Epsom Normal Primary School

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2013 Learning Theme: Together We Are Strong

Kia ngãtahi ai te tu
E pakari ai te tuarã

Stand united, stand strong!

16 May 2013

Kia Ora Tatou, Greetings to all

Dear Parents
A warm welcome to our new students and new parents, we hope you are feeling very much a part of the Epsom Normal Community already. It was good to see a number of you at our school powhiri on Tuesday 14 May.

LEARNING PROGRAMME FOR TERM 2
This year the schoolwide theme at Epsom Normal is ‘Together We Are Strong’. Over the previous term we have had the opportunity to study within the context of ‘I am a Researcher’. Our focus across the school for Term 2 is ‘I am an Explorer’.

FOCUS ON TERM 2 – ‘I AM AN EXPLORER’

The Junior School
Our big idea is EXPLORERS ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORLD AND EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN. Students explore different places in the world by sending their coloured paper template of Flat Stanley overseas or within NZ to chosen family members or friends. Teachers and students are excited at the thought of Stanley coming back with information on the countries he visits. We explore locally, eg trips to Auckland City/Devonport and also explore significant places to Aucklanders, eg Mount Eden.

The Middle School
As part of our school wide topic ‘I am an Explorer’, the Middle School will be discovering famous explorers from around the world. This topic’s focus is Geography, specifically people and places. We will be identifying the strengths required to be an explorer and some of the challenges they may face. We will be visiting the Auckland Maritime Museum to discover Polynesian Navigation later in the term. To conclude the topic, students will then be taken on a journey around the world from Ancient Egypt to Base Camp at Mt Everest.

The Senior School
As part of our school wide topic ‘I am an Explorer’, our senior students will be exploring different cities from around the world. Their exploration will begin in Aotearoa and will extend to all corners of the world, including Brazil, Egypt and England. The conclusion of the topic will have students exploring and creating their own Utopia by combining their learning from the term’s exploration.

Artist of the Year
Rita Angus, the chosen artist of study at ENPS in 2013, is credited as one of the leading figures in the twentieth century New Zealand Art. She worked primarily in oil and water colours, and is well known for her portraits and landscapes. If you take the time to explore the corridors and classrooms of ENPS, amazing interpretations of her artworks will unfold before your eyes. The creativity of the students under the guidance of their dedicated teachers will astound you. You may find your child looking down at you from a realistic self-portrait; you may recognize Mt Eden or a familiar South Island landscape or boating scene. There are wonderfully colourful modernistic interpretations of her artwork reminiscent of last year’s Miro studies and of course many reproductions carried out by our students of her original artworks. Take the time to enjoy what our students have achieved thus far and remember, this is only the beginning … many more wonderful pieces will be achieved for all of us to enjoy before the year’s end.

Book Club
ENPS Book Club is back! The first club meeting is scheduled for Thursday 23 May right after the lunch eating bell in the library. The book club is open to Year 3 to 6 for now but we will be looking to include the Year 1s & 2s in our activities. This year, we are looking at putting together quiz teams to compete against each other. As before, there will be Author’s Week and games galore to celebrate reading. So, hurry along and share your love for reading with us.
‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.’
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Science Club
We are very excited to get Science Club up and running again. Science Club is for any students (Y1-6) who are interested in Science and the world around them. We meet in the library pit on Mondays at 1.15pm. Students are encouraged to bring some of their own science observations to share. This year we hope to share on the school website some of our science experiences and updates. Keep an eye out for photos and websites that will guide you to what we have been doing. All students are welcome!

UPDATE OF NEW ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
We have been waiting for over three years for our new administration building to start. Our current administration building is deemed a ‘leaky building’ and will be replaced by a new administration block starting at the beginning of Term 3. This is a Ministry funded project. During the July holidays, the administration staff will move into a locatable room, which will be placed in the existing car park. This will cause some upheaval in the school, but I know the results of having a larger reception area and better working conditions for our office staff will all be worth it. The project is expected to take approximately nine months.

Warmest regards

Jane Cavanagh-Eyre
Principal