Otago Problem-Solving Challenge

(Years 7/8)

Set 1 - Thurs 28 May

Set 2 - Thurs 25 June

Set 3 - Thurs 23 July

Set 4 - Thurs 20 August

Set 5 - Thurs 10 September

Great Kiwi Competitions (Years 5-8)

Year 5/6 English Kiwi Competition - Thurs 23 July (9-10 am)

Year 5/6 Maths Kiwi Competition - Tues 28 July (9-10 am)

Year 5/6 Science Kiwi Competition - 30 July (9-10 am)

Year 7/8 English Kiwi Competition - 23 July (10-11 am)

Year 7/8 Maths Kiwi Competition - 28 July (10-11 am)

Year 7/8 Science Kiwi Competition - 30 July (10-11 am)

ICAS exams (Years 4-8)

Science - Tuesday 18 August

Digital Technologies - Tuesday 25 August

English - Thursday 27 August

Maths - Tuesday 1 September

Spelling Bee - Thursday 3 September

Thur 4 June HPV vaccine for registered Year 8’s

Sun 7 June Deadline for school photo orders

Tues 9 June PTA 7.30pm in the library

Fri 12 June Scholastic book orders close

9-12, 16-19

June

Moana—swimming at Canterbury

Swim School

Thur 25 June Otago Problem-solving test 9.00am

Wed 1 July Cross-country for whole school

Thur 2 July Postponement date for x-country

Fri 3 July Term ends 3.00pm

Mon 20 July Term 3 commences

Wed 22 July NW Zones x-country @ Jellie Park

Thur 23 July • Otago Problem-solving test

• UC Great Kiwi English exam

Tues 28 July • UC Great Kiwi Maths exam

• Years 3-4 interschool x-country

Thur 30 July UC Great Kiwi Science exam

10-12 August Moana at camp at Hanmer Springs

Tues 18 Aug ICAS Science 9.00am

Thur 20 Aug Otago Problem-solving test 9.00am

24-26 August Awa Nui camp at Woodend

Exam Dates

3 June 2020

Week 8 / 12

If you’ve got old spectacles lying around, the school office can take them off your hands. We collect second-hand glasses, sunglasses (and cases) for the Lions Club to test, repair and send to needy communities in the South Pacific. Drop your old specs — both kids and adult sizes— at the office today!

HPV Vaccinations

Year 8's who have previously registered will

have their HPV vaccinations at 9.00am on

Thursday 4 June. This is a make-up session for

the one that was postponed due to lockdown.

Awards Focus: Hauora—Healthy

Team Awards

Room 1 Tayla Macfarlane, Cole Sutton

Room 2 Alexia Mestanza, Ella-Rose Evans

Room 3 Ryaan Malik, Hollie Anderson

Room 4 Riley Martin, Ava Mackay

Room 5 Gus Rutherfurd, Corban Agnew

Room 6 Therese Surrey, Daniel Bercich

Room 7 Blake Weir, Jessica Thomas

Room 8 Natalia Wakelin, Farron Raasch

Room 9 Haon Kang, Denzel Sangkop

Room 10 Albie Moore, Payton Blomquist

Room 11 Lillia Poh, Morgan Campbell

Room 12 Max Jones-Johnston, Annabelle Kang

Room 13 Elise Mackay, Jasper Edwards

Room 14 Alexandra Bateman, Ethan Green

Te Kohanga Anabelle Males, Hollie Beedie

Room 18 Bella Zhang, Shine Dano

Room 19 Patricia Chen, RP Jansen van Rensburg

Kowhai Award Finalists:

Waka: Piper Mackay

Roto: Natalia Wakelin

Awa Nui: Gwyneth Walsh

Moana: Isla Sangkop

Te Tohu Kowhai winner will be announced and all award

winners will be acknowledged at a (closed) awards

presentation on: Friday 5 June, 9.00am.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, parents & whanau are

not permitted to attend however we will email parents

of award winners a video recording of the presentation.

Principal’s Message

Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai ki te kura Te

Parito Kōwhai ō Russley School. I hope you all enjoyed the

extra day off over Queen’s Birthday Weekend.

