Newsletter 25 August 2009

25 August 2009 Term 3 Week 6 09/26

Dear Parents & Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa

Teacher Only Day
The teaching staff held the second Ministry approved Teacher Only Day at Puketeariki Marae, Karitane yesterday. Why did we meet there you may ask? There are a number of reasons:We hope to take the children on a marae visit next year – probably in term 2 – and we wanted to do some preparatory work with the coordinator of marae visits;
We wanted to use the new curriculum as a framework for planning this visit;
We also wanted to see how we could incorporate local Kai Tahu elements into our planning;Maori and Pasifika children throughout NZ are performing below the rest of the children in literacy and numeracy and schools have been challenged by the Ministry of Education to lift our performance for these groups. I am happy to report that Maori and Pasifika children at NEV Normal are doing as well as anyone else according to our achievement data but we have to remain vigilant for any change in this area.

The marae at Karitane is beautiful. It is decorated in a number of different styles and most of the carvings and artworks depict stories of the local hapu and iwi. The complex has a commanding view of Karitane, the beaches and surrounding hills.

We were welcomed warmly by the locals including the coordinator of the marae experience for schools, Diana Mules. Diana led us through what we could do with the children during the school visit. Diana also shared ideas with us about how we could maximise the experience in terms of learning.

During one of the discussions, I pointed out that a cousin of mine holidays every year in Tuscany but said to me that he had never been to a marae and would love to do so. I find this sad as a marae is an important part of our culture.

Parents and extended family will be welcome to participate in the marae trip with us next year.


John McKenzie
Principal
Visit the school’s website www.nevn.school.nz

Rainbow Class
The transition to school class for 4 year olds will be held this Thursday from 1.15 to 2.45pm in R11. If you have a 4 year old who would like to join this class please contact Mrs Will or the office.

Scholastic Book Club
Leaflets for Issue 6 are being sent home today.Orders with money need to be into the office by Friday 11 September. Please make cheques payable to Scholastic NZ.

Wacky Hair Friday
This Friday we are having a Wild Hair or Hat Day. Children can come to school with a wild hairstyle or hat.

Please bring along a gold coin donation to support Scott Kvick who is planning to skike from Cape Reinga to Bluff during summer in a bid to raise $20,000 for Canteen and the SPCA. Some children at school thought it would be a good idea to raise some money to donate to Scott’s very worthwhile fundraising cause.

Assembly
Friday’s 2.30pm assembly will be organised by Room 10 with items by Rooms 2 & 11. Assembly will be held in the Hall. Parents/caregivers are welcome to
attend.

Smart Food School Lunches
Smart Food lunches are available on Mondays & Thursdays at NEVNS. The cost is $2 or $3 for a larger lunch with two extra sandwiches. Orders & money in a named envelope need to be into the office by 9am.

PTA Hot Lunches
There are no hot lunches this Friday.

Road Patrol
Thank you to those parents/caregivers who have volunteered to help with road patrol. All vacancies are now filled.

Volleyball
Interschool volleyball games were held last Tuesday and today for Y5 and Y6 children. Many thanks go to Mrs Hesson who has organised this tournament for primary and intermediate children for many years.

Cross Country
11 of our NEV Normal Y5 and 6 children ran in the North Zone cross country at Balmacewen Intermediate School this morning. All children competed really well. Congratulations go to Mikaire Schooner, Harriet Koch and Jorja Hall who qualified for the Otago championships to be run on 11 September.

Many thanks to the parents/caregivers who helped transport the children.

PTA News
Term 3 Fundraiser

Hyndman Publishing Book & Gift Sale
Each family will be sent home a catalogue and order form with today’s newsletter. Please have a good look at it as there are some super bargains to be found. These books, diaries, calendars and cards make great Christmas or birthday presents. There will be spare catalogues in the office if you want to take some to work or friends to see if they want to order anything. All orders and money need to be into the office by Thursday 24th
September.

Next PTA Meeting
Last week’s meeting was postponed due to lack of
numbers, so there is a meeting today after school in Room 4. All welcome to attend.

Dates to Note
T3 Monday 20 July Friday 25 September
T4 Monday 12 October Friday 18 December

August
25 PTA Meeting 3.15pm
27 Rainbow Class
28 Wild Hair and Hat Day—gold coin donation
Wide Horizons trip R3

September
3/4 Life Education visit
10 Rainbow Class
11 Wide Horizons trip
OPPA Cross Country
14 BOT Meeting 6pm
15 School Photos
16 PTA Meeting 3.15pm
18 Wide Horizons trip
25 End of Term 3

Community News
North East Valley Junior Cricket: Registration: Saturday 20 September, 2-5 pm OR Tuesday 15 September, 4:30 to 5 pm, Clubrooms, Gardens Ground, Bank Street. Boys and girls ages 5-14 welcome. Gear Exchange table at Saturday
registration. For further information contact: Abby Smith, 473-0150, hgspencer@xtra.co.nz.

