Newsletter T2W8
Tuesday 22 June - Term 2 Week 8
School Notices Term 2 Week 8 2021
Tēnā koutou katoa,
Now that we are well into winter, please be aware that there are lots of students and staff away with coughs and colds. The cold seems to be quite contagious and takes a while to get over, so keep an eye out for symptoms. Please ensure you let school know if your child is absent and the reason why. We are also having difficulty getting relievers as the bugs seem to be throughout Blenheim, so we appreciate your understanding if your child has a variety of relievers, or in some cases when we are desperate, we have to split classes.
Matariki Celebrations
As a school we will be celebrating Matariki, the Māori New Year next Friday 2 July. Information about this celebration is listed further down in the newsletter.
Disco
A big thank you to the PSG for running the school disco last week. It seemed a good time was had by all with music, lights and treat food!
Learning Progress Meetings: Wednesday 7 July and Thurs 8 July
Learning Progress meetings are being held in the last week of this term on Wednesday 7 July from 1:30pm - 6:00pm and Thursday 4 July from 3:15pm - 6:30pm. Last Thursday a note went home about this. Please contact your child’s teacher if you need a copy for logging onto Hero or using the online booking system. Please also note the early finish at 1pm on Wed 7 July.
Heroes Show
Last Tuesday we all walked down to the ASB theatre to attend a show called Heroes - a Musical Adventure. In this show a young child was introduced to lots of different instruments, and different combinations of instruments in the form of a brass band, a concert band (brass and woodwind), a string orchestra, and a full orchestra in her search for the right instrument. Along the way she met many heroes, both imagined and real, heroes from the movies and heroes from her own school and community. She discovered extraordinary and ordinary young people having fun making heroic music and realised this musical journey is the spice of life.
This was a free concert due to a council grant, it fitted into our curriculum programme nicely. Research suggests that music can stimulate the body's natural feel good chemicals (e.g. endorphins, oxytocin). It can help energise our mood and provide an outlet for us to take control of our feelings. Music can even help us work through problems in our lives
But more than that, it was an entertaining show.
Playhouse Theatre Company Show
This week we are looking forward to our children experiencing another live show performed by The Playhouse Theatre company at school.
Rumplestiltskin is an interactive adaptation of Grimm's beloved fairy tale. As well as a good dose of humour we will be thinking about the value of kindness and cooperation, the consequences of not telling the truth and the importance of keeping a promise.
School will pay for the shows so there is no cost to families.
Teacher Union Meetings (Repeat) - early 1pm finish this Thursday
On THURSDAY 24 June, we would appreciate your child being picked up at 1:00pm as teachers will be attending union meetings. We will give the children their healthy Subway lunches to bring home with them.
School will remain open with a skeleton staff to supervise students but we would appreciate it if you could pick up your child at 1:00pm. A notice was sent home yesterday for you to return indicating whether your child/ren will be going home or staying at school.
While we regret the inconvenience we know this will cause, these are government approved meetings and it allows teachers to meet as a group, and to hear and be part of important decisions going forward. Thanks for your understanding.
Staff Only Day - Monday 28 June
A reminder also that school will be closed next Monday 28 June while teachers and support staff participate in a Staff Only Day.
Have a great week everyone.
Whitney Street Staff
2021 Matariki Celebration!
2021 Matariki Celebration!
This year we will be celebrating Matariki on Friday 2nd July and you are invited to join us! Celebrations will include:
Matariki themed arts and crafts in your child’s classroom during an open morning from 9-11am which will include an official opening of our celebration at 9am
A hāngi lunch (more information on this below and the form has already been sent home. It needs to be returned by this Friday 25 June)
A special afternoon hui at 2.15pm in the hall with performances from both our junior and senior kapa haka groups.
Come and join us for this special occasion marking the beginning of the Māori New Year. This is a time to focus on new beginnings, goals and ambitions, and to remember those that came before us.
We look forward to seeing you there!
What's Up in Room 9?
Zihan Hong at the Taekwondo South Island Championships
A few weeks ago Zihan Hong competed in the South Island Championships for Taekwondo down in Christchurch. Zihan was entered in three events and placed in all three.
Pairs Poomsae GOLD
Singles Poomsae SILVER
Kyorugi (sparring) SILVER
His sportsmanship was beyond amazing. Zihan tried his best in all events and was a great support for others. He is a huge asset to the BLENHEIM OLYMPIC TAEKWONDO club!
