25 May 2016 Newsletter No: 07

MP Grant Robertson visited staff last Friday. Along with staff members he too supported Pink Shirt Day

KEY DATES in TERM 2

MAY

Wednesday 25th May BoT Elections – Meet the Candidates 7pm

Thursday 26th May School Cross Country

JUNE Friday 3rd June Teacher Only Day – School closed for students Monday 6th June Queen’s Birthday Holiday Tuesday 7th Central Zone Cross Country (postponement day 9th) Thursday 16th June Wellington East Girls College Open Day Tuesday 21st Inter Zone Cross Country (postponement day 23rd)

Wellington Girls College Open Day Thursday 23rd Matariki Celebrations 6-8pm Saturday 25th & Monday 27th Wellington College Open Evenings Monday 27th – Thursday 30th Parent/Teacher Interviews

JULY Tuesday 5th Regional Cross Country (postponement 7th) Friday 8th Last Day Term 2

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Brooklyn

Tena koutou katoa

We have our fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow for our school cross country. We are

meeting at the flagpole at 1pm and will walk down to the Prince of Wales Park. The Tui syndicate

are holding their cross country at 11.45am; this will be based at school. The Central Zone cross

country is on the 7th June (postponement 9 June). This means if we still have a week up our sleeves

to run our cross country. We’re keeping a close eye on the weather and will let you know if it is

postponed again. Could you please make sure your child brings a change of shoes/socks to

school tomorrow and a towel to dry off as there will be mud around the course.

We have had a lot of interest from the community and are pleased to have 19 candidates stand

for the Board of Trustee elections. There is an opportunity to hear from the candidates tonight,

7pm in the school staffroom. I would like to thank the outgoing Board of Trustee members for their

guidance and support during the last 3 years, it is most appreciated. Congratulations to Glen

Burdon who was re-instated unopposed as Staff Representative on the Board of Trustees

Last week we farewelled Emma Lane, who had been in a learning support role here at Brooklyn.

She is relocating back to the UK and we wish her well. Emma has introduced a few new learning

programmes into Brooklyn and she has worked with Mel Beirne who is taking up this position for the

rest of the year. Welcome back to Brooklyn Mel.

There has been a lot of science being investigated by the students here at Brooklyn this term. The

Takahe students have been learning all about circuits and are currently undergoing a design

challenge and the Kiwi students are investigating the planets in our solar system. The Moa students

have been out to the Police museum and they have a CSI focus.

Parents are reminded that school opens at 8.30am. Some students are arriving as early as 8am.

Teachers use the time before school opens to prepare for the days lessons and are not in a

position to manage students in the school grounds. Can you please ensure your child arrives after

8.30am.

Parent /teacher interviews will be held in week 9 - 27-30 June. We will be using the online booking

system again. More information will be distributed later in the term.

We would like to remind families school will be closed for a Teacher Only day on Friday 3 June.

Monday 6 June is Queen’s birthday.

This week we give a big Brooklyn welcome to the families of the following students – New Entrants:

Ka kite

Liz Rhodes

PRINCIPAL

Is a community hub possible in Brooklyn?

You are invited to a public meeting 2.00 – 4.00pm

Sunday 29 May at Brooklyn Community Centre

Mike Evans, DGSE will present an overview of the feasibility study commissioned by the

Brooklyn Hub Steering Group; Brooklyn School/Ministry of Education, Brooklyn Community

Association and Wellington City Council.

Principals Awards from 13 May Assembly

CONGRATULATIONS

Tui Syndicate

Room 1: Ava Sinclair – has made a wonderful start to

term 2. She is putting 100% effort into her writing goal

Room 2: Lachlan Kerr – putting lots of effort into his

learning – particularly his writing

Room 3: Brendan Beauchamp – being an enthusiastic

& positive learner

Room 4: Logan Wheeler – taking risk in his writing

Room 5: Isla Lowis – for the way she works with and

helps her classmates

Kiwi Syndicate

Room 14: Ashreya Ranchord – for her great growth-

minded, diligence and amazing wind turbine creation

Room 15: Ruby Harris – Is thinking about new and

interesting ideas during maths & reading time

Room 16: Saba Shenavaei – being focussed on the task

in class & completing her work to a high standard

Room 18: Adison Rowe – has started the term more

positively & is more focussed & engaged in his learning.

