2022 Term 3 Week 6
Albury School Newsletter
Principal's Message
This week I attended a two-day seminar run by STIR (Stopping Institutional Racism). This was supported by the Ministry of Education and the NZ Educational Institute and was held in Dunedin. It was fabulous to meet some principals from the Otago area and we had a great opportunity to discuss a myriad of issues.
For the Education Sector, looking through the lens of the intent of Te Tiriti, it has a major focus on how our curriculum is formed and with the new NZ Curriculum Refresh in all learning areas it was an opportunity for me to focus on how this could look at Albury School.
I certainly had times when my own bias’s were challenged at a personal and professional level. We explored the barriers to learning that some groups face and often these are “institutionally” based, as institutes have people and processes that can inadvertently create environments where barriers are present without realisation.
There were two main questions posed to us at the start:
1. Why do I need to KNOW about Te Tiriti and
2. Why do I need to CARE about Te Tiriti
My reflection immediately linked to where I was familiar – my students. When thinking about the question from this perspective – Why do I need to KNOW about my Albury Kids and Why do I need to CARE about my Albury Kids, I was able to unpack my perspective from the familiar to the unfamiliar and this created an area of comfort for me in my thinking. I have a professional loyalty to provide the best care for all students, and in doing so, that also means taking professional responsibility to better understand and action all that I can to ensure Te Tiriti is enabled, not solely as a compliance, but as a way to care for students. This was a new challenging perspective that I will take forward in small steps.
On the Property Front:
As yet we do not have a start date for the full school sewerage upgrade, but consents are in, and the design is confirmed, so as soon as we get the green light, this will be actioned.
Top Block interior revamp.
The Ministry budget (as the buildings are owned by them as landlords) is limited and this funding comes from the Government. Over time, our project scope has reduced as the costs have escalated since Covid. The Ministry have not increased the budget to help out with the additional costs. We have recently met with our Project Manager, and there are still hoops to jump through to get this underway, but we are confident we are getting closer to a start date.
Swimming Pool
The pool has had its remedial repaint and we’re confident that this paint will now stick to the pool and not end up floating around in the water and blocking the filters. It is hard to know what the summer season is looking like, but the experts are expecting a warm few months.
The board will be discussing the options available to have the pool open to the community over summer. Please provide any comments or ideas around how the school may provide this resource (there are compliances around health and safety that must be met). The
good news is that some of the additional Covid regulations have been relaxed so this factor is helpful.
Toilets and Handwashing - TRIAL
This has been a hot topic of discussion with the board, as we have had paper hand towels flushed down toilets and the ongoing blockages and costs of these repairs is unsustainable.
We have considered the following in our discussions:
- Student education on toilet paper vs paper towels and how they break down (done)
- Our Albury School Enviro Schools lens – re paper towels not being recyclable (we do purchase compostable towels)
- The ongoing costs of the purchase of paper towels and the increasing costs of these.
So we have come up with a TRIAL idea after exploring a range of different options. We will shortly be providing students with an individual “Hand towel” that they can clip onto their bag. They will then use their own towel to wipe their hands. We will still need to provide some back up drying options (but we will limit the availability of paper towels).
As for washing these, we may ask for parent volunteers to collect these to wash and return.
If you have any thoughts on this or other ideas about how we could manage this please let me know. Ideas gratefully received.
SCHOOL PRODUCTION - Help
We are forging ahead with a production to be on stage mid November.
The title is TANIWHA-TANIWHA and we are starting to learn the songs, dances and the script. We certainly need help and support as there is a lot to do, so if you are a dancer, singer, able to help with costumes or props, please let Hannah know as she is the Production Manager!
THANK YOU!!
Donna Donnelly
Principal
Calendar
2022
September
- Tuesday 6th: School Photos
- Wednesday 7th: School Board Parent Election- Votes close 4pm
- Friday 9th: Ski optional Roundhill
- Wednesday 14th: new elected Board takes office
- Friday 16th: last Ski optional Roundhill
- Monday 19th: Handover Board meeting, school library 6.30pm
- Thursday 29th: Board meeting, school library 6.30pm
- Friday 30th: End of Term 3
October
- Monday 17th: Start of Term 4
- Monday 24th: Labour Day- SCHOOL CLOSED
- Thursday 27th: Board meeting, school library 6.30pm
November
- Thursday 3rd: Top Team (Years 3-6)
- Thursday 24th: Board meeting, school library 6.30pm
December
- Wednesday 7th - Friday 9th: Senior Camp Aoraki Mount Cook
- Wednesday 14th: End of Term 4
- Thursday 15th: Board meeting, school library 6.30pm
Piwakawaka Classroom
It is so lovely to be seeing signs of spring around the school and to see the grass take on a green tinge. No doubt that is a welcome sign on farms as well.
The students who have been able to ski are certainly getting a lot from the opportunity. We have amazing class conversation about the adventures had the following school day. I have noticed in those conversations our Albury Kid Values coming through – resilience, respect, curious and Team player. It is lovely to hear the students relate these to their life out of school. We have also had some wonderful stories written about their adventures. It seems being brave skiing also means they can be brave with their work at school. Ka Pai Piwakawaka students and a huge thank you to all the parents who make this possible.
Piwakawaka students are excited to be preparing for a school production in Term 4. This will be a big focus for us in the weeks ahead as we learn dance steps, words to songs, make props, and get to know what goes into a show.
