2013

I ssue 19

7 November 2013

West Melton School Newsletter

Sue Jackson – Pr incipa l

Heather McHarg –Deputy Pr incipa l

Kim Busch – Deputy Pr incipa l

Welcome 1

Fun Day 1

Pet Day 1

Choir 1

West Melton Community Consultation

2

Routines 2

Senior School Playground

2

School Development & Property Plans

2

West Melton Sports & Leisure Centre proposal

2

Principal’s & Writers Awards

3

Choir 4

Amy Adams Visits

4

Library Books 5

Jump Jam 5

School Blog 5

PTA 5

Community Notices

5

Kiwi & Pukeko Athletics Day

5

Science Report

6 & 7

What have we been doing?

8

Cardboard Request

8

Swimming Pool Keys

8

School Photos 8

Dualthon “Fun”draiser

8

Kia ora Hello

Kei te pēhea koe? Hello how are you today?

Kei te ora ahau! Kia ora. I am well thank you!

Welcome…

A very special and warm welcome to our new students and their families Cameron Griffiths in L.C. 6 , Mackenzie Musgrave in L.C.2 and Sarah Quinn L.C. 14.

Fun Day

Wow what a fantastic day we had on Sunday for our Duathalon. It was such a fun and

exciting day with so many people going to the trouble of dressing up and supporting

our school fundraiser. We saw some amazing costumes and some strange antics

(cheating – from adults of course!!) This was a great example of community

partnership working for the good of the community. It was another great opportunity

to strengthen our community partnerships with our local businesses. We thank Hamish

Wheelans from Preston Downs for supporting our local community and school.

Specifically, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Bobby Howard and her team

(Preston Downs Coordinator )and Kim Busch our Deputy Principal and the staff who all

worked together preparing, setting up and running the event so efficiently. A huge

thank you to our wonderful Parent Teacher Association (PTA) who assisted with a

magnificent cake stall and raffles.

A great opportunity to promote a sense of community by having a family fun day. We

look forward to more opportunities in the future to work with our local businesses

promoting a sense of community!

Thanks to everyone who contributed and made the day such a success!

Pet Day

When you read this newsletter we will have just completed another exciting and

action packed annual Pet Day! I look forward to once again walking and talking to all

the children and discussing their creations and how they care for their pets! As I begin

writing this on Monday I hope we have good weather!! Thank you to the Pet day

committee for the huge effort in planning, organising such an outstanding event. A

special thanks you to all our specialist judges.

Choir

Congratulations to all our wonderful students who performed at the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival at the CBS Arena last Thursday. They have been practising all year culminating in this grand finale along with hundreds of other students and schools. This is one of the highlights of my year listening to magical voices of children in a massed choir. A huge thank you to Moira McKendry who coached our school choir

to an outstanding standard for this performance. Well done

Page 1 of 6 Page 2 of 10 West Melton School Newsletter

West Melton Community Consultation – Survey

Many thanks to the families who returned their surveys regarding the Educational Provision in Rolleston sent out by

the Board of Trustees last week. The Board were delighted with the response which helped us prepare the

submission sent to the Ministry of Education on the 1 November

On the school website are the findings of the survey for your information.

Routines…

As part of our reviewed behaviour management plan and the clarity around routines (rules) we are focussing on a

routine each week reinforcing what is expected. Over the next two weeks we are focussing on the routines ‘Sports

Shed’ and ‘Hedge and Tree play’ which are below for your information.

Senior School Playground

We are looking forward to having our senior playground completed before the end of the term. Unfortunately due

to a combination of weather and illness we are behind schedule. However, we look forward to hopefully being able

to use this playground within the next few weeks!

School Development and Property Plans

On the noticeboard in the office foyer is a display of the proposed buildings and property developments for your

information. Please feel free to pop in and have a look at what is happening in our school regarding buildings,

landscaping and property developments in the near and distant future!

West Melton Sports and Leisure Centre Proposal

Selwyn District Council welcomes feedback from the community on the proposal to establish the level of support

and any other further ideas. You can view the plan electronically and/or make a submission online by visiting the

Council’s website: www.selwyn.govt.nz/haveyoursay

Submissions close on the 18 November. For further information contact Mark Rykers by email:

mark.rykers@selwyn.govt.nz or phone 03347812

Kind regards

Sue

SPORTS SHED ROUTINES

• Line up between the cones • Wait patiently • Keep hands and feed to self • Use manners when asking for

and returning sports gear • Return borrowed gear yourself

when handbell is rung

HEDGE and TREE PLAY ROUTINES • Teams will take turns to use the hedge –

a roster to be provided • Keep sticks inside hedge for huts • Use the hedge and trees areas in a fair

and safe way • Stay inside school boundaries and

fences • Climb in trees next to Weedons Ross

Road only, not in hedge • Climb only as far as the safety marks on

West Melton School “ Te Kura o Papatahora” Papatahora – Spread out, laid out uncultivated open country reflects the nature of the area. This area of land was filled with fern root and bracken shrubs

