SENIOR SYNDICATE NEWSLETTER
TERM 3 2022
Kia ora o te whānau, we hope that Term 3 has started well for you all. We extend a warm welcome to Jocelyn Hair to our teaching team. Jocelyn is an experienced teacher who will work across our team supporting students in their learning.
Things to celebrate!
A huge ka pai to our chess team who went to the Auckland Regionals South/East Junior Tournament at Baverstock Oaks School and placed first! Congratulations! Massive thanks also to Jessie and Pam who have been our faithful chess coaches on Tuesday and Friday lunchtimes. Jessie also spent time organising our teams and supervising on the day of tournaments - thank you!
Daemon Whaanga has been selected to represent the Māori U11 Rugby League Rep team and will be playing in a tournament in Whakatane in October. We wish Daemon and the team success and a game well played. We’re so proud of Daemon for the commitment he’s shown to his training that has allowed him to succeed at this level.
Congratulations also to Connor Wang for learning AI coding and becoming so skilled that he won the Technical Award for Battle Cube Pair in Upper Primary in the New Zealand Robot Olympiad 2022.
Events
Thank you to families who came out to support and help at our school cross country event. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all so happy to be able to have a community event. The students really enjoyed having the option to run competitively or in the fun run and we owe Lisa Firth lots of admiration for her flawless organisation of the day. Well done to these students for placing in the top 8.
Greetings at the gate
It is lovely to welcome students into school every morning and heartening to hear them greet teachers as they walk through the gates and into classrooms. Thank you for encouraging your children to develop these lovely manners.
Learning
Our students have been involved in our learning theme this year of “Through the Looking Glass”. This term we have had a focus of looking at light and mirrors in a variety of ways. This is a hands-on science focus and it has been lovely to see lots of questions being asked and experiments carried out.
Senior Syndicate students have been loving the learning they’ve been doing in Technology. This term they’ve been learning about bone carving and creating their own pounamu, a treasure with special meaning to them personally. Students are proudly wearing their pounamu and are welcome to do so during this term.
Students also engaged in learning about Matariki. Here is a sample of learning from one of our senior classes.
We studied the stars of Matariki to understand what each star represents. From there we created our own unique Poupou to represent the star we chose.
Hiwaiterangi represents wishing, dreaming, hopes and aspirations.
Waiti represents fresh water and the food that lives in it.
Tupu-a-rangi represents food growing in the forest.
Waipuna-a-rangi represents rain.
Waita represents sea water and the food that lives in it.
Swimming Lessons
All classes will be attending swimming lessons this term. Please refer to the separate notice that has been shared with the details for your child’s class.
We have enjoyed the learning we did with the Life Education Van. We learned about “Why are my reputation and identity important” by exploring the following aspects:
Exploring what gives us our identity and how we create our reputations, what they mean to us now, and what will they mean later in life
Using celebrities or brand names to highlight instances where errors in judgement have been made and how they have to rectify this to get their reputation back (hard work but is possible/looking at implications and effect)
Identifying the core values that are important and how we can use these to guide decisions that affect our reputation and identity
Growing up – how has this affected our identity/reputation – what do we need to consider in the future – social media links/friendships/attitudes etc.
What is cool about being me and celebrating differences and personalities
Please talk to your child about this important learning experience.
You are likely aware that students have been busy writing speeches and practising to present. Thank you for supporting your child in this important learning.
Term 3 Electives
During Term 3 our Year 5 and 6 students have the option to choose electives that they would like to engage in. These are usually held on Wednesday afternoons in Term 3. Students really enjoy this opportunity to engage in some different learning. We would love some volunteers to come and take a group of students and teach them a skill you have. This could be anything from learning a new language, knitting, creating origami, learning a cultural dance or game or any other activity you think would be engaging. This is an excellent opportunity for our students to make connections with other adults and we would really value your time. Please get in touch with Mrs JB if this is something you could consider.
Waterwise
Waterwise is an excellent programme that provides our tamariki with the opportunity to explore and develop confidence in and around the water. The programme introduces basic skills in sailing and kayaking and helps students to enjoy, respect and understand the gorgeous environment we live in here in Aotearoa. Students engage in practical learning that can be applied in many other situations.
The training involves approximately an hour of theory learning and 3-4 one hour long practical sessions at the beach.
Our Year 6 Waterwise programme is dependent on the support we receive from parents. We are fortunate to have a group of enthusiastic parents and teachers who are qualified instructors who teach the skills of water safety, sailing and kayaking each Wednesday during Terms 1 and 4 at Howick Beach. Please offer your assistance when your child is involved.
Parents are welcome to visit Howick Beach on Wednesdays to view this excellent programme.
We are currently organising training for interested adults. If you are interested in training as an instructor, please contact Tina Joshua-Bargh.
Uniform
All students are expected to dress in the correct school uniform, wearing their shoes to and and from school. School fitness shorts and T-shirts are required during PE. Please name all uniform items clearly so they can be returned easily should they get lost. Year 5 & Year 6 students do a road run on Wednesday’s as part of our fitness programme, please help your child to remember their sports shoes on a Wednesday for this run.
Masks
Please note that as per our Covid Protection Framework, we are requiring students to wear masks while inside at school except where it provides a significant barrier to learning. Government recommendations show that mask wearing greatly reduces the transmission of Covid 19.
Home learning
Please encourage your child to complete daily home learning. Reading each afternoon and evening will do wonders for writing skills and ideas as well as reading fluency.
We expect all senior students to have a quick recall of times tables. This contributes to students' ability to solve more difficult problems quicker and more accurately. Knowing basic facts instantly enables success in students' future mathematics courses and careers. It also builds confidence in students' perception of their own maths ability. Without thorough mastery of the basic facts, students may struggle as they start to tackle subtraction, word problems, and problems with bigger numbers. They use so much of their working memory on simple calculations that they have little brain space left for understanding new concepts. Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like some ideas of how to support your child to learn their basic facts.
Child away from school?
All absences need to be reported to the school office by phone, app or email. If you email your child’s class teacher about an absence please make sure that you copy the office in on this too. We look forward to your help, support and encouragement throughout 2022 and want you to feel free to approach us with any concerns, issues or compliments! Thank you for your support so far this term and helping us all navigate through these different times.
Things to keep at home and things to bring into school!
Please remind your child that toys, collectable cards and lollies are all items that need to be kept at home! While we love to celebrate your child’s birthday at school we do discourage parents from bringing in cakes or lollies to share with the class due to food allergies and sensitivities. We will still make your child feel special on their big day! Smart watches need to be used just for telling the time and not transmitting or receiving messages during the school day. If you need to contact your child during the day please go through the office.
Please do bring to school any medication that your child needs and take it to the office where the appropriate paperwork can be completed.
Dates to Diary
Your child’s swimming dates
Aug 8-12 Maths Week
Aug 10-19 Life Education Van
Aug 19 English Speech School Finals
Sept 1 Eastern Zone Gymnastics Competition
Sept 5 Mandarin and Cantonese Speech School Finals
Sept 27 Mathex
Sept 30 Last Day of Term 3
Contact Us
Email: admin@pointview.school.nz
Website: https://www.pointview.school.nz
Location: 25 Kilkenny Drive, Dannemora, Auckland 2016, New Zealand
Phone: +64 09 274 0637
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pointviewschool