We will also be exploring the changes that happen in spring and will grow some plants learning the life cycle of plants and what a plant needs to grow, including an introduction to photosynthesis.
So, buckle up for a fast and eventful end to the term.
Regards,
Heather van der Heyden
TUi Classroom
I am sitting here writing this article and listening to Ross mowing the lawns. Welcome to Spring everyone! The class doors are open and the soccer field has turned from mud to grass.
Our production planning and practicing has started. The last two weeks we have started learning the songs and dances that will be included in the production. Everyone is showing great resilience to learn the steps, and coordinate the arms and legs. It's going to be a bit of a process, but we are looking forward to performing it for you next term. Some students have a script with speaking lines, it would be great if they could be learning these at home please.
Congratulations to Maggie who got first place at the Mackenzie Schools Ski Competition. You are awesome!
Skiing is slowly coming to an end, especially with the melting snow and the appearing rocks. Thank you to all the parents who have provided their children with this awesome opportunity.
It has been great spending time with the students who come to school for the day on ski days. It's a joy to watch the different year groups working together, dressing up, playing games and enjoying each other's company.
This term is going to fly by and next term is also going to be a whirlwind. Enjoy the spring weather.
Ngā mihi nui,
Hannah
Mackenzie Speech Competition
We had the privilege of hosting the Mackenzie District Speech Competition on Tuesday, 23rd August 2022.
Albury School was represented by Hayley and Blake.
Well done to all the participants from Lake Tekapo School, Fairlie Primary, St. Joseph’s Fairlie and Albury School. All the speeches were very entertaining, well written and beautifully presented.
Winner of the competition was Ben from Lake Tekapo School for his well researched and personalised speech around water pollution due to plastic. Congratulations!
Visit from our Health Nurse
In due time with all the winter sniffles and coughs in full swing we had a visit from our Public Health Nurse Steph Chapman. She ran lessons for both our classes on how to blow your nose so it makes a difference and the importance of washing hands. Steph sure knew how to get the important message across to our Albury Kids in a fun and engaging way with balloons on noses and glitter on hands.
South Canterbury Rugby Training Session
Our Albury Kids already had a few rugby training sessions with Danielle from South Canterbury Rugby and last week she paid us another visit. The Piwakawaka students played some rugby skills games while the Tui students made good use of our recently purchased Rugby Tag sets.
There certainly are some skilled rugby players in our school and the kids just love getting outside to play sports games.
Assembly Wednesday, 31st August 2022
Piwakawaka Principal's Award: Max
Piwakawaka Class Awards: Meila and Murphy
Tui Principal's Award: Pippa
Tui Class Awards: Daniel and Azayah Welcome Fergus
Mackenzie Schools Ski Race
Albury School was represented by Alice, Maggie, Blake and Scarlett, well done to all of them.
Congratulations Maggie: 1st place Year 3-4 girls!
Heartland 'Design a shirt' competition
Albury School Board Parent Election 2022
!!! VOTE VOTE VOTE !!!
The candidates for our 2022 School Board parent election are:
Bray, Sam
Eaves, Laura
Fisher, Nicholas
McGregor, Rachel
McKerchar, Georgina
Ratahi, Jeremy.
On the 10th of August our Returning Officer CES sent out an email with voting papers and directions on how to vote.
(If you are on our parent roll and didn't receive the email, please check your spam folder)!
Votes will close on Wednesday, 7th September 2022 at 4pm.
The new Board will take office on Wednesday 14th September 2022.
Scholastic Book Club Issue 6 out now
CAMP 2022 – December 7,8,9
A reminder that the Tui Camp is being held at Aoraki Mount Cook this year. More details will follow. The dates are December 7,8,9. The cost of the camp will be subsidised, however the per pupil cost for attendance is $160.00. This can be paid at any time or in instalments to our school account:
ALBURY SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES
12-3159-0137213-00
Reference: CAMP
Police Vet Checks
To attend camps or overnight trips you must have a current Police Vet Check.
For some parents their PVCs are expiring this year (Kathrin will email you to let you know).
If you wish to renew your current PVC, and for new requests, please let Kathrin know and we will get the applications underway. They take quite a long time to process, so we need to plan months ahead to get these processed.
Contact school
To contact school during school hours please ring the office: phone number 03 685 5844.
If we are unable to take your call, please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
To let us know that your child is away for the day, please ring the office or send an email to office@albury.school.nz and we will pass on the information to the classroom teacher.
Please be aware that if your child is away or if there are changes to their pick up routine we are required to collect this information from a caregiver -just give us a quick call or flick us an email.
Thank you!
Albury Playgroup
School Policies
Student Wellbeing and Safety and Staff Wellbeing and Safety
Albury School Policies are located online at School Docs.
User name: albury
Password: queen
Concerns and Complaints Process
Contact Us
Donna Donnelly: principal@albury.school.nz
Piwakawaka teacher:
Heather van der Heyden: heather@albury.school.nz
Tui teacher:
Hannah Beynon: hannah@albury.school.nz
Office:
Kathrin Burgert: office@albury.school.nz
Email: office@albury.school.nz
Website: https://www.albury.school.nz/
Location: Albury School Station Street, Albury 7984, New Zealand
Phone: 03 685 5844
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alburyschool