Newsletter Issue 6
Term 3 - August 31 2022
Principal’s Update
Kia ora, Nameste, Talofa, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag, Gidday, Vannakkam, ni Hao, Kia orana, Hola, Salam, Sa wat deekha, Dia Dhuit, Goeie Dag, Bonjour, Καλημέρα, Greetings everyone
On Monday I was delighted to get into all the classrooms on a bit of a 'Maths walk'.
Armed with my 'camera' I was treated to students working collaboratively with their peers on a myriad of Mathematical learning tasks. Some were working on creating and describing patterns, some on problem solving, others were in small groups making sense of a task with modeling from the teacher and some were immersed in activities or games which practise or reinforce concepts previously taught, like the positioning of digits in relation to place value and the decimal point. Notably there was plenty of talk as students clarify, explain or justify their thinking with one another.
Spotlight on Mathematics:
Our final 'spotlight' for this term focuses on the curriculum area of Mathematics. To support our tamariki's learning in Mathematics students need to be engaged in 'productive struggle' - working on challenging problems. They need to regularly experience:
- meaningful mathematical discussions; explaining, justifying, connecting to other's thinking
- opportunities to apply their knowledge and understanding in authentic contexts
- making connections between mathematical representations, eg. written recording and physical materials
- practising their new learning in order to develop fluency and flexibility with procedures
- problem solving both individually and collaboratively
What hubs are working on at present:
Hub 1- We have been focusing on measurement, shapes, symmetry, teen, ty numbers, doubles, halves, skip counting, numbers forwards and backwards.
Hub 2 - We have been working on subtraction and counting back to solve the problem. Also we have been learning how to solve addition problems where the added is missing. This is where there is a missing part of the number sentence but the answer is visible, e.g. 2 + ? = 12
Hub 3 - We have been learning about algebra and patterns. We have been experimenting by creating our own patterns using colour, shape, size and number. Noticing that patterns can grow, we have been describing these patterns and identifying what will come next.
Hub 4 - We have been focusing on fractions. Children have been learning to draw, write and order more complex fractions. They are about to start learning how to find fractions of a set, e.g. ¼ of 16.
Hub 5 - We have just begun a new topic - fractions.
We have just finished looking at area and perimeter, some enlargement and scale drawings. We have used a website to create plans of cabins at camp - using scaled measurements. We looked at how plans are drawn up by architects in a real situation, exploring the plans for the upcoming build work on our school administration block.
Extension opportunities
At Bellevue we are constantly considering what we provide for our learners at both ends of the academic spectrum. Currently we have a number of extension opportunities to challenge our learners who require this. This week sees the last of our ICAS Assessments (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools) that our Year 4-6 students have the opportunity to participate in. We have been impressed by the tamariki's willingness to challenge themselves by participating in these, showing great perseverance and determination. If you are considering entering your child for these next year, please note that these are challenging assessments. They are quite unlike any other learning we do at school and so, to ensure this is a positive experience for your child it is best to chat to your child's whānau teacher about whether they should participate.
Another extension opportunity offered to the students in Hub 5 (but aimed at Year 7-8) is the Otago Maths problem solving competition. This is a sequence of 5 sessions in which students challenge themselves to solve some quite complex problems - each time reviewing how they could be solved at the end to build their skill over time.
Distance Learning Update
With our attendance steadily improving and a few weeks now with no confirmed covid-19 cases, our school is now focused on supporting attendance and learning onsite. From this week onwards the only distance learning provided while we are in our ‘Open’ scenario (please see our community plan) will be the usual home learning - Reading Eggs, Mathletics/Mathseeds and any usual termly home learning provided by your hub. As always, we encourage you to contact your child’s whānau class teacher if you have any queries or require anything to support your child’s learning.
Save the date
You will note under the term dates that we have a confirmed date for our Newlands-Paparangi schools Kapa Haka Festival. More details will be in the newsletter as this draws closer so watch this space!
Ngā mihi
Annette
HEALTH & SAFETY UDATE - Please note mask update
We remain open and our average attendance is 88% (as at today) for this week, as we aim for a steady 90% attendance again.
Mask wearing to continue until the end of Term 3
As notified last week, given the high levels of community sickness currently, not only from Covid-19, but also from other winter illnesses, the Bellevue Board asks that you support us to maintain our existing mask wearing settings (so masks continue to be worn indoors by those students who are able to in Yr 4-6 and any others who wish to) until the end of Term 3.
Our teaching team and all adults who are on site will continue to wear masks.
At the end of Term 3 we will review these settings in light of the current Health/Ministry recommendations and the health of the community.
Our priority continues to be the health and wellbeing of our tamariki and supporting face to face learning.
