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06 3880130

26 Huia Street

Taihape, 4720

www.tas.school.nz

TAS Radio - 88.1FM

Principal: Richard McMillan

rmcmillan@tas.school.nz

Lead Me to Lead My Learning

Taihape Area School

Monday 29th May, 2017 Term 2 – Newsletter Number 5

Important Dates

This Week Thursday 1st Tongariro Sports Exchange

Ball Tickets on Sale

Friday 2nd Mufti-Day Westpac Chopper

Appeal

Next Week Monday 5th Queens Birthday Holiday

Tena koutou katoa

Welcome back after the Weekend. We have another busy week

ahead with the Tongariro Sports Exchange on Thursday, and a

Mufti-Day to support the Westpac Chopper Appeal on Friday.

Last week we had the Life Education Trust Classroom on site.

The Junior Classes in turn spent time in the Classroom with Life Ed Teacher Mark Keely.

Mark was here two years ago and commented that the behaviour of our students was

outstanding. We love this sort of feedback – so well done to the Junior School.

One of the real strengths of Taihape Area School is the important role student voice plays in

the day to day life of the School. The Students Leadership Team meets weekly with members

of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss issues, and plan for future events, and activities.

As well the School Council meets regularly to provide all students with the opportunity to

have a voice in the operation of the school. The high level of student involvement is a real

forte of TAS, and surely one of the special features of an Area School. An example of this is

that our Level 2-3 PE Students traditionally coach our Year 4-8 Sports Teams, including

Teams for Winter Tournament (this year Winter Tournament is in Term 3). The Students take

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this responsibility very seriously and it provides them with genuine opportunities for

developing their leadership and mentoring skills, as well as positive role modelling.

In traditional Māori Society, this relationship provides a model

for buddy systems. An older or more expert tuakana (brother,

sister or cousin) helps, and guides a younger, or less expert teina

(originally a younger sibling or cousin of the same gender). The

benefits to both parties are mutual. By the time our students reach

the ages of 15 or 16, they have accumulated a large amount of

sporting (and life) experience – in some cases 10 or more years.

The opportunity to share this with younger children encourages them to reflect upon the

knowledge they have amassed, and develop positive methods of sharing this learning with

others. It also teaches them to be organised, to be tolerant, and to be patient. A number of our

Year 12-13 Students are natural teachers, and thoroughly enjoy the coaching opportunity.

Bullying

The issue of bullying is always in the headlines. There is no

denying that bullies are present in schools, and in fact in many

sectors of our society. It is also undeniable that adults are often

the worst bullies of all, in terms of the way they speak to others,

and treat others. The problem of course is that children, young

people, are very impressionable and, as they seek their place in

society, tend to imitate the actions of the important adults in their

lives.

Unfortunately schools can, and do, become the meat in the

sandwich as they endeavour to enforce and develop socially

acceptable norms of behavior, attitudes, and values. Sometimes it seems like an uphill battle

as we correct students for behavior’s they often regard as being normal in their lives outside

school. This is illustrated by the situation regarding swearing and bad language - we never

teach children these things at school.

Schools do their level best to teach children to respect each other, to look after each other, to

care for each other, and to accept and celebrate individual differences and attributes. In other

words to live our School Values of: Manaakitanga, Rangatiratanga, Wairuatanga, and

Whanaungatanga (see below).

As a School we work extremely hard, often against the odds, to develop and instil these

values in our students. We always endeavour to treat our students with respect, sensitivity,

and compassion even when things turn to custard, and they are angry, upset, or bewildered.

At times we have instances of harassment and bullying in this school. However, I am

absolutely certain that this bullying is considerably less than previously, and is at the lower

Speak up! Stand together! and Stop bullying!

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end of the scale. As well we have procedures in place to ensure all students are safe, and that

any issues are investigated and dealt with.

All students are encouraged to speak to an adult about anything at all they are worried about,

or have concerns about. Generally most are quite content to do this, and even happily report

their friend/s for inappropriate behaviour. They need to know that this isn’t “narking”, but a

positive way in which they are able to retain their power, to stand up for themselves, to

protect themselves, and that by doing so they may be helping prevent others from developing

anti-social behaviours.

As someone who has taught for quite some time – beginning in the late 1970’s heaven forbid

– I’m convinced that the level of bullying is now considerably less, much less in fact.

In a previous era natural justice often prevailed, and physical fights were quite frequent. The

involvement of our students, during intervals and lunchtimes, in a wide range of physical

activities (including the age old favourite’s bull-rush and tree climbing) definitely has some

impact on channelling their energy in a positive way.

