Phone 04 528 3094 Email [email protected]Website www.maidstone.school.nz 7 December – Term 4, Issue 4 End of Year Prizegiving Lane Park, Lane Street - Friday, 15 December, 12.30 – 2.30pm 19 December – Final day of school for year – 12.00 noon finish School buses will depart at 12.05 pm Dear parents, caregivers, students and friends of the school Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa It continues to be a busy term with lots to engage our students right up until the last day. The way our students have managed themselves and shown our true Maidstone Manaakitanga on their various trips has been amazing. The public, instructors and providers have been full of praise for our wonderful tamariki. So well done to our students and our teachers - and the awesome parent helps who have supported these trips. We have several staff moving to new places and roles next year: Elizabeth Morris (DP) is taking up the position of Deputy Principal at Plateau Primary Rachael Kneepkens (Rm 14) is moving to St Joseph’s, Upper Hutt, as a Syndicate Leader Greg MacKay (Rm 6) is moving to Kelson Primary Anthony Kleinjan (Rm 11) is moving to Rata St School Jen Emslie (Rm 20) is heading back to England and then to a teaching position in Qatar Steve Whitfield who has been working one day a week in Rm 13, is moving to sunnier places further north. And our wonderful long-serving Helen Roche (Teacher Aide) is retiring after 27 years of service to the students at Maidstone Intermediate. We welcome the following new staff for 2018: Mr Chris Robinson has been appointed as Deputy Principal. Chris is currently a Syndicate Leader at Newlands Intermediate. Mrs Becky Owzcarek will be returning from Maternity Leave and will be working 4 days a week in various classrooms. Mr Dane Fowler will teach in Blue Syndicate. Mr Fowler has been working as a Teacher Aide and Reliever and has been appointed to a Beginning Teacher Position. Miss Terri Fraser will teach in Purple Syndicate. Miss Fraser completed her final training placement in Rm 10 earlier this year so is no stranger to Maidstone. Mr Michael Reid has been appointed as Syndicate Leader of Red Syndicate. We congratulate all the new appointees and look forward to having them as part of the 2018 Maidstone team. You will have read of the pending changes to National Standards proposed by the new Government. We do not anticipate these changes taking effect until later next year. Should National Standards be removed, the only change will be that we will no longer be required to report your child’s levels to the Ministry. Your child’s learning progress will be between you and the school only. The Curriculum Levels will remain the same and we will continue to aspire to have our students make accelerated progress in their two years at Maidstone. On the final reports you’ll find your child’s National Standards levels by referring to the table with the Curriculum Levels. Nga mihi nui Mary O’Regan Principal/Tumuaki Maidstone Intermediate Newsletter UPCOMING EVENTS 8 Dec – Mufti Day (Sports Hero theme) Gold Coin Donation 8 December – Service to the School Assembly. 13 December – Class Placement Open Afternoon – 3.00-7.00 pm 15 December – End of Year Prizegiving – students are bussed to the venue 15 December – Reports go home. 19 December – Last day for 2017 – 12 noon finish. Buses are organised for the earlier time.
End of Year Prizegiving Lane Park, Lane Street - Friday, 15 December, 12.30 – 2.30pm 19 December – Final day of school for year – 12.00 noon finish
School buses will depart at 12.05 pm Dear parents, caregivers, students and friends of the school Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa
It continues to be a busy term with lots to engage our students right up until the last day. The way our students have managed themselves and shown our true Maidstone Manaakitanga on their various trips has been amazing. The public, instructors and providers have been full of praise for our wonderful tamariki. So well done to our students and our teachers - and the awesome parent helps who have supported these trips.