Two weeks on from our full return to school and things

have been going better than we could have hoped, for a

number of reasons:

• The children returning have generally been very posi-

tive about getting back into action

• Those initially not so keen

have been brave and stepped

up

• Parents have trusted the

school’s systems and have

also been brave about letting

their children come into

school by themselves

• Teachers have embraced the return to face-to-face

teaching and learning, and have brought enthusiasm

and energy to making things work without fuss

Operating at Level 2 over the past weeks has reinforced

how lucky we are to have the staff we do at Russley

School. Without question, all staff have willingly engaged

in the planning necessary to return to school and have

sought to do whatever is needed to make the experience

of returning to school the best possible for students and

their parents. Thank you all very much.

School uniform

Wearing the correct uniform during the winter months is at

times a challenge. It is time to reinforce what we require

at school. But first, let me congratulate those students

who are wearing school uniform proudly. I can see that

there has been a real effort to buy new garments and

those wearing them look smart — thank you. On the other

hand, I see a number of students coming to school on cold

mornings, wearing only a short-sleeved polo on top. This is

a quick way to get sick! It is important to wear layers in

winter, plus a jacket on cold mornings. Pink, yellow or

green tops or hoodies are not suitable for school.

The Board of Trustees has prescribed a uniform for stu-

dents and it is important it is worn respectfully. If you re-

quire winter garments, you can purchase instore or online

at mainlanduniforms.nz. Since the school fire, our second-

hand stock is very low. In fact, if you have clean and tidy

uniform that your child has outgrown, consider donating it

to the school office. Another good place to search for sec-

ond-hand uniform is TradeMe.

Continuing term event changes

We will continue to update you as events are cancelled

and timetables altered over coming weeks as various

groups decide their plans. Where possible, we hope to

continue as normal but some flexibility is necessary. On

the horizon is cross country in July, camps for Teams Awa

Nui and Moana in term three and winter sport for a short-

ened season in term three also. We are proceeding with

our school production in Term 4 as well. Hopefully a return

to alert level 1 will make things much easier.

Greg Lewis

Tumuaki

principal@russley.school.nz

Congratulations to year 8 student,

Micaiah Veer, on her selection to

Burnside High School’s Performance

Music Programme for 2021.

Ukulele Orchestra is starting tomorrow

in the old hall. The Strum Strike Blow

Festival at Horncastle Arena has been

cancelled but we are still going to

learn the songs and hopefully will get

an opportunity to perform them at

some stage. Remember to bring your

ukulele on Thursday—it’s important for

students to have their own instrument

during this Covid–19 period.

Music

russley cross-country @ Crosbie park

Wednesday 1st july Awa Nui & Moana 11am-1.00pm

Waka & Roto 1.15-2.30PM

In case you were unsure about term dates

following the Covid-19 lockdown, the dates for

the remainder of the year remain unchanged.

Term 2, 2020 Wed 15 April to Fri 3 July

Term 3, 2020 Mon 20 July to Fri 25 Sept

Term 4, 2020 Mon 12 Oct to Tues 15 Dec

Closed on:

Labour Day Mon 26 October

Cant. Show Day Fri 13 November

Russley School Dates 2020

Year 8 students Micaiah Veer and Reu-

ben Veenstra have both been long-

listed for the National Flash Fiction Day

Youth Competition. This prestigious

competition is open to international

submissions up to the age of 19 and

organisers were inundated with entries

this year. It is a huge achievement for

these students to have made the

longlist of 40. The shortlist and final

results will be announced on National

Flash Fiction Day, 22 June.

https://

fingerscommatoes.wordpress.com/nffd

-youth/

Congratulations also to Eliza Sellier

who was published in the journal Toi-

toi #19 with her script titled 'Finger

Play'. Eliza's writing was illustrated by

former Russley School pupil Ahmed

Abdelfadil (now at secondary school).

Another ex-pupil, Kimberly Currie was

also published in this issue, with her

descriptive piece titled 'New Zealand

Forest'.

The following students have had their

writing selected for publication in the

next issue of the Toitoi journal:

Isaac Elkins | Interview with my Gran-

dad (article)

Henry Peters | Fabulous Sea Turtles

(article)

Micaiah Veer | Fort of Feathers (poem)

Shona Beedie | Space Beast (poem)

Ruby Jones-Johnston has been select-

ed to be an illustrator for Toitoi 20.