This is the

new Máori name for

our school

West Melton School Newsletter West Melton School Newsletter Page 3 of 10

PRINCIPAL’S & WRITER’S AWARDS

Trae Davis – L.C. 3 Trae is a fantastic student to have in L.C. 3. He is going

from strength to strength in reading and showing real skill

in other areas

Bella Groen – L.C. 12 Outstanding presentation of M.A.D. research as part of Moa team

inquiry study last term. She spoke clearly when presenting to

Amy Adams.

Ruby Lundy – L.C. 2 Is a fabulous West Melton KC Kid! Ruby perseveres and always

tries hard to learn and do her best work.

Toby Powell Nicol – L.C. 8 Toby has made fantastic reading progress this year in reading.

He started the year on L10 and is finishing on L18!

Bea McGlashen – L.C. 11 Bea is developing into an awesome writer. She gives a lot of

thought about what she is going to write, she is mindful of her

sentence structure and is not afraid to use new and interesting

words.

Mia Chee-Quill – L.C. 2 Mia is a super writer! Mia loves writing about all sorts of things.

She especially likes writing fairy tales because she likes making

things up.

Yoris Kremers – L.C. 3 Lately Yoris has been putting his best foot forward when it comes

to writing. He has learnt to take his time and slow down to make

sure that he gets his best ideas down on paper.

Marshall Johnston – L.C. 11 Marshall is a real star in our class. At the beginning of Term 2

Marshall struggled with his reading and spelling words. He

attended the Early words programme and worked hard with his

reading and has progressed wonderfully well.

Mika Wealleans – L.C. 12 Mika wrote an excellent, persuasive speech about having to wear

a school uniform. She is a great example of the West Melton

Way.

Page 4 of 10 West Melton School Newsletter

CHRISTCHURCH PRIMARY SCHOOLS MUSIC FESTIVAL

On Thursday 31 October (yes, that’s right, on Halloween!) a small group of West Melton students took part in the Christchurch Primary Schools Music Festival at the CBS Arena. We had been practising many songs with Ms McKendry as part of the Choices and Challenge programme in Term 3. We had been to an area rehearsal at Christ’s College and a big rehearsal at the CBS arena then finally it was the big night! There were 1400 kids singing, including a big massed choir, a junior special choir and a senior special choir. You had to audition to get into the special choirs. There were also a concert band and an orchestra

made up of all primary school kids. The band and the orchestra accompanied us for some of our songs

and there was a piano for the others.

We had to sing some of the time and between times we sat and listened to the special choirs and the

band and orchestra.

Some of the songs were gentle, like Nightingale, some were bouncy, like Razzamatazz, and some were

loud, like Let all Nations Sing. The concert went on quite long but all the practice paid off in the end.

Thanks heaps to all the parents who helped us with transport, including Mr and Mrs Ward, Mrs Hoskins

and Mrs Gray.

Amy Adams visits our “M.A.D” children Last Thursday, Amy Adams visited our school to hear presentations from the Moa Team about their ‘Making a Difference’ unit. Students have made a huge difference, and examples of their hard work include - painting over graffiti, organising toy donations for Plunket, carrying out local environmental work, volunteering at the SPCA, washing cars and donating the proceeds to charity, selling cupcakes and donating the proceeds to the SPCA, serving morning tea at the RDA, and investigating local road safety for buses, crossings and car parks. Teachers felt very proud of the students excellent presentations, and Amy was very impressed by the students awesome contributions to our community.

Page 4 oWest Melton School Newsletter Page 5 of 10

Library Books Recently, we have been having library books returned in an unacceptable state, e.g. water damaged, ripped, and some have been scribbled on! To reduce the number of books needing to be replaced, please provide your child with a protective, named bag, e.g. reusable cloth supermarket bag, or similar to carry their library books in. Also, we would be very grateful if parents could reinforce how our precious school library books are to be handled. Please note that next week will be the last week for issuing school library books. We would appreciate all library books please returned to the school no later than Friday 22 November? Thank you very much. From Shane and Lindsay, the Library Team. Kiwi and Pukeko Athletics Day – Tuesday 26 November (pp Thursday 28 November) We are still in need of parents from the Pukeko Team to assist teachers with the running of our Athletics Day on 26 November (or 28 November, if postponed). If you are able to help, please email kerry@westmelton.school.nz. A big thank you to the Kiwi Team parents who have already volunteered their time. Without your support we could not run events like this successfully.

