NUMBER 30 12 October 2015 Welcome Back The fourth term is upon us and we are ready to go. Today we welcome back Sarah Whitaker who has been on parental leave. Sarah will be working in Room 8 as the new entrant teacher for the class that opened late last term. We also welcome new students to the school either as new entrants or from other schools. During the holidays there has been plenty going on at school. Never a dull moment, you could say. • Spring is the time we do our annual maintenance on the field. It is such an important resource and it gets so much use it needs to be revitalized with fertilizer, aeration and filling in the uneven areas with top soil and grass seed each year. This means that, as usual at this time of the year, part of the field will be out of action until the new grass seed takes hold. The area out of action is the field closest to the road. • Painting has been a major activity during the last two weeks with a lot of interior and exterior painting of doors in the two storey block (Rooms 7 - 11) as well as the painting of the swimming pool and surrounds. • Work has continued with underground work associated with the new building, hence the presence of a large machine in the school grounds thrusting pipework. • To counter erosion in the Community Forest three tons of rocks were hand placed to reduce the impact of storm-water in the forest. Maintaining the school is somewhat akin to maintaining the harbour bridge - it never stops! To keep our school property up to scratch and on such a large and weather prone site, we are always looking to maintain and, where possible, improve our property assets. Maintaining the school property-wise is one aspect of activity during the holidays. Another very important area of action has been that of professional development. During the break six teachers have been involved in the U Learn national conference (Auckland) that focuses on collaborating, innovating and educating while I attended the Australian Council for Educational leadership (ACEL) annual conference in Sydney. While a large amount of professional development takes place during term time, conferences provide a valuable opportunity to get away from the day-to-day to think strategically, while being confronted with new perspectives and challenges. COMING UP MON 12 OCTOBER Dental Therapists at CBS all week THU 15 OCTOBER Waterwise Room 6B Year 6 Bikewise FRI 16 OCTOBER Botanic Garden Trip – Rooms 1, 3, 23, 25 Year 6 Bikewise MON 19 OCTOBER Dental Therapists at CBS all week WED 21 OCTOBER Botanic Garden Trip – Rooms 22,6,27 THU 22 OCTOBER Waterwise Room 30 Year 6 Bikewise FRI 23 OCTOBER Jump Rope For Heart Botanic Garden Trip – Rooms 24,37,26 FOCBS MEETINGS THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER THURSDAY 26 NOVEMBER WELCOME Dominic Nicholson Owen Guo Amelia Larmer Sebastien Phillips-Smith Jake Moynihan Lauren O’Loughlin Greta O’Loughlin Jake O’Loughlin Zeph Zhong Alex Xu Tristan Stowell Jacky Dong
Transcript
NUMBER 30
12 October 2015
Welcome Back
The fourth term is upon us and we are ready to go. Today we welcome back
Sarah Whitaker who has been on parental leave. Sarah will be working in Room
8 as the new entrant teacher for the class that opened late last term. We also
welcome new students to the school either as new entrants or from other
schools.
During the holidays there has been plenty going on at school. Never a dull
moment, you could say.
• Spring is the time we do our annual maintenance on the field. It is such
an important resource and it gets so much use it needs to be revitalized with
fertilizer, aeration and filling in the uneven areas with top soil and grass seed
each year. This means that, as usual at this time of the year, part of the field will
be out of action until the new grass seed takes hold. The area out of action is
the field closest to the road.
• Painting has been a major activity during the last two weeks with a lot of
interior and exterior painting of doors in the two storey block (Rooms 7 - 11) as
well as the painting of the swimming pool and surrounds.
• Work has continued with underground work associated with the new
building, hence the presence of a large machine in the school grounds thrusting
pipework.
• To counter erosion in the Community Forest three tons of rocks were
hand placed to reduce the impact of storm-water in the forest.
Maintaining the school is somewhat akin to maintaining the harbour bridge - it
never stops! To keep our school property up to scratch and on such a large and
weather prone site, we are always looking to maintain and, where possible,
improve our property assets.
Maintaining the school property-wise is one aspect of activity during the
holidays. Another very important area of action has been that of professional
development. During the break six teachers have been involved in the U Learn
national conference (Auckland) that focuses on collaborating, innovating and
educating while I attended the Australian Council for Educational leadership
(ACEL) annual conference in Sydney. While a large amount of professional
development takes place during term time, conferences provide a valuable
opportunity to get away from the day-to-day to think strategically, while being
confronted with new perspectives and challenges.
COMING UP
MON 12 OCTOBER
Dental Therapists at CBS all week
THU 15 OCTOBER
Waterwise Room 6B
Year 6 Bikewise
FRI 16 OCTOBER
Botanic Garden Trip – Rooms 1, 3, 23, 25
Year 6 Bikewise
MON 19 OCTOBER
Dental Therapists at CBS all week
WED 21 OCTOBER
Botanic Garden Trip – Rooms 22,6,27
THU 22 OCTOBER
Waterwise Room 30
Year 6 Bikewise
FRI 23 OCTOBER
Jump Rope For Heart
Botanic Garden Trip – Rooms 24,37,26
FOCBS MEETINGS
THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER
THURSDAY 26 NOVEMBER
WELCOME
Dominic Nicholson
Owen Guo
Amelia Larmer
Sebastien Phillips-Smith
Jake Moynihan
Lauren O’Loughlin
Greta O’Loughlin
Jake O’Loughlin
Zeph Zhong
Alex Xu
Tristan Stowell
Jacky Dong
NUMBER 30
12 October 2015
Reminders
This is a 'hat term.' Please ensure your child has their named school hat at school every day.
For the sake of safety we ask that you inform us ahead of time if your child is not going to be at school. Please use either the designated telephone number (410 9551) or the absence option on the tiqbiz school app. Haven't downloaded the app yet? Please see below how to do this. The app is an important communication tool.
Reflections
The conference I attended in Sydney was opened by the Governor General of
Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. In his opening remarks he referred to the
'national treasure.' As he pointed out, he wasn't talking about the money held by
the Reserve Bank but, rather, the 'national treasure' was the nation's children.
What a great way of thinking about our children. Our national treasure should,
rightly, be our prime consideration in all that we do and this is so very true in the
family - schooling settings. Hence, if we need reminding (and conferences are
very good at reminding) we should always remember: Ko te Tamati te Putake o
te Kaupapa - The child, the heart of the matter.
In this context, but in a somewhat lighter tone, while in Sydney I attended a
performance of Roald Dahl's Matilda, the musical. Matilda is a favourite book to
read to children so it was with considerable anticipation I went to the show at
the Lyric Theatre. I was not disappointed. The musical is very largely true to the
book, with some added elements as a bonus. If you find yourself in Sydney with
your children, this is a 'must see' experience and if you aren't in Sydney and you
haven't either read Matilda to your children or they have not read this book; I
recommend you purchase or borrow a copy. Please note: I have no financial
interest in any of this! However, like you, I do have a commitment to our
national treasures. (One great line from the show: The 'mother,' "Dinners don't