Meanwhile, author Paula Green has

commended some of the talented writ-

ers from Team Roto, saying "These

poems are magnificent... I love the mu-

sic, the detail, the flow, the mood, the

shared experience. These are the best

and most moving things I have read all

year." The following students will each

receive a copy of her latest book,

Groovy Fish:

Finn B Henry P Willow R

Oliver P James DW Isaac E

Annabelle K

Read more at https://

nzpoet-

rybox.wordpress.com/2020/05/30/

poetry-box-may-challenge-russley-

schools-astonishing-bubble-time-

poems/

Writing Excellence

Mana Ake

Over the next few weeks while we are

still in level 2, Mana Ake is offering

support to parents via Zoom. They are

able to support and guide parents and

whānau who need support with their

children, and to promote wellbeing

and positive mental health. Our Mana

Ake kaimahi have a diverse range of

skills and include psychologists, social

workers, counsellors, teachers and

youth workers. If this is something

that you wish to access, please email

jane.rush@russley.school.nz

QR Code Contact tracing is essential at Alert Level 2. If parents must come

in to school, we ask that they sign in at the kiosks in the admin.

foyer or outside the new hall. You can use pen-and-paper, or use

your smartphone to scan a QR code and record your name.

To the many parents who have complied with the

school’s request to stay off site during Alert Level 2,

a big Russley thank you! Your support has helped us

immensely with our Covid-19 crowd management.

RUSSLEY HUG!

FREE

DELIVERY on

school photos if

you order by

Sunday

7 June.

ICAS Examinations 2020—entries close Wednesday 29 July

Registrations are open for Russley students in Years 4—

8 who wish to sit tests for the International Competi-

tions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS). These tests

are an opportunity for academically proficient children to

sit an external exam at school. A child may enter one,

several or all tests.

Science Tuesday 18 August

Digital Tuesday 25 August Technologies

English Thursday 27 August

Mathematics Tuesday 1 September

Spelling Bee Thursday 3 September

NB There is no writing exam in 2020 because of the

Covid–19 risk of sending test papers for individual

marking. All other exams are conducted online.

If your child wishes to enter, please copy-and-paste the

form below into an email, complete details and email to

feedback@russley.school.nz by Wednesday 29 July.

Please pay entry fee via internet banking.

ICAS Registration 2020

Due by Wednesday 29 July—NO LATE ENTRIES ACCEPTED Student Year Level Room Please select the tests this child is to sit: Digital Technologies $15.00

Science $15.00

Spelling $15.00

English $15.00

Mathematics $15.00

Total: $

I have paid by internet deposit to Russley School Board of Trustees 03 0830 0307669 00

(include student name and ICAS as bank reference)

Burnside High School

Due to COVID-19 re-

strictions, our Open Evening

has been cancelled. Pre-

enrolment applications for

2021 for in and out-of-zone

places is 4pm on Friday

31st July 2020. https://

www.burnside.school.nz/

enrolment/

Community Notices

St Thomas of Canterbury

College

No open day due to Covid-

19. Enrolments for 2021

close July 31st.

www.stc.school.nz

MASH Kids Programme

Before-and-after school,

and holiday programmes,

onsite in Russley school

hall. www.mashkids.co.nz

Riccarton High School

If you are considering apply-

ing for Year 9 in 2021, we

will accept applications un-

til Friday 31 July. https://

www.riccarton.school.nz/

enrol/

RHS Peerswick Scholarship

applications close Monday

15 June. Three scholar-

ships each worth $1,000

on offer for Year 8 students.

https://hail.to/riccarton-

high-school/article/

BaJ65xo

Villa Maria College

Apply for our 2021 intake.

Applications for 2021 close

on Friday 26 June.

http://www.villa.school.nz/

new-parents/enrolment/

KidsFest which runs every

winter school holidays, will

go ahead from Sat 4 July—

Sun 19 July with steps to

ensure the health and safe-

ty of participants. Also some

new online activities acces-

sible thru KidsFest website.

Tickets avail from 5 June at

kidsfest.co.nz

Avonhead Community Trust

Holiday Programme

Monday 6th July-Friday 10th

July, 8:30am-3pm. $150 a

week per child or $35 per

day / per child. Based at

Avonhead Baptist Church,

102 Avonhead Rd.

http://actrust.org.nz/

Programme contains 30min

per day Christian content.