BALMORAL - Balmoral School
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BALMORAL
P R I M A R Y School
NEWSLETTER
TĒNĀ KOUTOU E TE WHĀNAU, HE MIHI NUI KIA KOUTOU KATOA TĀLOFA,
SUSŪ MAI, AFIO MAI, MALIU MAI!
It has been lovely to return to some pre covid This week I was in our school gymnasium at
normality around activities outside the lunchtime. While there, I saw a teacher supervising a
classroom. It has been a difficult few years for group of students playing futsal in half the gym, a
the tamariki who have been unable to group playing basketball, and a group playing
participate in such activities as school sports badminton in another quarter. It was great to see
and camps. the gym being used responsibly by a vast number
of ākonga representing a variety of codes.
However, five different soccer teams have
played over the last two weeks. We have had We held a whānau meeting about AIMS Games on
some stellar results, too, with our Year 8 Girls Tuesday night. This is the largest competitive
team winning the Intermediate Girls Soccer, sporting competition for Intermediate aged pupils in
which meant winning a tournament across all NZ (11,000 pupils). This year, we have the following
the central Auckland Intermediate Schools. They teams: a Soccer Boys Team, Girls Futsal, Netball,
will head off to the Auckland province-wide Water polo, and Hip Hop. We also have individuals
competition later this term. participating in Gymnastics (2), Rock Climbing (2),
Tennis and Badminton.
Cross country training has begun in the primary.
We look forward to holding this next week and This number of sports can only happen with many
having parents being on site for support. adults cooperating behind the scenes collecting
money, sending out permission slips, organising and
Netball has begun with over 13 teams ordering equipment, taking practices, tidying up
representing our school. On Monday morning our afterwards, booking facilities fundraising and
table tennis players were practising in our transporting to events. Our thanks to you all.
auditorium before school. We also have
basketball in the mornings in the gym, and the Long may these types of activities continue for our
intermediate boys and girls hockey has started. tamariki.
Nāku noa, nā
Malcolm Milner
Principal (Te Tumuaki)
SCHOOL CLOSED
Friday 3rd June and Monday 6th June
STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN MATHEMATICS
Balmoral School will be closed on Friday, June 3, for a Teacher Only Day.
On Friday, June 3, the school staff will be learning further about the teaching of mathematics.
This is our second year of professional development focussing on teaching and learning in
maths.
This project involves facilitators in classrooms alongside teachers providing feedback on
their planning, their act of teaching, the tasks used, the maths language and the formative
assessment of the learning. On the Teacher Only Days, we look into the theoretical parts of
the teaching. It is a very intense programme of development but incredibly enjoyable and
beneficial for our teaching.
Massey University also has a group of researchers coming into our school separately to
analyse the effectiveness of this professional development on mathematics learning. This
researched professional development is at the forefront of mathematics teaching in New
Zealand.
Several parents have mentioned to me that when listening to their children talk about
mathematics at home, they have been mentioning ‘talk moves’ to them which is an integral
part of the learning sequence.
This term, all classes have been working on fractions. Fractions has always been an
extremely concept for some children to learn. We expect this approach will further support
children in consolidating their knowledge and math understanding.
AFTER SCHOOL CARE REMINDER TERM 2 ENDS
Over the last few weeks we have had a
number of meetings and received FRIDAY 8TH JULY AT 3PM
documentation from four providers of
before and after school care.
We are currently working through all this
information and contacting referees to
VISIT FROM NATIONAL MP
identify our preferred after school care MELISSA LEE
provider.
We hope to be able to make an Last Friday, the school had a visit from
announcement on this next week. the National List MP Melissa Lee.
Melissa spent time in classrooms and
had morning tea with the staff.
UPCOMING EVENTS
I always appreciate Melissa’s
Teacher Only Day: 3rd June
willingness to stop by school and
Queens Birthday: 6th June discuss the barriers and enablers for
Yr 3-6 Cross Country 7th June 9:15am education in our community.
Yr 0-2 Cross Country 8th June 11:15am
Matariki: 24th June
Welcome to Don, Literacy Support Teacher
The school has appointed Don Neill as our new Literacy Support Teacher starting on Monday 13
June. Don will work alongside Jacqui (SENCO), Kylie (ESOL) and our twelve support staff in our
Learning Support Department.
Don is currently classroom teaching at Bayfield School. Previously he created and ran The
Learning Key in Auckland. The Learning Key was a private practice focused on working with
students who learn differently to develop reading, fluency, comprehension, and writing and
spelling. He also worked with students in math, specifically numeracy, operations, fractions and
decimals and pre-algebra.
The school will train Don in Reading Recovery and will also have the opportunity to develop
alternative literacy/numeracy support programmes using his comprehensive knowledge and
skills as well as alongside staff to improve their skills.
Supporting the Teaching Profession
Tomorrow Jesse McBride (Team Leader Year 7 ) will be a breakout speaker at an Education
Conference at Western Springs College. Jesse will present Joanna Douglas and his research,
completed in 2020 with a New Zealand Council of Educational Research grant. This research
was based around using student feedback to amply tamariki voice to improve the learning in
our classrooms.
This year all Balmoral classroom teachers are participating in this project at school. The
questions they are asking their ākonga are:
How has your teacher helped you recently?
When was the last time your teacher talked to you, just you two? What did you talk about?
Do you think your teacher cares for you? Why? What do they do to make you say that?
A) Tell me what you were just doing. B) How do you know that you will be successful?
C) What do you think your next steps are for this task?
A) Tell me about a time your teacher gave you something challenging. B) What did you find
challenging about that? C) Who helped you?
A) Does your teacher show fairness in the class? B) What about respect? C) How?
