Living and Learning

Today we got to have the assembly we had planned for last week but missed due to the snow. So we were finally able to give out the Cross Country certificates, congratulations to all recipients.
In assembly we also discussed our school vision, 'Living to learn and learning to live'   ‘Me ora ki te ako  Me ako ki te ora’. It is something I want to make a focus of the school and it was interesting to hear what  it meant to the students.  I have encouraged the children to talk with you at home to see what it means to you. To move the school forward as a community we need a shared understanding of our vision and how we can use it to grow what we are currently doing.

iWhat?

My piece in the Newsletter today is all about idevices. There are some people who will be concerned about the 'take-over' of technology and what that might look like. I'd like to assure everyone that there will be no 'take-over' and a lot of what we do will stay the same. Walking around the school today I encountered a number of activities that won't change with iPads. It is very difficult to do Poi with an iPad, to stretch and bend as a warmup to a physical activity is, again, difficult with an iPad. Even though it is cold, students were out at lunchtime practicing basketball.  All of these things and many more go to make up the rich and varied curriculum we have at Governors Bay. That will all continue, idevices will enhance some of what we do and have absolutely no impact on other areas.

Zones

This morning two of our students ran in the zones cross country. Luca and Ben represented the school well and are to be commended for their efforts.
While they were running I was involved in a Powhiri at Rapaki Marae along with the principal's from Lyttelton Main and Lyttelton West. It was great to get to Rapaki and be involved. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly and I look forward to involving the school in activities at the Marae in the future. While we were there another group was welcomed on so we had the chance to be part of the Tangata Whenua as well as the Manuhiri. It was a great experience as I also got to learn about the Whare and how it was constructed.

A testing day

Some of the Year 4 to 8 children were involved in sitting the New South Wales Science paper today. The library was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop, until a principal colleague of mine in China decided to Skype me! Luckily the test had finished and we were just packing up. It's interesting knowing teachers and principals overseas.  It gives a completely different perspective of education but interestingly it all comes down to the same concept of teaching and learning and working to do the best for the students.  Next term this particular friend is taking up a position in Berlin so I look forward to hearing about principalship over there. For me, I'm well happy to be in Governors Bay and hear about what is going on in other countries, I love to travel, but this is where I want to work.
I'm looking forward to a Powhiri at Rapaki Marae tomorrow, where else in the world could you do that?

Back down

It is good to be back to what will hopefully be a standard week. Other than the snow the highlight of last week has to be the back down by the Government on student ratios.  It's pleasing to see that the general public are listened to and even better that parents realised the impact the policy was going to have on schools across the country. It's a wonderful example of the whole community being involved in children's learning and, as an educator, that is really appreciated.
It is always good to get your input and feedback on what is happening at the school and it was valuable to have the parent session at She Chocolate last week. It was a good opportunity to have an informal chat in a relaxed atmosphere. Thank you to those who came and for your input and ideas.  I realise that for some people it is very difficult to get to these sessions and if you do have anything to offer or ask about, please feel free to email, ring or come and see me.
For those who can make it I will be holding more of these in time, and because the hot chocolates are so good, some of them will definitely be at She Chocolate.

No Snow

So here we are back at school, it has been an interesting last couple of days. I was surprised at the lack of snow here today, it still blankets a lot of the city. Good to see the Bay doesn't tolerate that sort of thing and you have been out and cleaned it all up.
It was nice to start back with buddies this morning, a chance to swap snow stories across the school as well as the other activities.
I trust no-one was too badly affected by the snow and ice over the last couple of days and here's to a warmer one next week.

School as usual on Friday

At this stage we'll start at 9am on Friday. If there is any change, Rebecca will text it out.

That's snow good - School's Closed Today

Sorry about the uncertainty of the last two days. Thank you for collecting your children yesterday and for your flexibility. Both mornings there have been a lot of discussion and phone calls with a number of parties and these decisions are never easy.

A big thank you to Rebecca for all of her work in contacting everybody over the two days. Unfortunately the server at school is down so we are unable to update the website.  To top it all off my internet at home is not working.

I hope our decisions have not inconvenienced you too greatly and that you have managed to enjoy some of the snow with your family.

Fingers crossed for a standard day on Friday.

Survey

Life at the moment seems to be all about surveys, I am filling in a number to get my opinion on the various things the Government is looking to implement for education.  So I thought I would write one of my own for you to complete.  It is just to the right of this page and it would be appreciated if you could take a moment to do it. It should be pretty quick, there is only one question. While I get statistics on how many views there are each day, it would be good to know the viewing habits.  Thanks for doing this.

We have our parent information session after school today at She Chocolate so be sure and drop your children in to after school care with Bridget and come along. It's a chance for you to tell me what you want from the school and just to have a general conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. I'd shout the drinks, but the school budget doesn't stretch that far sorry. Remember though that if you do buy a drink and muffin to mention you're from the school and we'll get $1 donated.

We have planned to spend some time tomorrow viewing the Transit of Venus through specialised equipment kindly supplied by Larry Anderson from the Astronomical society. Larry came to talk to us today about the event and is planning on coming in tomorrow for an hour to allow the students to view it. Unfortunately the weather looks like it will be against us.

If it does snow tomorrow please listen to the radio to see if school is cancelled.

It was good to hear that during a recent high school visit some of our pupils saw some Year 12 students engaged in the same experiment I had done with our Year 6, 7, 8 class last week. The only difference was that our class had to draw a graph and the Year 12s didn't, that must have been too hard for them. It's nice to know that our year 8s are well prepared for high school and maybe even could take a few years off in between as it appears they are already well ahead.


There were a range of activities happening at buddies this morning, from reading to drawing to computer activities to sharing rock collections. It is a wonderful part of the week and always brings interesting discussion.

Enjoy your long weekend. I'll see you all at She Chocolate at 3:15 on Tuesday for the parent information session and you can tell me what you want, what you really, really want.