Puketapu School Newsletter
Week 6, Term 2, 2019
Empower All People to be Healthy, Lifelong Learners
Kia kaha - do your best * Kia māia - be courageous * Kia manawanui - have a heart
Para Kore - Zero Waste
Its been really great to see students caring for our environment, by cutting down on their waste, just by making good choices and doing things differently!
Beeswax Wraps
Yelena created this slide show about Beeswax Wraps
Leaf Art from Totara
Less Rubbish = cleaner classrooms
We are very proud and so happy to see the school becoming so much cleaner with less rubbish around and so our our Crest Clean cleaners Lita and Afelee.
They have been awarding points for each class and half way through the term the leading classes from each Learning Team is:
Rimu 2 44pts
Totara 4 47pts
Kowhai 4 48pts
Kauri 2 45pts
Some of the other classes are very close behind so it is still anyone's game yet. Keep up the clean classrooms everyone!
Student Learning Conferences
Thursday 20 June 3.30-6.30pm
Friday 21 June 8.00am -4.30pm
* While Friday counts as a school day, students only need to be here for their conference, then go home for the rest of the day.
Congratulations To...
Congratulations to our Puketapu Superstars this week:
- Liana Birch
- Connie Upton-Fleming
- Sapphire Kuchler
- Carter Taylor
- Natu Robert
Duffy Awards
- Layla Read
- Malan de Klerk
- Mason Nation-Fahey
- Carter Taylor
- Osbourne Grace
- Brooke Balsom
- Nixon Gadsby
- Indie Rose Smith
The Tech Hub
Kia ora whanau.
Last week I attended a professional development course run by The Heart Foundation and Vegetables.co.nz. It was a great opportunity to meet with professional in the industry, and other food tech teachers across New Plymouth.
Part of what we looked at is facts about sugar....and some of this information blew my mind!
Here's some facts for you:
In 2015 the World Health Organisation stated that the average 10 year old should only consume 5 teaspoons of sugar a day.
Did you know that a 600 ml bottle of soft drink has 16 teaspoons of sugar in it.
That's 3 times more than the recommended daily serving of sugar!
So how much is added sugar are NZ children eating?
A survey done in 2002 found that males (5-14 years old) are eating 17 teaspoons a day (about 67 grams) and females (5-14 years old) are eating 15 teaspoons a day (about 61 grams)
That's a whopping total of 23KG of added sugar per child per year!
I was pretty amazed by these facts, and I hate to think what the results would show now in 2019.
Knowledge is power, so lets use this to all try and make some simple changes in our diets so we can continue to be healthy life long learners.
Nga Mihi,
Mrs Wigley.
Water Only Please
Water bottles are very welcome in class but other drinks are not.
Water is Brain Juice!
Board of Trustees Elections
Last call! Your votes for your Board of Trustees must be in by noon this Friday, in the return envelope with the voting form.
Your candidates are:
- Hayley Adams
- Leanne Hardgrave
- Steph Julian
- Paul Rauputu
- Marnie Reinfelds
- Shannen Robinson
- Maria Upton
- Mike Warring
Full information about each candidate is with your voting papers and you can read more in our Election Special newsletter
If you are planning on posting your vote back, please make sure you post it tomorrow, Thursday 6 June. Provided it is date stamped BEFORE noon on 7 June, we can accept postal votes until 12 June.
Statements and Email Addresses
If you don't receive a statement, it will be because we don't have your email address.
If you don't receive a statement, please let us know as we need your email address to make sure you receive student reports and get access to our new parent portal.
Mrs Paterson and Maths
Mrs Paterson, Puketapu School’s ‘Maths Support Teacher’ has been working with groups of students. She is keen to develop students who are confident to give something a go, who ask good questions and listen to others’ ideas.
While maths, some time ago, used to be about speed, this is no longer our aim. We seek to develop mathematical students who, working collaboratively, can problem solve, explain their thinking and communicate their findings.
Mrs Paterson has some maths thinking, ideas and problems for you to try together at home. Have a go and we’d love to hear how you solve these problems.
Maths at Home
You Cubed: Advice for Parents, from Professor Jo Boaler of Stanford University
Do you remember how excited your children were about maths when they were young? How they were excited by patterns in nature? How they rearranged a set of objects and found, with delight, that they had the same number?
Before children start school they often talk about maths with curiosity and wonder, but soon after they start school many children decide that maths is confusing and scary and they are not a “math person”.
Parents can help - here are six simple things to bear in mind:
1. Encourage children to play maths puzzles and games. Award winning mathematician, Sarah Flannery reported that her maths achievement and enthusiasm came not from school but from the puzzles she was given to solve at home. Puzzles and games – anything with a dice – will help kids enjoy maths, and develop number sense, which is critically important.
2. Always be encouraging and never tell kids they are wrong when they are working on maths problems. Instead find the logic in their thinking – there is always some logic to what they say. For example if your child multiplies 3 by 4 and gets 7, say – Oh I see what you are thinking, you are using what you know about addition to add 3 and 4, when we multiply we have 4 groups of 3…
3. Never associate maths with speed. It is not important to work quickly, and we now know that forcing kids to work quickly on maths is the best way to start maths anxiety for children, especially girls. Don’t use flashcards or other speed drills. Instead use visual activities such as FluencyWithoutFear
4. Never share with your children the idea that you were bad at maths at school or you dislike it – especially if you are a mother. Researchers found that as soon as mothers shared that idea with their daughters, their daughter’s achievement went down.