We have several staff moving to new places and roles next year: Elizabeth Morris (DP) is taking up the position of Deputy Principal at Plateau Primary Rachael Kneepkens (Rm 14) is moving to St Joseph’s, Upper Hutt, as a Syndicate Leader Greg MacKay (Rm 6) is moving to Kelson Primary Anthony Kleinjan (Rm 11) is moving to Rata St School Jen Emslie (Rm 20) is heading back to England and then to a teaching position in Qatar Steve Whitfield who has been working one day a week in Rm 13, is moving to sunnier places further north. And our wonderful long-serving Helen Roche (Teacher Aide) is retiring after 27 years of service to the students at Maidstone Intermediate. We welcome the following new staff for 2018: Mr Chris Robinson has been appointed as Deputy Principal. Chris is currently a Syndicate Leader at Newlands Intermediate. Mrs Becky Owzcarek will be returning from Maternity Leave and will be working 4 days a week in various classrooms. Mr Dane Fowler will teach in Blue Syndicate. Mr Fowler has been working as a Teacher Aide and Reliever and has been appointed to a Beginning Teacher Position. Miss Terri Fraser will teach in Purple Syndicate. Miss Fraser completed her final training placement in Rm 10 earlier this year so is no stranger to Maidstone. Mr Michael Reid has been appointed as Syndicate Leader of Red Syndicate. We congratulate all the new appointees and look forward to having them as part of the 2018 Maidstone team.
You will have read of the pending changes to National Standards proposed by the new Government. We do not anticipate these changes taking effect until later next year. Should National Standards be removed, the only change will be that we will no longer be required to report your child’s levels to the Ministry. Your child’s learning progress will be between you and the school only. The Curriculum Levels will remain the same and we will continue to aspire to have our students make accelerated progress in their two years at Maidstone. On the final reports you’ll find your child’s National Standards levels by referring to the table with the Curriculum Levels.
MUFTI DAY – 8 DECEMBER This Mufti Day is being held to raise funds for a school focus and the SRC have decided that the money should go towards Basketball Uniforms. A gold coin donation is required to wear mufti. This multi day has a theme “Sports Hero”. Students are asked wear clothes appropriate for school activities and bring their PE gear. We hope that you will all support this venture.
2018 TERM DATES Term 1 1 February to 13 April Term 2 30 April – 6 July Term 3 23 July – 28 September Term 4 15 October – 19 December
There will also be 2 Teacher Only Days – Friday 19 October plus one more to be decided.
2017 End of Year Prizegiving - please mark your calendars: Date: Friday 15th December, Time: 12.30pm; Venue: Lane Park, Lane Street, Wallaceville. Upper Hutt We will be celebrating the successes of our amazing students. We are very proud of their many and varied achievements and would like to invite whanau, friends and community to come along and join in the celebration. We will be starting promptly in order to have all students back to school in time to catch their transport home afterwards. We look forward to seeing you there.
Sum-R-Reading
EPro 8 An exciting competition took place last Wednesday. It required heaps of concentration and problem solving. Our three teams performed well and were in the top six places for much of the competition. Eventually Unstoppable edged out Terrabytes and Bucketheads to take third place and go on to the final at Raroa Intermediate. Well done Ivan, Maia, Grace and Sophie-Marie.
YEAR 8 Social - 18 DECEMBER IN THE MAIDSTONE SCHOOL HALL FROM 7-
10 PM Tickets are now on sale at a $5.00 per ticket. This is to cover the decorations in the hall, the sound and lighting and food. The food will be catered by our Year 7 students. The hall will reflect the theme: “Hollywood”. A reminder to parents/caregivers that the students must be picked up from inside the school hall. Dress Code: Smart Casual. Girls: Shoes suitable for dancing – no stilettos, no mini-skirts Boys: Tidy pants and a collared shirt – shoes suitable for dancing (school shoes are fine), no hats.
GOLD SYNDICATE TRIP Last week, gold syndicate enjoyed a sunshine filled excursion to Orongorongo valley. All 3 classes set off with our pre-made dampers, fire wood and kindling ready for our bush walk tramping experience. We made our own fires and cooked our dampers (some more successfully than others!) and even a few sausages. There were plenty of marshmallows to go round, but not many of them made it onto the camp fires! We saw some cool wildlife in the bush and had fun learning about conservation. The best part was playing in the river and building dams with our friends. Thanks to gold syndicate teachers for organising the trip.
Often over the Summer Break our children’s reading can slip back and it takes a long time to get up to speed again. So again this year we are offering to our present Year 7s the chance to increase or expand their reading over the holidays. With the support of their parents or carers they may take home books from the school library to enjoy. A letter will go home with those children who are interested in Week 8 and there will be a book selection day on Tuesday 13 December for them to select their books.
