principals message contents

12 November 2015
Newsletter 19
PRINCIPALS MESSAGE
CONTENTS
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia Ora
Congratulations to our students who competed in the recent Gymnastic and Touch
Tournaments. It is encouraging to see so many students prepared to take part in these
events and develop the Personal Excellence value of doing their best and having a ‘can do’
attitude. The Touch and Gym squads were both successful and came back to school with
trophies for 1st. Thanks to all the parents and teachers who supported the children.
COMMUNITY OF LEARNING
The Board has agreed to form a Community of Learning with the Mid Bays Cluster. This is
part of the government’s $359 million funding to improve teaching practices, raise student
achievement and offer career paths for teachers within the sector. We have joined with
Rangitoto College, Murrays Bay Intermediate, Murrays Bay Primary, Pinehill, Campbells Bay,
Mairangi Bay and St John’s Schools.
The Cluster initiative will fund specific teachers from within our schools to review teaching
practice and student achievement in Writing and Maths. Eventually there will be teachers
working across the Cluster to develop Best Practice through all our schools. The Cluster will
also fund release time for our teachers to complete Inquiry’s into their own teaching
practice. Browns Bay School has been using these inquiry strategies over several years
through our Coaching Programme and I see this initiative as strengthening our own school
processes.
LIFE EDUCATION
Principals Message
 Community of
Learning
 Life Education
 eLearning
Upcoming Events
School Events
 New World Visit
 Travelwise
Winners
 Gymnastics
 Cluster Touch
Notices
 Congratulations
 Correction
 Outdoor
Education
 Jingle
 School Pool
 Sports Photos
 Class Photo
 Drop Off Zone
 Reminders
FOTS
Community Notices
We welcome Harold from the Life Education Trust to
Browns Bay School on Tuesday next week. Harold is being
supported by Corrine Marsden the Life Education teacher.
The classes will be visiting the caravan for two sessions while it is on site and will
be covering the following topics:
New Entrants - Harold’s Picnic (Food and Nutrition)
Year 1 - All together (Social Relationships)
Year 2 – Air to Live (Body Systems)
Year 3 - Space Invaders (Food and Nutrition)
Year 4– Heart Central (Body Systems)
Year 5 – Brainy Bunch (Body Systems)
The Food and Nutrition module discusses body image, exercise and nutrition for good health. The Social
Relationships module focuses on friendships and self-responsibility. Children explore concepts such as being friendly
as opposed to being a friend, and they learn about managing conflict. If you would like more information please visit
the website: www.lifeeducation.org.nz The Year 6 students are studying a Health topic called “Choices”.
There is an opportunity for parents to meet Corrine and view the van on Monday 23 November at 2.30pm. A
reminder that some children still need to pay the $6.00 to fully participate in this programme. Money is to be sent to
the class teacher.
eLEARNING PARENT MEETING
Browns Bay School endeavours to provide a modern learning environment for its students. A significant feature of a
modern learning environment is having a strong e-learning programme. Our e-learning goal is that “students will
become engaged and self-directed in a learning environment which effectively integrates ICT across the curriculum.
We want our children to be connected to their learning, connected to their future, connected to their personal
excellence and connected to their community”.
The Board has allocated significant funding to provide the programme for the students over the years. This has been
highlighted by a recent upgrades to class and mobile devices as well as upgrading the wireless network and
migrating to cloud based servers. The school ICT network is extensive and robust and over the last year we have
successfully introduced the use of Google Apps for Education into Year levels 2 to 6 of the school and have enabled
students to bring their own devices at Year 5 and 6 level.
We have invited parents of current Year 4 students to a presentation on Wednesday 18 th November at 7pm, via a
notice home. If you plan on attending can you please return the return slip so we can get an idea of numbers
attending for this meeting. At the meeting we will explain the school e-learning programme focus for 2016. The
meeting will cover e-Learning in the Curriculum, Google Applications for Education (GAFE) and Bring Your Own
Devices (BYOD) at Y5/6.
If you have a child at a different level of the school and would like to attend can you please inform the school office
bbs@brownsbay.school.nz Please be aware we will be covering similar information to that shared at the meeting
held in October 2014.
