Newsletter Term 1 Week 5 Friday 2 March 2012

Value Focus for next two weeks: Quality / Respect

From The Principal

Kia ora tatou katoa, Talofa, Malo e lelei, Bula vi naka, Kia orana Nga mihi nui ki a koutou, Namaste, Nihao, Greetings to you all.

Welcome to this week’s newsletter. The weeks are flying by and it is hard to believe that it is Week 5 of Term 1 already.

It is hard to believe that last week it was a whole year ago that Christchurch experienced the major devastating earthquake. Our thoughts are with the families who are still suffering trauma.

Visitors

This week we hosted 16 Principals and teachers from Sweden and Norway who visit New Zealand in their term break time to gather ideas for their schools. 16 children from Year 6 were selected to host these visitors and show them around our school. They were very capable and articulate and we appreciate their help.

Councillors

We will be announcing our Councillors very soon. The selection is an extremely difficult process.

Classrooms

We have a number of empty classrooms at the moment in the Junior Block due to the fact that we are progressing with Stage 2 of our modernization project - the old original classrooms that were built in 1967 and are in need of an upgrade. The Junior toilets will be reconstructed during this project.

Sport

Our softball team enjoyed the Interschool field day last week, held on the Elm Park field.

Recycling

A reminder to keep the newspaper and cardboard coming in to the Green plastic bin as we get money for this and we use the money to fund our enviro programme.

Parent Goal Setting Evening next week

The Parent Goal setting evenings will be held on Wednesday 7 March and Thursday 8 March for all students. This will be an opportunity for parents, children and teachers to discuss the recent assessment data collected over the past 3 weeks and a time to set goals for individual children in reading, numeracy and writing. The teachers can share the data information with you and discuss ways that children can be helped with their learning at home as well.

Each interview will take place in your child’s classroom with the class teacher and child for 15 minutes.

If you wish to discuss any issues feel free to make an appointment with the class teacher. This can be done through the school office. Rachel and Lauren are always willing to assist you with this matter. Please understand that our teachers are very busy both before and after school so appointments are necessary if you wish to discuss anything with the teachers.

Swimming

Currently our Year 1-3 children are swimming in Term 1. We feel very strongly about this Water safety activity and would really like all families to support us in ensuring that all children in these classes bring their swimming togs when it is their turn to go swimming. This is an important part of the curriculum and we are expected to support this area of the learning as much as possible. As you will be aware, New Zealand has an increasing number of drownings, which is very sad in a country surrounded by water and numerous lakes and rivers. Thank you for your continued co-operation in this matter.

Road safety

Unfortunately many drivers and parents have a total disregard for the safety of our children at Elm Park. I have had numerous complaints from the public regarding the inconsiderate behaviour of adults outside our school gates. We strive to teach our children to respect each other and be aware of the safety of others particularly on our crossing. Please assist us by crossing on the pedestrian crossing when the parent or teacher allows. Please refrain from abusing our parents and staff who are assisting us with the crossing duty. We have been advised that Traffic Wardens will randomly be coming to observe our crossing and will be issuing tickets where necessary.

Trish Plowright

Principal

Key Events For Your Diary

Wed 7 Mar.......... World Maths Day

Fri 9 Mar............. Principals Morning Tea

Fri 16 Mar........... Whole School Assembly

Wed 21 Mar........ PTA Annual Meeting 7pm

Mon 26 March.... Y6 Camp (MERC) Long Bay

Fri 30 Mar........... Whole School Assembly

Wed 4 Apr........... Principal’s Awards Assembly

Thur 5 Apr........... Term 1 ends

Fri 6 Apr.............. Good Friday

Looking Ahead

For Sale - Worm Tea – the “Up n Go” tonic for the plant world. Only $2.00 for a 2 litre bottle - this makes 20 litres of 100% pure, organic fertiliser that will improve the growing rate of any tree or plant. Order at the office or look out for gate sales.

This Week in Review

Lost Property – We have a large array of lost items in the office – keys, jewellery, watches etc. If you have lost anything in the last year, please come and see us and identify your items.

School Softball - On Wednesday the 22^nd of February the Elm Park Softball team competed in the Howick / Pakuranga competition. With the rain clouds hovering the team quickly went about their business to beat Point View and Mellons Bay in a last innings comeback victory. In the third and final game the team went down in a tight contest to St. Marks, before the looming rain finally arrived. While all the players showed great skill, and most importantly great sportsmanship, the player of the day went to Jeremy Takau for his great pitching, and consistent hitting at the plate.

Focus on Children

Room 9 have been learning about what a Room 9 learner looks like.

POSITIVE SOCIAL INTERACTION WINNERS
Congratulations to the following students who were selected and acknowledged this TERM for their responsible, friendly behaviour.
Room 2	Adison Makaola
Room 7	Jasmine Mapusua
Room 8	Alyssa Timmins
Room 9	Aahan Gupta
Room 10	Annika Choudhry
Room 11	Jayden Hill
Room 12	Tatiana Wichman
Room 13	Marcus Ambler
Room 14	Khalida Nazif
Room 15	Jennifer Chan Pham
Room 16	Kobey Kenrick
Room 17	Ashton Liggett
Room 18	Jordan Freeman
Room 19	Bailey Ruoff
Room 20	Sophie Low
Room 21	Daniel Bates
Room 22	Iverson Chee
Room 23	Anna Hallows
Room 24	Ashleigh Gibbons
Room 25	Catherine Chan
Room 26	Oliver Handley-Elder
Room 28	James Hills
Room 29	Troy Misihepi
Room 30	Liam Revell
PERSONAL PRESENTATION
The following students were voted as the overall winner in their year level for the most neatly presented in their uniform.
Year 1:	Peter Addo
Year 2:	Paige Newman
Year 3:	Jethro Mapusua
Year 4:	Kendra Lai Khan
Year 5:	Ayden Larson
Year 6:	Rafael Dio

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Farmhouse Fun Camps - The Farmhouse will be running horse riding camps for two weeks during the April holidays. We are members of the OSCAR foundation and have CYF approval. Our next camp dates are: 09/04/2012 - 13/04/2012 and 16/04/2012 - 20/04/2012 Please contact us on 07 3323771 for more information.

Howick Baby Fair - Sat 11 Feb, 10am - 12pm Howick Rec Centre, 563 Pakuranga Rd

Come along for great bargains on new and used baby/children's clothes, toys, books, nursery equipment, maternity items and much more! Entry by gold coin donation. For more info contact babyfair@howickplunket.org.nz