4 April 2012
Dear Parents/Caregivers
As the first term draws to an end I wish to congratulate all students on the way they have applied themselves not only in
their studies but in all facets of school life. Classes settled into their routines and work from day one. Students set their
goals for the year and shared these at Student Led Conferences with their parents and teachers. An incredible 92% of
families came to school for these! Students have had daily swimming lessons in our pool and we have held highly
successful swimming sports and senior school Triathlon. Finally to all those parents who have supported the students and
staff this term a big thank you. Our students deserve the break they are about to have. Happy Easter and term holidays to
all.
Congratulations also to our CARE Bronze winners for the last fortnight: Georgia Toki, Lauren Pomfrett, Hayden
Jones, Neive Starkey, Petrina Hess
April 5
April 10
April 23
April 25
April 26
May 1
May 2
May 10
May 11
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
BBQ Lunch
End of Term 1
School Support Group Meeting @ 7.00pm
Pool Closes
Term 2 starts
ANZAC Day
Board of Trustees Meeting @ 7.00pm
Life Education Caravan arrives and program starts
Next Newsletter
Full School Assembly @ 11.30am
School Support Group Meeting @ 7.00pm
Kaipara Schools Triathlon @ Parakai
Triathlon
Well done to all those who participated in our annual
event. The following are the triathlon results:
Year 8 Boys
Mikael Taylor 1st, Jacob Wood 2nd, Connor KayRedward 3rd.
Year 8 Girls
Emma Rensford 1st, Lauryn Rhind 2nd, Sydney Everard
3rd.
Year 7 Boys
Kawea Puriri 1st, Troy Gregerson 2nd, Blake Richardson
3rd.
Year 7 Girls
Amber Donaldson 1st, Jasmin Batley 2nd, Tegan Amos
3rd.
Year 6 Boys
Brad Martin 1st, Gwyllym Leslie 2nd, Joshua Mulvaney
3rd.
Year 6 Girls
Emma Foote 1st, Esther Arram 2nd, Eilish van Zeist 3rd.
Year 5 Boys
Tane Gregerson 1st, Nicholas Lowden 2nd, Riley Bonar
3rd.
Year 5 Girls
Sarah Davison 1st, Odette Sullivan-Yates 2nd, Gabrielle
Kennington 3rd.
Pool Closing & Hours
As the evenings are getting darker and the weather cools
we are closing the pool at 7.30pm each night. We intend
weather permitting to keep the pool open to users until
Easter. This means the pool will be closed from Tuesday
April 10th. Remember to please return your key and
collect your deposit once your family has finished
swimming for the season.
Student Led Conferences
I am most grateful to the 92% of families who attended
Student Led Conferences. If you missed the chance to
make a time, please contact your child’s teacher and
arrange a time suitable for you both. It is important that
your child has the opportunity to share with you their
goals and how they are achieving at school.
Junior Classes
When next term starts we will see some students moving
classrooms from Room 1 to Room 2. Our new entrants
traditionally create a number of questions, and so in
order to better inform parents here is some information.
Students who start school between January and end of
June each year are termed Year 1 students. These
students at our school start in Room 1 and may, as they
settle in to school and quickly grasp the basics, be
moved through to Room 2, which also has Year 1
students in it. These students typically have between 612 months at Year 1 before becoming Year 2 students in
the following February
Students who start school between July 1 and December
are termed Year 0 students. They will start their
schooling in Room 1 and will be moved to a Year 1
classroom in the February following their start. These
students typically have between 12-18months at Year 1
before becoming a Year 2 in the following February.
As the classroom programmes cater to the individual
needs of the students the length of time they spend at
this Year 1 level does not matter, what does is the
quality of early learning that they are getting.
If you have any queries regarding this transition please
feel free to speak with your child’s teacher.
Writing
Learning.Intention. I am learning to enhance a simple
sentence with adverbs
Task: To write a cameo about a cat stalking something.