Peter Mulcahy
UPCOMING EVENTS
A full schedule of events for Term 4 is available on our website calendar with the most current events included in
each newsletter.
Thursday 12 November – Maori Whanau Meeting
Tuesday 17 November – Life Education starts
Thursday 19 November – Cluster Athletics
Friday 20 November – School Assembly Year 1
Wednesday 25 November – BOT Meeting 7pm
Tuesday 17 November – New Parent Visit and Meeting
Wednesday 18 November – Year 4 and 5 BYOD Meeting
Friday 20 November – Cluster Athletics (save day)
Monday 23 November – Year 6 Rainbows End Trip
Thursday 26 November - Music Education Concert
END OF YEAR EVENTS
Thursday 3 December – Jingle
Tuesday 8 December - Jingle Save Day
Thursday 10 December – Reports and Portfolios
Thursday 10 December – Y6 Graduation
Monday 14 December – Portfolios Returned
Term 4 Finishes at 1pm on 16 December
2016
Tuesday 2 February – School opens for 2016
SCHOOL EVENTS
YEAR 5 AND 6 NEW WORLD VISIT
As part of the Year 5 and Year 6 unit on ‘Food for
Thought’ all the classes went down to New World,
Browns Bay. It was a follow-up session from two
classroom based sessions facilitated by a guest
nutritionist. The purpose was to read the labels on a
variety of food groups to decide which would be
good to have as everyday items in our diet and
which we should try and restrict to treats only.
Interesting findings! The children were fantastic and
many shoppers commented on their general
behaviour and on the positives of the programme.
We are still in the process of sharing our findings and
planning our own healthy lunch. A big thank-you to
New World who have donated $60 to each class to
spend on healthy food items for the lunch.
Glenda Bradley
TRAVELWISE PIZZA LUNCH WINNERS
Room 2 were the proud winners of this year’s Travelwise walk to
school competition. As well as walking to and from school we had
to design a flag and dress up in colours of the team we supported
for the Rugby World Cup. We won the Travelwise trophy and were
rewarded with a pizza lunch to celebrate. We would like to say a
huge Thank you to Mrs Loader, Mrs Carr and the Travelwise team
for organising this annual event. Sarah Paterson
BROWNS BAY SCHOOL GYMNASTICS TEAM COMPETITION 2015
A large gym team of 112 gymnasts from Years 2-6 represented BBS on the 4th and 5th of November at the North
Harbour Gymnastics Primary Schools’ Competition. Everyone performed their routines with confidence and
precision. Their results were outstanding!!!!
62 of these gymnasts had a 1st, 2nd or 3rd placing. This included 4 team gold medals, 6 silver team medals and 3
bronze team medals.
Year 2
Team Silver: Ella Waterman, Grace Zhou, Alicia Zhou, Alexis Dowling
Team Gold: Rylan Labuschagne, Jimmy Lee, Luke Taylor, Sid Hine
Team Silver: Campbell Bibbie, Emil Gaspardy, Dylan Percival Carter,
Liam Bausek
Years 3&4
Girls Competition A
Team Gold: Talia Mills, Madison Mills, Libby Goodinson, Nanami
Uematsu
Girls Competition B
Team Gold: Summer Bailey, Yuki Squires, Riana Lee, Anna
Greenhalgh
Team Bronze: Isla Stewart, Brya Mathers, Mikayla Dennis, Tanaya Urquhart
Years 5&6
Girls Competition A
Team Silver: Anna Thomson, Amy Henderson, Kara Voss, Elissa Heron
Team Bronze: Alice Hirst, Lola Jantke, Marissa Zhou, YeonJee Choi
Girls Competition B
Team Gold: Taylor Cantrell, Riley Sheldon, Emily Tan, YeonSun Choi
Team Silver: Marie Kellmann, Tatum Campbell, Lily Shields, Olive Mortimer
Boys
Team Silver: Colby Mills, Connor Campbell, Kaiden Kenny, Nico Mortimer
We also had a number of gymnasts who were awarded individual medals for their
overall performances over the 4 apparatus.
