SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Thursday 13 April 2017
Dear Parents / Caregivers
WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY BREAK AND HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A RELAXED, HAPPY AND SAFE TIME.
STATIONERY ACCOUNTS
Thank you all those who have paid their children’s Stationery accounts on time. It is a complete waste of Maree’s time having to continuously chase these up. Prompt payment in the future would be appreciated. Can we please have these paid either over the holidays online or deliver to the office first Monday back term 2. And if you pay online please remember to let Maree know you have done this. A quick text or email would be appreciated thanks.
CHOPPER APPEAL FUNDRAISER
On Friday 5th May we are raising money for the Westpac Chopper Appeal. We will be supporting New Zealand’s Rescue Helicopter by holding a Wacky Hair Day. (your support in this would be much appreciated as this is a very worthwhile cause and nobody knows if or when we may need this service). Can children please bring along a gold coin (or donation to your discretion) to be donated to the appeal and GO CRAZY WITH A WACKY HAIRDO for the day!!!!
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS
Saturday 8 April - Southland Athletics
Thursday 13 April - Last day of term 1
Monday 1 May - First day term 2
Friday 5 May - Chopper Appeal Fundraiser (Crazy hair day)
Wednesday 17 May - Parent – Teacher Interviews (2.00 – 7.30pm)
Thursday 18 May - Waimea Cross Country
Monday 5 June - Queens Birthday holiday (No school)
ASSEMBLY
The Assembly group for the first week of term two will be room:
Reminder assembly commences at 10.00 am.
Parents are most welcome to join the staff for morning
tea following assembly.
CONGRATULATIONS
A huge congratulations to Miss Burgess for completing
her two year registration. Well done Emma and also
thank you to Ms Knight for her time and input as Emma’s Tutor teacher.
SOUTHLAND ATHLETICS
On the 8th of April a handful of Balfour Students went to Southland Athletics. Invercargill turned on a good day at Surrey Park.
Gemma Bulleid competed in the ten year old girl’s sprints, relay and the 1500 meters. She was really proud to be in the running events and first in her heat for 100m. She came fifth in the 1500m.
Jack Merchant went to compete in the long jump and relay. He came third equal with a Boy from Avenal out of 28 boys. He felt proud of himself. He jumped off the wrong foot but did his best jump yet. His left foot is now his good foot!
Millie competed in discus but did not throw anywhere near her personal best which is 16m24cm. She had never been to Southland before and was distracted by the big net that you have to stand in. A few of the girls hit the net and that made Millie nervous. Some of them also went out the top of the circle and got disqualified.
Josh went to do shot put. He got 16th but threw 2m less than his personal best. He thought the nerves got the better of him on the day because everyone was throwing it out and he came close to getting disqualified too. The winner threw 9m37cm! He is twice the size of Josh and wins every time.
We are proud to say that Safi came first in the 100m and got to stand on the podium. We think if Safi works on his starts he will win everything. Safi said he felt really nervous to start with and surprised himself by winning. Standing on the podium was a bit scary because he’d never been up there before.
Balfour School did very well overall and we all enjoyed the experience.
By Gemma B, Millie, Josh, Jack M, and Safi
PRINCIPALS REPORT
The end of the term is finally here and all the students and staff are ready for a break. Learning this week has been around ANZAC Day and many children have written amazing poetry in response to their new knowledge. Thanks to Mrs Collins we have a lovely display in the hallway and we had our own ANZAC reflection time as a whole school this morning.
Sadly today we say goodbye to Christa Taufa who is returning to Tonga in the holidays. We will all miss her amazing smile, friendliness and her contribution as a senior of Balfour School. Good luck Christa.
Room Four held a celebration this week to acknowledge the hard work of all the children who have made incredible progress with their sight words. It was lovely to see many parents attend and several little siblings as well. The party provided an opportunity for children to share their writing, artwork, groups etc. with their families. The positive turn out has prompted me to consider this type of sharing and celebration time as a valuable school wide procedure. It is something I hope to see more of over the year.
As a staff we are working on going back to using the SMS system to present our reports. As you know we teach values at Balfour School, with a different focus every term. The values that we teach were chosen through community consultation before my time and the school rules have been developed to sit within these.
Responsibility – Be In Control
Respect – Be Respectful
Kindness – Be Positive
Honesty – Be Honest
My aim is to get four observable behaviours that break down each value into something that we can assess against. We will add these to our reports so that you can see how your child is progressing against each value. I have included in the newsletter the hard copy of a survey. Please take the time to fill it in, as this will inform the teaching and success criteria for assessment against each value. This is a chance for you to have your own family values linked with the school.
Have a lovely break everyone and enjoy having your beautiful children at home for two weeks. Stay safe and have fun.
Kind regards
Louise Stevenson
THE MIDDLE YEARS TOOLBOX
The Middle Years Toolbox is coming to Riversdale. This course is designed for parents of children aged 6-12 years.
Starting week 1 of Term 2 (1st week of May). Tuesday or Thursday evenings TBC, 7-9pm. Everyone is welcome.
The six sessions of this course will provide you with the skills and strategies needed to be the parents you have always hoped to be. You will be given insight into the particular challenging and unique opportunities that the middle years bring. You will also gain tools for confidently handling the challenges that arise along the way.
Session 1: Setting the scene
Includes: Parenting Styles, The V of Love, The Parent Coach. Hot topic: Peer Pressure
Session 2:Building your child’s self-esteem
Includes: Self-esteem, reflective listening, passing on values, school. Hot topic: Bullying
Session 3: EQ - Emotional Intelligence
Includes: Socialising our kids – manners and positive requests, delaying gratification, The Teachable Moment. Hot Topic: Anger
Session 4: Organising Chaos
Includes: Personality tyes, family meetings, establishing the rules, setting boundaries, consequences. Hot topic: Total melt down or the Strong-Willed Child.
Session 5: Unique Families – Creating the memories
Includes: Atmosphere, Family mission statement, rituals and memories, love languages.
Hot topic: Sibling rivalry.
Session 6: Moving Forward
Includes: Change is the theme (puberty), the 5 A’s of prevention, get in first (talking about the birds and bees). Hot topic: Body image.
Cost: $75 per person, $110 per couple (subsidies available, please ask)
If you want to register or find out more please contact Tori Tremaine – 0276326447
Regards
Board of Trustees
Thank you to all those who attended the Working Bee. We managed to cross most things off the list. Although there are a couple more jobs to do, if you weren’t able to make it on the day and still