Days Bay Report On Tuesday 28 November Blue Syndicate went on a fun trip to Days Bay to celebrate and appreciate all of the work we have completed in 2017. We had the opportunity to go kayaking, paddle boarding, fishing, swimming and also beach volleyball and cricket.
First we took the bus to Days Bay, straight away we went over to Williams Park for our morning tea and our instructions for the day. We had the choice to go kayaking or not. If not, you could either swim, fish or just lie on the beach. The kayakers got split up into two groups, green and red.
The instructors taught us how to turn, brake etc, and then we got about 15 minutes of free time so we could get used to the kayaks, after that we had some challenges including sitting at the front of your kayak, sitting at the back of your kayak, ball tag and more!
After the activities we had our lunch and the sausage sizzle, The barbecue was run by Nelson’s mum, Ms Burt, Ms Holding and Ms Jury. Also with the help of Kasey, who served the bread and serviettes. After the sausage sizzle we were allowed to go back into the water for some free swimming time.
After our final swim we all got changed and lined up for the buses, this is when we got our ice blocks. We got onto our buses and went back to school. That was our day in Days Bay! It was a fantastic day. By Cam, Room 1
Girls’ Cricket Tournament
On Thursday 30th November, Maidstone Intermediate entered two teams (1 girls’ and 1 boys’) into the Inter-Intermediate Cricket Tournament at Trentham Memorial Park. Leading up to the tournament we had training sessions at school. They were run by the organisers of the event and were really helpful and fun. On the day of the tournament, Andy and Susan were our coaches. There was one other team in the girl’s division; St Brendans. We played them three times – and won all of our matches against them. After finishing the first competitive game, the organisers took us an impromptu training session, teaching both of the girls’ teams how to bowl and bat properly. These extra tips helped us to focus and aim even better than we’d been previously. Overall, the girls had a fantastic day. Maidstone Girls’ team won the tournament with a score of 3-0. We would to thank the organisers – Superstar Cricket, for an amazing experience, and Andy and Susan for their support at the tournament. By Lily Candy, Room 4
Boys’ Cricket Tournament 2017
On Thursday the 30th Of November, the boys’ and girls’ cricket teams went to TMP to face a number of schools in a cricket tournament. We were all nervous and excited. We got there and walked over to J6 to play Fergusson. We won the toss and chose to bowl first. We were off to a shaky start but got some quick wickets and put them under pressure. After 20 overs, they were 80 for 6. We needed 81 to win. We also lost a few wickets but Fergusson proved better and the bet us by 12 runs. We then played St Brendan's and we bowled again and they were under so much pressure. A catch did not carry to first slip but it was a sign of them being under stress. We got 5 wickets and got them to 93 for 5. We had a good start and we got 90 for 3 and won. At the end of the day, we came away with one win and one loss. A pretty effort overall. A Big thanks To Andy, Susan and all the parents for supporting us. By Tane Falconer, Room 4
YEAR BOOK COVER WINNERS AND OTHERS
LEARN TO PLAY TENNIS Front cover winner - Sean McG Back cover winner - Sayler P
Holiday Programme for Children From 5 years-13 years. Supported by HVTA Dates: Thursday 25 and Friday 26 January, 2018. (wet or fine)
Venue: Mitchell Park (Mitchell Street, Lower Hutt) If wet the programme will be held in the squash courts. Timetable: 9.00am-10.00 am- Girls from 5-8 years old; 10.00am-11.00 am- Boys from 5-8 years old 11.00am-12.00 noon- Girls from 9 years +; 1.00pm-2.00 pm- Boys from 9 years + Cost: $22-00 for the 2 days. Money to be paid on the first day. Registration: Contact Gary Nelson –Ph. 5897178 or Email - [email protected] Note: Enrolments must be received by-Thursday 11 January, 2018.
GOLD TICKET SPIN OF THE WHEEL The most recent winners of the Spin of the Wheel were: Briar. Room 20 who received her ticket for Manaakitanga - Hospitality. Briar’s prize was sponsored by BEC Cleaning and Luke, Room 19 who received his ticket for Pono- Integrity. Congratulations and well don.
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