1st December 2016
Newsletter No. 18
From The Principal…
Waiho ma te tangata e mihi, kia tau ai.
It is better to let others praise (be humble).
Kia ora whanau
This will be our final full newsletter for the school year, although watch out for a short ‘Notices’ version, if needed
in the last week of term.
I’m sure many of you will feel as I do; that the school year has rushed by very quickly, and I think this comes from
us squeezing so much in to provide a wide range of learning opportunities and experiences for the students.
Many families do the same at home, so I hope you all find time to slow down and have a relaxing time over the
holiday period. Life should not be a race to the finish line!
Two areas I want to express my gratitude to you – firstly thank you for making me feel so welcome in my first year
at this wonderful community school. I have enjoyed it very much and I am already looking forward to 2017;
getting underway with further developments for making this a marvellous learning environment for our children.
And secondly a huge ‘thank-you’ to all the parents and whanau who have helped us in so many ways this year –
Board members, PTA, parent helpers, coaches, trip supporters and in the myriad of other ways you have
supported your school this year!
I look forward to seeing many of you at the junior and senior prize-givings.
“Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.” Michael J. Fox
Hei konā mai
Kim Alexander
Tumuaki
[email protected]
Term Dates
2016:
Term 4 - Monday 10 October to Friday 16 December
2017:
Term 1 – Monday 30 January to Thursday 13 April
Term 2 – Monday 1 May to Friday 7 July
Term 3 – Monday 24 July to Friday 29 September
Term 4 – Monday 16 October to Friday 15 December
Coming Up…
Monday 12 December
Tuesday 13 December
Wednesday 14 December
Friday 16 December
Year 7&8 Activities
PTA Meeting 7.30pm
Canterbury Athletics Yr 5-8
PTA free lunch
Yr 5-8 Assembly 9.05am, Yr 1-4 Prize-giving 2.00pm
Reports go home
Y7&8 Orienteering
Years 1&2 Big Day Out, Yr 5-8 Prize-giving 7.00pm
Christmas Sing-along 2.00pm, 2017 stationery lists and
classes sent home
Final day, school closes at 1.30pm
Please note school closes at 1.30pm on Friday 16th December
Remember you can check our school website calendar for a full list of coming events;
www.prebbleton.school.nz
Passion
27th Nov to 2nd Dec
Tuesday 6 December
Wednesday 7 December
Thursday 8 December
Friday 9 December
Value of the
Term…
[email protected]
Principal Awards
Congratulations to these fabulous students who received
Principal’s Awards at our recent full assembly on 25
November:
Ruby Jamieson – living our school values.
Tayla Millar - being a self-managing and directed learner.
Charlotte Wairepo - for developing confidence in her
learning.
Declan Colloty - for having an amazing growth mind set.
Alex Dally - for completing work to a high standard.
Sophia Thompson - for taking time to complete quality
work.
Ella Burford, Lily Burt - excellent growth mindset for cricket
(Summer Sports Tournament).
Charlie Daly - Excellent peer tutoring and support for
cricket (Summer Sports Tournament).
Caroline Richards - being inclusive, showing aroha and
integrity at school.
Carrie O'Donnell – showing effort and passion in maths.
Grace Thomason - for making amazing progress.
Wacky Hair Day
Together with Prebbleton Kindy we
raised $788.00 for the schools in
Kaikoura and North Canterbury.
Board News
The Board of Trustees held their November meeting on
Monday evening. Reports from the Principal, Finance,
Property, and Health & Safety were presented. Annual
reports from the Arts and GaTE (gifted and talented) areas
were read and discussed. Policy reviews for Performance
Management and Crisis Management were considered
and adopted. The 2017 Annual Plan was discussed and
approved. Two property projects will start in December;
upgrading pathways and asphalt areas, and exterior
painting of the Intermediate Hub.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our board
members – Pete, Grant, Alli, Delys, Siobhan and Adam for
their work and commitment this year.
A Couple Of Things
To Note ….

Please remember to check the
lost property box. Any items left
at the end of the term will be
donated to the second hand
uniform shop. We also have 8
pairs of spectacles, pedometers,
watches, ear buds and two rings
in the office that need to be
claimed.