We are still operating under our 'Open' scenario for our provision of distance learning on our (updated for Orange) Community Plan - which can be found on the website.
Please do continue to inform us if your child tests positive or is required to isolate so we can code them accurately in the roll as:
- unwell
- self isolating - so accessing distance learning
- at home due to family decision - so accessing distance learning
annette@bellevue-newlands.school.nz and office@bellevue-newlands.school.nz
Thank you.
If you have let us know that your child is self isolating or has tested positive, please also let the office know when they return to school.
Please continue to monitor your child and do not send your child to school if they have any symptoms.
Thank you to
- Anna Higgins for the kind donation to school of a warm jacket.
- Robin Waldrop for the donation of an IPad to school
Delving Into The Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum
This week our team are building on their learning of the new ANZHistories learning area of the New Zealand curriculum. Following a webinar we attended a couple of weeks ago, the teaching staff are exploring the 'Know, Understand, Do' structure of the new learning area. We are setting ourselves a goal of finding out more about our tangata whenua and the local stories that have shaped the community we know today. If you are able to help with sharing any local stories with our team, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Education Review Office - Update
We are continuing our journey with our ERO evaluation partner.
Most recently we have developed a focus for our review which encompasses much of the mahi we have already embarked upon as a school, including:
- developing our curriculum
- PB4L Schoolwide
- supporting our diverse learners
- giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- Better Start Literacy
Our focus statement is:
'To develop a cohesive approach to the monitoring of, and responding to, student achievement information to improve/achieve equity and excellence for all ākonga'
In the coming weeks of this term, classes will be visited by our evaluation partner to get a sense of how our school operates. We are looking forward to showcasing our special school and celebrating some of the great learning opportunities.
PB4L
On Tuesday 23rd of August we held our Positive Behaviour for Learning Parent Information Evening. Thank you to all the parents who came. Our Bellevue team felt it was a very positive and fun Tuesday night. We really appreciated all the warm and future focused feedback.
We asked the question ‘When children leave Bellevue, who do we hope they will be?’ This question gave us a meaningful insight into the values families feel are important. Some popular ideas were; confidence, resilience, curiosity and empathy. These values are similar to the values we currently have and also frequently appeared in the student consultation.
Look out for a Seesaw post sharing your students' voices. This post provides a further opportunity to share the values your whānau feel are important to the upbringing of your child.
We look forward to reading your ideas.
OUT OF ZONE ENROLMENTS
Important information about the Bellevue School enrolment scheme (zone) -
If you have pre-schoolers at home that you are planning to enrol at Bellevue School in the future, here are a few important things to know and put into action:
1. If you are living outside of the Bellevue School enrolment zone, then your pre-schooler(s) will need to be processed as an out of zone application. Please let us know, if you haven’t already, of any future enrolments at Bellevue School from your family. It helps greatly with our planning to know well in advance. And if we know then we can also prompt you as to when you need to get your out of zone application in.
2. It is very important that out of zone applications are received by the application deadline of 9am Friday 23 September 2022, for enrolment from Friday 16 December 2022 to Thursday 6 April 2023. We cannot accept any out of zone applications if they are not received by the deadline advertised for the enrolment period your child is due to start school in. The deadline can sometimes be up to six months prior to your child actually starting school.
3. Even if your pre-schooler(s) are in zone, please get your paperwork in to us as soon as possible to enable us to plan ahead. We need this information to be able to work out how many out of zone applications we can accept in each enrolment period. If you have any questions or are unsure about anything, please call the school office and talk to Amanda.
Bellevue School, Newlands School Board Elections
Parent By-Election Notice
Nominations are open for the election of one (1) parent representative to the school board.
All eligible voters will receive a nomination form via email. Use this form to nominate yourself
or someone in your community. You will also receive a nomination cover letter via email
calling for nominations. Information on who is not eligible to be a board member is provided with
the nomination form. If you need more nomination forms, contact the school office.
Nominations close at noon on Friday 30 September 2022. You may provide a signed
candidate statement and photograph with your nomination. The electoral roll is held at the
school and can be viewed during normal school hours. As nominations are received, there
will be a list of candidates’ names kept at the school up until election day, which you can
view.
Voting closes at 4pm on Friday 4 November 2022.
Signed Amanda Beauchamp, Returning Officer
Hub 3
ARTSPLASH
Bellevue High Notes (School Choir Years 3-6) are excited to be once again part of Artsplash after it being cancelled last year due to Covid.
We will be on stage as part of the massed choir in the Michael Fowler Centre on Monday 12 September at 7.30pm. The concert is about one hour in duration.
We would love you to come along and support us.