Southern Children's Choir: is actively seeking new members. Who: Girls from 8 to 18. Boys 8 and over with unbroken voices. When: Wednesday 7-8.15 pm. Where: Marama Hall, University of Otago. The choir sings in a variety of styles (classical, folk, popular) and languages, and gives a thorough education in choral technique. The ability to read music is an advantage. The ability to sing in tune is essential. Informal auditions will be held on Wednesday Sept 2 and Wednesday Sept 9 between 6pm and 7pm. Phone Sandy Garner or Anthony Ritchie 4762541 for further information or to book an audition.

Valley OSCAR is running a holiday programme from Monday 28th September until Friday 2nd October. As it is National OSCAR week we have a theme of Kalidescope Colour. Activites include archery, indoor bowls and a trip to the movies. More information can be obtained from Janette at 473 9413 or drop into NEV Baptist Church for an enrolment form. Enrolments close 23rd September.

Southern Gymnastic Academy School Holiday Programme: for all children aged 5-11. Starting on 29th September, 1st, 6th, and 8th October. Each
session starts at 9:00am and finishes at 10:30am. A repeat session runs later in the morning, starting at 11:30am and finishing at 1:00pm. Cost $7 per session, or $20 for all four sessions. Ph 477 5855 or email dunedin@southerngymnastics.co.nz or www.southerngymnastics.co.nz/holidayprogram

Newsletter 19 August 2009

Term 3 Week 5 09/25

Dear Parents & Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa
Things are pretty busy at school at present. Here are some snippets of interest:
College Teachers –
We currently have ‘AG’ teachers on posting. The AGs are university students who have completed a degree and are doing a one year intensive course of teacher training. These students work alongside our teachers for two days a week then near the end of the term they have supervised full class control.

Teacher Only Day
The revised curriculum is due to be in place by the beginning of 2010. The teachers have been working hard addressing the new elements of the curriculum. The Government authorised two ‘teacher-only’ days for schools to help implement the curriculum and our second day is coming up this Monday. The school will not be open for instruction on that day. We are holding our planning day in Karitane at Puketeariki Marae. We will also take the opportunity while we are there to plan a whole school marae trip for 2010.

The NEV Community Programme
This programme has operated since 1990 and for most of that time has been based in the prefab classrooms in front of the school hall. Sadly, due in part to the recent cuts in adult education funding, the Programme members have decided to wind up the society which governs the Community Programme. This Programme has added considerable value to North East Valley, and beyond, over the years. Not all is lost though as a new body will be formed to better reflect the current needs of residents of North East Valley – probably a charitable trust. This new structure will aim to stimulate community development in the Valley. The reins of this work have been taken up by the members of the NEV Project whose members undertook research into the Valley last year. The NEV Project has representatives from each of the schools, early childhood centres, businesses, churches and agencies who work in North East Valley. In the meantime, the Valley News will continue to be published and the community rooms will still be available for community use.


John McKenzie
Principal
Visit the school’s website www.nevn.school.nz


Welcome
We welcome Katie Shanks who is working in the office each morning this term.

Assembly
Friday’s 2.30pm assembly will be organised by Room 8 with items by Rooms 3 & 10. Assembly will be held in the Hall. Parents/caregivers are welcome to attend.

School Opens at 8.30am
Children are not to be dropped off or allowed to make their way to school to arrive before 8.30am.

There have been incidents lately of children being dropped off as early as 7.50am! This poses a real danger to the student as teachers are not patrolling the playground to ensure children are safe.

Smart Food School Lunches
Smart Food lunches are available on Mondays & Thursdays at NEVNS. The cost is $2 or $3 for a larger lunch with two extra sandwiches. Orders & money in a named envelope need to be into the office by 9am.

PTA Hot Lunches
Hot lunches this Friday are: -
1 Hot Dog for $1.50
Milo $0.50c. Please bring a cup for Milo.
Orders with money in a named envelope with room number to the office by 9am please.

Road Patrol—Help needed in the morning
Help is still needed supervising the road patrollers on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (8.30-9am). If you are able to help at any of these times please
contact Mrs Staynes or the school office.

Skike Demonstration
Scott Kvick visited our school last Friday afternoon with his skikes. They are a cross between skis and roller blades. Scott is planning to skike from Cape Reinga to Bluff during summer in a bid to raise $20,000 for Canteen and the SPCA.

Some children at school thought it would be a good idea to raise some money to donate to Scott’s very worthwhile fundraising cause.

Next Friday 28 August we will have a Wild Hair or Hat Day. Children can come to school with a wild hairstyle or hat.

Please bring along a gold coin donation to support Scott.