Takahe Syndicate

Room 6: Scarlett Connolly – being able to share great

maths strategies and persevering with her maths

Room 7: Desh Sukha – showing empathy towards his

peers. He always looks out for others

Room 8: Louis Case – his caring nature towards all his

classmates makes room waru a better, warmer place

Room 13: Ultan Larkin – taking ownership of his writing

goals to improve his writing

Moa Syndicate

Room 9: Nia Hill – approaches everything she does

with enthusiasm & a positive attitude

Room 10: Jacob Smith – working incredibly hard &

realising the great thing he can achieve with a bit of

self-belief

Room 11: Lucy Reilly – being super proactive about

seeking help in order to improve

Room 12: Sophia Stephens – having a fantastic,

caring attitude & always taking up the challenge

Friday 3rd June

Voting packs have been posted – expect yours any day if you haven’t already

received them.

Post your voting form or deliver by hand in the envelope provided. A ballot

box is at the office reception. Voting closes 12 noon Friday 3rd June

Board of Trustees Update May 2016

Our current board held their final meeting last week. Thanks to those members not re-

standing, Nigel Corry, David Lee, Rex Moller and Matthew Murfitt, for their hard work,

dedication and expertise provided to our school. We were delighted to see a number of

parent observers attend the board meetings this year to get a first-hand look.

It’s great to see so many nominations for the five parent representative positions, we think

that 19 is a record for our school! The voting packs have been posted. Please have your say

and vote by next Friday, 3rd June, midday. The outgoing board discussed what training had

been particularly helpful to them and Liz and Mary-Ann are tailoring a training package for

the incoming board.

We really appreciate the support of our community and especially thank the organising

group of the Appetites evening for their sterling work. It was a great evening and $3,500 was

raised for extra library resources. Mark your diaries for one of our annual highlights, our

upcoming Matariki celebration which is on 23 June 6-8pm. Planning is well underway.

The 2015 annual financial accounts were approved. The board also approved the purchase

of new furniture for our new Innovative Learning Environment in the Kiwi syndicate starting

with Room 15.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact any of us via

the school office. Our next meeting is scheduled for 7.00 pm Tuesday 21st June, in the staff

room.

Board of Trustees: Mary-Ann Butterfield (Chairperson), Liz Rhodes (Principal), David Lee,

Rex Moller, Matthew Murfitt, Nigel Corry and Glen Burdon (Teacher Representative).

Matariki 2016

Thursday 23rd June, 6pm – 8pm

(with Star Walkers starting at 5.40pm)

Kia ora whanau. Join us at school on Thursday 23rd June to celebrate Brooklyn School’s 6th Matariki event.

This is a time for us all to get together to celebrate new beginnings, the year ahead and to reflect and give

thanks for our past.

You can find more information about Matariki here:

http://www.korero.maori.nz/news/matariki/matarikibooklet2010.pdf

Catch the star walkers to school in time for a powhiri, kapa haka and waiata. Then meet up with friends (or

meet new ones!) and enjoy the music & social space (warm drinks & hot food). Adults and children can

join in the activities - flax-weaving, crafts, gardening, a disco and of course the AMAZING maze. Bring your

torches to enjoy the torchlight activities.

Keep checking your school newsletters and notices for more information.

We need a few extra helpers on the night. This would involve up to one hour helping with one of the

Matariki related activities or one hour either on the sausage sizzle, serving mulled wine, hot chocolate and

yummy baking.

We are also looking for someone who has access to quality colour printing services who would be willing to

donate the costs of printing A3 and A4 posters (30 copies)

If you can help, please contact Anna Ormond (anna@ormond.co.nz)

Nga mihi mahana

Brooklyn School and Matariki 2016 Organising Group

ORDER ONLINE HERE

Entertainment Books are available to

purchase from the school office. You can also

order & pay online for both the printed book

(collect from office) & Digital Membership

These are all the Brooklyn School team netballs showing off their new uniforms. We would like to thank Liz Rhodes and the Board of Trustees for all their support in helping us purchase new uniforms this year. Don’t they look awesome! From the Brooklyn School Netball Committee

Year 8 Lightning Bolts

Year 7 Rubys

Year 7 Sapphires

Year 6 Crystals

Year 6 Emeralds

Year 5 Starz

Year 7 Sapphires

Year 5 Sparks

Year 5 Starz

Year 5 Sparks