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6 May 2016

Kia ora e te Whanau o Whetukairangi

At Karakia, the focus for this term was introduced:
  • I am connected... (with a focus on empathy) 
  • I can build relationships with others
  • I can communicate clearly
  • I can be part of a team
  • I can connect to my place, the environment and globally

Please see our curriculum document for more:

https://drive.google.com/a/worserbay.school.nz/file/d/0B08HkJ7c_LC7ZlFrTGFyT0ZzVllYMnozNVJ3dkxISkg3QVJF/view

Not only do we have a deep intrinsic need to feel connected to others, relationships have positive consequences for physical and psychological health and accomplishment.

We have often discussed the concept of empathy, as we call it 'the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes' in class, but it's a concept which needs to be constantly revisited. I recently came across the following tips for parents on helping your child cultivate empathy which may be of interest:

http://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/files/gse-mcc/files/empathy.pdf?m=1448054555

The New Zealand Curriculum promotes a focus on relationships via the key competencies: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Key-competencies. Strong relationships are believed to lead to increased student wellbeing, engagement, and accomplishment. (Greenberg et al., 2003)

In order to build relationships with others, children also need the ability to develop a positive relationship with themselves. This can often be overlooked as we tend to focus on relationships with others more frequently. Therefore, self compassion, kindness, and forgiveness is equally important. I'm thinking of the child who is really hard on themselves, who finds it difficult to let their mistakes go, who doesn't bounce back with some ease when something they are responsible for goes awry, as it often does......... we need to support them to be kinder and more forgiving towards themselves as a first step.

“HAPPINESS CONSISTS MORE IN SMALL CONVENIENCES OR PLEASURES THAT OCCUR EVERYDAY, THAN IN GREAT PIECES OF GOOD FORTUNE THAT HAPPEN BUT SELDOM.” Benjamin Franklin

Here's to a happy and healthy term!

Nga mihi.

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

  • I am connected... (with a focus on empathy) 
  • I can build relationships with others
  • I can communicate clearly
  • I can be part of a team
  • I can connect to my place, the environment and globally

Autahi and Tautoru
Ben, Hanna, CJ, Olivia, Dylan, Yoshi and Pippa.

Matariki and Mahutonga
Janne, Thomas, Josie and Isaac.


Letter from Stephanie Hayes' Parents

Dear Worser Bay School families

Many thanks for your support and understanding since Stephanie (Year 4) was diagnosed with leukaemia (a type of blood cancer) last year. She is responding well to treatment and she is doing well.

Stephanie has started the Maintenance phase of cancer treatment. All of this treatment is done in Wellington so we are fortunate to have no more Christchurch trips for treatment. Maintenance lasts two years, finishing in April 2018. Stephanie still has regular hospital appointments for chemotherapy but they are less frequent and less intensive than the past six months.

Stephanie's immunity is suppressed for the duration of her treatment. This means she will continue to have low immunity for the next two years. Lowered immunity means she is more susceptible to illness than other children. In particular, chicken pox, measles and the flu can have serious consequences for her.

Stephanie is very aware of the importance of personal hygiene to help her stay well. 

It is vital that Worser Bay families stay vigilant and do not become complacent. Please notify the school immediately regarding cases of chicken pox, measles or flu within your family. It's very important that you do not send your child(ren) to school if they are unwell.

Many thanks for your ongoing support.

Kind Regards
Cath Peebles and Dave Hayes (Stephanie's parents)


Flippaball

Congratulations to the Worser Bay Flippaball team for winning their grade in Term 1. An awesome effort!

Flippaball will resume again in Term 4.




Worser Bay School Fair 2016 is already underway!

Craft Meeting
If you would like to be involved in creating craft items for the school fair this year, please come along and join us on Tuesday 10th May at 2.30pm in the staffroom.

We will talk about craft ideas, and how people would like to be involved and what things they enjoy doing.

If you cannot make it on Tuesday, but would still like to be involved, please either email me at jacquelineross@paradise.net.nz or catch me at school. We really do appreciate all the help that you can give to make our stall fabulous on Fair Day.

Jackie




Autahi



Houses

We have been reading a story all week about houses. All of the houses are different. Some shake, some have lollypop, some have flags and some have hats. We talked about our own houses and then we made our own.



Swimming

We had our first swimming lessons and they were great! We are working on keeping track of our own things and we all managed to get changed and look after ourselves.  We had a play in the splash pool and a lesson as well!





Tautoru




Welcome back to Term 2!



Cross Country Training Begins
Today we started to think about our goals for our school Cross Country. We are learning to pace ourselves so that we can complete the run.



Maths
Take a look at what we have been learning in Maths... we are using different materials to master some essential skills.


