2015 Newsletter No.5: 6 March 2015
Message from the Acting Principal
School Charter
The 2015 Charter has been ratified by the Board and is now with the Ministry
of Education. You can view this key document on our website or by following
this link: Click on the strategy tab on the right hand side of the screen to view.
http://whenuapai.ultranet.school.nz/WebSpace/51/
The charter is a key planning document that sets out the school's objectives
and targets for the year. The purpose of a school charter is to establish the
mission, aims, objectives, directions and targets of the board that will give
effect to the Government’s National Education Guidelines and the Board’s
priorities.
Celebrating School Improvement at Whenuapai School
There are many exciting projects coming to life, and this is largely thanks to a
number of parents (and students) who have kindly shared their interests and
expertise so freely with us. If you see an opportunity to contribute to our
strategic goals we would love to hear from you. You can find these in our
Charter.
Next week we will trial a new way of emailing our newsletters so that they are
easier to view and not attachments. Thank you to Brendan Harkness for your
suggestions and on-going support. To ensure you receive the newsletter we
will use our current mail out system as well. We apologise in advance if you
receive multiple copies. It will only be for one week.
In response to Ben Beattie’s persuasive speech last year on 3D printing, we
are in the process of purchasing one of these amazing tools. At first glance
this may look like a cool gadget, however as Ben so clearly articulated, there
are great learning opportunities as well. This tool will be introduced through
our gifted and talented programme and then rolled out to classes. Our first
learning project is to examine the ethical aspects of 3D printing and explore
how this tool and environmental science can help us develop our
environment by creating vertical gardens. We are in the process of applying
to community trusts and funding bodies to help us finance and further
develop this project. Congratulations Ben on making a huge contribution to
our school.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
March 9
Year 5-6 Swimming starts
March 12
Parent/Teacher Interviews
School closes at 12pm
March 12
Gifted and Talented parent
brainstorm session. 1pm in the
Library
March 19
FOS Cake Stall at morning tea.
March 26
Positive Behaviour for Learning
Parent Information Evening
7pm in the Hall
The Milk in Schools programme is progressing with our first deliveries due next
week. If your child is in Year 4-8 and cannot/ does not want to be part of this,
please ensure you let us know by either completing the form sent home last
week, or contacting Sara in the Office. Thank you Daphne Pringle for setting
the ball in motion.
This month I am also trying to secure external funding for shade sails,
resurfacing of the AstroTurf and the employment of a part-time counsellor.
Each month we will try and raise funds for specific projects. If you are
interested in helping with funding applications, I would love to hear from you.
http://www.whenuapai.school.nz Email: [email protected]
Important
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Announcement
ALL – Accelerated Literacy Learning
We are extremely pleased to have won a place on this Ministry of Education
contract. To date Vanna Blucher, Donna Hird and I have attended
professional development seminars. Vanna and Donna have started to
create an accelerated learning programme for students in writing. We look
forward to sharing our progress throughout this 3 year contract.
ICAS – International Competitions and Assessments for Schools
ICAS Subject
Digital
Technologies
Science
Writing
Spelling
English
Mathematics
Years
4-8
Date
19 May
Cost
$8.50
3-8
4-8
4-8
3-8
3-8
3 June
15 June
16 June
28 July
11 August
$8.50
$19.50
$10.50
$8.50
$8.50
If you wish your child to participate in one or more of these competitions,
please email Vanna: [email protected] Please let her know
which subject/s, your child’s name and room number. We will send an
invoice out to you. Applications close April 1.
Parent Teacher Interviews – School closes at 12pm Thursday 12th March.
If you haven’t booked an interview time, you still have time. We will be
holding interviews in classrooms, so please consider travel time between
rooms when you schedule your meetings. The Gifted and Talented Parent
Brainstorm has also been moved to the 12 th as well. Thank you to those who
have responded, it looks as if we will have a good group of people. We will
meet in the Library at 1pm. Buses will leave at 12:05 and SKIDs are operating
from the Hall.