Y2 Gymnasts
Bronze: Jimmy Lee
Bronze: Alicia Zhou, Grace Zhou
Y3&4 Gymnasts
Gold:Talia Mills
Silver: Maddison Mills
Silver: Victor Christie
Y5&6 Gymnasts
Gold- Riley Sheldon
CLUSTER TOUCH
On Tuesday we were responsible for running the
Mid Bays Cluster Touch at Pinehurst. It was a
fantastic day on many levels. Each school had 2
mixed teams playing in separate divisions. Our
Division 2 team were unbeaten (they drew their
last game). Our Division 1 team played some
awesome touch showcasing great skills and
ability to read the game. It all came down to
their last game against Murrays Bay. It was a
tense matchup and after conceding the first try
BBS tightened up the defence and played smart
to win 5-3! Excellent sportsmanship was shown
and they can be really proud of themselves. So
as the Divisions were combined to decide the
Champion school – it was BBS!
Well-deserved winners of the trophy for 2015. A
big thanks to the transporters, supporters and
to Brook Dobson for coaching.
Glenda Bradley
SCHOOL NOTICES
SUPER STARS
At the last full school assembly, the following pupils received certificates for their achievements:
YEAR 0/1 TEAM – Ava Grace Fickling 1, Isabelle Katipa 7, Ivy Cutfield 8, Bella Lyu 9, Madison Pardington 10, Victoria
Wyndham 11, Ava Cox 12
YEAR 2 TEAM – Daniel Heard 4, Jake Horsfall 5, Hanna Uematsu 6
YEAR 3 TEAM - Ella Williscroft 2, Brooke Gillespie 3, Mikayla Dennis 14, Ashlyn Bonham 15
YEAR 4 TEAM - Roxanne Mulholland 16, Summer Coe 24, Stephanie Rule 25, Ben Webber 26
YEAR 5 TEAM – Oscar McMillan 17, Tyler Wichman 22, Ivan Gaspardy 23
YEAR 6 TEAM – Sorato Tokuo 18, Rebecca Bradley 19, Alice Hirst 20, Jiyoon Yeam 21
VALUES CUP -Tatum Campbell R18
ARTS AWARD - Anna Haine R19
ACHIEVEMENT CUP – Jamie Shah R20, Melson Shi R16
SPORTS CUP – Riley Richardson-Mould R21
SERVICE TO SCHOOL – Ethan Greene R17, Jack McLean R17
CORRECTION
In the last newsletter I wrote about Food Tips. In one section I mentioned “peanut butter” as an option
for sandwich spreads. This should not have been listed as we aim to be a Nut Free school to protect our
students with allergies.
OUTDOOR EDUCATION PROGRAMME 2016 – POLICE VETS
As most of you will be aware the school runs a very extensive Outdoor Education Programme, incorporating a
sequential skill development programme, from Years 1 -6. As an added safety precaution the Board of Trustees has
a policy in place requiring all parents who stay overnight at any of our Year 4 -6 camps to undergo a Police Vet.
It is vital that we have parent support at our camps, both during the day and overnight. Without this support these
programmes will not be able to take place.
If there is any possibility that you might be considering staying overnight at any Year 4, 5 or 6 camp in 2016 could
you please contact the school office and we will send the relevant documentation to you.
(If you have previously been vetted by the school, you will be notified if your vet is no longer valid).
JINGLE
‘Jingle 2015’ – Soundspace is now turning its attention to all things Christmas and this week will see the
beginning of performance preparations for our annual ‘Jingle’ night. I have put in our request for a
perfect evening and I will be talking to all potential performers in the next few days about their
Christmas performances. There will be opportunities for those Year 4, 5 & 6 students who are
committed to rehearsal and performance. Students will be encouraged to watch notices carefully and
be prepared for practices at school as well as learning and rehearsing at home. Busy, but exciting
times! Karen Warren.
SCHOOL POOL
The pool is currently undergoing repairs on the filter plant in preparation for the
2015/2016 season. A School Pool Card notice will come out to all families in late
November with information about purchasing a pool card for the summer season.