Board of Trustees News
Nine members of the Board of Trustees met last night. Items discussed at this meeting included: school wide assessments in reading and social science (the results of which are available for viewing on the notice board in the office); the programme for the teacher only day next Monday; property issues including progress on plans for structural strengthening of the senior classroom and college blocks; a proposal from a board members to set up a meeting space in the school for parents and
caregivers.

Dates to Note
Term 3 Monday 20 July Friday 25 September
Term 4 Monday 12 October Friday 18 December

August
18 Volleyball Tournament
21 Wide Horizons trip R5
24 Teacher Only Day—school closed
25 PTA Meeting 3.15pm
27 Rainbow Class
28 Wild Hair and Hat Day—gold coin donation
Wide Horizons trip

September
3/4 Life Education visit
10 Rainbow Class
11 Wide Horizons trip
OPPA Cross Country
14 BOT Meeting 6pm
15 School Photos
16 PTA Meeting 3.15pm
18 Wide Horizons trip
25 End of Term 3


Tips for home energy from the Community
Energy Action Trust:
www.cea.co.nz/energy-information
Heating choices and costs (continued)

Night-store Heaters
Advantages
Work with Night and Day power plans and use power at night on the cheaper rate to make heat. The heat is stored in the heater (in bricks) until 7am, when it is
released during the day.
Day time warmth at night time prices
A clean form of heating
Good if people are at home during the day
 
Disadvantages
Considered 80% efficient because sometimes they waste energy by providing heating when it is not required.
Little heat is left for evenings
They don't emit heat at night
Higher purchase and installation cost than regular plug-in heaters
You must decide the night before whether you want heat the next day


Measles Outbreak Information from the Ministry of Health 17 August 2009
There has been a rapid rise in the number of measles cases reported around the country, with the number of notified cases so far this year already seven times higher than the total number of cases last year. There have been more than 100 cases in Canterbury,including 11 who have been hospitalised. The number of cases in Auckland is growing, and there are isolated cases in other regions. Measles is a highly infectious notifiable disease with serious complications. Case fatalities are around one per 1000.

It is important to stop the spread of measles by keeping infected children at home. Immunisation is free, and is the best way to prevent measles. Doctors have begun recalling unimmunised patients to increase immunisation coverage. The Ministry of Health requires students who have no proven immunity to measles (through immunisation or previous exposure) to be sent home if there is a measles outbreak in their class. Once immunised, 90 to 95 percent of people are protected from measles. Please check that your child/ren’s immunisation is up to date.

Under the Health (Infectious and Notifiable Diseases) Regulations 1966 (Section 14), a student or teacher with measles must stay away from school for seven days from the appearance of the rash. Unimmunised students, or those with no immunity to measles, who have been close contacts of a measles case during the infectious stages will be excluded from school for 14 days from their last contact. This exclusion also applies to students taking part in sporting events.

Further information on measles is available on http://www.moh.qovt.nz/immunisation

You can also call the Immunisation Advisory Centre toll-free line 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863).

If you would like to discuss these issues, please contact the local public health service. If you are unsure, call the public health nurse for NEV Normal Ruth
Ballantyne. Contact details: 476 9894.

Teacher Only Day

Monday 24 August

School will be closed

Newsletter 12/08/2009

12 August 2009 Term 3 Week 4 09/24

Dear Parents & Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa
I recently attended a seminar about managing one’s career and one’s life more efficiently. Teachers and especially school principals who do not manage their workload well, are likely to have very short retirements! In fact, data from the USA says a teacher who retires at age 55 has on average 30 years retirement. On the other hand, school principals in the US who retire at age 65 have on average 18 months retirement!! Studies here in New Zealand have come to similar conclusions.

Some years ago I had a major health scare which was caused in part by stress. Since then I have tried not to ‘burn the candle at both ends’. This is not always easy though – we live in a society where hard work is often equated with good work. We can be very judgemental of those who seem to keep strictly to an 8 hour day. Sometimes we are more worried about the quantity of work we get through and not the quality of it. It’s that old question: do we live to work or work to live?

We need to keep our work in perspective and not let it dominate family life. We need to find ways to work smarter not harder and we need to ensure that our children and spouses and partners don’t become strangers to us!

I work in a school where people work very hard - often the teachers are here well before sunrise and well into the early evening. They take work home with them after school and in the weekends. They are in and out of their classrooms during the
holidays.

I know they also work in a smart way and have the interest of their pupils at heart. Achievement results at our school reflect this effort. Sometimes our teachers work too hard. They need parents and colleagues to remind them that they are doing a great job and that they should look after themselves!


John McKenzie
Principal
Visit the school’s website www.nevn.school.nz


Welcome
We welcome to our school Kaye who is from the Philippines and has started in R2. Welcome also to her family.

A warm welcome back to our dental therapist, Chris Smith and his assistant Julie, who are now working at our school dental clinic. Chris’s contact number is 027 2849932.