Mahutonga/Matariki


Helping Circles for Writing
See a new approach we are taking to get peer feedback for our writing...




Swimming? Swimmingly!
Swimming for another year has begun. There was a lot of excitement getting on the bus and then into the pool.

Everybody had such a horrible time! Can’t you see from the photo how much pain these poor kids are in?




Making Compost Bins
The next time you see these pallets they will be transformed by these students (pictured) and their friends, into compost bins.



Read more about it on the blog.

ACTIONS AT A GLANCE
  • Board Elections - Call for Nominations
  • Next Assembly - Friday 13 May
  • Next Lost Property Clearance - Friday 13 May (Please ensure clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles are named.)
  • The Rocky Shore Disco - Friday 13 May - $5 per child.
  • The following payments are now due:
    • Voluntary Contribution - $335.00
    • Swimming Lessons - $60 - Whole School
    • Camp - 3rd instalment of $50 is now due (for those paying by instalment)
    • Seesaw Online Learning Journal - $7 - Whole School
    • Percussion Lessons - $16 - Whole School
  • Sausage Sizzle Tuesdays - Order via Wrap It Up.
  • Sushi Lunches Fridays - Order via Wrap It Up. (Remember not to order for Friday 3rd June when school is closed for Queens Birthday Weekend.)
  • Queens Birthday Weekend - School will be closed on Friday 3rd June and Monday 6th June.
  • Term Dates 2016 and 2017. 
  • Take a look at our Blogs! www.worserbay.school.nz/blogs

All payments via Wrap It Up please.




Board Elections - Call for Nominations
School boards and trustees play a critical role in all New Zealand schools, and this is particularly the case here at Worser Bay School. We are fortunate to have had a wide range of parents who have contributed in many different ways to the governance of our school. Some of those contributions are coming to an end for a variety of reasons and the three yearly cycle of Board elections is now upon us (key dates in the link below).

So, Worser Bay School needs you! The formal process of seeking nominations to be considered for the Board starts today. It’s tremendously rewarding and plays a vital role in ensuring our school continues to provide the environment that helps children grow, learn and prosper in order to reach their potential.

The Board should reflect the school community so we need parents who are representative of the fantastic environment we have. Accordingly, we are looking to ensure we have a diverse, complimentary, engaged, enthusiastic and committed Board that reflects our school community. 

You don’t need to have any qualifications or particular experience - all it really takes is that you have an interest in your child’s school environment and a willingness to bring whatever skills and enthusiasm you have to be involved.

Nominations close on 20 May 2016. For more information, go to http://www.worserbay.school.nz/be-involved/become-a-board-trustee. 



A Note from the Office
Absences
If your child is going to be away from school during term time (other than for medical reasons), please send an email to your child's base group teacher (you can find their email address at http://www.worserbay.school.nz/people) AND the office (office@worserbay.school.nz) with dates and reason for absence.

Payments via Wrap It Up
Thank you so much to everyone for the great response we had for Swimming payments and permissions.

Tip: To ensure you do not pay twice, you can check what you have already paid for on Wrap It Up by going to the "My Orders" tab on the menu below. This will list all the purchases you have made in date order.


Sausages
Remember to order your sausages for next week (and the rest of the term). They are a great fundraiser for the school. 

If you are keen to help on the BBQ, please email Michelle at parentnet@worserbay.school.nz.



The Rocky Shore Disco

Grab your seaweed, driftwood and starfish - it's time to party! 

Our first 2016 Disco takes place on Friday 13 May (6.00 - 7.30pm) at the Salvation Army Hall on Miramar Ave. We'd love to see the whole school dressed to impress in their finest Rocky Shore costumes. As usual, there will be prizes for the best dressed and best dancers.

We'd appreciate each family bringing along plate of food on the night for us to sell at the supper table. We will also have ice blocks for sale and - due to popular demand - we're doing another Toy Swap. This is where each child who attends brings an unwanted toy (wrapped) to add to the toy box. At the end of the night, the children who donated a toy get to take one from the box. The goal is for us to recycle and reuse things we've grown tired of.

The cost is $5 per child. Please pay online at www.wrapitup.co.nz. Younger siblings are welcome to attend at no charge.

We look forward to seeing you all there!



Swimming

This term, the main focus for the PE curriculum is swimming. This involves every student having one weekly swimming lesson at the Kilbirnie Aquatic Centre for ten weeks. Because of numbers, students may be heading to the pools with different teachers from usual (see below). Lessons and times are as follows:

Thursdays - 5th May to 7th July - 10 lessons

Years 1 & 2 - 1pm to 2pm - Kath, Gillian, Chrissy and Shona
Buses leave at 12.35pm from WBS and 2.20pm from the Aquatic Centre. 