The cost will remain the same as last year, $60, which includes a $10.00 bond.
SPORTS PHOTOS
Photo shoot keys have been issued to all students who had a sports photo taken. These photos can now be ordered
on line and there is free delivery to school for 3 weeks. If you did not receive one for your child please contact
Photolife Studios on 09 262 1040.
CLASS PHOTO
Rm 1 students will be having their class photo taken on Friday 13 November. We ask that students are dressed in
neat and tidy uniform with appropriate shoes.
MASTERTON ROAD DROP OFF ZONE
We have been monitoring this area closely in the morning and afternoon to ensure the traffic flow is continuous and
does not back-up resulting in congestion on Browns Bay Road. We are actively asking parents to go ‘around the
block’ if their children are not waiting at the zone. This is to ensure the cars behind do not back–up too much. We
appreciate your support with this.
REMINDERS:
Communication to Students
I would like to remind parents to make after school arrangements with your child before they come to school. Our
Office staff are happy to help in an emergency yet we are receiving messages to forward to children that do not fall
into this category. We are concerned with the volume of messages we are receiving and can’t always guarantee that
the messages will be passed on during the day. Classes are often spread over the school site and if they are in class
we aim to minimise the disruption to student learning.
Collecting students
Parents are asked to call in at the Office if they are collecting children during the day. This is for the safety of our
students when they are in our care at school.
All children need to be collected at 3pm or be in SKIDS Care. There is no supervision of the playgrounds after 3pm.
FOTS – Friends of the School
A monster night of fun!
Thank you to all the students and parent helpers who came along to the Monster Mash disco on Oct 30th. There
were some seriously cool costumes. It was a great night! We'd like to give special thanks to our awesome organisers
and helpers - we couldn't run such a great event for our kids if it wasn't for you! The disco raised just over $3,000 to
help towards our school's Performing Arts Centre building - thank you everyone!
Christmas Jingle 2015, Thursday 03 December, from 4.30pm, school field
Parents and caregivers - book an early work finish on 3 December because it's Jingle! This is a great, early evening
out for families as our BBS student's entertain us. Each year group will perform Christmas themed items, starting
from 6pm on the school field. Invite family and friends, bring a rug and picnic or enjoy hamburgers and other treats
for sale at the event and enjoy a fun evening.
Jingle Novelty Jars
Each year it is a BBS tradition for children to decorate and donate a glass jar filled with
treats and small fun items. At our Jingle event children can buy a Jingle Novelty Jar back
through a lucky draw and they love the surprises they find inside the jar! We're asking
each child to create a jar, which can be brought to school from 16 November. For ideas,
please see information coming home tomorrow and see example jars in the office.
Jingle Helpers
Parent helpers are needed to make Jingle a success, so please let us know if you can
help with setting up on Thursday afternoon, BBQing, making hamburgers, selling
Jingle Jars or cleaning up afterwards. Your help is greatly appreciated!
Christmas Tree Order Fundraiser
There is just one week to go to get your orders in for a fantastic, freshly cut Christmas tree that you can pick up at
school from early December. A percentage of all tree sales will be returned to our school. Orders need to be in by 20
November. There are different tree sizes to choose from (priced from $10 to $54) plus 3 different delivery dates in
December. Download your order form and return it to school office. Find all the information you need
here. https://www.brownsbay.school.nz/assets/929/FOTS_Christmas_Tree_order_form.pdf)
Facebook
If you're on Facebook but not a follower yet, then be sure to 'like' us so you can receive school news, updates and
photos from BBS and FOTS. www.facebook.com/Browns-Bay-School-Friends-of-the-School
Next FOTS meeting: Wednesday, 18 November from 7pm, school staffroom
Please join us as we plan Jingle and next year's activities. We welcome new faces.
Community Notices
Thinking Caps Maths tutoring is working at
Browns Bay School every Thursday morning. If
you want extra help for your child's maths, we
have spaces available. Years 3-6. Sessions
based on the school curriculum with friendly
and experienced teachers. Phone: Julie 027
2453870 or Office 09 424 3536
www.thinkingcaps.co.nz