Congratulations to our Year 7/8 Boys Softball Team
Principal’s Awards
Room 11: Connor Mclean;
Pippa MacNicol
Room 12: Callum Corlette;
Paige Jury
Room13:
Jasmine
Blake Bentley
Room 14: Holly Christiansen;
Latrell Tucker
Room 15: Quinn
Caitlin Hughes
Smith;
Room 18: Luka McGuire,
Ryder Skellon;
Room 20: Amberlee Roberts,
Emma Reti-Dobbs
Room 21: Dylan
Kaylin Lorensen
Congratulations on an amazing effort. Their 1 st place in the North Western
Softball Competition qualifies them for the Auckland Champs.
Keeping Students Happy at Lunchtimes
We have had a few incredibly hot days of late. Next week if it is hot and
humid we will run a sprinkler activity for children at lunchtime who want to
cool down and have some fun. Students can bring togs and a towel (inside
a plastic bag) if the wish to take part.
We are adding a few new activities/zones for students who need to keep
busy at break times. One of these is to create a city out of boxes. If you
have any large (think fridge, oven…) boxes we would love to take these off
your hands. We are also setting up a dirt/mud car track area. If you have
any old cars you are happy to donate for this purpose, we would greatly
appreciate these.
Have a lovely week everyone,
Lara Syddall
http://www.whenuapai.school.nz Email: [email protected]
Luke;
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Marra;
Celebrating Learning in Room 4
We have been looking at natural and artificial light, and created Haiku
poetry using descriptive language that creates an image for the reader.
Natural and artificial light have been compared.
Natural and Artificial Light
by Evie McEwan
Light dapples through oak trees,
My garden screams for water, flowers crippling,
The sun beats down mercilessly.
Bursts of sunlight silhouette gracefully,
The last of the sun creeps down,
The moon shadows the sky.
Light flashes and circles me,
The earth looks like an infected organ,
The city shines carelessly.
Lights flickered then went out,
Bulbs wrapped me in an unhealthy glow,
You can’t escape the glare.
We have started ‘Writers Journal’ in Room 4, and have 10 minutes to
experiment with writing features and genres, and see where our
writing takes us.
Here is an excerpt from one of our authors…
“My hand moved across the white paper, creating words of its own
accord. My mind was blank yet again. Our teacher told us to write for
10 minutes straight, letting your words take you where they want to
go. But the further I went on, the blanker my mind went. A world of
white taking over my brain. White, snow, paper, writing. It goes on and
on, echoing through my mind. My pencil carried on moving swiftly
across the page.” - Jamie Cupples
Some examples of our fantastic artwork.
http://www.whenuapai.school.nz Email: [email protected]
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News
Cake Stall
The first FOS cake stall will be held on 19 March. Students in
Rooms 1, 5, 9, 13 and 20 are being asked to bring a plate of
home baking. (notices will go home to these students closer
to the time.) Cake stall items will be available to students
during morning tea. Bring 50c or $1 to purchase some yummy
morning tea.
Softball Tournament
On Thursday 5 March Whenuapai Softball girls and boys
participated in the North West zone day tournament. The girls
played well, considering most didn’t know how to play
softball a couple of weeks ago. They ended up losing two
games, drawing one game and winning one game. Great
effort girls!
The team was:- Evie McEwan, India Cox, Breanna Sumner,
Clara Duncan, Jaime Cupples, Caroline Richardson, Nikki
Cupples, Trinity Matthews-Taiapa, Stacie Horne, Jazmyn
Brogden.
The boys were strong all day, winning all their pool games.
They then accounted for Huapai in the semi finals and
convincingly won against Marina View in the finals.
Congratulations to the boys, winners of the North West Softball
Zone Day!
The team was:- Boston Medjan, Gianni Brown, David Evans,
Jamieson Graham (Captain), Ale Latu, Corey Mead, Thomas
Jameson, Sam Buswell, Jack Howes.
Player of tournament: Jamieson Graham.
Key Contacts:
BOT
[email protected]
Friends of the School
[email protected]
Skids After School Care
[email protected] or
021 1748 473
Acting Principal
[email protected]
Acting Deputy Principal
[email protected]
Learning Leader Years 0-3
Angela James
[email protected]
Learning Leader Years 4-8
Delwyn Kruyff
[email protected]
Important Information:
Phone: (09) 416 8779
Address:
14 Airport Road
Whenuapai
0618
Bank account #:
123085 0494188 00
http://www.whenuapai.school.nz Email: [email protected]
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