Artists in School
We would also like to welcome our 3 artists Kaitrin McMullan, Anna Bowen and Andrew Will who have started today working with the children to make puppets. They are based in Room 4 and already there are some exciting creations being made!

Rainbow Class
Rainbow class, the transition to school class for 4 year olds, will be held this Thursday in R11 from 1.15pm to 2.45pm.

Assembly
Friday’s 2.30pm assembly will be organised by Room 5 with items by Rooms 5 & 8. Assembly will be held in the Hall. Parents/caregivers are welcome to
attend.

Scholastic Book Club
Orders with payment for Issue 5 need to be into the school office by this Friday 14 August. Please make cheques payable to Scholastic NZ,

Newsletter Advertisers
Our newsletter suppliers, Barry’s Newsletter
Services Ltd, are currently updating our newsletter cover. If you are interested in advertising on the back page please contact them on 0508 733 733 or email admin@bns.co.nz

Smart Food School Lunches
Smart Food lunches are available on Mondays & Thursdays at NEVNS. The cost is $2 or $3 for a larger lunch with two extra sandwiches. Orders & money in a named envelope need to be into the office by 9am.

PTA Hot Lunches
Hot lunches this Friday are: -
Oven baked fish fingers & chips for $1.50
Milo $0.50c. Please bring a cup for Milo.
Orders with money in a named envelope with room number to the office by 9am please.

Road Patrol—Help!
Help is still needed supervising the road patrollers on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (8.30-9am) and Monday afternoons (3-3.15pm). If you are able to help at any of these times please contact Mrs Staynes or the school office.

HPP Tutors
We would like to acknowledge and thank our HPP tutors; school parents, Cindi, Jessie and Nik, and community volunteers Sophie, Julie, Debbie and Gordy who are working with seven children on an oral language programme for 3 sessions a week for 30 minutes a time. This help is invaluable to these children’s progress.

A number of people have wondered what HPP stands for - it is short for ‘Hei awhi awhi tamariki ki to panui pukapuka’.

Tongan Ferry Disaster
We extend condolences on behalf of the school community to members of our Tongan families following the sinking of the Princess Ashika last Wednesday with the loss of nearly 100 lives.

Dates to Note
Term 3 Monday 20 July Friday 25 September
Term 4 Monday 12 October Friday 18 December

August
13 Rainbow Class
14 Wide Horizons trip
14 Scholastic Book Clubs orders close
17 BOT Meeting 6pm
18 PTA meeting 3.15pm
18 Volleyball Tournament
21 Wide Horizons trip
24 Teacher Only Day—school closed
27 Rainbow Class
28 Wide Horizons trip

September
3/4 Life Education visit
10 Rainbow Class
11 Wide Horizons trip
11 OPPA Cross Country
15 School Photos
16 PTA Meeting 3.15pm
18 Wide Horizons trip
25 End of Term 3

Advance Notice
Teacher Only Day
Monday 24 August has been approved by the Ministry of Education as a teacher only day to allow teachers to discuss the new New Zealand curriculum.
School will not be open for instruction on this day.

Community News
Kitten Missing: A short haired male kitten, mainly black with 4 white paws and a white chest has gone missing from Wilkinson Street. Please check garages, basements, sheds. Phone 473 9552.$100 reward upon his return, no
questions asked.

Tips for home energy from the Community Energy Action Trust:www.cea.co.nz/energy-information
Heating choices and costs
The World Health Organisation recommends a minimum temperature for living areas of 18°-21°c for living areas, and 16°c for bedrooms. Choosing the right heating for your house is dependent on many considerations including the age and size of the house, which rooms you want to heat, the health and age of the residents and the set up and running costs of each heating type.

Sizing a heater
For each type of heater you need to consider the room size:
A rule of thumb calculation to choose a heater which is an appropriate size for your room:
multiply the width X height X length (in metres) to get the volume of the room in cubic metres (m3).
multiply the volume by 60 to get the heating requirement in watts (W). This is for Christchurch conditions. e.g. A room has a 3m stud, and is 4m wide and 5m long. The volume is 3x4x5=60m3. Heating requirement is: 60 X 60 = 3600W. Therefore a 3.6kW heater is needed (1000W=1kW).

If the room is uninsulated, draughty, or has a large area of external wall or large windows, it will require a larger heater (up to 20% more).
If it is well insulated with ceiling, wall, floor and window insulation, it should require a smaller heater (up to 25% less).

Electric Plug-In Heaters
Advantages
Cheap to buy and install
Instant heat
100% efficient i.e. all the energy is converted into heat
A clean form of heating
No extra labour (shopping for gas refills, chopping wood etc).
With a thermostat the temperature can be controlled accurately 
Many have timers
Disadvantages
More exposure to fluctuating electricity prices.
Fan heaters may create excessive air movement