Newmarket School News
3 June, 2016
Our Vision - Connected, generous and thoughtful learners
Our Values Respect
Kindness
Perseverance
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Tena koutou katoa
Dear Parents/Caregivers
Newmarket School’s Curriculum Framework
In the Herald last Saturday there was an article that mentioned
that a large percentage of school-age children today will grow
up to have jobs that do not yet exist. An idea like this can be
unsettling for parents and teachers. So at Newmarket School
the board and teachers are thinking hard about how to help
get children ready for a future that we can only begin to
imagine.
Four C’s and more
You may also have heard about the Ministry of Education’s framework called 21st Century Learning, which
intertwines disciplines to get kids to approach problems and concepts in different ways. The basics –
ensuring students are literature and numerate, that they have strong language skills, mathematics, science,
social studies, all of those things that kids have learned in school for eons — remain absolutely vital. The
21st Century Learning framework layers on top of these some new ways of thinking, new ways of solving
problems, and new ways of working together. The aim: To prepare our children to be able to solve new
types of problems in a quickly-evolving, very globally-connected world.
Important to the students at Newmarket School are the skills of critical thinking, collaboration,
communication, and creativity. We also want to support the development of important character
competencies — curiosity, initiative, persistence, grit, leadership, adaptability and social and cultural
awareness. These competencies help teachers develop what and how they teach. From a child’s
perspective, it’s both a core of what they need to know and how they solve problems.
We start early
The more we expose kids to working together
in groups to evaluate and solve new types of
problems, the better they’re going to be at it.
It’s like learning to play the piano, the more
you get to practice playing the piano, the
better your odds of playing confidently. The
good news for our students and teachers is that
this approach of reinforcing the practice of
collaboration is a very natural way for children
to learn, kids love learning with their hands,
putting their best foot forward, as well as using
their brains, and it tends to include some really
fun activities. So while 21st Century learning may sound like a very formal term, it blends well with kids
innate tendencies for collaborative play and learning.
So what is new?
Working collaboratively isn’t a new idea. What’s fresh is the idea of using collaboration and other 21st
Century Learning skills combined with foundational literacies. For example, instead of teaching science as
a discrete subject that you teach for 25 minutes every Tuesday, for instance, you’d fold in aspects of math
and literacy and get kids working collaboratively on tasks that support the nature of science. Students still
need knowledge and skills in particular subject disciplines but the way we approach the development of
these skills and knowledge is more diverse.
Think about it this way, it is less about sitting at a desk and answering worksheets and more about
discussion and problem solving- asking questions, building oral language skills, through discussions,
problem solving, and evaluating… why do you think that, let’s discuss how you solve that, what do your
peers think, how did they approach and evaluate various solutions?
How you can help at home
One great way for parents to become familiar with the 21st Century Learning concept is to try it out at
home in everyday situations. Here are four ways you can make some of the Cs come to life with your family
and help your child’s development:

Critical thinking: Kids ask a lot of ‘why’ questions — and so should you! It’s a great way to foster
curiosity and critical thinking. If you are working on a puzzle together, ask your child why she
decided to put a puzzle piece in a certain place, how she knew it went there and not somewhere
else. What was she looking at on that piece of the puzzle that made her decide to put it where she
put it?

Communication: Help your children find the right words and more to express themselves —
whether it’s through drawing, through music or language. It is good to debate ideas, and for kids
to know there may not be one right answer. Encourage them to develop a story idea, when they
have finished reading to you - get them to retell the story in their own words.

Collaboration: Something as simple as gathering around the table to make cookies, helping you set
the table, or preparing their school things ready to put in their bags the next day. Encourage them
to work with the family and to work with others. Kids might need to think about how to divide a
task, or how to work things out with others, particularly when two of them want to do the same
thing. As a parent, you can get involved and help them develop language around collaboration,
turn-taking and negotiation.

