School Newsletter- 19 May
Endeavour School - May 19th, 2022
Principal's Message
"Sticks and stones may break our bones but names will never hurt me"
I have never subscribed to this saying. We know that often constant name calling or criticism around who we are whether it be about our character or physical appearances hurt and have an impact on our sense of efficacy and the way we see ourselves. This week at our school assembly (how wonderful it is to have these up and running) I used an analogy with a nail going into a piece of wood. The nail being the hurtful words and the piece of wood being a person. When someone apologises the nail is removed from the piece of wood, however, a hole still remains behind. Often children and us adults alike can at times be careless with our words and not fully understand the impact they may have on others. We see that one of the many roles we have as teachers is to support children in developing their awareness in the impact their words can have on themselves and others.
I am proud to acknowledge that here at Endeavour School we have no tolerance for it, bullying is not welcome. It will be dealt with and whaanau involved, resolving bullying is a collective solution. We also must seperate one off poor choices or an act of frustration from bullying. We are of course supporting children and helping shape their developing minds, both socially and academically.
This week we celebrate the notion of "Speak up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying". You may have seen the many pink posters around the school. It is very important we see bullying for what it is... a desire to establish control over another person. Please join us on Friday in wearing pink to continue to raise the awareness that 'being unkind' is unwelcome!
On another note, I am delighted to let you know that Mrs Virginia Wrigley has been appointed to the Team Leader Position in LC 3/4 in our Hangawera Team. Congratulations Mrs Wrigley on this well deserved appointment.
Finally, as we continue to open our calendar and see more events and opportunities arise we would like to welcome back our Open Afternoons. This term we will be holding it on Wednesday 8th June from 2.00pm. Please do come along and bring your wider whaanau to celebrate and see the learning in action within our spaces.
Warm Regards
Geoff
HERO
We have made some exciting changes to HERO!
We are making progress graphs available for your child in reading, writing and mathematics.
You will still see the progressions/goals your child is currently working on, the curriculum wheels, and receive a report (Celebrating Learning Post each term).
The new graphs and information around them provide further insight into how your child is progressing toward the levels within the New Zealand Curriculum in reading, writing, and mathematics. The language used is:
-Well Beyond
-Beyond
-Within
-Towards or is an Emergent Learner
These graphs will be visible on HERO twice a year, both mid year and end of year so you can see how your child is progressing. The first time these will be available is the end of Term 2 and you will be able to discuss these further at Parent/Teacher Learning Conversations which will be held in the last week of term.
2022 Term Dates
Term Two: Monday 2nd of May 2022 - Friday 8th July 2022
Term Three: Monday 25th July 2022 - Friday 30th September 2022
Term Four: Monday 17th October 2022 - Friday 16th December 2022
Administration
Its Time To Make Wet Weather Plans!
Let's keep our Endeavour learners safe and dry.
Work out a wet weather plan.
With the rain now looking like it is going to be a regular afternoon occurrence we recommend a wet weather plan which does not change from day to day or week to week.
Last minute instructions for children can cause confusion and upset for all. Work out a wet weather plan so that if it rains our Endeavour learners can be prepared and secure in knowing where they are supposed to be when the bell rings. Our Endeavour learners are taught to be self managers and to be able to do this they need clear instructions from a parent/caregiver so they are prepared when it does rain. Please pack extra clothing in case.
BE PREPARED AND DON'T LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE!
2022 Board Of Trustee Elections
Our next Board of Trustee (BOT) election is coming up this September. More information about this election will be sent out in the coming weeks, but if you think you might be interested in joining our BOT or would like to find out more, please do not hesitate to contact Geoff on principal@endeavour.school.nz or Karin Adams (BOT Chair) on karin.adams@endeavour.school.nz.
School Donations ... What are they used for?
Parents often ask ‘what are donations used for?’ - the simple answer is - to help run the school!
The funding that is received from the Government is significantly less than it takes to run a school that implements the kind of programmes that we at Endeavour are committed to providing for all our students. This means that we still have to rely on our families and wider community to meet the shortfall.
We do this in a number of ways:-
Student run fundraising initiatives
Hiring out our facilities.
School and Digital Donations
If we received no ‘locally-raised funds’ our students would not be able to have school owned devices, such as Chromebooks, Ipads and STEAM equipment, to use throughout their day. We would not be able to purchase our subscriptions to online programmes. The donations also top up budgets that provide sports equipment, art equipment and most importantly it allows us to have extra staffing in all our learning communities.
