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Week 5 - 31 May 2018

Kia ora e te Whānau o Whetūkairangi


We often hear about how technology is taking over the world and many jobs have been, or are at risk of being, automated in the future. This is true when we look at the evidence even over our lifetime. Whilst technology can support so much learning and advancement, it's the human skills that machines will never have that are more important than ever.

In this short 11 minute documentary, 'An Adaptable Mind' describes what it takes to make the world a better place. The list of vital skills for our modern world contains five qualities that - you guessed it - machines can never have:
  1. Curiosity
  2. Creativity – in the sense of liberating human energy
  3. Initiative
  4. Multi-disciplinary thinking – not multi-tasking but multi-asking
  5. Empathy
I recommend a viewing, it's really beautifully created.

When we reflect on the Character Strengths Whānau Day last Friday, I witnessed many of these skills for the 'modern world' in action. Schools, as both academic and social organisations, have a big job to do in helping parents out in their quest to develop great citizens of the future. I can't stress the importance of this 'whole person' learning enough.

It doesn't stop with children!

I have been so heartened by the feedback from many of you that the work we are doing is impacting on you personally as well. For me, it's not just about the little darlings (as much as they would like it to be!), it's about being part of a flourishing community, where we all help each other out.

For the parents, grandparents and friends who were helping out and who joined us in the staffroom last Friday for morning tea (and the 10 minute quiz... 8/10 at a push!) ...that just felt great. There really was this sense of being in it together - making the most of the human qualities that makes this school community such a privilege to lead and belong to.

Ngā manaakitanga


PS. How much screen time do your children really need this very long weekend? I'll be limiting mine!

ACTIONS AT A GLANCE

Coming Up this Week:

  • School will be closed for Queen's Birthday Weekend on Friday 1 June AND Monday 4 June
  • Swimming Lessons - Tuesday 5 June
  • Eastern Zones Cross Country - Wednesday 6 June
  • Lost Property Clearance - Friday 8 June
  • Ceilidh - Saturday 9 June - Miramar Bowling Club

Dates to Diary:

  • Swimming Lessons - Every Tuesday in Term 2
  • Pizza Lunch - Wednesday 13 June
  • Assembly - Friday 15 June
  • Year 6 EBIS Visit - Friday 29 June
  • Mid-term Break - Friday 24 August

Need to Action:

  • Book Your Progress Meetings by 9am on Tuesday 5 June
  • Eastern Zones Cross Country - Please pay $6 and give permission via Online Payments by Tuesday 5 June
  • Sausage Sizzle - Tuesday 5 June - Order your child's sausages via Online Payments
  • Term 2 & 3 Miniball Fees are now due - please pay $72 by Wednesday 6 June
  • Buy your Ceilidh Tickets via Online Payments by midnight on Thursday 7 June
  • Pizza Lunch - Wednesday 13 June - Order your child's pizza via Online Payments by midnight on Monday 11 June


Please Read this Letter from the Parents of Stephanie Hayes - 11 May 2018


Stranger Danger Reminder

In the last week, there have been a few instances of children around Wellington being approached by an adult they did not know in a manner that is concerning. Apparently 2 of these have been in the Eastern Suburbs. PLEASE remind your child/children about how to be safe when they are not with you. 

Possible examples: 

Teach Them What “Stranger” Means
In essence, children should be reminded that they should not talk to people they do not know, unless it is someone they trust, or there is a trusted adult with them. Children should know that adults who are strangers, don’t usually ask children for help - so if they are not with a trusted adult, they should not comply. 

There are Lots of ‘Trusted/Friendly’ People in Our Community
Explain to your child that there are lots of safe people in our community. Remind them to trust their instincts. If they don’t have a good feeling about a certain person (any person at all, even the someone that they would think should be trusted), they should approach someone else or chat to a parent. 

What To Do
The most important thing to explain to your child is circumstances in which a stranger may approach them in a negative way. Explain to your child that if a stranger ever approaches and offers a ride or treats (like lollies or toys) or asks for help with a task (like helping find a lost dog), they should step away, yell “No!” and leave the area immediately. Your child should tell you or another trusted adult what happened. 

Know The Route
If your children walk to and from school by themselves, ensure they know the way to go and point out “safe” areas. For example, houses of people you know. Tell them to keep to main roads (if necessary) and stay in well-lit areas. Ensure your child isn’t walking alone (unless necessary) – having a walking buddy can be a great way to do this. 

Trust Your Instinct
Telling your children to trust their instinct is huge. If something doesn’t feel right, then they should go with that feeling. 

