Phone 04 528 3094 Email admin@maidstone.school.nz Website www.maidstone.school.nz

SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY – FRIDAY 29 MAY AT 1.25PM Students can wear either their syndicate colour t/shirts or their PE t/shirt (no face paint)

Dear parents, caregivers, students and friends of the school Tina kotuku katoa Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa We are now halfway through the term and classes are beginning their Science learning topics. There is a broad array of topics on offer and students are talking about them with interest. As they move into the Inquiry phase of the learning, students are encouraged to follow a question of their own. Do have conversations with your child/ren about their topics and support them as they find information and make sense of new ideas.

The school Cross Country is coming up this Friday. It will be held here at school and spectators are very welcome. Students have been training for most of the term and we look forward to seeing full involvement from everyone. This event is a competition between syndicates and students are encouraged to wear a t-shirt in the colour of their syndicate. As you can see below, Maidstone has its own official facebook page. We are expecting that this will be invaluable for reminders, events and emergencies. Parents and caregivers are invited to ‘like’ the page to connect. Nga mihi nui Mary O’Regan, Principal

NEW FACEBOOK PAGE!

Follow us on Facebook. There are many imposters claiming to be the official Maidstone Facebook account. Don’t be fooled. Find us on Facebook (you can find the link on our school website or click the link below) and “Like” the page or add it to your “Pages” to keep up with events and announcements as they occur. As well as reminders, in the unlikely event of an emergency we see this as a great way to keep our community up-to-date with real time information as decisions are made and events unfold. Comments on the page are welcome but be aware they will be moderated. This means they may take a while to appear while we decide if they are suitable. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maidstone-Intermediate/

AY Library News This weekend I took a trip into Te Papa to see the ‘Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War’ exhibition. It was really well done and the individual stories told were very moving. Weta Workshop had created the most amazing ‘larger than life’ models; the detail within them was stunning. I took lots of photographs to add to our Library display and to show them to those students who haven’t yet been to see the exhibition themselves. The exhibition is free to go into and well worth a visit if you get the opportunity. You can take photographs as long as the flash is turned off. I know that many of our class teachers are keen to organise class trips into Wellington to see some of the World War I exhibitions later on in the year.

With regards to our lunchtime activities, I apologise now for starting off the pom-pom craze that is escalating around the school … and very likely at home too! Elaine Gousmett, our parent volunteer who runs the Knitting Club on Tuesday Lunchtimes, managed to source us some donated circular weaving looms. These have been really popular. One of our students, Jaime, has become somewhat of an expert weaver [having taken on a tutor role himself, showing other students how to weave]. At one point, we had a conversation about how easy pom-poms were to make if he wanted to add them to his weaving project and I was really surprised to hear that lots of our students had never made one. A couple of students doing pom-poms then became a few more and so on and so forth until we now have a large group of enthusiastic pom-pom makers. There does seem to be a slightly addictive side to pom-pom making as, once you have made one, it seems that you just can’t stop! I am hugely grateful to Miss Crowther and Mrs Delaney who have donated wool to our group and also to the students and their families who have donated a couple of bags of wool. I don’t know who you are, I’m afraid, as the bags were left on the issuing desk, but ‘thank you’ anyway.

Mrs Asprey, Library Manager

Maidstone Intermediate Newsletter

No

.1 T

1

New

Issue No.3 Term 2 2015

Message from the

Principal

Library News

Red Syndicate

Production Help

Maggi Kitchen

Showdown

Sewing Option

Rugby 7s

Swimming

MAD Programme Community Notices and Sponsors details appear on the back page.

Maidstone Intermediate MAGGI

Kitchen Showdown 2015

Congratulations to our THREE Team finalists. These teams will be entered as our Maidstone MAGGI Kitchen Showdown 2015 representative teams. Team 1: Kayla, Lauren and Katrin, (all from Room 17) Team 2: Emily (Rm 13), Teah (Rm10) and Olivia (Rm 11) Team 3: Phoebe, Brooke and Shakira (Room 6). Last Friday, all three teams took part in a ‘sizzling showdown’ in front of the judges. Their beautiful food choices, along with excellent organisation brought all three teams exciting results. Watch this space for further updates of their progress.

