Thursday 15th December

2016 Newsletter No. 20

Phone: 09 413 9838 Fax: 09 413 8440 Email: office@greenhithe.school.nz Website: www.greenhithe.school.nz

NEWSLETTER

December 15th Reports home 16th Last Day – School Closes 12.00pm Term One 2017 Wednesday 1st February – Friday 13th April

A timely quote “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” By now you will have heard about your child’s class for next year. We are spoilt at Greenhithe. We have great teachers and I have confidence in each and every one. Your child will be fine in their new class. Do you know what your children are doing over the summer? Last weekend we had some of our school children and past pupils playing in the school grounds. I presume their parents knew they were here. Unfortunately, some decided to roll a wheelie bin around and it broke. Two decided to climb a roof to retrieve a ball and the spouting was damaged and another of our decorative green railings was kicked in. Please ask your children, especially teenagers, to respect and look after our school. If you are passing, please keep a watchful eye on things over summer. If in doubt report anything suspicious to the police. I don’t expect parents to confront any group, but they cannot get away with needlessly damaging our school. We work really hard as a team to create a great place for the children to go to school. It is a community place and we just want it to be looked after and cared for. I am sorry to say the new building is almost ready but it is not going to be finished to move into in January. They are now saying it will be ready for us mid-February. Therefore, everybody in the school will start next year in their old rooms. We will have a teacher only day as soon as the new buildings are complete and we will move into our new premises then. This is most likely to be the third or fourth week into Feb. The teacher only day would be on a Friday. We have to move 14 classes so this will take all day. The ministry will provide movers to make this move go smoothly. This would also mean we would all be ready for school as usual the next Monday. I will inform you first day back next term of the Teacher Only day. Just to set parents mind at ease. If we have a Teacher Only day- the children do not miss a day at school, we simply extend the school year to finish one day later.

Finally, our term dates for next year. Our starting day for children is Wednesday 1st February and we will finish on Friday December 15th. This allows for a teacher only day so it would not be any later.

COUNTERACTING SUMMER READING LOSS Children who don’t read lose ground over the summer; those children who do, do not. Not having access to books during the summer holidays they say, results in a two-month loss each summer compared to a one month gain for those children who read. That accumulates over the years into a large achievement gap. Getting children reading over the summer is the most effective way to change that dynamic, but what works? Research suggests that the key ingredients include:

Students choosing their own books based on their interests; this is especially important for early readers; matching books to students’ reading levels is less important than interest;

Students getting 10-12 books for the summer; Students owning the books (versus borrowing them); research across 27 countries

found that a home library is as important as parental education and twice as important as the parent’s occupation in predicting educational outcomes;

Students getting series books with familiar language and literacy elements; Students selecting slightly more challenging books each summer; Students getting e-book or audio formats that provide access to more challenging

material; Guidance by parents on reading and interacting with their children (but not making it too

much like school); Teachers and parents framing summer reading as fun rather than work, with the goal

being enjoyment and exploration rather than remediation and achievement gains. Just a handy thing to know in time for the holidays - if you have an Auckland Libraries membership card, you can register online for Zinio to get free ongoing access to magazines on all sorts of subjects - definitely worth a look. I'm amazed at the super expensive magazines that are on there! Everything from the Economist to Vogue to craft and car magazines, there are hundreds available, and it works on tablets and phones and PCs. I've been using it a lot and one of the great things is you can access past issues as well as the absolute latest one.

http://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/EN/collections/eMagazines/ziniogettingstarted/Pag

es/ziniogettingstarted.aspx

Buy one of our school magazines- plenty for sale in the office. A great read and that should be first on your summer reading list. Have a great Christmas- See you next year. Peter Marshall

SPORTS CORNER

ATHLETICS

Here are the final results for the Super Cluster Athletics Day held at Kristin School a couple of weeks

ago.

100m sprints 8 year old boys 3rd Luka Das

9 year old girls 3rd Sophie Farrand

10 year old boys 3rd Robbie Cuthbertson

10 year old girls 2nd Madison Postlewaight

11 year old boys 3rd Riley Harding

800m Open Girls 1st Tamsin Dales

Boys 2nd Riley Harding

High Jump 8 year old boys 1st Lachlan McKenzie

8 year old boys 2nd Luka Das

8 year old boys 3rd Mac Williams

9 year old girls 3rd Zoe Taylor

11 year old girls 1st Olivia Frame

Long Jump 9 year old girls 2nd Elia Inglis

Shot Put 9 year old girls 2nd Elia Inglis

11 year old girls 3rd Sophia Christou

Discus 8 year old boys 1st Luka Das

10 year old boys 2nd Russell Wallace

10 year old girls 2nd Zara Preece-Twose

11 year old boys 2nd Larn Hamblyn-Ough

SPORTS TOPS

If there are any Year 6 children who would like to donate their sports top to the school, it would be

greatly appreciated. Just leave them at the office and they will pass them on to me.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Zara Preece-Twose from Room 19, who was recently named Most

Valuable Player for the Under 11 North Harbour Basketball team. Well done Zara!

Congratulations to Sienna Runnalls from

Room 29 who received Honours with Distinction for all three NZMDA dance

exams she sat this year in Pre 2 Tap, Pre 2 Hip Hop and Pre 3 Jazz. She also

received the trophy for highest overall marks in both Jazz and Tap. Way to go

Sienna.

Congratulations to Montana (Room 23) and Jackson (Room 14) Harper’s

Inline skating team (Vipers) who convincingly won the Spring League

Tournament 10-3 . The Vipers team was split into two teams for the league

(Slytherin & Venom) so they played under the name of the Slytherin.

Awesome effort Montana and Jackson!

The Year 2 Spring Netball team had a great end to the season - they were

undefeated! Way to go girls! A big thanks to their coaches Haymon and

Julian.

THANK YOU

I would like to say thank you to all Sport Coaches/Managers and parents who

have contributed to sport in our school this year. We really appreciate it and

look forward to your continued help next year.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sharon Hilton-Jones

Sports Coordinator

Last night the Year 6 Graduation took place in the School hall. The following children were the recipients of the various school awards

Curriculum Trophies - Winners 2016

Excellence in the Arts

Iona Stevens Indie McMillan

Citizenship

Freya Aitken Ruby Iversen

Excellence in Writing Montana Harper Excellence in Maths George Simpson Cup for Excellence Toby Dean Speech Cup (Winner of Speech Competition) Ava Leong Sportsman of the Year Riley Harding Sportswoman of the Year Lena Hamblyn-Ough Diligence Cup Oscar Greenwood Diligence Certificates Tamsin Dales, Nikita Rennie, Ainsley Boen, Maia Tabuteau, Jimin Lee, Bena Hart, Gabriela Leadley, Emma Goldthorpe, Nadia Raj Khan, Madison Postlewaight, Sean Kernaghan, Olivia Frame, Caitlyn Pye. Academic Achievement Runner-up Vincent Bould Academic Achievement Winner Ava Leong

SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS The office will be open on Tuesday 31st January 2017 from 9am – 2pm for enrolments or uniform purchases.

AUCKLAND BOYS’ CHOIR

The Auckland Boys’ Choir is now recruiting for boys aged 8-12 years who would like to join for the 2017 year. The choir this year has had a great programme including singing in the Town Hall, Touring the North and singing with the NZ Symphony Orchestra. Auditions are being arranged. Families interested should contact the choir through the following; Phone: 021 030 9515 Or email to faulknor@clear.net.nz

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