Creativity: Get creative about giving your kids access to the things that they need to be creative. For
some, creativity might mean dancing, writing, colouring, or putting on a puppet show. For others, it
is the way they dress themselves for an outing, or arrange their bedroom.
A new approach – Yes For we in schools approaching learning is about looking at your child’s
development in a brand new way. For example, it is not “new” math versus “old” math - it’s the art and
science and language and social interaction of math that supports the critical thinking skills vital to the 21st
century learner.
At the end of this term we will be having parent student and teacher interviews. Teachers will be taking
time to talk with you and students about student progress and we will also be taking time to gain some
feedback from you about what we do well at Newmarket school and what we could do better and school
goals.
Matariki Disco
At Newmarket School each year to celebrate Matariki the students and our parents organise a Matariki
Disco. Tickets for the disco will be on sale next week. Kelly Club will operate out of Room 12 on 10 June
so we can decorate the hall. If you can help with running the disco please email
[email protected]
When:
Friday 10th June from 6:00 - 7:30pm (Please pick up students promptly at 7.30pm)
Who Can Attend: It is open to
all Years 0-6 Newmarket
School pupils (sorry – no
siblings). Students must be
dropped off by an adult and
leave with an adult. Adults
welcome to stay or go for a
coffee!
Tickets: $5 on sale before
school in Rm 1 or door sales
are available. If tickets are
misplaced or left at home
don’t panic – we will have a
list of attendees names
recorded.
Noisy: Yes, very, very, very
noisy!
Snacks: Yes, chips 50c,
popcorn 50c, juice box $1.00
and free Matariki Water will be available.
Matariki Crafts: Our students have made some crochet bracelets that they will be selling for a $1.00 and a
tattoo booth (transfers) for 50c.
Auckland Central Community of Schools Update (ACCOS)
Newmarket School is a member of a Community of Schools (COS or COL). There are now approximately
117 communities that have been formed across the country involving around 1,000 schools.
Our COS includes Auckland Normal Intermediate, Cornwall Park School, Epsom Girls Grammar, Kohia
Terrace, Maungawhau Primary, Meadowbank School, Parnell District School, Remuera Intermediate,
Remuera Primary and Victoria Avenue School. We have been working together to set up the protocols for
how we work together, common achievement challenges, and are appointing teachers to key roles.
At the moment the leadership group (Jill Farquharson, Principal at Auckland Normal Intermediate, Delanee
Dale, Principal at Maungawhau School, myself, and Madeline Gunn, ex-principal at EGGS who is joining us
as an external expert) are grouping schools together according to their focus whether it be reading, writing
or NCEA levels 2 & 3. Madeline will be working with these groups supporting them with the in school
initiatives they have set up to meet the achievement challenges.
In addition an appointments panel are in the process of appointing nine teachers to across-school roles
and once appointed we anticipate they will support the work of Madeline. These teachers remain in their
schools but are released up to two days per week to undertake these duties.
At Newmarket we are continuing to use our in-school leaders (Reubina Irshad and Belinda Hitchman) to
facilitate our learning at Newmarket School to look at our practice and share what are the best ways to
teach and motivate our students in writing, which is our target area this year.
Board of Trustees Elections -
Voting closed today Friday 3rd June 2016 at noon.
Results will be advised to the school on Thursday 9th June 2016 by telephone and then mail. Results will
also be available via the election Website www.cessl.org.nz from 1pm Thursday 9th June 2016 for
candidates.
Reading Books
Help needed please – our reading boxes are nearly empty. We are very generous
with the number of reading books students take home but this is a problem if
books are not returned to school. Please clean out bookshelves, look under the
bed, in the toy box… and return any readers to school. Thank you.
Stars of the Week – Newmarket Cross Country runners, Mr J and staff. And, thank you Anchor for
donating a Uno yoghurt for each of our students.
6th June is Queens Birthday Public Holiday
Please note that Monday the 6th of June is a public holiday and the
school is closed.
Have an enjoyable long weekend.
With kind regards
Dr Wendy Kofoed
Principal
6 June
6 June
10 June
10 June
17 June
14 June
22 June
27 June
28 June
30 June
4 July
4 July
6 July
7 July
8 July
Term 2
Matariki starts
Queen’s Birthday holiday
Matariki Disco
New Board Announced
Te ako Titoki Assembly
Winter Sports Exchange
Tristar Gymnastics
APPA Choir Rehearsal
Sir Peter Blake Leadership Assembly
Reports home
Sir Peter Blake Leadership Week
Mufti Week
Parent Interviews
Parent Interviews
Term 2 ends 2pm