Newsletter 1, Term 2 2024

Principal’s Message

Talofa lava
Praise the Lord our theme this year ‘TIAKI’ -to care, conserve and protect sees the term 2 topic of STEWARDSHIP & SUSTAINABILITY inquiry well under way now.
The government priorities to ensure an hour a day of Reading, Writing and Maths and Cell phones away for the day have been reviewed at our Board meetings and the policies are now confirmed. Student/whanau phones must be put away (in bags) from the time students enter the gate until the end of the day. Please encourage your children to follow these rules as a mandatory requirement.
Fa’afetai tele lava to all our aiga who supported our Samoan Language week celebrations and our RUA Pink day -anti bullying reminders. Schools are meant to be the best parties in town and we couldn’t do it without your volunteering hands and hearts.
Congratulations to the following recipients of Principal Awards this month:
SHARP MINDS:Raven Benioni, Hannah Muelu, Zion Singh, Bryson Chang
STRONG BODY: Rocky Popata.
GOOD HEARTS: Luke Martin, Ina Partsch, Sulieti Tava
The Rise UP Trust AGM will be held on Thursday 27th June at 6.30pm. As the first Pasefika Primary Charter School, we will await the government guidelines and requirements before making any consideration to return to the Charter School status. We will celebrate 10 years since Rise UP Academy establishment and give thanks with a delicious meal and highlights of the last year with some flashbacks of the last 10 years.
Fa’afetai tele lava, Vi’ia le atua.
Sita Selupe MNZM
Pule ako

Yours sincerely,
Sita Selupe MNZM
Tumuaki

The Calendar

Recent Events

SAMOAN LANGUAGE WEEK

Tautua ile alofa, manuia le lumana’i – Serve in love for a blessed future.

This year’s theme is focused on tautua (service) and aims to express the significance of service that is founded on love. Service is accomplished through the good heart and love which aligns with the school vision, values and mission statement on Pacific and Christian values. Samoan Language Week celebration within our aoga(school) was a collective preservation of our Samoan language and identity for our native people.

We officially started off the same way many Pacific and Samoan events begin, in Devotion(faigalotu). A variety of activities have been carried out during the week through languages,, songs, dances, games, weaving, traditional ways of cooking, cultural displays, cultural wears, foods and taualuga(concluded) with our parade and fashion show.

We were blessed with an opportunity to have the Falelalaga Trust who brought a different sense of learning in which our children were able to watch, smell, hear, touch and taste the Samoan self.

It was a great week where our tamaiti(children) faiaoga(teachers/staff) matua(parents) aiga(families) and nuu(community) were able to work together to share love and service towards our children of Rise Up Academy. I strongly believe in the connection between culture and language which is emphasized in the proverb by the late Samoan scholar Aiono Dr Fanaafi Le Tagaloa that says, “when there is no language, there is no culture and when there is no culture, darkness descends on the village”

Thank you parents, aiga(families) and nuu(village) for your support and contribution. Our values of love(alofa), respect (faaaloalo) and va fealoaloa’i (respectful relationship) together with the teachers and staff made the Samoan language week a wonderful and amazing event this year. Our village stands together to acknowledge our language and culture. Malo lava, faafetai.

Faamanuia le Atua, o alofa na o alofa nei.

Soifua.

STEM MOTAT TRIP

On the 5th of June Room 1 and Room 2 were fortunate enough to be invited to the STEM workshop run by Project Wy in partnership with MOTAT. Here we looked at the design process regarding a problem within our community and that was familiar to us all. Students then went on and created a solution for the problem as well as design a prototype which they then had to present. It was an excellent experience with Rise Up students excelling in imagination and creativity. A highlight from this experience is seeing curriculum areas integrated and students working well together to see a common goal achieved. I just want to thank Project Wy for making this possible as well as Ms Laura, Ms Weightman, Ms Grace and Whaea Celia for all your hard work that went into making it happen. We appreciate all you do for us and for the effort you constantly put in for everyone at Rise up.

