🤒 A Friendly Reminder – Keeping Our School Healthy

Kia ora whānau,

With colds, flu and tummy bugs still doing the rounds, we ask for your support in helping keep our students and staff healthy.

If your child is home sick with a cold or flu, please keep them home until they are well enough to fully participate in focused classroom learning. Being well enough to play or relax at home can look quite different from being ready for a full day of learning at school.

For vomiting or diarrhoea/stomach bugs, children must remain at home until they have been symptom-free for at least 48 hours after their last episode.

Please help us stick to these guidelines to reduce illness spreading through our school. This is particularly important for our staff too. With the shortage of relief teachers, we have very limited options for covering classes when teachers become unwell (if no teachers will, we would need to close the school).

We really appreciate your support in keeping sick children home until they have properly recovered — it helps protect our tamariki, staff and the smooth running of our school.

Thank you for supporting us! 💛

📚✨ THE GREAT NGUTUNUI READ-A-THON IS UNDERWAY! ✨📚

Are you signed up yet?

A HUGE thank you to the whānau who have already jumped on board — together we have already raised an amazing $970! 🎉🙌

It’s definitely not too late to sign your whānau up! We’ll be drawing some spot prizes on Monday for families who are registered, so get yourselves signed up and join in the fun! 🎁

📖 How’s the reading going at home?
Is your child enjoying reading each night, or snuggling up and being read to? Remember, it’s all about making reading FUN! If you’re looking for some fresh books, why not head along and join the Ōtorohanga Library and let the kids choose something new to enjoy?

🎭 BOOK CHARACTER DAY – FRIDAY 25TH!
Have you started thinking about your child’s costume? It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive — get creative together and choose a favourite book character. We can’t wait to see who turns up at school! 📚🧙‍♂️🦸‍♀️🐛

❤️ WE NEED SOME GUEST READERS!
On Friday 25th, I’d love to have parents, grandparents, whānau and members of our community come in and read a favourite picture book — from the present or your own childhood — to a small group of children.

If you’d like to read, or you know someone in our community who would be great (maybe even someone a little bit famous! 😉), please let me know!

I’d love our tamariki to hear new stories from new people and make the final day of our Read-a-thon something really special.

📚💛 Let’s keep reading, fundraising and having fun together, Ngutunui!

📣 Friends of the School – Fundraising Meeting

We’d love to see some new faces at our Friends of the School meeting this Thursday! (3pm staffroom)

Come along, get involved, share some ideas and help us plan some fun fundraising opportunities to support our tamariki and school. 🌟

All whānau are welcome — there’s no pressure to take on a big role; even a little bit of help, an idea, or an extra pair of hands makes a difference.

Come along and be part of it! 💛

Kia ora whānau,

The Great Ngutunui Read-a-thon has officially begun—let’s get reading! 📚🎉

Our goal is for every child to enjoy at least 20 minutes of reading each night. For our younger students, this can include sharing a book with an adult or older sibling and being read to. Our capable independent readers are encouraged to get their heads into a great chapter book and enjoy at least 20 minutes each evening.

Remember to record each night’s reading in your child’s Read-a-thon tracker (which comes home today). If you need some fresh inspiration, why not join the Ōtorohanga Library and explore the wonderful range of books available?

Have you created your child or family’s online fundraising page yet?

Visit: https://ngutunuireadathon.raiseit.co.nz/

Create your fundraising page, then share the link with friends, whānau and family near and far. Every donation will help us purchase exciting resources and equipment to brighten and energise learning in our classrooms.

Let’s get reading, sharing and fundraising! We can’t wait to celebrate all the books and pages our tamariki read.

Ngā mihi,
Whaea Sharyn

📚 THE GREAT NGUTUNUI READ-A-THON IS UNDERWAY! 📚

Monday 31 August – Friday 25 September 2026

Get ready to turn the page on an exciting adventure… The Great Ngutunui Read-a-thon! 🌟📖

Throughout the Read-a-thon, our students are encouraged to READ, READ, READ! Whether they’re discovering new stories, exploring different worlds, reading with their whānau, or smashing their own personal reading goals, every page counts!

At the same time, students can collect online sponsorship for their reading efforts and help raise funds for Ngutunui School.

💛 WHAT ARE WE FUNDRAISING FOR?

As a small rural school, our classrooms can sometimes miss out on some of the extra “luxuries” that make learning exciting. Each class has a wish list of resources and equipment they would love to add to their classroom to motivate, energise and brighten up learning.

Every page read and every dollar raised gets us a little closer!

🎉 WE’LL FINISH WITH A CELEBRATION!

On Friday 25 September, we’ll wrap up our Read-a-thon with a day of fun reading activities and a BOOK CHARACTER DRESS-UP DAY! Come to school dressed as a favourite character as we celebrate all the fantastic reading and fundraising our students have achieved.

💻 SET UP YOUR CHILD/REN’S FUNDRAISING PAGE HERE:

https://ngutunuireadathon.raiseit.co.nz/

Once your page is created, share it with friends, whānau and family near and far and let’s see what we can achieve together!

Thank you for getting behind our tamariki, encouraging a love of reading and supporting Ngutunui School.

📚 Let’s get reading, sharing and fundraising! 📚