We also rely on parent donations to facilitate all Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) events. Without contributions towards the cost of these trips our students would not be able to experience valuable learning experiences such as visits to the zoo, space centre, farm trips and school camps.
School donations and digital donations can be made through the Online School Shop. They can be paid in full or on a term by term basis. The Shop will provide you with a receipt and 33% of these donations can be refunded by the IRD. A signed copy of these receipts are also available through Hero once made.
We would like to thank all our families that support us by paying donations!
Whats Been Happening?
In LC3 and LC4, we have been learning about the History of New Zealand.
In Week 1, we learned about the Tangata Whenua Maaori and their settlement in New Zealand (Aotearoa) from Hawaikii. Did you know that Hawaikii is actually Tahiti and Rarotonga and Maaori were the first oeple to discover New Zealand!
During this time, we explored how the Maaori travelled in waka taua with their iwi and brought foods with them like kuumara and animals such as kurii (dog). Kuumara were hard to grow in New Zealand. We explored legends (puuraakau) such as Kupe and Te Wheke Nui (Kupe and the Giant Octopus) and how the chef, Kupe, discovered Aotearoa with his wife.
We sampled foods such as rewana bread, kuumara and kawakawa tea which is rongoaa (a traditional Maaori medicine) to help with things like rashes, bumps, bruises, etc.
It was fun exploring what Aotearoa used to look like with native trees and birds, the life of the moa and haast eagle as well as other foods that Maaori hunted for. We even measured them! Wow!
We had fun weaving kete (flax baskets) with paper, creating waka, making puppets to reenact puuraakau, using bee bots as waka and programming them to get to Opotiki (where the Tainui waka first landed) from Hawaikii, makey makey to reenact stories, etc.
In Week 2, we focused on when European settlers such as Abel Tasman and Captain James Cook first discovered New Zealand. It was a bit icky learning all about scurvy for sailors! We enjoyed learning about how sailors used to navigate with the stars and our southern cross in the night sky and also explored compasses. It's important to eat lots of fruit and vegetables to stay healthy. We learned about how New Zealand became a place for many new settlers, a new country with no rules and laws, a country filled with crime. Eventually the Treaty of Waitangi was created to protect all people as a law. Sadly, we learned that this treaty was complicated as it had two versions and did not protect our Tangata Whenua. We briefly touched on the land wars and how this impacted on the Waikato and Tainui people. It was interesting to learn that our country has had three national flags over the years and why it has the Union Jack and southern cross stars on it today. It was fun using feathers and ink to sign the treaty, make telescopes, design a healthy meal for a sailor, and design a new flag for Aotearoa, etc.
During these two weeks, we have completed many fun and engaging hands on activities while learning. Here are a few pictures of our explorations:
In LC3 this week we have been learning about how people have made significant contributions to New Zealand Society. We have been exploring the ANZACs. Here is Georgia Oriana and Ibaadat with some creative poppy designs.
Drama Time in LC5
We watched a theatre performance of The Hare and The Tortoise. They used exaggerated movements and slow motion for effect.
Then we had a go at using mime to tell a short story. This meant we couldn't make any sounds, and needed to use exaggerated movements to get our idea across to our audience.
We also played the present game, where we unwrapped an invisible present and mimed what we had received, then re-wrapped it and passed it to the next person.
We are excelling at using some of the 8 Cs of drama - particularly confidence, creativity and challenge. But most of all, we have a lot of FUN!
Community Notices
Soccer United Football Supplies is Hamilton’s newest soccer store – determined to meet all your soccer requirements. We are located at 137 Alexandra st (very close to Garden place). We hold heaps of kids boots, shinpads and footballs and other training equipment. We hold a lot of Northern United shorts and socks as well. If you do pop into the shop use the secret code ‘Mr Booth likes soccer more than rugby’ and get a discount off your purchase. Check us out online and facebook and we hope to see you soon.”
Soccerunited.co.nz 07 5950700
Contact Us
Email: reception@endeavour.school.nz
Website: https://www.endeavour.school.nz/
Location: 86 Endeavour Ave, Flagstaff, Hamilton, New Zealand
Phone: 64 (07) 855 5257
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndeavourSchoolHamilton/