It is good to connect with you all again following the holiday break and as we get into Term 2. I was hoping that we had seen the last of Covid but it seems to be hitting our school again and I seem to be constantly juggling staff and finding cover for our classes. The students are showing great resilience and we have appreciated your support as we negotiate our way around this new and changing world. In saying that, we are very lucky to be living here in Marlborough, and recent events in Texas highlight the fact that our students and staff can still come to school with relative freedoms without worrying about their safety. So long may that last.

I have had the pleasure of getting out and seeing some of our students competing in their different sports, and I do want to take this time to thank all of you in our parent community who offer to coach and manage teams. It is a big-time commitment but the benefits to our students are immense - so thank you. A special mention must be made to our E-pro 8 teams who recently gained top placings in the top of the south competition, great work everyone. There is so much happening here at Bohally and your child can be involved in anything from coding clubs, lunchtime poker games, and lego masters through to jump jam, choir, kapahaka, lunchtime rugby and football games. There really is something for everyone. Encourage your child to get involved.

Later this term we are excited to be holding a school hangi as part of the celebrations leading up to Matariki. With specialists helping we hope to involve the students in the hangi preparation and then some shared kai to finish. Authentic learning experiences are an important part of our curriculum alongside the basics of numeracy and literacy. At the end of this term, we will be sending home a mid-year progress report with your child and this will be followed up by whānau hui on Monday 25th July where you will get an opportunity to meet your child's teacher to go over the report and discuss where they are at and next learning goals. Bookings for these meetings will go out in a few weeks' time.

Soon we begin our chocolate bar fundraiser (this was postponed from Term 1 due to Covid) and you will find out more information below. Please help your child sell as many chocolate bars as they can, this fundraiser is a big income earner for our school and helps us purchase equipment that we wouldn't normally get funded for eg: computers, sports equipment, playground resurfacing etc. We also have our annual school quiz night planned for term 3 and we are looking for volunteers to help with this, again more information is below.

Finally, we have Board of Trustees elections coming up next term, please take time to think whether this is something you would consider, we are always on the lookout for new Board members, and it is a great way to give back to the school. If you are interested feel free to talk to myself or one of our current Board members to see what is involved.

Once again thank you all for your continued support, wrap up warm as we head into winter and hopefully Covid becomes a word of the past very soon!

Ngā mihi,

Nicky

To keep costs low, any koha/donations for kumara, cabbage, pumpkin and potato, rolled pork or rolled mutton would be appreciated. Any donations should be handed into the office by Thursday 16th June.

Bohally Waihopai was buzzing with excitement for the EPro8 finals. We all split into our separate cars to drive to Nelson when the day came. As we all drove up to Nelson College, (which by the way, looked like a castle) I saw the big EPro8 sign, sitting right in front of the main entrance. As I walked inside, I saw Bailey Robb, my fellow teammate, as well as the members of Bohally Opaoa and Bohally Wairau. Me and Bailey shared our excitement. Everyone was called into the hall as the timer reached 5 minutes. 5 minutes to come up with a plan, get our stuff together, and choose a celebratory song. If you didn't know, how EPro8 works, is each team has a station with everything they need, like aluminium rods and joiners and batteries. On each station is also a button, which, when you finish a stage of a challenge, you press to call the judge over. He will watch you as you test it, and if you succeed, he will scan a barcode on that challenges page, earning you points. We clocked (finished) two challenges in two hours twenty minutes, while our third challenge ended up with us breaking a spring. But, despite us having to restart our whole construction three times, we won the 2022 EPro 8 Marlborough Grand Final.

Along with that the other Bohally Teams placed as well. Bohally Opoao 3rd, Bohally Wairau 5th. This is the best result Bohally has ever had.

By Caitlyn Forsyth (Room 13)

1st Place: Bohally Waihopai: Bailey Robb, Caitlyn Forsyth, Matt McLeod, Ryan Griffiths

3rd Place: Bohally Opaoa:Max Pickering, Jack McGruddy, Katherine de Zwart, Will Atkinson

5th Place: Bohally Wairau:Andrew Hall, Alex Herd, Hannah Gilhooly, Sylvia Small

We have made the decision to allow the choir to take place during school time. This has seen an increase in numbers from 30 to well over 100 students taking the opportunity to sing, learn and have fun. We are working towards being a part of the Creative schools, combined Marlborough schools music video, to be filmed early in Term 3. We will also feature in the music video sequel of Atarangi -Morning sky which our Bohally students performed last year. Our hope is to also take a major part in the Blenheim Christmas concert alongside our district brass band. It is very exciting to be singing again together and we look forward to sharing our amazing songs with you in the near future.

Bohally School Kapahaka

Our participation group of students has consistent numbers of over 140 students. We are delighted to be able to meet weekly to celebrate our Maori culture through waiata, actions and Te Reo. At this stage our focus is not on performance, we are simply enjoying immersing ourselves in our Maori culture. Hopefully, we can share our talents with you in the near future

ANZAC

In Tāne Mahuta we spent the first part of the term learning about the ANZACs. We have learnt about what their role was as an ANZAC soldier, and also had a focus on the Māori Battalion. We were lucky enough to go to Brayshaw Park and listen to a talk which we found very informative. Here are some examples of our learning.

5th August 1915

To Mum and Dad,

I'm in my dug-out writing to you all, I miss you guys a lot and I’m excited for when I come home. I’ve had a hectic day and the food makes it worse, the bully beef is disgusting and the only thing that makes it good is really the crackers and the jam. I miss your food at home it was way better, the crackers are hard like dog treats, some times if we’re lucky we get bacon and sometimes, once a month, we get a slice of cheese, the officers and generals get this all the time though which is unfair.

A few hours ago we lost Chunuk Bair to the Turks. They charged and we didn’t have enough firepower and forces to fight back. I am one of the many survivors. The Turks charged at us and the English didn’t arrive in time. I am unharmed and perfectly fine just frightened and scared. When the English arrived they pulled back the New Zealand forces well, what was left of them. The English lost to the Turks, pushed them back and scattered the Australians in. Also, the battleships failed, stopping firing and they had 7 minutes until they charged the Turks who were regrouped and were prepared this time. I lost some of my childhood friends, the Turks had no mercy.

My hands are freezing blue as winter, the harsh winter is approaching… we lost a lot of good men they didn’t deserve it, I blame it on the English. Ohh and the lice in my clothing are starting to hurt and itch more, I heard that Lieutenant Colonel William refused to send his men into battle because he knew that they'd lost already this is a bastard country.

Love from Theo.

(Jesse Campbell)

At the beginning of this term, we had the opportunity to be part of a team and test our engineering skills in the E Pro 8 programme. We worked together to use materials to construct Fire Engines. We had to demonstrate critical thinking skills, as well as collaboration.

We have just started our second round of tech for the year. We have been enjoying experiencing food, hard materials, sewing, bio, video, and digital.

In PE we have been doing Basketball and Hockey. We have been learning new skills and putting these into practice through games and activities.

In art we have been using a range of materials to create art based around the sun, moon, and space. We have made sun and moon drawings, Moonscapes (using flour, water, and glue) and also created Nebula art with watercolours.

A FREE presentation with Rebekah Ballagh via Zoom, Tuesday 7th June, 7.30pm.

Grief can come in many forms - from the death of a loved one, struggles with health, a change in an important relationship or the loss of a job. After the last couple of years, many of us are grieving in one form or another.

Come along to this presentation with Rebekah Ballagh on navigating grief as we unpack the many forms of grief and discover a toolbox of ideas and techniques to help you manage all that comes with loss and change.