Years 3 & 4 - 11am to 12noon - Nicola, Scott and Gabrielle
Buses leave at 10.30am from WBS and 12.20pm from the Aquatic Centre.

Years 5 & 6 - 12noon to 1pm - Hamish and John
Buses leave at 11.30am from WBS and 1.20pm from the Aquatic Centre.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s base group teacher.

The cost is $60 per child. Please pay online at www.wrapitup.co.nz.


Kia ora te whanau

If you are one of the willing parent volunteers for swimming next term, please read the Volunteer Guidelines and get back to the base group teacher via email and acknowledge that you have read this before the first swimming session. We need to keep everyone in the community 'safe', including our parent volunteers (who we rely on so heavily!)

Nga mihi
Jude




Community Notices...

Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels urgently need delivery people for the Eastern Suburbs.
1 hour a week is all you need to put aside. If you have any questions, you can call Neale Dickson on 022 604 3605.
To sign up, call 04 918 6014, or Bruce on 021 812 345 Monday to Wednesday, or William on 021 976 388.


The Children's Bookshop - Visiting Author
Liz Pichon, the author of the best-selling "Tom Gates" series of books for children will be at The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie Plaza on Wednesday 11th of May between 3.15pm and 4pm to meet her readers and sign books. Children may, of course, bring their own copies to be signed and the Tom Gates books will be available for sale too. All welcome, no charge.



Race to Explore Wellington Zoo, then Greater Wellington, with the Metlink City Safari
Sunday 15 May
This awesome family adventure sees teams start by racing to explore Wellington Zoo, before heading out to explore greater Wellington. This year's event has a wild animal theme. 'Wild Animals' will be located all over Greater Wellington. A map book will show you exactly where they are - your challenge is to find the quickest and smartest way to visit the most of these - both by foot and by all forms of public transport.

You may be racing to catch the ferry to Seatoun, the Cable Car to Kelburn, a train to Tawa, or a bus to Queensgate.

3 and 6 hour events are available.

Details and registration is at www.citysafari.org.nz. Numbers are limited.


Fun Languages
LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE THE FUN WAY
FUN French, Spanish and Mandarin language classes for 5 - 13 years olds.

  • Lots of fun activities, drama, music & games taught in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere! 
  • Language resources available to support parents at home. 
  • Free Trial Lesson available 
  • After-school, lunchtime and pre-school French classes available throughout Wellington. 
  • New: Easy online registration 

Contact: Annick on 021 462 042 or email annick@lcfclubs.co.nz or visit www.lcfclubs.co.nz for more information.


Kids Cross Country Series
Come along and have some fun. Athletics Wellington is again running the Kids Cross Country Series in partnership with Les Mills and the Shoe Clinic over the winter months at various venues around the Wellington region. First up is Karori Park on Sunday 15 May. Other venues are Upper Hutt, Petone, Tawa and Mt Victoria. Races for pre schoolers though to year 8s. This event has grown in the past few years with up to 600 kids taking part, so come along and have some fun. For more information or to enter, go to https://www.athleticshub.co.nz/our-programmes#kidsxcountry


Springboard and Platform Diving at Kilbirnie Pool
Wellington Diving Club has a range of diving classes for kids aged 5 years and up. Why not try something new this year? Visit our website and come along for a free trial! We have many after-school sessions on most days and cater for kids of any level from beginners to competitive. We are also running our fun casual sessions on Sundays. 

For more information, please visit our website www.wellingtondiving.org.nz or call/text Barbara on 027-485-8888.


Brainwave



Seatoun and Bays Progressive Association

Eastern Cycle Way
The Wellington City Council, as part of the Eastern Cycle way, is proposing 2 possible routes - one that starts in Seatoun. The two routes and details on the development are on: http://cycleways.wellington.govt.nz/. 

If you ride a bike, walk, drive a car, run a business or live in Seatoun and Bays – check it out and have your say. Public Open Day at the ASB Sports Centre Kilburnie - 9.00am - 3.00pm Saturday 7th May.
Deadline 23rd May 2016.

CentrePort Harbour Deepening Project Centre
Port is planning to dredge the harbour entrance to increase access for larger shipping into Wellington Harbour. The resource consent is to remove 8.6 million cubic metres of sediment and to be disposed of in Fitzroy Bay. CentrePort has done technical assessments of the impact on Seatoun beach and bays. Details of the project are on www.centreportbigpicture.co.nz. 

Public Open Days are being held in Seatoun RSA Clubhouse on: 
Thursday 12th May, 6-8pm, 
Saturday 21st May, 10am-3pm 

If you live in Seatoun and Bays, look at the website, go to the open sessions on 12th or 21st May and talk to your neighbours. If you want to make a submission, you have until 27th May.