Talk to Your Child in an Age Appropriate Way
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself or on your children to understand the concept of “don’t talk to strangers”. How you will address this with a 5-year-old will be very different to a 13-year-old.




Worser Bay School Ceilidh - Saturday 9 June - Limited Number of Tickets!

It's that time of year again when we have our annual tradition for the Worser Bay School and the WIDER community - our Ceilidh.

Tickets are on sale via Online Payments - so get purchasing - invite your friends to come along and book your babysitter! Ticket numbers are limited, so get in quick! The cut-off is midnight on Thursday 7 June (unless sold prior). 

For those of you who don't know, a Ceilidh is a social event with Scottish folk music and traditional dancing. The band will lead us though the dances and there will be folk there who have danced before, so if you have never been to a Ceilidh before, now is your chance. It's the best fun you can have with tartan on!

Date:   Saturday 9th June
Time:   7.00pm - 10.30pm
Place:  Miramar Bowling Club
Cost:    $40 (includes light supper) 
Live Scottish Band and Piper

Remember to bring gold coins for the Whisky Roll.

Tickets bought via Online Payments can be collected from the school office on Friday after school drop off or school pick up.

Families from the wider community can purchase their tickets via Parent Net. Please email: parentnet@worserbay.school.nz. 

So, let's make this happen! We are all so looking forward to it and can't wait to see you there!

Thanks
The Ceilidh Team and Parent Net





Progress Meetings

Please book your Progress Meetings with your child's base group teacher if you are parents in Tautoru or Mahutonga/Matariki.

If your child is in Autahi there is a different schedule - watch this space!

Last term teachers met with you and your child to discuss how the year had started and set some specific goals looking ahead. This term it's an opportunity for parents to meet with the base group teacher (without children present) to learn more about 'whole child' progress to date, including progress against the NZ Curriculum levels in Reading, Writing and Maths. At this time, you will also receive a written report. 

Next term it's Student Led Conference time and then the Final Reporting Meeting/written report (again without children) occurs in Term 4. 

At the end of these upcoming meetings teachers will be asking you a couple of quick questions around reporting. With the demise of National Standards it now means that schools have more freedom in what is reported. Whilst the Government is doing more work around this, we have pretty much stuck with the status quo for now but see this first meeting as a great time to start the conversation about what matters most. Of course you will have a variety of opinions and we will throw them all in the mix during this year, see what legislation may come our way and go from there. 

These Progress Meetings are to be held from Tuesday 5 June until 15 June. 

Bookings will close Tuesday 5 June at 9am.

Please follow the instructions below:
Go to: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz
Enter the Worser Bay School Code: zru6v



Pizza Lunch - Wednesday 13 June

On Wednesday 13 June, small individual pizzas, made in our own pizza ovens, will be available for lunch. 

All pizzas have a tomato sauce base and you can choose from three types of topping:
  • Cheese
  • Cheese and Ham
  • Cheese and Salami

Pizzas cost $5 each. Please order via Online Payments on our website. Please note that orders need to be in by midnight on Monday 11 June. 




A Note from the Office

Queen's Birthday Weekend
School will be closed for Queen's Birthday Weekend on Friday 1 June AND Monday 4 June.

Prevent the Spread of Common Winter Illnesses
With winter approaching, take a look at the Ministry of Health’s website for information about how you can prevent the spread of common winter illnesses such as flu and colds at our school.

School Driveway
Please do not use the bottom of the school driveway as a drop off zone. The yellow lines are there for a reason. We have had a couple of reports of near misses on the crossing due to cars pulling in and stopping there. Please help keep our children safe.

School Payments
The following payments are now ready for payment via Online Payments on our website:
  • Voluntary Contribution - $355
  • Seesaw Annual Subscription Fee - $10
  • Term 2 Swimming Lessons - $70
  • Term 2 & 3 Miniball - $72
  • Eastern Zones Cross Country - $6
Term Dates for 2018 can be found on our website together with our
 Calendar of upcoming events.

Lost Property
Please remember to check the Lost Property Box regularly. Unnamed items are donated to the Salvation Army fortnightly if they are not collected. (We endeavour to return named items to the students.)

PRINCIPAL'S AWARDS
Our Principal’s Awards are currently focusing on the following:

I am powerful... 
  • I can think about overcoming challenges
  • I am excited about new learning and I challenge myself
  • I do not give up
  • I understand that not knowing is good
  • I take action
  • I can make decisions about my environment (sustainability)

Autahi
Violet, Zoe, Rayyan, Mackenzie, Willa

Tautoru
Georgia, Isabella, Otto R, Tom

Mahutonga/Matariki 
Alex, Eloi, Blaze, Hana

Welcome

Welcome to Marlon, Tommy and their families who are new to Worser Bay School.

