NEWS Stepping Up & Reaching Out 24 FEB 2017
Important Notes/Dates / A note from the PrincipalTerm Dates 2017:
Term 1 – Monday 30 January – Thursday 13 April
Term 2 – Monday 1 May – Friday 7 July
Term 3 – Monday 24 July – Friday 29 September
Term 4 – Monday 16 October – Friday 15 December
Public Holidays
Monday 6 February – Waitangi Day
Friday 14 April – Good Friday
Tuesday 25 April - Anzac Day
Monday 5 June - Queens Birthday
Monday 16 October – Labour Day
Friday 17 November – Canterbury Anniversary Day
Teacher Only Day:
Tuesday 6 June
What’s coming up:
FEBRUARY:
Monday 27 February - 3 March - YR5/6 Camp 1 at WoodendMARCH:
Friday 3 March - YR1&2 Parents /Grandparents Discovery session 11am-12.30pmMonday 6 March - 9 March - YR5/6 Camp 2 at Woodend
Monday 6 March – PTA Meeting 7pm – school library
Tuesday 14 March - YR5/6 visit Parklands Library
Wednesday 15 March - Zone Swimming Sports - times to be confirmed
Wednesday 15 March - El Gregoe visits QPS
Friday 17 March - LEAP 3.15pm school hall
Tuesday 21 March - YR7 visit Parklands Library 10am - 12.30pm
Wednesday 22 March – PTA 2nd Hand Uniform Sale 2.30 – 3.30pm in the school hall foyer
Monday 27 March - Kids Lit Quiz Competition
Tuesday 28 March - YR8 visit Parklands Library 10am - 12.30pm
APRIL:
Thursday 6 April - Canterbury Swimming Sports 9am - 3pm (TBC)Thursday 13 April - House Competition - Remember House T Shirts
Thursday 13 April - Last day Term 1
Friday 14 April - Good Friday - School closed for instruction
MAY:
Monday 1 May - Term 2 beginsTuesday 9 May - YR7/8 Zone Netball Trials 3-5.30pm
Friday 12 May - YR0-3 Cross Country 11.15-12.30 (PP date 26 May)
Monday 15 May - Book Week - Theme: Animals
Tuesday 16 May - QPS Open Day - Come along at any time to any class and see what we are up to.
Tuesday 16 May - Senior Cross Country - 12-3pm (PP date 18th May)
Tuesday 23 May - Zone Cross Country 12.30-3pm (PP date 30 May)
Tuesday 30 May - ICAS Science Exam 11am hall foyer
June:
Tuesday 13 June - ICAS Writing Exam - 11am hall foyerWednesday 14 June - ICAS Spelling Exam - 11am hall foyer
Friday 16 June - LEAP - 3-4pm school hall
Tuesday 20 June - Junior Mini Concert 11am school hall
Tuesday 27 June - Senior Mini Concert 11am school hall
Friday 30 June - QPS DISCO (TBC)
July:
Friday 7 July - Last day Term 2Monday 24 July - First day Term 1
Tuesday 25 July - Pre ICAS English Exam 11am hall foyer
Tuesday 25 July - YR1 Swimming begins
Thursday 27 July - YR2 Swimming begins
August:
Tuesday 1 August - Zone Winter Sport Tournament (details tbc) (PP Date 8 August)Tuesday 1 August - ICAS English Exam 11am hall foyer
Wednesday 2 August - Strum, Strike, Blow Festival
Tuesday 8 August - Pre ICAS Maths Exam 11am hall foyer
Wednesday 9 August - QPS Open Day - Come along at any time to any class and see what we are up to
Monday 14 August - Life Education begins
Monday 14 August - Cultural Festival begins
Tuesday 15 August - ICAS Maths Exam 11am hall foyer
Friday 24 August - Canterbury Winter Tournament (details TBC)
September:
Friday 8 September - LEAP - 3-4pm school hallThursday 28 September - QPS Showcase 6pm school hall
Friday 29 September - Last day Term 3
October:
Monday 16 October - First day Term 4Tuesday 24 October -Room 5/6 Beach visit
Wednesday 25 October - Room 7 Beach visit
Thursday 26 October - Senior Athletic Day 9.30am - 3pm (PP Date 2 November)
Friday 27 October - QPS Open Day - Come along at any time to any class and see what we are up to
Friday 27 October - YR6 Cycle Safety begins
November:
Wednesday 1 November - Rm13 visit the beachThursday 2 November - Rm8 visit the beach
Friday 3 November - Rm12 visit the beach
Friday 10 November - YR0-3 Athletics Day 10.30am-12.30pm (PP Date: 16 November)
Wednesday 15 November - Zone Athletics Day 9am - 3pm (PP Date: 20 November)
Tuesday 21 November - Junior Mini Concert 11am school hall
Friday 24 November - School Twilight Fair 5-8pm
Tuesday 28 November - Senior Concert 11am school hall
Wednesday 29 November - YR1 Wheels Day 11.30am - 12.30pm
December:
Friday 1 December - LEAP 3-4pm school hallWednesday 6 December - Canterbury Athletics
Friday 15 December - Last day Term 4 - All classes released at 12.30pm
Please "like" Jeté Dance Facebook and Website at the below links. These will be regularly updated with Auckland, Cambridge and Christchurch information
/ Dear Parents / Caregivers,
Dear Parents / Caregivers,
It was great to see lots of parents down at school recently supporting our
children in many learning activities across the school. Some things
that have been going on early this term are: YR1 Spencer Park and YR2 Picnics,
YR7/8 Challenge Week, River of Flowers, Swimming Sports & Camps!
Thank you to the Mums and Dads who have taken the time to meet with
teachers to talk about learning goals for this year. This has been a valuable
time to establishgoals to work on and to meet parents face to face.