Other School News and Happenings
Whitney Street School Board 16 June 2021 Meeting Summary
Kia ora koutou katoa,
My name is Tracy van der Velden and I am one of the parent representatives on your board. I am pleased to provide you with a summary of our most recent meeting, held on Wednesday 16 June.
After welcoming Adele Large as secretary to her first board meeting we discussed our next community consultation. Our Matariki celebrations provide an opportunity to get your input into the next Ministry of Education (MOE) property project - the upgrade of Rooms 1 to 4 (including learning spaces, cloakrooms and bathrooms). What would you like to see? Further information will be provided on how you can have your say about this exciting renovation.
Cheryl presented the results of the review of Ka Ora, Ka Ako (the healthy school lunches programme). Students completed a survey in class about each of the lunches. We are still in the early stages of the programme and feedback will be discussed with providers.
Whitney Street School is currently opted into the MOE’s donations scheme. This means we choose to receive additional funding from them rather than ask for donations and payments for activities such as Fundamental Skills. The board unanimously agreed to opt into this scheme again next year as it alleviates pressure and expectation. If you disagree with this decision please contact Cheryl or Kate McEntee (Board Chair) before the end of June.
The board was provided with an update on a couple of other property items. Work on the playground is now well underway following a number of setbacks. It is exciting to see the progress. We are also in the process of applying for funding for additional cameras and lighting to be installed around the school to improve security.
Education Review Office (ERO) meetings with staff have begun and are going well. The likely focus for our three year internal evaluation is based around Engagement.
Cheryl showed us the school’s new website. Thanks to Christee Dalzell’s mahi, it has updated professional photos and feeds from sources such as Facebook, the school calendar, and our school app. Check it out!
A great deal of data on student achievement and student progress has been gathered by Piritahi Kahui Ako (our local Community of Learning). It consists of 21 schools and several kindergartens and aims to “weave our learners together” ensuring smooth transitions / pathways between sectors. The next step is to unpack the data and look at ways to improve learning outcomes for all tamariki.
Full board meeting minutes are available for everyone to read in a folder in the front office and on our website. We wish Cheryl a relaxing sabbatical next term and look forward to welcoming Christee and Lisa Lissaman to the Board meetings in Term 3.
Kia ora koutou,
Welcome to our latest newsletter to keep you informed of the work of our Piritahi Community of Learning. The past six months have been extremely busy as our schools and early childhood centres continue to work closely together for the benefit of the 6000 students within our Kahui Ako. We started the year with a very successful Piritahi ‘Weaving Learners Together’ Staff Only Day based around the three Piritahi workstreams of Strengthening Teacher & Leadership Capability; Hauora; and Community, Iwi & Māori Engagement. Approximately 575 teachers and support staff from across Marlborough attended. The feedback was very positive with educators in Marlborough appreciating the chance to upskill and network across the different sectors. It enabled them to start the year enthusiastically and motivated to make a difference.
Strengthening Teacher & Leadership Capability
Teachers across all sectors are engaged in three main professional learning opportunities i.e. Poutama Pounamu, DMIC (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities) and Leading Adult Learning. This continues to build teacher and leadership capability in order to achieve our overarching goals of excellence, equity, and belonging.
Hauora
One of our biggest challenges in education, and Blenheim is no exception, has been supporting students with challenging behaviours, and being aware of the wellbeing (hauora) of our staff and students. We have been working closely with the Ministry of Education to identify learning needs across our region and develop Learning Support Registers that use the same common language. The intention is that we will have the needs collated across Piritahi and then be able to resource accordingly.
Community, Iwi & Māori Engagement
Our thanks are extended to local iwi who have supported both our Staff Only Day and recent teacher workshops by sharing their expertise and stories related to our region.
A working party has been investigating the transition process between pre-school and school to develop consistent practices across Piritahi. The goal is to help make the transition-to-school process for our students as smooth as possible.
We continue to analyse achievement data in Reading, Writing and Maths so we can show achievement and progress in each of our schools, and across Piritahi as a whole. This helps us to identify areas or cohorts where extra support can be given, and to develop goals. Moderation of assessment at key transition points continues to be an area of focus eg between Year 6 and Year 7, and between Year 8 and Year 9.
We have seven wonderful Across School Leads (ASLs) as part of Piritahi who work two days a week supporting schools around our annual goals. The ASLs come from a variety of sectors including early childhood, primary, intermediate and secondary schools. They work alongside teachers, facilitate staff meetings, and generally share their expertise in order to improve outcomes across our 21 schools and early childhood centres. Twicea year they organise a series of workshops related to our workstreams, the latest of which was held in June with 330 teachers attending.