We would appreciate payment of
all activity fees on your school
accounts. Thank you to those
families who have already paid.
Uniform
A timely reminder to please check on your
children’s uniform over the school holidays, to
ensure that it is all correct for the start of 2017.
A school uniform looks wonderful if the whole
school wears it correctly and with pride. It only
takes one or two to let the side down.
Your support would be much appreciated with
this, particularly with the correct footwear,
socks, sunhat, and no jewellery, nail polish, or
unnecessary hair accessory ‘flourishes’. Nonuniform items will not be permitted. Please
check our website for the full uniform list
www.prebbleton.school.nz.
PTA News
The PTA free lunch is next Thursday 8th
December. Every child in the school will
be able to have one of each of the
following:
-A hotdog and bun OR a sausage sizzle
(GF available -there will be vegetarian
and dairy free options available also)
-An ice block
-A drink
-A Cookie Time biscuit (GF available)
-A piece of fruit
If your child eats more than this for lunch
or does not like some of these items,
please send along a packed lunch.
Classrooms 2017
This is our planned classroom structure for 2017. Some of our teachers will be moving to new classrooms and
teaching levels, as will the children. So we will have a big moving day on the final day of the term!
The start of a new school year is always exciting, as children form new relationships with their peers, class mates
and teachers. With your encouragement and support children can view the changes as positive and a time for
growth.
Please do not make any requests for particular teachers, as these will not be considered; class lists have been
completed and are now going through the electronic student management system process. They will be
communicated to students and parents on Wednesday 14 December.
Year
NE/1
NE/1
1
2
2
2
NE/1/0
NE/0
Room
Awa 2
Awa 3
Awa 4
Moana 1
Moana 2
Moana 3
Awa 1
Awa 5
Teacher
Jo Neal (Team Leader)
Amelia McMaster
Jo Schumacher
Hayley Simpson
Kelly McIntyre (Deputy Team Leader)
Jenelle Wilson
From Term 2 approx.
Later in 2017 possible
3/4
3/4
3/4
3/4
3/4
Moana 4
Moana 5
Moana 6
Moana 7
Moana 8
Phillipa Fenemor
Richie Cawthorn
Jodie Aitken (Team Leader)
Alison Harrington
Anna McClarron
5/6
5/6
5/6
5/6
5/6
Rakau 1
Rakau 2
Rakau 3
Rakau 4
Rakau 5
Darelle Busfield
Cherie Harris
Hannah Thomas (Team Leader)
Amy Gudgeon
Judy Sachdeva
7/8
7/8
7/8
Manu 2
Manu 3
Manu 4
Alli Williams (Team Leader)
Sarah Walls
Sam Walker
Amazing Intermediate Hub!
The Year 7&8 students are enjoying their EOTC activity week this week, as a replacement for the cancelled
Wellington trip. What an outstanding group of students they are. They have been all over the place, including
sleeping in tents overnight, completing an amazing race through the CBD discovering many features they didn’t
know about, Mega Air, swimming, movies, bowling, and tomorrow they will spend a day with outdoor challenges
at Living Springs. They are positive, energetic, well-mannered and friendly to all they meet. My admiration and
gratitude to the Hub teachers who have planned this alternative programme at the last minute with enthusiasm
and resilience! Thank-you Alli, Sarah and Sam, and thanks to all of the parents who have helped out this week 
Robofest 2016
The annual Robofest competition was held on Sunday 20 November at Russley School.
We entered four teams, three of which were largely novices. After a full day of
programming to meet the challenges set, our Mighty Midgets team was in first place.
The Dominators team won the other event of the day, the Sumo competition where
robots battle to push each other out of the ring.
We have a group of very able programmers who are now in Year 7 and they have
mentored the younger up and coming students as they start to learn just how complex
this programming business can be - and fun!
Our 2016 teams
Mighty Midgets: Jono Morriss, Tim van Herpt, Callum Lockhart and Daniel O’Hagan
Dominators: Luke Chapman, Hayden Lockhart, Emily Fitzsimmons and William Chen
The Robot Boys: Ben Morrison, Logan Edwards, Taine Ferguson and Tom O’Connell
Rata Rockers: James O’Hagan, Jack Johnston and Callum Samson
Team 5/6 News
Team 5/6 has been really busy this term, with the Science Roadshow, Swimming and the Cardboard Challenge.
We also have some events planned over the next two weeks - Writing Olympics, Tournament Day and our Big Day
Out.
Science Roadshow
Two weeks ago the children visited the Science Roadshow which we hosted here at school. The themes of the
show this year were Mighty Materials and Sounding Out Waves. We watched the presenters dissolve chemicals in
different substances, found out about heat conductors and insulators, learned how sound travels and what it can
travel through, the Doppler effect, resonance, pitch and frequency of sound. In between the shows the children
explored the 60 odd exhibits focused on Earth Science, The Body, Movement, Pressure, etc. Here are a few
pictures from the show and the exhibits. The new Mayor of Selwyn popped in to view the show and participated
in one of the activities.
Swimming
For the last two weeks the children have been participating in our annual swimming lessons, provided this year at
Canterbury Swim School. It was amazing to see how the children’s skills improved over the two week period. The
children particularly enjoyed racing their instructors and the water safety day on the last Friday. Children had to
wear PJ’s, had to swim the length of the pool in their PJ’s, tread water and then take their PJ’s off while still
treading water. They also learnt how to safely jump from a boat and perform a survival “crawl”.
Cardboard Challenge
This week the team is participating in the Cardboard Challenge. If you would like to know more about the origins
of the Cardboard Challenge follow this link: http://cainesarcade.com/cardboardchallenge/
The children are constructing arcade games, models, etc. in groups in each class. On Thursday we are setting up
the ‘Cardboard Challenge’ in the Hall. During the day the junior teams have been invited to come along and view
the display, maybe try out some of the arcade games etc. It’s amazing the variety of different games and models
the children have created!
Celebrating Success!
Congratulations to Mitchell Tait who won the “Break Dancer of the Year” award at his recital at the weekend.
Mitchell dances for Ignite Performing Arts. He has been breakdancing for the last
three years. Well done Mitchell!
Kate Weeber, Imogen Foote, Toni and Teri Philpott were among 40 children from Sharon Howells School of
Ballet that were recently selected from Christchurch ballet schools to perform with the Imperial Russian Ballet
Company in the famous Nutcracker Christmas Ballet.
Our students had an amazing opportunity to perform on stage with professional dancers.
Community Notices
Active Kids Holiday Programmes
January 2017 registrations now open!
Week one -16 – 20 Jan
CHCH Boys High, Papanui, Lincoln, Swannanoa
Week two -23 -27 Jan
Westburn, Pioneer, Rolleston
Active Kids is an exciting structured programme of sport, physical activity and play for
primary school aged children. The programmes are safe and affordable; OSCAR
subsidies available. New 8am start at CHCH Boys High and Westburn
Visit our website for full details:
http://www.sportcanterbury.org.nz/new-zealand/holiday-programmes/
Family- friendly, Community Christmas event
All Saints Anglican Church ( opposite the school) invites all children and families to come
and hear the Christmas story retold in an interactive, relaxed way as part of your
preparations for Christmas.
Opportunities for participation and a few surprises. Open to all. Come and join other
Prebbleton families enjoying ‘the reason for the season’.
Wednesday December 21st 5pm to 6pm, in the church. The bells will ring beforehand.
http://www.maryalls.church.org.nz/
Mainland Football Outdoor Holiday Programmes
DECEMBER:Age:
7-14 year olds.
Dates: 20th, 21st and 22nd December 2016
Times: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue: English Park
Cost: $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days) 10% discount of second child when registering two or
more siblings.
JANUARY:Age:
7-14 year olds.
Dates: 25th, 26th and 27th January 2017
Times: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue: English Park
Cost: $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days)
Mainland Futsal Indoor Holiday Programmes
JANUARY:
Age:
6-12 year olds.
Dates: 23rd, 24th and 25th January 2017
Times: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue: Pioneer Stadium
Cost: $37.50 per day ($112.50 for three consecutive days)