5. Encourage number sense. What separates high and low achievers is number sense – having an idea of the size of numbers and being able to separate and combine numbers flexibly. For example, when working out 29 + 56, if you take one from the 56 and make it
30 + 55, it is much easier to work out. The flexibility to work with numbers in this way is what is called number sense and it is very important.
6. Perhaps most important of all – encourage a “growth mindset” let students know that they have unlimited maths potential and that being good at maths is all about working hard. When children have a growth mindset, they do well with challenges and do better in school overall. When children have a fixed mindset and they encounter difficult work, they often conclude that they are not “a math person”. One way in which parents encourage a fixed mindset is by telling their children they are “smart” when they do something well. That seems like a nice thing to do, but it sets children up for difficulties later, as when kids fail at something they will inevitably conclude that they aren’t smart after all. Instead use growth praise such as “it is great that you have learned that”, “I really like your thinking about that”. When they tell you something is hard for them, or they have made a mistake, tell them: “That’s wonderful, your brain is growing!”
For more resources see https://www.youcubed.org
Learning @ Home Books for 2020
It was a close competition but the winner is Emma Warring of Kowhai 2.
The brief was to design a cover that displays our school values and we think Emma has put a lot of thought and care into her design - showing Kia Kaha in her work. Well done Emma!
Well done and thank you to everyone who entered a design.
Book Club Issue 4
Friday Lunches
Order and pay at the office before 3.30pm on Wednesday.
Friday 7 June
- Hawaiian Quiche $5
- Cup of soup with roll and butter: Sweetcorn and Bacon $5
- Lunch pack (piece of fruit, yoghurt, mini cookie, raisins and Mini Ham and Cheese Croissant) $5
Friday 14 June
- 8" sausage with Mash potato and Cheese - comes with potato gems $5
- Cup of soup with roll and butter: Pumpkin $5
- Lunch pack (piece of fruit, yoghurt, mini cookie, raisins and Ham Sandwich) $5
*** Thursday 20 June *** (as Friday is Student Learning Conferences Day)
- Sausage Roll with potato gems $5
- Cup of soup with roll and butter: Chicken and Sweetcorn $5
- Lunch pack (piece of fruit, yoghurt, mini cookie, raisins and Cheese Scone) $5
Friday 28 June
- Macaroni and Cheese (Bacon) $5
- Cup of soup with roll and butter: Kumera and Bacon $5
- Lunch pack (piece of fruit, yoghurt, mini cookie, raisins and Savoury Pinwheel) $5
Friday 5 July
- American Hotdog $5
- Cup of soup with roll and butter: Veggie $5
- Lunch pack (piece of fruit, yoghurt, mini cookie, raisins and Mini Bacon and Egg Puff $5
Birthdays
- Kayne Adrian
- Kirsty Stoneman
- Oracle Rangi
- Yasiin Falaniko
- Kairyn Niwa-Te Huia
- Kharlym Gilligan
Yummy Stickers
We will exchange our stickers for sports gear, so the more stickers, the more gear!
What's On: This week and next
Thursday 6 June:
Kowhai Hickford Park Clean Up Day. Leaving school at 9.30am, all Kowhai students will walk/bike to the park. We will be back around 1.30pm. Parents are most welcome to come along. Bike with us if you like.
Friday 7 June:
Kauri Beach Clean Up Day. Leaving school at 12.00noon, all Kauri students will walk to Bell Block Beach. We will be back around 1.30pm. Parents are most welcome to come along with us.
Board of Trustee Election Day. All votes must be received in the school office by noon today.
Monday 10 June:
Home and School Meeting at 6:30pm - All Welcome!
Wednesday 12 June:
To see if Spotswood College is a potential high school for them, all our Year 8 students have been invited to visit. We will travel by bus leaving at 9.30am. Any parents who want to come along are most welcome - please let Mrs O'Dowda know.
Thursday 13 June:
Crazy Shirt Day (more information to follow from Ale)
What's on: Rest of the Term
Heads up! As we continue with our planning, more things and more detail will be added to our Calendar and further information will come home regarding trips and outings.
Monday 17 - Friday 21 June: Hockey coaching this week for Totara, Kowhai and Kauri (more info to follow)
Wednesday 19 June: Board of Trustees Meeting (first for new Board)
Thursday 20 June: Spotswood College visiting Year 8 students, Student Learning Conferences 3.30-6.30pm
Friday 21 June: Student Learning Conferences 8.00-4.30pm (Students only come to school for their conference, then go home.)
Monday 24 June:Hockey coaching this week for Totara, Kowhai and Kauri
Thursday 27 June: Home & School Quiz Night - see info below. Tickets are on sale at the office.
Friday 28 June: Brave the Shave, School Disco
Friday 5 July - LAST DAY OF TERM 2
Team Newsletters
These will be coming out this week - hard copies will go home with students and electronic copies emailed.
Spot Prize Donations Wanted!
Clothes Swap
Friday 26 July, Fred Tucker Hall - Free entry
Clean out your wardrobe and bring your good used (adult) clothes to the school office.
On the night, come along and try on a bargain.
Proceeds will be going to Kick Start Breakfast
Community Notices
Get on your bike and Glow!
Puketapu School
Email: office@puketapu.school.nz
Website: www.puketapu.school.nz
Location: Dillon Drive, Bell Block, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Phone: 06 755 0973