John ‘Ofanoa

NETBALL

*STRONG BODIES*
This term we took a team of 11 girls to the annual MOSA Year 5 & 6 Netball tournament which was held at Auckland Netball Centre in St Johns.
Leading from the front was Mrs Faga, with her extensive knowledge of Netball and the support from Whaea Celia and Rere Benioni our girls were ready to use all their skills and fitness to face the opposition.
Even with the rain falling it did not stop our girls from playing their best. They ran, jumped, defended, scored goals and chased the other team for the ball. Our girls played 5 games and they won 3 of those games and they were placed 11th overall. Such a great achievement for our school!
We are so proud of the way that they represented Rise Up Academy. They played with passion, heart and determination despite playing in the Year 6 grade and having Year 4 & 5 students in their team! Well done to our team – Renita Farani, Nissi Letiu, Mevenlee Purea-Tautu, Kioko Sofele-Sinisa, Fisi-Anne Sifaheone, Adi Matavesi, Mariarosa Farani, Skye Suamasi, Raven Henry, Lisa-Marie Peato and Hannah Muelu.
Big thank you also to our parents and families that came out to support and especially to Mrs Godinet.

WEAR PINK DAY

RUA’S WHY? In short Rise UP Academy has ZERO Tolerance for Bullying. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made and we celebrate our uniqueness.
All donations will be going to the NZ Mental Health Foundation. We raised a total of from all the donations. We would like to sincerely thank our wonderful staff and families for donating  delicious baking and treats for the Bake sale.
Thank you for your support.

275 DAY

275 Day was celebrated on 27.5.2024 where local businesses and community groups were able to market and showcase their services. It was so encouraging and inspiring to see a few of our Rise UP Whanau (old and current whanau) with their own stalls. Rise UP also had our own designated spot next to ProvTech where we were able to share about our school and whanau programmes. Thank you to Sam Muelu from ProvTech who provided the generator so we could have  running slides and videos of RUA during the event. We also want to thank our student council who came through to handout flyers; Isabelle, Loimata, Bronze and Lazarys; our volunteers & staff who worked a little extra; Mrs Godinet and her daughter Hannah, Mrs Selupe, Mr Ofanoa, Whaea Celia, Ms Grace, Mrs Laura and her daughter Soteria Raine. It was a successful day celebrating the wonderful and amazing things unique to Mangere.

PROJECT WY

Our school is grateful for our partnership with the team at Project Wy and the opportunities that they provide our children and families. These events are not just about getting fit or attending two trainings a week. It is about parents and children working together to conquer a common goal. The goal for this term was completing the 10km Marathon in Rotorua, so with the support of Mr Ofanoa, Ms Grace and Whaea Penina we had 8 families participate and achieve this goal.

For 6 weeks these families had been getting up early on Thursday and Saturday mornings to train with the Project Wy team. Trainings were done at a school in Otahuhu, Auckland Domain, Mission Bay and even Eden Park and involved walking together, running, exercise challenges and fun. These events with Project Wy are a great way of doing fitness together, spending quality time and connecting with other families at Rise Up Academy.

Congratulations to all our families who participated, we are so proud of you for crossing the finish line!

Our next Project Wy event is in August and is the 6km Rotorua Mud Run. If you have a child that attends Rise Up Academy and is either Year 6 (Room 2), Year 7 or 8 (Room 1) and are interested please let Ms Grace know. This is an awesome opportunity for quality time, laughter, fun and working together.

Whanau Notices

AGM – Thursday 27th June, 6.30pm

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a way for our whanau and community to come along and hear about all the great things that have happened within our school and trust over the past year. It is a time of celebration, reflection and also a time to be excited for the things to come.This is also an opportunity for you to come and watch your child perform in our Rise Up Academy Choir.
Food will be provided so RSVP to [email protected] or 022 461 0144 by Friday 21st June.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMME

SUPA:
Our children have been learning some great sets in preparation for their SHOWCASE in TERM 3. Please save the date MONDAY 26TH AUGUST at 6pm – MANGERE ARTS CENTRE. Remind your child/ren that practicing pieces is mandatory to retaining dance moves, improving workmanship and perfecting fluency so PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE….5-10 mins everyday will help block out the nerves and build their confidence.
Please let me know if you do not have access to their pieces and i can send via messenger.