Tickets $5 from the school office
HUB 3 - LEARNING HOW TO WRITE AN INFORMATION REPORT
Hub 3 have been learning how to write an information report. We chose to write our reports about animals so we could learn more about a wide variety of animals before our trip to the Zoo on Thursday! We have been looking at how to research information about an animal, put that information into our own words, organise our information into paragraphs and then publish our work on Google Slides. Check out this awesome information report about Sharks!
SHOTS TO MAKE YOU SMILE - Hub 1
We all looked very colourful on Daffodil day
Library News
Thanks so much to all the dog owners for the wonderful photos you’ve shared.
We’ve also enjoyed dog reports from Julian, Tanika, Isabelle and Tanish in Hub 3, and many dog drawings. It’s been a real talking point.
Of course those who don’t have a dog but DO have a CAT are making noises for a ‘new’ display. So watch this space……
On another note, we seem to be lending out a lot of plastic sealable bags to those who are forgetting their book bags, and we would appreciate these back please.
Book bags are a great investment and these can be purchased from the school office for $9.
They do an important job of protecting our library books between home and school.
If you could help to remind your child to bring theirs on library day that would be fantastic.
Sports News
Miniball:
Hurricanes lost against Johnsonville Diamonds, 14:34. Players of the day: Kahlia and Benji
Lightning lost against St Bens Jets, 17:59. Players of the day: Benji and Xavier
Storm lost against Cashmere Celtics, 31:47. Players of the day: Kahu and Ayva
Thunder won against Westpark Rockets, 20:15. Player of the day: Rishik
Netball:
Nikau lost against Johnsonville Rubies, 2:5. Player of the day: Neva
Rimu lost against Crofton Downs Comets, 3:9. Player of the day: Nehaal
Totara lost against Newlands Primary Kereru, 9:11. Player of the day: Emily
Totara team plus Zoe (our brilliant sub) and another Zoe (our brilliant ref)
Onesie Day
This Friday, 2 September is Onesie day to fundraise for the Wellington Free Ambulance so that we can keep it free. Wear any type of onesie, pjs, oodies or just some comfy clothes.
Bring a gold coin donation for support if you can but if you can't that is ok to.
So remember to bring your comfy clothes, pjs, etc. this Friday to have some onesie fun with your friends!
Happy last day of Winter Bellevue Family!!
Thank you everyone that completed the End of Term Lunch survey. The
FUNdraisers committee will be discussing the results and will feedback to you the
outcomes!
The Wildflower World Spring Seed Fundraiser order forms were distributed to the
teachers on Monday, so you should see them in school bags this week.
Orders close on the 16th of September, with a delivery date TBA at this stage, but
likely in early Term 4.
Order forms are uploaded on our webpage:
https://www.bellevue-newlands.school.nz/fundraisers
Our next FUNdraisers Committee Meeting is on the 15th of September – see you
there?
Updates…
Kids Art Work (Calendar Art)
As above, orders are now closed and being processed.
We do not yet have a delivery date for the products, but my guess is early Term 4.
Pizza Lunches
Standby for the outcomes of the End of Term Lunch survey.
Wildflower World Spring Seed Fundraiser
For the avid (or novice) gardeners amongst us, we are going to be offering this seed
fundraiser (very similar to the bulb fundraiser of 2021). Details will be distributed via
the FUNdraisers Facebook page, or via school next week!
Bellevue Book Fair
While you are doing your Spring Clean around home, we are hopeful of receiving
your generously donated books! We will have boxes in the school reception/office
area for you to drop off book donations from the 1st of September.
We are also considering something a little new…. Would any of our Bellevue family
arts and crafters like to join us with a stall on the day of the fair. Please
contact Rebecca at fundraisers@bellevue-newlands.school.nz with information
about your wares.
It might not pan out – but let’s see!
Important Dates
Thursday 1 September
ICAS Maths (Y4-6 Only)
Friday 2 September
Onesie Day
Monday 12 September
Artsplash Choir
- Rehearsal 12 noon
- Performance 7.30pm
Wednesday 21 September
Learning celebration - open evening
Thursday 22 September
Board meeting
Friday 30 September
Term 3 ends
Monday 17 October
Term 4 begins
Wednesday 19 October - Wednesday 7 December (Term 4)
Hub 1 & 2 Swimming (every Wednesday)
Friday 21 October
Teacher Only Day - School Closed
Monday 24 October
Labour Day - School Closed
Saturday 5 November
Bellevue FUNdraisers Book Fair
Friday 18 November
Te Korowai ō Horokiwi Kapa Haka Festival - details to come
Wednesday 23 - Friday 25 November
Hub 5 Camp
Newsletter proudly sponsored by
Email: office@bellevue-newlands.school.nz
Phone: 04 4787037