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