important:
Right now, only 73% of our students are arriving at school on time, and that’s something we’re working hard to improve. Arriving on time helps your child start the day calm and ready to learn, ensures they don’t miss important messages from their teacher, and sets them up with strong, lifelong habits around punctuality and responsibility.

Did you know that being just 10 minutes late every day adds up to nearly half a year of lost learning from Years 1–13? That’s a huge amount!
We understand that parking can be tricky around the school gates, but even parking a few streets away and walking in together can support both fitness and great routines.

Let’s work together to keep attendance and punctuality strong - every day and every minute counts!

Ngā mihi nui 

Ann Gwilliam and Hayley Walshe
Tumuaki (Acting Principals)

Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua

Our school was full of pink – pink shirts, pink socks, pink hair, and even pink leg-warmers!  Everywhere you looked, there was something bright and cheerful, all showing our support for Pink Shirt Day.

Our Kaiārahi Leaders were waiting at the gate to hand out pink heart stickers and blow bubbles as the tamariki arrived at school.  

The day was all about being kind, standing up for each other, and saying no to bullying.  Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri tū, Mauri Ora – Speak up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!   This message was at the heart of everything we did. Tamariki were reminded that when we speak up and stand together, we help make our school a place where everyone feels welcome, safe, and respected.

A big thank you to everyone who joined in and helped make the day so fun and meaningful. Let’s keep the kindness going every single day!

This is an exciting new initiative that is happening at EHS.  We are so proud to be hosting our culturally and linguistically diverse families to support them in learning more about the education system in New Zealand and to have opportunities to connect with each other and our kura.  Two sessions have already been held in A3 and will run fortnightly in Term 2 and 3 covering a variety of relevant topics that our families have chosen to explore.   If you would like to know more about the Learning Community Hub, please contact our Bi-lingual teacher Wanwan at wliao@easternhutt.school.nz.

If your child is going to be ABSENT OR LATE from school please ring the absentee line 566 2734 or text only (we do not answer this phone) on 027-773-7243 before 9.30am and leave a message which includes name, room number and the reason your child is away or  is going to be late.
Late Children – please report to the office so we do not ring your parents.
Remember school starts at 8.55am.

You can still start an automatic payment for Stationery, Camp, EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom) Activity Related Donations and School Donation, please contact Katherine by email at accounts@easternhutt.school.nz or ring the office on 566 0167. This is an easy way to spread the payments throughout the final term.
Direct Credit to our Bank Account.
Account Details:
ASB Lower Hutt
Eastern Hutt School Board 
Account number: 12 3478 0009657 00 

Eastern Hutt School works with SchoolDocs to maintain our SchoolDocs website for our policies and procedures.  Our site is available to our school community.

SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to change in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team.  

Our Board of Trustees, Staff and Parents have the opportunity to view these policies and give feedback.  

 

We will advise you when policies are up for review and how you can take part in the review. 

 

Below are the instructions:

1.        Visit the website http://easternhutt.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm

2.        Enter the username (easternhutt) and password (Eastern).

3.        Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.

4.        Read the policy

5.        Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page

6.        Select the reviewer type “Parent”

7.        Enter your name (optional).

8.        Submit your ratings and comments. 

 

After School Pick Up 

 There are a number of students who are not being picked up until well after 3.30pm. There is no one supervising these students.  It is very important that you collect your child by 3.15pm as per Eastern Hutt School policy. 

If your child has borrowed some of the school’s clothes, please can they be washed and returned.  We have no small clothes if any students need to be changed.

Enrolments – Calling all near 5 year olds! 

If you are living in our zone and have a child turning 5 this year or in 2025, please contact the school office for an enrolment pack if you have not already done so. If you have family or friends living in zone who also have a child turning 5 please let them know to contact the school office on 566 0167 as soon as possible.
There will also maybe places for children turning 5 who live out of zone. Our next ballot date is in March 2025.
Enrolling NOW helps us to forward plan.

As our winter sports season has started, just a reminder to highlight the importance of fair play.   As a school we take pride in ourselves and have always demonstrated a high level of fair play in all sports.  Keep this up for the winter season.