The Cat …
Stealthily; silently; secretly. It creeps forward, one step
at a time; unhurriedly. The cat eyes the rodent up,
watching the mouse intently and waiting for the time to
pounce. Cautiously creeping closer through tufts of
emerald grass, it waits; its bulging bright eyes staring at
the mouse. Unexpectedly and hastily the cat erupts,
leaping acrobatically through the cold wintery air. The
cat’s claws powerfully dig into the timid mouse’s flesh.
Promptly devouring the prey; munching and gobbling
down the tasty treat.
By Sammy Evans age 12 years
Cat stalking
In the sunny daylight a stalker lurks. The predator is a
statue that unfreezes and freezes. Silently, each leg rises
from the ground below. Suddenly, a jet out of nowhere
hits the unexpecting mouse like a bullet through the
head. The wee rodent struggles hopelessly but the
thieving cat latches on more securely. There was no way
the monstrous beast was going to let its dinner away.
By Emily Stroobant age 11 years
The Sneaky Cat
In the steadily sinking sun, the deep eyes of the predator
watch the unsuspecting bird, which preens itself less
than a meter away. Whiskers sense the birds rapidly
beating heart. Its muscles retracted, its legs rippled and it
speedily but efficiently makes its move. The cat leapt at
the bird, catching it by surprise. The bird’s last pathetic
thoughts went rushing through its mind then it died,
almost at once and without pain. The cat picked up its
bloody prize and went into its home ready to surprise the
owners.
By Mark Waterson Age 12
Fear in the Night
Emerald eyes shone in the dusky bushes. Sooty paw
prints trail slovenly through the shadowy porch. Raven
fur prance in the breezy winds, as a stalker lurks in the
dark, eyeing up the prey. Eyes lock. Tensely the smaller
figure freezes. Piercing screams abruptly erupt through
the darkened playpen of nocturnal dangers. Mendacious
eyes glared up at me, she courteously laid it by my feet.
Its white delicate body now mangled and maroon. She
had been deprived from its mother. The truth lay in the
murderer’s eyes.
Dayna Heape age 12 years
Room 13 will be covering Food and Nutrition: Body
Journey: looking at major systems of the human body.
Room 12 and 14 will be covering Body Systems:
Keeping a Balance: exploring how we can keep our
bodies in balance as we grow. Exploring organs in
depth, looking at various drugs and how they affect the
body.
If you would like more information you can log on to
www.lifeeducation.org.nz.
The cost for these programmes is $4.00 per child. Please
pay the money to your classroom teacher by Thursday
26 April.
Life Education
Next term all classes will be participating in
programmes taught by the Life Education Trust. These
lessons will be run in conjunction with the classroom
programmes being taught in Health.
Room 1 and 2 will be covering Body Systems – Air to
Live: The Respiratory Cycle: looking at how we breathe.
Rooms 6, 7 and 8 will be covering Self-Esteem – I’m
Different: exploring our similarities and differences,
clarifying that our differences make us unique.
Rooms 4, 9 and 10 will be covering Social Relationships
– Friends: exploring qualities of good friends, looking at
peer pressure/ bullying.
H ele n sv i ll e At hl eti cs P rize Giv ing
Hel e ns v il le P r i mar y Sc h o o l H all
W ed n esd a y 4 t h Ap ril fro m 5 .3 0 p m
SCHOOL SUPPORT GROUP NEWS
Movie Night
Many thanks to New World Albany who provided all the
eggs for the Easter Egg hunt. We hope you all had an
enjoyable night. There were some items left behind and
they can be collected from the school office.
School Cookbook
Don’t forget to keep those yummy recipes coming in.
Advertising space in the cookbook is also available. For
further information, please phone Margo on 420 -5101.
Golf Tournament
Planning is underway for the 4th Annual Golf
Tournament and the small committee would like another
person to come onboard - you don’t even need to know
anything about golf! It’s a really enjoyable day so if
you’d like to be involved, please phone Kelvin on 4205339.
Next Meeting
The School Support Groups meets on the 1st Thursday of
the month. Our next meeting will be in the Staffroom at
7pm on Thursday, 5th April. Please free to come along
and contribute any fundraising ideas you may have. For
further information, please phone Sandy Marshall on
420-4534.
Yours sincerely
A D Westrupp
Principal.