7/2017

25 May 2017

Quote: - - Matariki - Matariki can be translated in two ways – Mata Riki (Tiny Eyes) and Mata Ariki (Eyes of God). (http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/assets/LanguageResources/MatarikiBooklet.pdf )

ACTION LIST Can you attend our Community Meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 5:30pm? If you don’t wish to purchase the entertainment book, please return it immediately. Please remember to pay Term 1 activity fees. Kia ora koutou After four years in the planning the Thorndon School rebuild project is finally underway. We believe this project will provide an amazing opportunity to redevelop our school and we are excited to finally be on the way. We will endeavour to keep you updated on progress as the project advances over the next 18 months. We are very conscious of the stresses that this rebuild project may place on our students and staff, as well as our neighbours and parent community, and we are very keen that any issues that arise are discussed openly and transparently. Please contact us if you have any questions or issues.

Key Points: Hawkins (http://www.hawkins.co.nz/) have been selected as the principal contractor by the Ministry of Education to undertake the construction works. Site mobilisation began on the school site on Monday, May 22nd. So far this has involved the setup of hoardings and fences, as well as contractor sheds, but no major construction works. The next significant step will involve the demolition of our old prefabs, old library and part of the ‘white house’. As was common when they were built, the old prefabs are clad with asbestos panels and there is also some evidence of asbestos in the soil under the prefabs. Hawkins have put in place a asbestos removal plan that meets all the requisite standards and they have contracted a specialist asbestos removal team to carry out the work

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER A community consultation meeting will take place at Thorndon School on Tuesday, June 6 at 5:30pm in our hall.

The agenda for the meeting will include:

     

An introduction to the construction team The design of the project Staging of the project Health and Safety o Asbestos removal o Traffic movements Contacts Q&A

Please RSVP: [email protected] With the construction hoardings going up, there will be an impact on school access, which will mean changes for parents doing school drop off and pickups, as well as public access across our school site. (See map below.)

Nga mihi Alistair du Chatenier

2

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

CONTENTS Page 1

Building Project

Page 3

Teacher Only Day, Homestay, Staff Changes

Page 4

Southern Steel Netball Players Visit, Art Week

Page 5

Te Reo at Thorndon, New Children

Page 6

School Cross Country Results

Term 2 Calendar June 1 June 2 June 5 June 6 June 6

Teacher Only Day

June 20 June 30 July 3-6

Stage Challenge School Closed: Teacher Only Day Queen’s Birthday Central Zone Cross Country Community Meeting on Rebuild 5.30 pm Interzone Cross-Country School Disco Art Week

Dec 3

Thorndon Fair

Homestays We will be hosting a group of ten International students from China for five weeks from July 24 to Aug 25. They are looking for homestays. Could you please give consideration to this opportunity. Host families will be remunerated. Please get back to me if you think you might like more information: [email protected]

We have scheduled a Teacher Only Day for Friday 2 June in association with Queen’s Birthday on Monday, June 5. Thorndon School will be officially closed on this day so it will not count as part of our requisite days for 2017. We are closing the school so our teaching staff can attend the LoopEd Conference run by the Wellington Loop of which we are a part. Other schools that will also be closed to allow staff to participate are Wellington Girls, Wellington College, Wellington High, Tawa College, Wellingon East Girls and more.

Staff Changes We have appointed Francis Buckley-Gorman as a fixed term reliever for Mae Pullar during her maternity leave. He will work with Jessie Gregory who is stepping up into Mae’s team leader role for the duration. We are very close to being able to announce the name of our second New Entrants teacher who will join Krista in Room 12 and work with her as our New Entrant roll grows. We would usually start an entirely new class, but with the limitations on space imposed by our rebuild we will need to have two teachers team teaching in the same space.

One Week Homestay Opportunity Our Chinese agent is interested in finding some one week homestays. These will be for a mother and child combo. Some of the families of our Chinese international students will independently rent accommodation in Thorndon, but would still like to have the experience of staying in a New Zealand home while they are here. Please get back to me if you think you might be interested in this option: [email protected]

3

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Southern Steel Netballers Visit Thorndon School When Southern Steel visited Wellington for their game last night, they made some of their players available to visit schools. We grabbed the opportunity for our netballers to train with the professionals. What made this visit extra special was that one of the two players who visited us was Gina Crampton. Gina attended Thorndon School and started her netball journey here with Beth Huntington as her coach. Beth, herself, was a Silver Fern and Gina has now followed in her footsteps. Our netballers had a great session and were shown a possible pathway to a professional sports career should they wish to take that path.