CULTURE & HERITAGE:
Samoan Language Week was a great example of our culture & heritage classes coming out in full force to showcase their learning in the classroom. The gagana Samoa class took on a great leadership role in:
Taking part in whole school devotion – full emergent Samoan – opening prayer, hymn, bible reading – memory verse and reciting the Lord’s prayer.
Translating to their peers during the Falelalaga workshops
Hosting and participating in the whole school assembly
Thank you parents for encouraging your child/ren to speak your gagana at home and for being part of our assembly (aka village people). The whanau engagement was phenomenal. We are looking forward to seeing the same results from our Kuki Airani class as well as engagement from our Cook Island mamas & papas.

PATH

91% of our whanau have completed their PATH plans for this year.  We endeavour to reach out at the end of July (1st & 2nd week of Term 3) to go through your short term goals. 

If you have yet to complete your PATH plan with us, please answer your phones because this is a vital tool/resource that will benefit your child and your whanau for the year.  

SYNERGY

A great start to our Synergy ‘I know who I am” programme at the museum learning about our Culture & Heritage.  Some great questions and answers by our children which will help with their presentations next month.  We all look forward to deep diving into our inquiry learning with our whanau and applying all the tools we’ve learnt from our Hearts n Minds Programme.  Thank you parents for your commitment to this 6 week programme and thank you children for always engaging well at night school. 

CAR PARK – SAFETY

A gentle reminder to our whanau that the Car park is for Sir Douglas Bader Intermediate and Rise UP Staff ONLY – there are 2 car parks at the end marked for mobility card users only (must be displayed). Please use the off street parking and if you need to supervise your child walking up to the school gate then please walk them as there have been a few near misses and also SDBI car parks taken by our whanau.

UNIFORM SALES

As of next week our office will be open for uniform sales 8.30-9.15am on Thursdays only. 

ENROLMENTS

For our whanau who have children turning five next year please complete an enrolment form. We have spaces available for next year’s enrolment, so please let your whanau know. Please fill in an online form from our website https://www.riseupacademy.school.nz/

SMALL BUSINESSES WITHIN OUR SCHOOL

PROV-TECH Automotive  

If your car needs some work done or a service please check out http://provtechauto.com

275KAI 

Mary and her whanau make the heartiest burgers and delicious meals like; surf n turf, ribs etc found here too! 60 Vine Street Mangere. https://www.facebook.com/275KAI

MAMAS MEDALS

She and her team create the most stunning pieces and are available to order. You’ll be the talk of the town when you wear one of her numbers. https://www.facebook.com/mamasmedals

*Whanau if you own a small business that you would like us to post up on our newsletters please email [email protected] 

Devotions

Whanau devotions:

Devotion topic: Prayer Warriors of the Bible

Scripture for the week: Week 7: Matthew 6:6
“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your
Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you”.

Learning Intention: We are learning how to pray.
Success Criteria:

1. To know the Lord’s prayer.
2. To pray as Jesus taught us.

Prayer Requests:
– Student/Staff well being and full attendance
– Funding applications
– Year 8 High Schools
– Excellent Curriculum Programmes

This term our theme is prayer. Akonga are learning from different prayer warriors of the bible each week: when to pray, what to pray for, why we pray and fast, who to pray for, where and how to pray. This week we are studying David: we know that David shared a close relationship with God as he was able to confess and ask God for anything through prayer. Next week we are learning how Jesus taught us to pray.

We are grateful for our great grandparents, grandparents and parents who model and teach us about prayer. We are grateful to have some praying parents lead our Devotions. Thank you to Rosanna Farani, Pastor Rowena and Taulu, Olive and Varasiko Duisokosoko and Clifford and Lisa Faaaoga for being our guest speakers this Term. It is a blessing to hear many of our children pray the Lord’s prayer confidently and are learning the Lord’s prayer in their own language during the after school programme. There is power in prayer!

Praise be to God for answered prayer