Sew Sew Sew Your Heart Out Some of the students' sewing items completed so far in the Sew Sew Sew Your Heart Out option. Students have a range of skills from very beginners to some with very confident sewing abilities. Students are encouraged to make their own patterns and designs. The new items that we are currently designing are aprons, followed by 'up-cycling' an item of clothing.

Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance workshop Last Friday afternoon, 26 students attended a Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance workshop in our dance studio, based on its World War One commemorative programme Salute.

The workshop was led by RNZB Dance educator Pagan Dorgan, an experienced dance education professional accompanied by three Wellington brass players on the Trombone, Trumpet and French Horn who played the music for the dance workshop. This was a wonderful experience for our students and enjoyed by all. Later that evening these students attended the opening premier of the Ballet ‘Salute’, at the St James Theatre in Wellington. This was truly a stunning evening of dance performance at its highest level and an experience our students will have for a life time. I would like to thank all the parents and staff that provided transport and help for this event. By Annette McRae

Maidstone Production 2015 We are currently gathering momentum for this year’s production and are requiring help with any of the following. If you are able to help, these items can be dropped off to the Performing or Visual Arts area. White paint, old sunglasses or lens, old Belts/buckles/leather straps, top hats, welding goggles, broken hair dryers or vacuum cleaners, clock parts, men’s white business shirts, lain coloured waist coats, leather coats, leather pieces, old boots, old jewellery, hub caps, wire, temperature gauges ( they don’t have ‘to work), costume jewellery, chains, tool belts, hose pipes, metal attachments, electrical cord, spiral telephone cords, buttons.

For tender as a complete package. We have 13 data projectors which are now surplus to requirements. They are a mixture of models and lumens. Some have good bulb life but again there is a mixture. As far as I’m aware they all go. There are some remotes and ceiling posts as part of the package. If you are interested in making an offer please contact the school andre.kneepkens@maidstone.school.nz to view before placing a tender in a sealed envelope on or before Monday 8 June. The highest bid will not necessarily be the successful tender. No item will be sold individually.

Term 2 Swimming This term Purple, Blue and Gold syndicate have had the opportunity to have swimming lessons at H

2O. We have been

learning different swimming techniques to improve our swimming. We have also been learning several different strokes including butterfly, breaststroke and swimming using one arm. Each class was split into four groups based on our individual skill level. We had awesome swimming instructors, who liked to have fun as well as teach us. We really enjoyed having handstand competitions and practicing forward and backward rolls. This week we are finishing off our swimming with a one hour boat safety lesson.

Green and Red syndicate will begin their swimming lessons next week. I hope they enjoy it as much as we have. We had so much fun at H

2O that we can’t wait until next year to do it

again. By Amelia M and Lucy S

Red Syndicate Red Syndicate is finally finished their first Inquiry Unit. Here is a report from Room 13

For the past few months we have been focusing on our inquiry topics. We were looking at how people participate individually and collectively to community challenges. Some of the topics we looked at were Ebola, Women's Rights, Child Labour, Christchurch Earthquake, Pearl Harbour, Titanic, and the War on Battle Hill, Napier Earthquake, and apartheid. We picked a topic out of those and wrote down some questions that we wanted to find the answers to. We focused on those questions and did loads of research. After about a month of staring at computer screens we finally had our answers. Next we had to think like journalists and had to write an article about our topic. We ended up with a colourful piece of paper with masses of information, written to perfection. By Jordyn and Kaitlin.

Entertainment Book Fundraiser Thanks to all who have purchased or returned the Entertainment Book. If you still have an unwanted book at home, please return by the end of the week. If you wish to purchase it, you can send cash in the envelope to the school office or even easier, pay for it online by following the link below. The digital version is also a great option for those who love their smartphones! https://www.entertainmentbook.co.nz/orderbooks/105a364

MAD (Maidstone Athlete Development Programme) This year a group of 24 students from a range of sports made it into the Maidstone Athlete Development Programme, which meets every Friday during options time. MAD is a chance for the top athletes to train and improve in their chosen sport. This year MAD has already had Ignite Sport and others visit to mentor us and teach us new things. We are learning how to train ourselves and, are also in the process, of making a training plan that we will be using in future weeks. MAD has been really well organised and has been really fun.

