SENIOR SYNDICATE NEWSLETTER
15 SEPTEMBER 2022 - TERM 3
Kia ora o te whānau, we have been enjoying teaching and learning in Term 3 and hope that your family has kept warm and dry during this winter.
Events
The senior school students worked diligently for several weeks, learning to write and deliver speeches. For many, this was their first attempt at writing a speech and overall it was a great success. The students have learned lifelong skills to help them communicate effectively. All their efforts culminated in the Senior School Speech Competition. Of all the Year 5 and 6 students, 14 were selected for the finals. It was a wonderful occasion, to hear the students inform, persuade and entertain us on a range of topics and present us with thoughtful messages. It was also lovely to see parents in the audience.
If you haven’t already seen the video posted on Hero of our students presenting their speeches please have a look at the post from August 31. Our finalists were:
First place - Vivaan Malla
Second place - Nicole Yan
Third place - Pauling Zhou
Reflection on the inter-school experience
by Vivaan
I felt so happy and proud that I could represent my school at the inter-school speech competition. When I began speaking, I was feeling a bit nervous. But as I kept going, I felt less nervous. Since my friend Namish was near me and giving me the ‘thumbs up, I felt reassured and supported. It was really interesting to hear all the speechmakers from other schools. I have learned that it’s important to entertain your audience when you give a speech.
Mandarin Speech
1st Jessica Wang
Jessica will go on to represent our school on September 23rd, we wish you all the best Jessica!
Learning
We watched a video about microplastics. Microplastics are little tiny pieces of plastic less than 1mm in size. Every month we each consume about a credit card size amount of microplastic. It wasn’t too long ago that it took us a whole year to consume this much plastic. The plastic we consume comes mostly from seafood and a little from water. Only ¼ of the plastic we use is recycled. The rest of the plastic gets into our oceans and seas and then into the fish we eat and that’s how we end up consuming it. In one gulp a whale will eat 8000 microplastics. This has led to a sharp decrease in the number of whales alive.
Pragna gave us bark she had gathered from the beach and we sorted through it to find all sorts of rubbish. We mostly found polystyrene. This showed us that there was a LOT of plastic in a tiny space on the beach.
We also learned about alternatives to buying products in plastic. For instance, we could use a shampoo bar rather than a full bottle of shampoo. This would be much better for our environment.
Our whole class really enjoyed this learning and had a lot of fun!
Written by Rio, Arjun, and Catlyn Room 25
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.
Home learning
With the weather getting warmer, it’s so much more enjoyable to spend time outside. Home learning isn’t always completed inside with pen and paper. We encourage you to encourage your child to spend time outside in nature, playing with friends and exploring. There are many social and emotional benefits to being outside. Here are just a few:
Sunshine. Safe exposure to the sun provides bodies with vital vitamin D which assists bone development and immune systems.
Exercise. Active play is a great way to get some healthy exercise
Executive function. These are the skills that help us plan, prioritize, troubleshoot, negotiate, and multitask; they are crucial for our success. Creativity falls in here, too, and using our imagination to problem-solve and entertain ourselves. These are skills that must be learned and practiced — and to do this, children need unstructured time. They need time alone and with other children, and to be allowed & encouraged to make up their own games, figure things out, and amuse themselves. Being outside gives them opportunities to practice these important life skills.
Taking risks. When children take reasonable risks, they learn what they can do and how far they can push themselves. They develop courage and when the risk doesn’t work out the way they’d hoped, they learn how to fail well and develop resilience.
Socialization. Children need to learn how to work together. They need to learn to make friends, how to share and cooperate, and how to treat other people. If they only interact in very structured settings, such as school or sports teams, they won’t have the opportunity to learn everything they need to know.
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.
Dates to Diary
Sept 26 Public Holiday - Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day
Sept 30 Last Day of Term 3
Oct 17 first day of Term 4
Oct 24 Labour Day, no school
Oct 27 Interschool Touch Rugby
Oct 28 Senior Syndicate Athletics Day (save day is Nov 3)
Nov 9 & 10 Production Matinee and Evening performances
Nov 10 Year 6 student visit to Somerville Intermediate School
Nov 23 Interschool Athletics Day
Dec 1 Road Patroller Trip to Rainbow’s End
Date TBA End-of-year trip to Omana Beach
Wednesdays - Year 6 Waterwise, weather permitting
Dec 16 Last day of school
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