Balclutha Primary School - T3 Wk 8
Newsletter 17 September 2021
Principal's Report
Welcome to Week 8 and Māori language week.
At Balclutha Primary School we acknowledge the importance of Te Ao Māori as part of our unique New Zealand culture. One of our focus areas is to ensure our kaiako (teachers) and ākonga (students) are continually working to increase their knowledge and awareness of Te Reo Māori.
We have a strong Te Ao Māori flavour that is infused through all our curriculum areas, including literacy, numeracy, the arts and PE.
Due to Level 2 limitations we have been unable to hold a whole school celebration this week, but we do continue to celebrate our unique New Zealand culture in our classrooms every day.
Ngā manaakitanga,
Vicki Neave
Lockdown Learning Survey
A huge thank you to the large number of parents who returned the snap survey last week around lockdown learning. We all really hope we don't ever have to go back into lockdown again, but if we do, we would like to ensure we are meeting the needs of as many of our families as possible.
Along with some really useful suggestions, the survey has showed us that:
- 93% of parents who responded felt that the amount of work provided was just right.
- 94% of parents who responded felt that the type of work provided was just right.
- 77% of parents who responded felt that the level of Zoom/ GoogleMeet meetings was just right.
After analysing the responses, and talking to the students and staff about their experiences our next steps will be to:
- follow up with our parents who were unable to engage to see if we can find a system that works for their home situation.
- increase the number of online meetings next time.
- ensure as many of our parents as possible are connected to SeeSaw, as this was our primary method of communication.
-work with our students to ensure they are confident with using their devices and connecting to online platforms.
- develop some 'tip sheets' to help parents around how to use access Zoom and emails on chrome books.
We really appreciate our parents taking the time to provide some very valuable feedback. Congratulations to the Karrol family who won the draw for the box of chocolates!
Whānau and School Update
Whānau and School Co-Presidents
Sara Sutherland and Carleigh Frisby
Email: balcluthapta@gmail.com
Room 1 have made handprint daffodils for Spring. We are very proud of them!
Room 2
Room 3 has enjoyed creating different artworks this week. On Monday Mrs Craig made pigs with us. Look how awesome they are, covered in mud. We also had a tiger themed day and created tigers that hold our writing.
Room 5
Room 5 Learning trace and copy skills to help build art work using a printing technique.
Miss Faulkner-Barclay celebrated her birthday on Wednesday. Some of the Room 6 children assisted by Tania, Tammee, Rebecca and Megan, baked and decorated a large chocolate cake to share.
"Room 12- Year 6’s lockdown cinquains"
Room 11
Congratulations to our Award Winners this week. Mrs Neave presented awards in class today to ...
- Taylor McPhee - for being more confident with her letter and sound knowledge. You are a pocket rocket Taylor!
- Suasamani Anitelea - Always happy to help in the classroom. Mani also found Room 2's missing library book - he is our hero!
- Cooper McLean - Cooper is always respectful and kind to his friends. He is always ready to work and try his best at all tasks and activities.
- Halimah Asman - coming back to Room 2 with her positive attitude, beautiful smile and friendly nature. Welcome back Halimah!
Room 3 -
- Lily Te Whata - for having such a wonderful start back to school. She is eager to learn new things!
- Levi Howat - for working hard and applying himself to tasks. Levi has settled well back into routines.
Room 5 -
- Tiana Wyber - for working steadily at tasks, doing her best and knowing the right thing to do.
- Ella Hore - for doing her best, being kind and having a positive attitude.
Room 6 -
- Eva Smith - for progress in reading.
- Shylah Anderson - for great effort in speech writing.
Room 12 -
- Rosemariah Talione Vasa Pene - for attending Learning village meetings and completing all Learning Village activities during home learning.
- Jonathan Luavasa - for putting in a huge effort during home learning especially with his speech and Learning Village.
- Caleb Mikaele Tanuvasa - for working hard to complete Learning Village activities during home learning.
Room 11 -
- Mathafasue Mikaele Tanuvasa - for her hard working, positive approach to her school work.
- Hayley Weir - for making such a concerted effort to work through her school work during Lockdown.
Bank Accounts
- School Saveloys, sport fees and all camp fundraising - 02 0900 0000 452 00
- Whānau and School, fundraising, school uniforms (2nd hand and new) -
- 03 1734 0006449 00
Contact Us
Email: admin@balclutha.school.nz
Website: http://www.balclutha.school.nz
Location: Lanark St, Balclutha 9230, New Zealand
Phone: 03 419 0103
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Balclutha-Primary-School-193822224020032/