Faster, free broadband network on its way!

Fantastic news this week to be named by the Minister of Education as one of the first 20 schools in NZ to be connected to Network 4 Learning's managed internet network. This is the new government- funded managed network, which will include uncapped data, content filtering and network security services. We should be all up and go with the faster broadband connection before the end of this year which is really exciting. This is really timely and helpful as we move forward with our focus  on using mobile digital technologies more effectively in all classrooms to enhance children's learning.  It should also open up new learning opportunities and ways of collaboration for our children and for our teachers. 

More than just a show!

I really enjoyed the "Rewind" Electives show at the end term for many reasons. Firstly it reinforced to me that a wide experience rich curriculum is really important if children are to grow into well rounded people. We will continue to resist external influences that would push us towards a narrow curriculum. Some of the other positives from the show for me were:

* Every child in the show had their moment on stage and the joy in their faces!

* The chance to perform in a real theatre on a big stage

* The variety of talent in every age group, singers, dancers, artists, theatre, kapa haka

* The opportunity to be part of a bigger team with all ages

* It helped children develop teamwork, respect for others,  hard work and discipline, cooperation, resilience.

* A chance to celebrate the arts as a community and just have fun!

I could go on but really it was just a fantastic night and so rewarding on all fronts. A final mention for the teachers and supporters who worked hard to give our children this opportunity. Thank you.

The Story behind our Development in Teaching Te Reo

These interviews published on the Ministry of Education's T.K.I . website explain the background behind our journey in developing our teaching of Te Reo over the last two years. Thought these would also be of interest to our wider community.

Nadine Malcolm -Lead Teacher
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Media-gallery/Treaty-of-Waitangi/Te-reo-Maori-and-language-acquisition


Tracey Hopkins - Classroom Teacher
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Media-gallery/Treaty-of-Waitangi/Growing-te-reo-Maori-capabilities


David Mossop - Principal
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Media-gallery/Treaty-of-Waitangi/Leading-te-reo-Maori-development

National Standards data publication delayed.

There has been a delay in the publishing of school by school data on the Ministry of Education's website until the end of July. A significant number of school annual reports have not been received or processed yet and potentially a large amount of data will need to be removed from these reports in order to protect student privacy. Clearly the final published data will be incomplete and even less reliable and valid for use to make between-school comparisons. Which begs the question of why it is even published in this way in the first instance?

Thankfully with the assessment tools and processes we use, teachers know far more about your child’s achievement than National Standards can tell you. That is why we prefer to hold learning conferences where you can discuss with your child's teacher specific assessment results and what their next steps for learning are going to be to help them make further progress. Please make sure you book a time online by Thursday 4 July.

iPad Programme - Exciting News!

Following the successful introduction of iPads into classrooms, the Board of Trustees at their May meeting has moved to ensure that our children have greater access to these exciting technologies. They approved an iPad programme that over two years moves our technology emphasis away from desktop computers to ipads which are less expensive, more mobile, more flexible and give us the ability to give more children 1:1 access. I applaud the foresight of the Board as this will make sure we keep moving forward as an innovative school making the best use of new technologies to help our children develop as successful learners. This means we will now purchase further iPads in 2013 which will be gradually phased in over the rest of the year. 

Board Elections

It's great to see the number of parents who are standing for our Board of Trustees in the upcoming election. I think it is a healthy sign of our school community and we know whoever is voted on that the school will be well served in this area. Reminder that nominations close noon 16 May and please remember to vote.

Being A Positive Digital Citizen

In this movie clip Kevin Honeycutt shares the importance of talking with our children about the digital footprint they are making. Its a really good positive way of discussing with your child the issues of using the internet and digital devices  We shared this at our recent parent evening on digital learning and some parents asked to be able to access it again. On our school webpage you can also download our school guidelines on "Being a Positive Digital Citizen"

PTA - Needs a TEAM EFFORT from us all.

Our PTA do a fantastic job of fundraising, most of it organised by a small group of dedicated people. You can see the projects around the school which have been a result of their efforts e.g. the new playground, the solar heating of the pool and many more over the years. This year they run the Gala which, if it is like the one in 2011, will be a fun event for all our families to enjoy - as well as being a good fund raiser.
However I heard they are short of classroom co-ordinators. What they need are parents who will be the liaison people for each class. Its not a hard job, you won't be left in the lurch and you can do it with a friend etc. Please consider if you can do this small role for your child's class, we need a school team effort for this Gala to work!

Please contact Jo Stephens (jo.stephens@clear.net.nz) to find out more or to put your name forward.  There is plenty of time to go but its nice to know we will have enough people to run the Gala well ahead of the date!

OUR GALA COMMITTEE ARE:
Co-ordinators – Cherryl Cunningham and Mel Ruffell
Marketing - Cherryl Cunningham and Mel Ruffell
Entertainment – Helen Bond
Logistics – Brendon Stone
Finances & Sponsorship – Helen Derry, Michelle Licht and Sarah Urlich
Raffles & Prizes – Jo Dudson
Stall & Parent Liasion – Jo Stephens

Student Leadership Positions

Today the first of a number of senior student leadership positions are to announced. We have been blown away by the number of children applying, by what we have seen over the last 6 weeks of observation and by the standard of their responses in interviews. For these positions we are often looking for specific skills and dispositions to fulfil the tasks they will undertake.

Today I talked at the senior assembly around the idea of leadership. For what it is worth I believe leaders are people who are able to influence and bring about a change. Some of the best leaders don't have titles but are still effective leaders in whatever is their sphere of influence whether it be at work, with friends or at home. My challenge to them was how would they react to the disappointment if they were not selected.

