Kahikatea, Hīnau, Tōtara, Matai, Ngā tamariki a Tānemahuta - The Children of Tāne.
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23rd November 2016
​www.sis.school.nz
​Kia Ora
Talofa
Greetings
Namaste
Bula konichi Wa
Bore da
Anyoung haseyo
Kamusta
Malo e lelei
Guten Dag
Greetings e te Whānau,
So much has happened since our last newsletter. The earthquakes of 12.02am Monday 14 November brought calamity to
large sections of the South Island and North Island. Not surprisingly the recovery process is going to take many months or
years. We have escaped the worst of it here in Christchurch but many of our families will have connections to people in
affected areas, and we also know that people have varying levels of resilience to having our earth move. Here are some
recommendations from the Ministry of Education regarding building resilience in our children at these times: ​ ​Helping Children
-​Summary: Brief Tips for Parenting after a Disaster
Be a caring parent.
Although you may be under more stress after a natural disaster, it is important to
continue caring for your children. Children are strongly affected by your reactions.
Keep your children safe.​
You must know where your children are and who they are with at all time.
Establish routines.
Establishing new routines is especially important when normal ones are disrupted. If
you are in a shelter and unable to return home, establish routines such taking a family
walk, eating meals together, or reading a bedtime story.
Take a time-out.
When you feel overwhelmed, take a time-out. Take a few deep breaths, count to 10,
or take a walk alone.
Ask others for help.
Ask trusted friends, family members, and other parents for help if you feel
overwhelmed.
Glentui Camp 2016
Over the last two weeks we have had our school camps in Glentui, near Oxford. By all accounts the children had lots of fun
and enjoyed the learning activities tremendously. I spoke to​ Zyon -​ he really enjoyed the orienteering. A big thanks is due to
everyone who contributed to the camps, including the following:
● Parents for helping with fundraising and for supporting your children in getting prepared for camp.
● Children for fundraising and then for behaving so well at camp and being so positive.
● The parent helpers - we literally cannot have camps without you. We hope you enjoyed the camp.
● The Glentui camp team and professional instructors
● Mrs Tooley and Mrs Laurenson in the office - for managing the chocolate sales and camp payments - and for fielding
hundreds of camp inquiries over the past few months.
● Classroom teachers who all played their part in helping
children get organised for camp in the weeks leading up
to camps, and for doing their bit to look after children on
camp, and those who did not go to camp.
● Teacher Barry Duff - who did a huge amount of work to
get the camp organised. Barry started work on this camp
by making the booking for camp a year ago. He has
overseen all aspects of the trip and we are so thankful to
him for everything he has done. ​Thanks Mr Duff!
Abseiling was - for most children - a big challenge. ​Pritam ​said
this was the hardest part for him but is was fantastic because he
did it even though it was really scary to start with. Other photos are
on our Facebook page, and our website.
Fairness
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Responsibility
Excellence
Pools open
Our two swimming pools are now open for the
summer thanks to our caretaker, Mr Walker. We
have a 25m pool and a 15m pool. Children should
bring their togs (that’s “bathing suits” in some parts of
the country!). Goggles are handy too, but please
take care of them.
Pool keys for the summer
Families are welcome to purchase a pool for access
to our pools throughout the summer. Keys cost $60
and are valid until mid-March. The only exceptions
to access will be late evenings (details in the
application form) and when the St Albans Swim Club is having it’s lessons on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for the rest of
term four. The Swim club will resume late in January.
We are making the pool available to families from Banks Avenue School and Shirley Primary School as well.
St Albans Swim Club
Refer to the Community Notices. Also note that St Albans Swim Club members can hire a pool key for $30.
Endurance Swim Club
Deputy Principal, Brett Cooper, and I are running an endurance swimming group. We’d love to see children building up the
distances which they can swim. We will advise children of the swim times. They should bring togs and goggles. Swimmers
with long hair should bring swim caps, as should those who want to swim 0.045 seconds faster each lap.
Athletics
Yesterday was a big day for our athletics team who travelled to Ashburton to take part in the inter-intermediate athletics
tournament. As usual it was a wonderful day of competition with some of Canterbury’s best athletes on display. Well done to
all of our athletes; we are pleased that you did your best and represented yourself and our school well.
Policy Review
Policy Reviews
We have two policies and/or procedures due for Review. You can access them on the website School Docs - it doesn't take long. Please
have a look through in the next few days.
1. Education Outside the Classroom
2. Sun Protection
Visit the website ​http://sis.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
● Enter the username (sis) and password (shirleyint).
● Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
● Read the policy.
● Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
● Select the reviewer type "Parent".
● Enter your name (optional).
● Submit your ratings and comments.
If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.
Parent and new child introductory interviews
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Next week we are holding interviews for parents and their children who are joining our school in 2017. We are looking forward
to meeting them in our 1:1 interviews which they can book into online. Instructions have been sent to them separately.
Parent Survey
Your feedback is very important to us as it let’s us know what we are doing well (or not!) and provides ideas for the future. A
parent survey has been loaded online, and is available in paper copy for those who do not have internet access. ​Please give
us some feedback.
Student Survey
We are also seeking feedback from our current students. We have posted a survey for year sevens, and a separate survey for
year eight children. Teachers will provide time for children to complete this valuable exercise.
Coming Up
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Year Eight leavers dance - ti​me? ​Thursday 15 December
Final school assembly for 2016 - 11.30am Friday 16 December
Kahikatea News
Nico Carr and Seth Johnson are studying rocks. They are learning about
sedimentary and igneous rocks and the weathering process. It is part of the
school-wide study about our world-Te Ao.
The students had to
use their skills of
observation to classify
a rock collection into
commonly agreed
attributes.They had to
work co-operatively to
put rocks into groups
according to whether
they are shiny, hard, light, etc.
Parents could continue the children’s interest in rocks by helping
them become a “rock hound” and take them on family outings to collect some unusual rocks and fossils from the local area.
Andrew He wrote an information report about earthquakes.​ He used the computer independently to find the relevant information.
When he was asked why he chose to study this topic he said,”The Kaikoura earthquake was a devastating earthquake so now i
understand why the tsunami warning went off in parts of Christchurch.”
Earthquakes by Andrew He (Year 7)
Why are we getting earthquakes?
Earthquakes are a natural events that occur all over the world. In fact, over 2 million earthquakes occur each year and most of the
earthquakes happen next to plate boundaries. New Zealand gets about 75,000 and about 100-150 of these quakes can be felt.
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What causes earthquakes? These occur when two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other. They stick a little and
when they break the earthquake occurs. For example, in September 2010 Christchurch was shaken by the Darfield earthquake, caused
by movement along the faults was of the city and the Canterbury Plains.
How do earthquakes cause tsunamis?
Subterrain earthquakes are earthquakes that occur underwater. When this occurs, it pushes water upward to create initial movement then
gravity pulls the water downward creating the horizontal force that forms a tsunami. In March 2011, the movement of the Pacific Plate
under the North American plate caused a massive submarine earthquake in Japan, causing a tsunami.
Why do earthquakes occur at subduction zones?
Subduction zones are plate tectonic boundaries where two plates converge, and one plate is thrust beneath the other. This process
results in geohazards such earthquakes or volcanoes.
Basically the Pacific Plate and the North American plate are moving towards each other at a rate of 6-7 centimetres per year. The Pacific
Plate is thinner and denser, so it is being thrust underneath the North American Plate. This causes devastating earthquakes.
When are earthquakes most likely to occur?
Earthquakes occur all the time, all over the world, along both the plate edges and along the faults.Most earthquakes occur along the edge
of the oceanic and continental plates.
In conclusion, New Zealand has suffered a lot of earthquakes and one just happened recently. The biggest earthquake was an 8.2 in the
Wairarapa in 1855.We can predict when future earthquakes will happen but we can not prevent them from occurring. The Alpine fault has
ruptured many times in the past 900 years, many producing an earthquake of about magnitude 8. Geologists have estimated there is a
30% chance of a big quake coming along in the next 50 years.
Community Notices
St Albans Swimming Club - Val and Paul Somerville [email protected]
Learn to Swim Programme
Affordable lessons
Tuesday and Thursday 4-5.30pm Nov 2016 - March 2017
Expert coaching available for seniors
Lane swimming also available
Shirley Intermediate School Solar Heated Pools
Mainland Uniforms
New Shop Open
Mainland@City
189 Peterborough Street
Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm
Sat 10am - 1pm
Fairness
Kids Club! New to SIS
Before and after school care, and school holiday
programmes.
Monday – Friday 7am – 8.30am and 3pm- 5.30pm
School holidays Mon-Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm
Trudie Garrett 021 237 8297
WINZ subsidies available - MSD approved
​Christchurch Metropolitan Pipe Band
We are looking for young people to learn pipes or
drums.
We offer : Musical interest, Teamwork, Life long
friendships, Goal achieving, Travel and fun
Phone: Gordon McAlpine 021 0393 167
Integrity
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Excellence