Art Week- Volunteers Needed! The best week in the Thorndon School year is coming up at the end of Term 2 (Art Week, Monday 3rd-6th July). Having Stage Challenge this year we have decided to move 'Art Week' to the last week of term 2. I would love to hear from anybody out there, in our school community, who could take a small group of children for 3.5 school days, and do a project with them. This could be any of the arts - dance, drama, visual, music, or anything creative you can think of. I will help you organise materials etc and will give you a small group (around 6-10 children depending what you're comfortable with). You get to specify the age you'd like to work with as well. PLEASE let me know if you are up for it (or if you need more info) as soon as possible. We really appreciate the help. If you would like to be involved but can’t manage the whole time, perhaps you could “job share” with somebody else! Either chat with someone you know, or contact me and I could try and pair you up with somebody. ([email protected]) Art Opportunity: our building contractors will have erected large ply hoardings around the building site. We will be able to create artworks on our side of these hoardings.

4

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Entertainment Books If you received a hard copy of the Entertainment Book, payment is due now. If you do not wish to purchase the book, please return it to the school office immediately.

New Children We have enrolled four new students since the last newsletter. Our roll is now 287. We would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new students and their families. Gigi Falconer Sione Fisi’inaua Johan Chong LeYan Zhang

Y7 Y8 Y1 Y3

R2 R3 R12 R7

Te Reo Maori at Thorndon School: Te Kura o Pipitea As you will know our tamariki (children) all have the opportunity to learn some te reo ona tikanga (language and culture) with our kaiarahi o te reo, Hemi Prime, each week. We thought parents might like to know a little of what is happening each week so they can have a conversation with their children. Each fortnight we will try to highlight a concept or sentence Hemi is teaching. From the start of this year our learning will revolve around nga atua. This fortnight we have been looking at: Tāwhirimātea The story of how Tāwhirimātea arose to protect his kingdom has been shared in the classroom/akomanga. He was so sad for Papatūānuku and feared for his kingdom that he sent a hurricane to shake Tane Mahuta from his roots. He churned the sea into a whirlpool and Tangaroa had to hide deeply in the sea. What happened to the children of Tangaroa? Ask your tamaiti what they remember about them?

Intern looking for Host Family Kia ora. My name is Anna, I am 23 years old and I am from Germany. I am planning to do an internship at Thorndon School in term 4 this year. I am in my final semester doing my bachelor to become a primary school teacher. As I am studying English I need to go abroad for some work experience, before starting my master degree. To improve my English and to get to know New Zealand's culture and everyday life, I am hoping to find a host family for about 3 month starting in the beginning of October. I experienced the English language during my working holiday in Australia and during some holidays in Great Britain. I am open-minded and love to deal with children as I am studying to become a teacher. I love spending time with my family consisting of my grandmother, my parents and my younger brother. I like doing sports in my spare time (Volleyball, riding my bike), I like painting and cooking and since half a year I am learning how to play the guitar. I am happy to support your family wherever you need help with. If you have any further questions please contact Alison Beech: [email protected] . Pai hiahia, Anna

5

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER School Cross Country Results On account of development work being done at the Botanical Gardens, we had to run our school cross-country at school this year. Thanks to the good work of Jason Trenberth (our Sports Coordinator) and our Sports Squad the event went very well. The three best placed runners will advance to the Central Zone competition on Tuesday, 6 June. Hopefully we will get back to the Botanical Gardens next year.

Race

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Year 3/4 Girls

Isla Morrison

Sophie Macfarlane

Frankie Cameron

Laika Stafford

Year 3/4 Boys

Austen Keni

Tuan Pham

Sami Bland

Boone Houghton

Year 5 Girls

Gigi Freeman

Kate Pollard

Kiwa Bull

Bea Meade

Year 5 Boys

Tyler Wong

Logan Shaw

Ryan Shaw

Eddie Fraser

Year 6 Girls

Harkiran Bains

Abby Wilson

Madeleine Carter

Lauren Edwards

Year 6 Boys

Teina Mill

William Falloon

Cooper Menken

Alex McInnesStone

Year 7 Girls

Julianne Lapuz

Caitlyn Morrison

Lizzie Evans

Olivia Ross

Year 7 Boys

Riley Leger

Tarquin Gooch

Sam RichellSmith

Sam Harvey

Year 8 Girls

Tamsin Coultas

Jasleen Bains

Te Moana Bastow

Mikayla Elkinson

Year 8 Boys

Kyahn Stoney

Sam Falloon

Max Wilson

Alex Marshall

6

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER COMMUNITY NOTICES Kids Cross Country Series starts in May The Brendan Foot Supersite Kids Cross Country Series is back this winter. Each event has 500+ kids, aged 3 to 13. There are five events through the Wellington region from May to August with the first one in Upper Hutt on Sunday 14 May, and the second in Karori on Sunday 28 May. Your choice if do you one, two, or all five events. Come along, join the fun. Complete them all and receive a commemorative medal and Drink Bottle. Only $8 to enter. For more info or to enter go to athleticshub.co.nz or contact [email protected]

Wellington Marathon and Kids Magic Mile The Wellington Marathon is on 18 June 2017 and includes a Kids Magic Mile with major spot prizes from Mizuno and Thermatech, girls and boys mountain bikes, plus family travel on Bluebridge. For those running the full/half marathon/10k/5k then join Team Heart Racer and help raise vital funds for the Heart Foundation. Every Heart Racer receives a Heart Racer dry-fit running tshirt, regular newsletter with training /nutrition /fundraising advice, an online fundraising page, plus a FitBit Surge for those who raise over $750! everydayhero.co.nz/event/wellington-marathon-2017