Jump Jam The Kiwi Team are excited about taking part in Jump Jam again this term. Come and join us on the front court at 8.50 am, Monday – Thursday. It’s a great way to start the day!

West Melton School Blog Our school blog is updated regularly with photos and information about all the exciting things happening at our school. See the photos from the Dualthon “Fun”draiser here!

http://westmeltonschool.blogspot.co.

nz/

West Melton School PTA

Working in partnership for the benefit of our

children

PTA News

PTA Westmeat ham fundraiser

The Westmeat Christmas ham fundraiser will run from 18 November until 6 December. Further details will follow

very soon.

Duathlon ‘Fun’draiser

Thank you very much to everyone for helping us to raise

money for the senior playground. The baking was

sensational, and the gourmet grocery packages made

amazing raffle prizes.

Pet Day

Thank you very much for helping us to raise money for

our school at Pet Day by buying raffle tickets and coffee.

COMMUNITY

NOTICES On our school website under News &

Activities you will find further

information on the following

community activities and groups.

• Selwyn School of Dance • Ladies Night – K & A Summer

designs Collection

West Melton School Newsletter Page 6 of 10

This is an article written by Maree O’Boyle to promote our point of differene being a

“Science” school. It will be published in educational magazines early next year.

West Melton School Newsletter Page 7 of 10

West Melton School Newsletter Page 8 of 10

What we have been doing

Recently the West Melton School Moa Team classes have been learning about making a Difference (M.A.D). In LC14 we have been studying car safety around our school and community, and how we could make a difference. All of the class has been participating in this. We decided to do this because we had experienced children being unsafe near cars and on the road. We talked in class about where this was happening. We discovered...

1. Cars have mainly been speeding past parked buses.

2. That licensed drivers do not know the speed limit to drive past a parked school bus.

3. There is not actually a sign on the back of the bus saying the speed limit you should be going

around a bus.

4. There used to be a sign. Where is it? Why don’t we have it anymore?

Time for Action... We surveyed the parents about the legal speed limit to pass a stationary school bus. 166 people got it right and 444 people got it wrong! We have also been creating signs to put on the back of the bus and testing which one will work. We took turns to follow a bus route to measure how fast people went past the bus when it was stopped. The highest speed was 70km per hour and the lowest was 22km per hour. We shared our concerns with our MP Amy Adams. Keep your eye out for future safety action!

20km IS YOUR LIMIT

PARKED BUS

Page 9 of 10 West School Newsletters

Request for cardboard from the Kiwi Team If you have any unwanted cardboard that would be suitable for making up flashcards for our Alphabet and Beanstalk words, please can you bring it into Lindsay in the library? A very generous parent donated some quite a few years ago, but our stocks are now depleted. Thank you very much.

Swimming Pool Keys Cardkeys for our swimming pool will be available from next week. The cards have been recoded so if you still have a cardkey from last season it will not work! We would still appreciate it you could return cardkeys to the school office. The pool has now been painted and the handrails will be installed next week. We will then be able to fill the pool. Unfortunately the heating system has not been installed yet but hopefully over the next few weeks this will happen too.

COST THIS SEASON: $90 – (includes $10 key deposit refunded when key returned at the end of the season)

School Photos

Please return your orders for school photos by tomorrow please!

DUATHON “FUN”DRAISER

PHOTOS

Upcoming Events

8 November – Lincoln Zone Athletics 11 November – L.C. 10 visit to worm farm and

the gardens 11 December – Board of Trustees Meeting 15 November – SHOW DAY – School Closed 25 November – L.C. 1 visit to Ecowaste 26 November – Kiwi & Pukeko Teams Athletic

Day 28 November – p.p. Kiwi & Pukeko Athletics

Day 3 December – Year 8 Leavers Dinner 4 December – Canterbury Athletics

Championships 9 December – Student Reports home 11 December – Board of Trustees Meeting 12 December – Orientation of 2014 classes 12 December – End of Year Prizegiving –

Rolleston Community Centre 13 December – Community & shared lunch 17 December – Last day of 2013 school year

12 noon finish

Please refer to the school website and google calendar for further information

Page 10 of 10 West Melton School Newsletter

2013 Term Dates

Term 4 – 14 October – 17 December

2014 Term Dates

Term 1 – 5 February – 17 April Term 2 – 5 May – 4 July Term 3 – 21 July – 26 September Term 4 – 13 October – 19 December