In my development as a leader, I know I have not always been successful in what I have wanted to achieve. The best times for my growth and development have been in times of challenge and what I have learnt from disappointments and mistakes. I explained to the children that what defines us and shapes our character is not what we achieve so much but how we deal with the challenges and disappointments that come our way as they inevitably will.  They have a choice about how they are going to react. Will they throw their toys out of the cot? Look to blame someone else? Sulk?  I hope not. Those reactions would just demonstrate they weren’t ready for that next step. No one wants leaders who will seek to influence people in those ways. There may be disappointment but I hope they will be able to celebrate with others and then reset their sights on new goals.

 There are many opportunities for children to enjoy at our school. Get out there and enjoy them, show leadership wherever you can because you never know what might be around the corner! See every thing that happens to you as an opportunity to grow!  Tu Tanagata  - Stand Tall.

Dates announced for new schools

Kia ora
Finally some dates have been announced by the Education Minister today for the building of new schools in our northern suburbs. It will still be several years before the secondary school will be opened in 2016 which will also include Year 7&8 students. The primary school which will be built in Flagstaff couldn't come any sooner either with full rolls in northern suburb schools already. Lets hope nothing gets stalled before final decisions are made in June this year.

Call for back to basics

I see over the weekend that Ms Parata, our Minister of Education is  calling for a return to basic arithmetic in schools. She knows this sort of statement gets parents attention and I can't help but feel it is nicely timed to divert attention from all the other issues we face in education at the moment. Most parents will know thank goodness that we still help our children to learn basic maths facts its just that we also help them to think about what they are doing and solve problems. Learning how to do algorithms - long division and multiplication with 5 to 6 digits isn't a focus until later in their Primary years when they are confident in working with numbers. We still believe fluency of basic facts helps in solving all mathematical problems.

Novo pay update

Novopay update 26 February.
Information shared by the Principals Federation today

Novopay No Better

The Novopay system for paying the country’s teachers has long been described as a train wreck in slow motion.  The latest survey of New Zealand school principals confirms that after seven months the wreck continues to advance and schools are at the end of their tether.

‘Our latest survey results from 1,155 respondents are the most disturbing of all six surveys we have conducted since last October,’ said Philip Harding, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF).

The proportion of schools experiencing on-going Novopay issues has leapt from 86% in October 2012 to 96%. Now, administration staff are resigning. Principals reported that as a direct result of Novopay stress, twenty-three staff have resigned their positions. Alongside those who have left, principals say there are hundreds who are under unreasonable stress and many more are considering resignation.

‘This is a distressing finding,’ says Harding. ‘We can reasonably assume that our survey respondents are representative of all schools. We can therefore extrapolate from the data that there could be as many as 50 resignations across the country and many more at breaking point,’ he said.

Other results for the 1,155 respondents showed 25,585 staff were incorrectly paid in the last pay period, and 55.5% of schools paid staff from their own school funds. 

Sun continues to shine on camps!

The second Year 5&6 camp to Tui Ridge in Rotorua got underway today with Rooms 3, 5 and 13 adding off by bus. Great to see the excitement on the faces of the children and on the faces of the parents saying their good-byes!
Rooms 1,2, 4 and 12 returned safely on Friday, thank you to the staff and parents who gave these children such a neat experience.
This year has seen amazing weather for our outdoor education activities. Its one concern we haven't had to worry about. (so far)
Mr Fitness txted this photo this morning of the campers getting straight into the first of their activities on arrival at Rotorua.

Student writing walls

Check out the new writing published on the walls around the school, they have just been updated thanks  to Louise Wilson who organised this. You can also read children's writing on the writing wall in the office and on their classroom blogs. Enjoy!

School Environment

The school buildings are getting a facelift at the moment as we are due this year for a complete repaint. The painters are on site at the moment and quietly working their way around the classrooms. Great to hear the PTA at their meeting last night commit to raising funds this year to astroturf the netball / basketball court area. They have set a target of $40,000 which will support the Board to start this project later this year. This focus came from the 2011 parent survey and was one of the top 3 ideas. The other 2 have already been completed - the senior playground climbing frame and the solar heating for the swimming pool. Nice to know these things will all be ticked off after this year hopefully. Lets all get behind the PTA and their fundraisers this year, they do a fantastic job!

Novopay!

Hi, someone asked if we were affected by the problems with Novopay which have been covered in the media. The short answer is sadly yes! Our latest payround was littered with errors one of the worst yet. We had two teachers not paid at all and others with all sorts of errors in their pay. The problem with this system is that it is very hard to get things fixed and the problems just compound. It is causing many hours extra work for my Executive Officer and myself.  However we still have our sense of humour and remain positive and hope that one day we will see some light at the end of the tunnel!

What a difference with the solar heating turned on for our pool! for the first time we had swimming in the first block of the day and the temperature was 25 degrees! It will be even warmer when our cover is installed. Thats to Miss Cramond's successful application to the Grassroots Trust we have Sue Woods back to assist with swimming instruction with all classes. As a trained instructor she was wonderful last year and works for Kelly Sports. The school is also providing some funding, a good way to use some of our school donations that benefits all children!

For Lynley Dodd fans- good opportunity.

2013 has started!

Kia ora
This is my first Principal blog. All classes this year will be sharing their learning this year with blogs so I'm giving it a go as well. I hope to use it to communicate my thoughts and any information which is best shared in this way. I stress this is a trial so be patient!

The first school day of 2013 has come and gone so fast! it was nice visiting all the classes today, meeting our new students and seeing how quickly all the children were settling in. Please make sure they pop their swimming togs in their bags so they can cool off at school- and learn to swim of course!