Thomas B and Dante A

Photos from the Printmaking option

Maidstone Rugby 7’s Tournament 2015 On the 13

th May, 43 teams representing 13 Intermediate

schools in the greater Wellington Region, attended the annual Maidstone 7’s Rugby Tournament. Although the day was quite dreary, all attendees were in great spirits. Maidstone Intermediate took three teams – Year 8 Boys, Year 7 Boys and a mixed Girls’ Team. The Year 7’s Boys’ Team weathered well; were up against some tough competitors, and ended up winning one of their three games. A fantastic effort on their part! The Year 8 Boys’ Team did Maidstone proud by winning all of their pool games. They soldiered on to compete in the semis then after pummelling their competition, proudly went on to fight for the place of first in the finals. They played well, stood proudly tall, but were not fierce enough to beat the reigning champions – Tawas, who ended up winning by 20 points. The boys armed with their pride intact ended up second in the overall tournament – an awesome achievement! Our Girls’ Team – with a mixture of Year 7s and 8s, were unbeatable. Their efforts were undisputed. After winning all of their pool games, they carried on to annihilate all of the competition. They won their Semi-Finals 15 to 10, and then went on to victoriously beat Tawas in the Finals – winning 21 to 12, and brought home the trophy to Maidstone. Overall, an excellent effort was made by all competitors. A special thanks goes out to the Year 7 and 8 Maidstone Marshalls who helped on the day, the St Pat’s Referees, Wellington Rugby Union, the parents who came down to support the teams, and to the teams’ coaches: Mr Harris, Mr Whitfield, Mr Sonia and Mr Adam Campbell. Brilliant effort guys and an exhilarating experience to have hosted – Go Maidstone!

Mrs Dee Sports Coordinator

Year 7 Boys Team

Year 8 Boys Team

Mixed Girls Team – Winners 2015

Wheel of Fortune Prize Draw

Winner The Prizedraw winner last two Fridays were Logan from Room 12 who won the Lucky Dip prize The other winner was Torenzo from Room 14 who won a prize sponsored by UH Glass. Congratulations.

Community Notices

School Holiday Computer Classes For ages 5 - 15. Minecraft, Create 3D Games, Program with Python and Java, Web Design and Animation, Video Film and Edit, Build a PC and if young the Discovery Computer Class. Free transport from Hutt Valley. For further information call 499 2211 or www.grandtraining.co.nz.

Kids Cross Country Series - next event at Trentham Memorial Park Athletics Wellington is again running the Kids Cross Country Series over the winter months at

various venues around the Wellington region. Our next event is Sunday 7 June at Trentham Memorial Park and the one after that at Sladden Park, Petone on Sunday 26 July. Races for pre-schoolers through to year 8s. This event has grown in the past couple of years with over 500 kids at our last event, so come along and have some fun. For more information or to enter go to www.athleticshub.co.nz or emailrama@athleticswellington.org.nz or phone 027 3902735.

From the Eco-Design Advisor and UHCC “Learn how to make your home warmer, drier and healthier, with a FREE home energy assessment courtesy of Upper Hutt City Council. The assessment will look at areas such as where heat is being lost, sources of dampness, how the power bill might be reduced, and how the sun’s energy might be better utilised. There are limited assessments available, so get in fast! Call 527 2169 or 027 461 0363.”

Crafters Market. Saturday 6 June from 9.30 am – 1.30 pm. At the Wesley

Centre, cnr Benzie Avenue and Fergusson Drive. Something for everyone. Stock up on knitted goods or homemade cakes, and jams. Jewellery and plants also available. Thank you to the following firms for sponsoring this Newsletter

and the Maidstone Gold Ticket “Wheel of Fortune

0274 416931

526 2274

526 2275

Get your sKETCHERS School Shoes here

Associated Computers

Malcolm Wheeler

027 4474 222

Country Lane

Silverstream

Phone 527 8389

2 Geange Street, Upper Hutt

Phone/Fax (04) 529 7342

Ph. 0800 634 572 Fax 236 0174 nzcoach@xtra.co.nz w E

David Haswell 027 440 6534 04 526 6602

Ask about our party bus

Catering

Equipment

Services

We service and repair all brands of cooking and warewashing equipment.

Mark Edwards,

Director

021 568 487 or

0800 90 60 30

mark@cesw.co.nz

Programmes in English, Reading, Spelling and Mathematics delivered by qualified teachers. Call Kathleen on 5287707 for a free assessment.