Wellington College Our Open Mornings this year for 2018 Year 9’s are: Saturday 24 June 2017 at 10.30am in the Sports Centre Monday 26 June 2017 at 9.30am in the Sports Centre 2018 Year 9 Induction Day -Thursday 23 November 2017. The closing date for 2018 Year 9 out of zone is Monday 31st July 2017 we would also like all in zone applications in on this date. For further information and enrolment forms please our website - http://www.wellingtoncollege.school.nz/enrolment-information-20172018

The Great Wadestown Quiz Night When: 7.00 pm, Saturday 10 June, 2016 (Quiz starts at 7.30) Where: Wadestown Presbyterian Church, cnr Wadestown Road & Hanover St Tickets: $15 a person (supper included, BYO drinks) Join us for a fun-filled quiz and auction, including a mystery bottle auction (who knows what you'll get!) Get some friends together to make up a team (4 - 6 people). If you don’t have a team just let us know and we can put you into a team. Email [email protected] to reserve your ticket/table

7

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Is your daughter looking for something a little different? We still have spaces available in our recreational classes this term. Come along and try out our new badge programme. Your daughter will work through Levels 1 to 10 over time. We have classes available from Mon to Sat, min. numbers apply. Our classes are in Thorndon, just opposite the Botanical Gardens. Rhythmic Gymnastics is a mix of dance and gymnastics. It develops hand-eye co-ordination through the use of apparatus – rope, hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. We are the only Rhythmic Gymnastics Club in the Wellington region. If your daughter loves to dance and is looking for something a little different, then come along to a class and give it a try! Email [email protected] to arrange a FREE trial. For more information about Elements and our classes, visit www.rhythmicgym.nz

Queen’s Birthday Board Games! Sunday Family session 10am - 2pm Gaming from 10am to 10pm Sat & Sun Wellington Girls College Do you like playing games? Come to Wellycon - NZ's biggest, friendliest boardgaming convention. Bring your friends and/or family and enjoy some quality playtime. The family session has plenty of treats for all attendees and helpers on hand to guide those in need. See https://www.wellycon.org.nz for more details or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

An Extra Pair of Hands    

Home Cleaning Spring Cleaning Oven cleaning Gardening

Our team are security checked, trained, and insured

Your one-stop shop for home services

For a free quote Phone: 0800535355 [email protected]

www.anextrapairofhands.co.nz

8

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Wellington Zoo and Zealandia $2 donation per entry 27 & 28 May Next Saturday and Sunday, you can visit the Zoo and Zealandia for just a $2 donation per entry! Wellington Zoo will be open from 9am until 5pm giving you a great opportunity to explore the Zoo and check out our new walk-through Kea experience in Meet the Locals He Tuku Aroha. All Zoo entry donations will go towards the Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund which helps to save animals in the wild. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

9

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Dear Each and Everyone of you! Parents, Kids, School Offices, Friends, Creative Enthusiast, Artists and Vagabonds, and Yogis, Some of you will already know from FB that my book "Aristotle's Journey into Happiness - Yoga for Children and the Young at Heart" (all ages) has been accepted by PledgeMe the crowdfunding community. I'm so excited as I know some of you have encouraged me to get the book out for some time. I'm not sure what takes more courage (and time), creating a book or promoting it. So here is to you all, hope you get a chance to purchase a copy! First 50 Pledgers will get a free print. And share this fab project in News Letters, on FB's and Twitter etc. It means the world to me and all the kids (and grown up kids at heart) who are waiting to get a hold of the actual book! I'm attaching the Facebook link which is an open site, for those of you who have a FB ( even if you don't you can see this one), you'll be able to see what we are doing in class: https://www.facebook.com/bibiworld.monkeyoga/ You are most welcome to share both this email and/or the FB link and/or the below link of the PledgeMe site with friends you know. The book had some pretty awesome endorsers, David O'Donnell from the Victoria Drama Department, Grumukh from Gloden Bridge Yoga in NY, Danny Paradise wrote the foreword: http://wonderfruitfestival.com/wonderpost/inside-mind-danny-paradise/ ( I love the Question in this article about "What do you think draws artists, musicians and rock stars to yoga?" As I believe we all have a hidden Rock Star in the form of a musician and dancer inside of us.) https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/5153-yoga-for-children-and-the-young-at-heart-aristotle-sjourney-into-happiness-a-family-yoga-classic Sending love and light to you all and thank you for your support! Remember the PledgeMe site is valid for just over a month so help us keep up our dreams alive and shine like bright stars. Bibi and Aristotle xxx (and Remember to breathe! - https://vimeo.com/217429927 (Bibi Devoy is my nick/artist name - some of you would know me as Alex/Alexandra Devoy)

10

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

11

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

12

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

13

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

14

THORNDON SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

15