A reminder that the school entrance ways during pick up and drop off times
MUST be kept clear at all times. We have yet again had reports of parents
dropping children off or picking up in undesignated areas. Please show
extra care here.
Parent feedback survey responses – Please remember to jump online and
complete this quick survey for us. This is important and will enable us to get
the best picture of what we need as a school going forward. Thank you to
those who have completed this already.
PTA – Congratulations to the newly elected members on our PTA.
Julie Ziolo-Roberts is the new Chairperson, Kerri McShane - vice president,
David Bluck - secretary, Sherryl Haughie - treasurer. We welcome all our
new members to the PTA also and we are looking forward to the contributions
they will make. The PTA are always looking for new members
to come and join the team. Even if you are able to help out now and
then, is very helpful - Let us know if you are interested!
Self Management - One of our Queenspark learning competencies is teaching
the children the skills of self management and giving them the space to do
this. We encourage you to have aconversation with your children about
what self management looks like atschool and at home. These things
can be as simple as children arrivingto school and putting their bags
away and getting out what they need for theday. It doesn’t need to be
complicated, just consistent.
Have a great weekend everyone
Go the Crusaders!
Regards
Ross Willocks
Principal
QueenSparX Dance Club
Tuesdays3.15pm & 4.00pm(split into age groups) starting from 14 February
Held in the Queenspark School Hall
Girls & Boys of all ages welcome
Multi Genre Dance
Regular Performances
For more information or to register please r text Kate on 0273552153
Road Patrol
We are looking for parent supervision on a Thursday morning 8.25-8.55am. If you have a little spare time and are able to assist our students with road patrol on these days, please contact the office.
The benefits of reading for pleasure are numerous. The obvious is that it provides personal enjoyment as this is reading that we do of our own free will, as we anticipate the satisfaction that we will get from the act of reading.
The some of the less obvious benefits are:
- Reading for pleasure has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress levels.
- Had higher scores on the cognitive and social/attitudinal competencies
- Had consistently higher scores in mathematics, reading, logical problem-solving and attitude
- Had higher average scores for engagement in school, positive communication and relations with family, and positive friendships
- Showed less risky behaviour
- Had higher levels of motivation towards school
- Be heavier television watchers over time
- Have had bullying experiences
- To be seen by teachers as having difficult classroom behaviour at age 12
- Be less likely to complete their homework
- Be less likely to be enthusiastic about going to school
So, how do we help our young people develop a love of reading? Firstly, they need to be fluent readers, and that often comes down to time, just like physical activities you need to practice, so it is with reading.
Read anything: recipes, captions in magazines, road signs, as well as printed books try eBooks.
Read anytime: it can be hard to fit in what seems like another chore, but be inventive, if your child is an early riser - read in bed in the morning, read in the car on those trips to the next appointment/ sports practice, read while waiting. If they are struggling (or even if not) keep reading too them, it all adds to their vocabulary, audio books and books on CD are all a great option (listen in the bath!).
If you have any questions please talk to your child’s teacher or see Maree Silver-Hessey in the Library.
Check out for what is happening in the library, and our 24/7 eBook collection.
Relief Cleaner:
We are looking for a relief cleaner to join our team. This is an on-call position Monday-Friday. Please contact the school office if you are interested in this position or would like some more information.
Soccer:
Summer soccer is back for term one.
Starting on the 22nd of February
Free for term one.
School years times:
Year 1-2 4pm to 4:30 Year 3-4 4:40 to 5:10
Year 5-6 5:20 to 5:50 Year 7-8 6pm to 6:30
Please txt Kat on 0272559853 if interested
A summary of the Cyber Safety presentation by John Parsons:
Presenter: John Parsons
Keeping children safe online
...protecting people online
1) Become your child’s “friend” in any social network environment your child creates.
2) Maintain easy access to your child's profile via their log in...... you will see everything.
3) Ensure that you can always have access to your child's phone to help them stay safe (i.e. it is not a no-go area) ...check the quality of how they are communicating with others; talk about how they connect and communicate with friends. Is it consistent with the values of your family?
4) Educate your children about the importance of protecting family and friends images....teach them to seek permission of another before they send or upload images to the internet.
5) Try to always maintain open lines of communication with children. Do not over-react if you see something that alarms you or makes you angry..... share your concerns, and always talk about the issues and how they relate to them and their friends safety.
6) Agree on a time in the evening to stop using the technology within the home...that’s everyone.
“Remember, what we model today will either come back and embrace us or bite us tomorrow” – John Parsons.
7) Talk/ask about their friends and social activity as a way to reduce the opportunity for
cyber-separation to develop...... encourage being open about new friends and what they are up to, and who their parents are. When in doubt, call the parents and introduce yourself.
8) Teach your children to protect their online identity, as a way to future proof themselves for employment.....we need to nurture and protect them online and teach them how to protect themselves as they engage information technology.
Paedophiles & online gaming platforms
Paedophiles gravitate to areas where children play, communicate and congregate. Pay attention to the online games your children play. Questions to ask: Are the games age appropriate? Is the quality of the language used in the games suitable for a child? How does the game make money out of a child’s use? What processes are available to adults, should they need to make a complaint about a user? Parents/guardians need to familiarise themselves with the game the child wants to play before the child enters the game; alternatively sit alongside the child and experience the game with them. Online gaming platforms provide paedophiles with the ability to observe minors interacting with other minors, all the time learning about the child. This gives the paedophile the opportunity to target select and then build a relationship with a child once the grooming starts.
To learn more about online safety with John Parsons view his TV and Radio interviews here
A digital life is a shared responsibility – John Parsons
We don’t need to live a fortified life, just an informed one