BIS Newsletter Week 9 Term 1
Thursday 1st April 2021
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Have an Egg-Cellent Weekend
The last 12 months has given us time to reflect on how lucky we are to live in New Zealand but it has also been a year of worry for many people. The increased discussions around the pandemic and the flow on effect it has for the economy and wellbeing has also had an impact on children.
This weekend could be a good time to chat to your child about how they are feeling about school and about the future. We are hearing talk about students feeling anxious about things that are out of their control. Hearing how you feel and the things that worry you and how to manage your worry could be helpful for your child. Talking to your child about how everyone worries and that this is a normal emotion could also be helpful.
Our deputy principal, Mel Robinson oversees pastoral care and is excellent at helping our students to navigate feelings of being overwhelmed or needing support. If you have concerns then please contact her and see how the school can support you. For bigger concerns around anxiety, our best advice is to talk to your GP to get additional help if that is appropriate.
Regardless of where you spend the weekend, I hope you have a lovely time, eat loads of chocolate treats and enjoy some quality time with your friends and whānau.
Just a reminder, school reopens on Wednesday after the Easter break. This is an 11 week term with holidays commencing on Thursday 15 April at 3pm.
Ngā mihi nui,
JoAnne Sutton
Our Easter Raffle won by Leo Allen
Thank you to The Warehouse, Glenfield for donating this amazing prize.
The winning class who sold the most tickets was Room 16.
Our Community Ball - Puttin' On The Ritz
Please get a group of your friends together and plan to get dressed up and join us to dance the night away. As well as having an incredible night, you will also be helping our school to raise much need funds for our school library.
The success of this evening depends on our parent community supporting us. We need you to buy your tickets this week, we need you to encourage others to buy tickets this week, we need you to spread the word that this event is happening and it's going to be an evening not to be missed. Thank you.
After School Activities
Activities will not run in the last week of school but they will be back in term 2.
Board of Trustees
Intermediate Schools do struggle to find and keep Board members due to the short time that students are at our school. We have been incredibly fortunate at BIS to have had a very stable Board for many years. Our resigning Board Chair, Millie Richardson has been part of our Board since 2009. During that time she has overseen many property projects, employed numerous staff members including a principal appointment, has seen the curriculum delivery change and been involved in fundraisers and school events. Her knowledge of the school will be a big loss to us and we are very grateful to all of her years of service.
Melinda Borland and Dana Youngman are also leaving our Board. Their skillsets will be missed and we wish them all the very best and thank them for their time on our Board.
Rachael Barnett joined our Board last year and has been elected as our new Chairperson. Along with Shannon Leilua, she is looking forward to welcoming new Board members and working with them to ensure our school thrives.
Board members attend monthly meetings about the governance of the school. They are involved with the strategic goal setting of the school including property, finances, human resources and student achievement. We want Board members who are passionate about education and want the best for students in this community. You do not need to have experience or a specific skillset. Training is available and we will work closely with NZ School trustees Association to help you to learn the ropes.
An interest in school business, property, progressing our school and ensuring the best for all students are qualities needed for a Board member.
Jenny Williams is our returning officer and will be calling for nominations next week. If you want to know more, please pop in for a chat and a walk around the school to find out what this role entails.
Easter Break
As we have lost a couple of Monday and Tuesdays dues to lockdowns, we will be running our Monday and Tuesday timetables on the Wednesday and Thursday for this week.
Digital Devices Needed
Wanted - Broken or unwanted children sit-in motorized toy cars.
Our Tinkering club—electronics group—is on the lookout for these large motorized toy cars to use as bases for motorized platforms. If you have one you no longer want or if it is broken we can, use and modify them. They can be dropped off at the school office.
Device recycling drive.
Do you have old unused laptops, desktops, or tablets sitting around your home or workplace? Mice, keyboards, or monitors cluttering up the place? Bring them in and we can put them to good use. Our team of students will try to get any of them back to a workable state so we can use them in digital tech, animation club, and building video games. If they are beyond repair, our Tinkering club will pull them apart to scavenge materials we can reuse like 18650 batteries, fans, hard drives etc. The remaining parts will then be split into plastics, metals, and motherboards to be taken to the appropriate recycling facility.
If possible please do a factory reset of your device first so that all your data is cleared from your old devices, but if your not sure how to do that, we can do it in school.
Devices can be dropped off at the school office before or after school or students can drop them off to the Digital Tech room.
We can take any of the following:
Desktops and laptops of any brand (working or broken), tablets, Ipads, mice, headphones, keyboards, harddrives, kindles, power cables, internet cables, USB cables, old cables.
Communication Home
Please ensure we have an up-to-date email address, download our BIS School App, like our Facebook page and check our website regularly for more detailed information about what is happening at BIS.
Upcoming Events
Friday 2nd April - Easter Friday (School Closed)
Monday 5th April - Easter Monday (School Closed)
Tuesday 6th April - Easter Break (School Closed)
Saturday 10th April - Community Ball - Puttin' on the Ritz
Tuesday 13th April - NSIS Girls Futsal Zone Day
Wednesday 14th April - NSIS Boys Futsal Zone Day
Thursday 15th April - End of Term 1
Friday 16th April - Teacher Only Day
Monday 3rd May - Term 2 Begins
Contact Us
Email: office@bis.school.nz
Website: https://www.bis.school.nz/
Location: 200 Birkdale Road, Birkdale, Auckland 0626, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9-483 9168
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/birkdaleintermediateschool
Community Advertisements
Please contact office@bis.school.nz to advertise your community event in this space.
SportSpasifiks Niuways
SportSpasifiks Niuways Free Zumba and Boxfit program starting next week 15th and 17th Feb 6.30-730pm in the Birkdale Intermediate School hall. All parents and students welcome. The programme runs for 6weeks, with plenty of fun, open to all ages and fitness levels.
Check our Facebook or Instagram @sportspasifik for information.
Contact alexm@harboursport.co.nz