Nau mai Haere mai. Welcome to the Worser Bay whānau.




Autahi

Whānau Character Strength Day
What an amazing day we had on Friday! It is always so much fun mixing up, working with new people - teachers, parents and students - in new spaces around the school. We did such a variety of fun and action-packed activities from flax weaving to slime making to wild rumpus having! Take a look at our Blog post to read a bit more about our strength exploration!




I am Powerful 
Have a look at our Kaitiaki Self Portraits. They contain us in our most powerful super hero poses, our crest with our initial and our second crest that illustrates what we are kaitiaki of. They also showcase 3 of what we consider to be our top character strengths!








Tautoru

Let's Get Measuring
Maths is all around us. How far can our cars travel? Some of us have begun to investigate measuring length using metres and centimetres. We made ramps, estimated the distance our cars would travel, then launched our cars down the ramp to confirm our predictions. Our Blog has more details of our measuring adventures.




Whānau Day
Last Friday was an action-packed day at Worser Bay School. We worked in whānau groups with children from Autahi, Tautoru and Māhutonga/Matariki. It was fun working with different teachers, some parents, our brothers and sisters, and children of different ages. Each group talked about five different character strengths. Have a look at our Blog to see some of the things that we did.








Māhutonga/Matariki

Growth Mindsets

We have been learning about using growth mindsets and setting goals to help us with our learning.


Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship runs through all that we do. We have revisited some of these ideas with this week. 





"We are here to tell you all about PFP, and its new campaign, No Straws On Our Shores and the reward cards with it. You may be wondering what the reward cards are, here is something about them…


The reward cards will be given out next week,  you will have around five weeks to fill them in. During those five weeks we hope that every time you go to a cafe,bar or restaurant on the peninsula you will say, No to a straw, you will then receive a stamp on your card or your family’s card. You will need six stamps in total then you can take it to the next PFP July beach clean up, where you will be in the draw to win… vouchers for peninsula cafes and a pack of metal straws. We hope to see you there!

Thank you for listening to our speech.

For more information go to the PFP blog.


Home Loan Offer with ASB...

$500 gets donated to Worser Bay School if you are a parent, staff member or member of the school community and draw down a new ASB home loan of $250,000 or more. Visit www.asb.co.nz/schoolbanking for more information.

How it works:
Mention this school donation offer to your ASB banker when you apply for a new ASB home loan. The supporting success in your school promotion is only available when you apply for a new home loan through an ASB branch, Mobile Lending Manager or by calling us on 0800 100 600.

Your new home loan application must be received, approved and then documented in a facility agreement, along with the completed school voucher, before 30 June 2018. This home loan offer is only available on loans secured by an owner-occupied residential property provided to ASB, with a minimum of 20% equity.

Once your home loan is fully drawn down, ASB will donate $500 to your chosen participating school.

Download and complete the school voucher to participate in the supporting success in your school promotion.

Terms and conditions apply, see voucher. Promotion ends 30 June 2018.

Community Notices...

House for Let
Modern family home opposite Worser Bay School. 3 bedrooms plus study, 2 bathrooms, gas central heating, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, double garage. Very private and sunny. 
Please contact Kerry-Lynn on 027 232 1705 to arrange an inspection.

We have a new campaign! NO STRAWS ON OUR SHORES

We are focusing on plastic straws in cafes, restaurants and bars on the Miramar Peninsula. We are encouraging children to refuse a plastic straw or find an alternative to a plastic straw.

Next week children can bring home a NO STRAWS ON OUR SHORES reward card. It will look very much like a coffee card. We are asking children to please say "no" to a straw when they buy a drink. When children refuse a straw they can get a stamp or a tick on their card. When they have six stamps they can bring it along to our July 8th beach clean up. Their completed cards will go into a draw to win vouchers from cafes on the peninsula.

Please see our Blog for more information and a video of a turtle with a straw being removed from it’s nostril. It is thought provoking, and it also might make you all feel a bit squeamish.

Lego Fan Convention - 2 & 3 June


School Holiday Programmes

The Rock Academy
Be in the draw to win a School Holiday Programme with The Rock Academy just by sharing our Facebook post. Share the post and you could win! We are a small music school, so your chances are high.  

July School Holidays:
Location:  St Patrick’s Parish Hall, 5 Rongotai Road, Kilbirnie
Time:  9.00am to 3.00pm. Drop off 8.45am.
Dates:  Week 1: Monday 9 July to Wednesday 11 July
             Week 2: Wednesday 18 July to Friday 20 July
Cost:  $195 for the 3 day week
For bookings or more information, go to our website or contact us.

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