2014 Learning Theme:  Together We Are Strong

Kia ngãtahi ai te tu
E pakari ai te tuarã
Stand united, stand strong!

26 June 2014

Kia Ora Tatou, Greetings to all

Dear Parents

Term 2 is the shortest term of the school year but it has been eight weeks of intense learning and activity for your children. We have one week left before Term 2 ends and I know our students are looking forward to a well-deserved break. Your children have worked very hard and you should be very proud of them.

Our new Administration building has been blessed
Last Friday morning the school gathered together for a very special blessing ceremony.  We were very fortunate to have a representative from the local Epsom marae (Te Unga Waka Marae) to bless our building. Andrew Minturn, our BOT chairman, cut the ribbon and officially opened the new building. I was very proud of our students as they sang the Maori hymn and school song beautifully, and the ceremony was a very historical and memorable occasion for our school. We now have a professional area for our dedicated office team to work in, a welcoming sick bay for the students and a very attractive staffroom.

Learning Programmes
At the end of each term the student voice groups gather together to evaluate the school’s topic of learning. We have three student voice groups: Y1 and 2, Y3 and 4, Y5 and 6. Their comments are as follows:

In the Junior School we have been talking about the different things we enjoyed doing as part of our Topic ‘I am a Zoologist’. We have been to the zoo and discussed the different habitats animals live in. We have especially enjoyed creating animal art.

The Middle School has loved our Term 2 science topic ‘I am a Zoologist’. Student voice representatives have said that their classes were very motivated to study wild animals, learn about classification, visit the zoo and choose an animal to research on their own. Our visitor from the zoo last week added extra motivation for students to think about animal enclosures. It has been a great term.

In the Senior School we have learned about the 3 tenets of Zoology – adaptation, behaviour and classification. The highlights for the Zoology topic for the senior students have been the trip to the zoo and the animal enrichment scheme. Through the term students have been designing objects for animal enclosures to enrich the animals’ lives.

The topic for Term 3 is ‘I am an Archaeologist’.  Teachers have been meeting regularly to plan exciting learning experiences at the different year levels.

Staffing for 2014
A warm welcome to Sonja He who is teaching our newest New Entrants in the Awhina Room.

ZoologyAthon
A big thank you for your generous donations towards our annual Athon. This year we raised a record-breaking $13,701.30. Thank you also to the PTA for organising this fundraiser.

Warm Regards

Jane Cavanagh-Eyre
Principal