We gain a lot of satisfaction from leading the work of Piritahi and are very proud of the collaborative nature of our work and the willingness of schools and communities to engage. Please feel free to talk to your individual school leaders and teachers if you would like to know more about thework of Piritahi.
Ngā mihi nui,
Cheryl Wadworth (Whitney St School), Gaylene Beattie (Springlands School) and
Michelle Spencer (Rapaura School) - Piritahi Co-Leads
PASSWORD: learners
We are a PB4L School - Positive Behaviour For Learning
Our school calendar is often filled with trips and events and sometimes the dates and details change. The BEST place to keep an eye on what is happening is on the school App in the calendar section.
Download our school App
We encourage all parents to download our school app from the Playstore or Apple Store, as we find this the most effective way of sending out Alerts to parents/caregivers. You can also access a wealth of information from the app as it has links to the school calendar, newsletters, etc.
Please subscribe to Alerts from the classes/groups that your child belongs to. If you want to subscribe to groups later on, you can do this via the ‘Alerts Subscriptions’ which is in the Menu (top left). Please do this to ensure you are subscribed to the classes and Teams that your child or children are in for the 2021 school year.
This is also the way we would like you to inform us of absences. This system streamlines the morning routine for Tanya and Michelle so that they can easily see who is away and why.
Please click here to download the School App.
Hero
Suggestions Box
Bread Tags for Wheelchairs
In line with sustainability, the Wairau Hub will continue to collect bread tags to help support the Bread Tags for Wheelchairs initiative. Save them up, bring them into Room 1 and we will arrange for them to get to where they need to go.
This cool idea supports The United Nations Sustainability Goals of;
* Goal 1: No Poverty donate what we don't use
* Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
* Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
2021 Winter Camp - For Wairau Hub Students
In 2021 the Year 5 and 6 students are going to Lake Rotoiti and Rainbow Ski Field for a two-night stay. This camp involves a range of activities that encourage our Wairau Hub students to develop more independence, be risk-takers, problem solvers and build new friendships. Please budget $105 for this camp to help pay for the accommodation and food.
Tuākana and ½ of Room 8 Camp Dates - Term 3 Week 3
August 9 - 11 (Over on Monday and back on Wednesday for 3pm)
Marohi and ½ of Room 8 Camp Dates - Term 3 Week 3
August 11 - 13 (Over on Wednesday and back on Friday for 3pm)
We urge you to begin payment as soon as possible to avoid having to pay one large lump sum (see costs above).
If you would like to set up an automatic payment, please do so and use your child’s first initial and last name as a reference. The Whitney Street School BOT bank details are: 03 0599 0305934 00.
Automatic Payment Option
The Whitney Street School BOT bank details are: 03 0599 0305934 00
Pretty Things Embroidery
Contact Us
Email: principal@whitneystreet.school.nz
Website: https://whitneystreet.school.nz
Location: Whitney Street, Blenheim, New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 578 3028
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhitneyStreetSchool/
Community Notices
The Board of Trustees advises that 22 out of zone vacancies have become available at Bohally Intermediate School for the enrolment of 2022 academic year.
Because the Board operates an enrolment scheme, it is required to fill any vacant out of zone places by ballot when there are more applications than places available.
22 out of zone places have become available for Year 7 students enrolling for 2022. No Year 8 placements are available.
The Board is prepared to receive applications from Thursday 1st July until 3pm Wednesday 1st September.
The ballot will be held on Thursday 2nd September. Families will be notified Monday 5th September via the email address provided.
Enrolment details can be found on our school website www.bohally.school.nz
Thank you
Penny's Dragon (see poster below)
A fun and heart-warming musical theatre production for the whole family at the Boathouse Theatre, performed by StageLab!
Penny lives in a dull town called ‘Boring’ where nothing ever happens. Until one day, the locals start finding big footprints all over town and everyone starts to panic. Penny realizes it could mean only one thing: A DRAGON! She knows everything there is to know about dragons; they are mean, blood-thirsty and you cannot trust them.
She is brave and tries to find the monster. But is the dragon as dangerous as everyone thinks?
SHOWS:
Friday 25 June - 6.30pm
Saturday 26 June - 11.30am
Saturday 26 June - 6.30pm
Sunday 27 June - 11.30am
Directed by Rose Platenkamp, performed by the StageLab team
Links to tickets and our Facebook event page:
StageLab presents: Penny's Dragon | Facebook
When - Penny's Dragon - ASB Theatre (patronbase.com)