A) Who talks to you about your learning? B) Who would you like to talk about it with? C) Why
them? D)Who else?
Our staff have been reviewing the information gained from these questions and have set
actions they will implement to make learning more purposeful for children.
We appreciate Jesse and Joanna's work within our school and now across the isthmus to
improve our teaching practice.
Good luck tomorrow.
Mitey Professional
STAFF CHANGES
Development (Mental Health)
At the end of this term, our school will move to Nicolas Garelja has resigned from our school
the second stage of the Mitey programme. effective 17 August. Nicolas is moving to
Mitey has enabled our staff to focus on our Europe for his OE.
pupil's mental health. Staff have been Ashton Babbott has resigned and will finish
designing lessons with mental health at the end of Term 3. Ashton is leaving to
embedded within the topic. It is designed to work at Buckland’s Beach Intermediate.
give our tamariki the chance to manage life We wish them both all the best for these new
challenges and emotions. opportunities.
This professional development has been We have also advertised a position for a
beneficial for our school, especially after the New Entrant teacher as our number of
last two years of Covid. Mentally healthy enrolments increases.
children learn so much better. We have advertised these positions both
Watch John Kirwan talk about Mitey on Seven nationally and internationally.
Sharp here.
HUB NEWS
Mahira - Year2
Our current Inquiry pathway
started with the book ‘Rangi
and Papa’. The tamariki
already had lots of prior
knowledge of the story and
now they have been learning
the names of the other gods,
the children of Rangi and
Papa.
Ollie and Tawa used gems to
portray the gods. Other
children drew pictures of the
gods in their play.
We read the book
Tāwhirimātea - a song for
Matariki Tāwhirimātea which
links the gods to the natural
world they are connected to.
Dancing the Gods
Now that the children were familiar with the different gods we wanted to help deepen
their understanding and connection to them. We thought that using movement would
help to do this. First we asked them to come up with a repetitive movement for four of the
gods: Tangaroa, Tāne Mahuta, Tūmatauenga and Tāwhirimātea. We chose the gods that
we thought would have quite different movements and feelings. The children’s
movements reflected the different natural environments that the gods were from. There
were wave movements and whirlpools for Tangaroa, gentle breeze and hurricanes for
Tāwhirimātea and growing trees for Tāne. Tū, the god of war, had very strong and
staccato movements, stamping feet and punching arms. The tamariki then worked in
small groups to create a short movement sequence, with a repeating movement for
each of the gods. The children discussed their ideas and collaborated to come up with
their dances. A few groups shared their dances with the larger group. The tamariki were
able to guess which god each movement represented.
HUB NEWS
Mahira - Year2
Ada created Tūmatauenga’s head out of mobilo. She was inspired by the legend Mother
Earth and Sky Father. She shared her creation at Mahira time to inspire others during the
play.Addey was inspired and created Tāne Mahuta out of beads. Yuxin also made a tree
from Tāne Mahuta’s forest.
The children created the four gods that we
had been focussing on with our movement
using loose parts. They used colour to show
the gods they were representing. Can you
guess which gods they are: Tāwhirimātea,
Tāne, Tū or Tangaroa.
We are very much looking forward to seeing many of you at our crosscountry on
Wednesday June 8 at 11:15am. Please enter and exit the school using Gate 2. We request
that you continue to social distance and wear masks to protect our vulnerable whānau
and remain outside the Hubs.
SCHOOL CLOSURES UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS
Teacher Only Day: 3rd June Primary Cross Country 7th June 9:15am
Queens Birthday: 6th June 0-2 Cross Country 8th June 11:15am
Matariki: 24th June Eden Albert Cross Country 23rd June
HEALTH UPDATE
WINTER IS COMING
COVID IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD MEASLES
Everyone living in a household with Health Professionals have asked schools
someone who has COVID-19 needs to to share information about measles
isolate – not just the person with the virus. Measles is a serious, highly infectious
·Household contacts need to isolate for viral illness caused by the Morbillivirus.
seven days and have two tests during that The last major outbreak was in 2019.
time; one on Day 3 and one on Day 7. The Spreads from person to person by
only exception is people who have already direct contact with throat or nose
had COVID-19, less than 90 days ago. secretions or respiratory droplets.
If you are immune, then you will be safe
·Household Contacts can leave isolation during a measles outbreak and will not
after 7 days if they remain well and have need to isolate.
returned negative tests.
·Please do not send your child in if they live What to do:
with someone who has COVID-19, even if Check whether you and your children are
they are well. immune to measles:
Contact GP
·It’s a good idea to prepare in case you Check Plunket or Well Child Tamariki
need to self-isolate. You can download an Ora book
Isolation Plan from the website. If unknown, it’s fine to get vaccinated
again.
REPORTING AN ABSENCE
CALL:
09 638 7960 DIAL 1
Leave a message with your child's first and last name, room number and reason for
absence.
EMAIL:
absences@balmoral.school.nz
With your child's name, room number and the reason they will be away.
WEBSITE:
Direct Message Link
https://www.balmoral.school.nz/absence/
LATE:
Students can sign themselves in at the student desk, located on the student desk, in the
back of the school office.
They will then receive a print out ticket to take to their teachers.
COMMUNITY NEWS HUB
SchooI Board Parent Election 2022 Nomination round Our school will be undertaking a parent election for 5 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022. We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database. Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon. Election day is Wednesday 7th September. We look forward to your participation in this process. Wayne Jamieson Returning Officer CES 89 Nazareth Avenue | Middleton | Christchurch | PO Box 414 | Christchurch 8140 P (03) 338 4444 | Cell 021 399 744 Web www.cessl.org.nz
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