Queen’s Birthday Weekend looms as a

welcome respite – hopefully the weather

behaves.

Have a great week.

Regards

Richard McMillan

Principal

The TAS School Wide Behaviour

Expectations are:- Rangatiratanga: Whanaungatanga:

We are Learners We are Caring

We show Rangatiratanga We show

Whanaungatanga

Wairuatanga: Manaakitanga:

We are Reflective We are Respectful

We show Wairuatanga We show Manaakitanga

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Tall Poppies The following Taihape Area School Students rose above the Crowd last

week as outstanding achievers, and members of our Learning Community:

Lea Ranginui and Riley Hart (Room 3) - for a positive start in Room 3;

Bailey Thompson (Room 5) - for creating an outstanding piece of writing

using a wide range of descriptive words. Great read Bailey;

Jamie Abernethy (Room 5) - for displaying your personal published writing piece about the

Takahe with such clarity. Well done Jamie;

Hinemoa Rolston (Room 6) - for Rangatiratanga in Maths;

Olivia Lincoln (Room 6) - always displaying the TAS Values;

Amorangi Toto and Hoani Herewini-Dygas (Room 79) - for displaying our TAS Values more

consistently.

Tall Poppies from Learning Street – Week 4

Queen’s Birthday Weekend School is closed on Monday for the Queen’s Birthday

Holiday.

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Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Lucky Book Club

closes on the 22nd June.

Congratulations Congratulations to the TAS Dance Group "Form8tion" that won 1st place, in the Groups

Category, at the Rangitikei Got Talent Grand Final. From left to right - Caryse, Zoe-Leigh,

Jacob, Nicole, Jahna, Erika, and Jaymi:

Congratulations Form8tion!!

Student Accounts/Outstanding Fees

Students Accounts were send out last week. These included the travel component which has

been added now that we have received our final grants allocation.

Please pay as soon as possible, or contact the Principal to make arrangements for payment.

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Schools, generally, face huge financial pressures, with the result that there is always very

little money to come and go on. In response to the outstanding fees owed by some families

the Board has been forced to place a $500 cap on fees owed by individual students. Sadly any

student with accumulated fees more than this ($500) will not be able to participate in any

activities with a monetary cost. This goes against our philosophy of equity, but because of the

neglect of some families we have been forced into this situation.

Fees accumulate very quickly. All that we ask is that you make arrangements to manage your

level of debt.

TAS App TAS now has a free app which will enable you to receive

information instantly and directly to your smartphone.

How to download the free TAS app 1. From your mobile device go to App Store (iPhone/iPad) or Google Play

(Android), search for School Stream, and download the app to your phone.

2. Make sure you agree to push notifications.

3. Once School Stream has finished installing, open the app, type your school

name into the search, THEN select Taihape Area School.

N.B. We now have 175 TAS App users. The goal is 100% signed up as this will

give us the power and security of instant communication with our entire School

Community.

Rotary Rypen Going to the Rypen Camp was a challenge that tested our leadership, teamwork, confidence

and courage.

The first day we were nervous and shy as we didn't know anyone. But by the first hour at the

camp we had already met amazing people, that just after two days we could now call our

friends.

It was a terrific camp that we would recommend to anyone! The camp taught us many

valuable lessons that we were sure to take home. Even though the camp was short and we

wished for it to be longer, it was a life changing event.

We truly and wholeheartedly thank Taihape Rotary Club for sponsoring us and sending us to

the camp, as well as the amazing staff at Vertical Horizon.

- Kelsey Le Gros and Aaliyah Te Kani

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Supporting Your Child’s Learning Reading

Listen to your child read regularly. In Years 1-2, they

should have a book from school - encourage and praise

their efforts;

Read to your child - this models the skills of reading for

them;

Allow your child access to books of high interest to them

e.g. books from home, School Library, or Town Library.

Maths

Click on the following excellent site and watch a video on how you can

help your child in math’s at home:

http://nzmaths.co.nz/families

While driving in the car, try this activity with your child: as you drive in

the car or walk beside the road, write down the numbers you see on

vehicle license plates. Add up each of the digits to give a total. For example if the license

plate has the numbers 5682, the total of the digits is 5+6+8+2=21. Who can spot the car with

the highest total? Add or subtract the digits to get as close as possible to zero. For example, if

a license plate has the digits 3726, you might say "7+2-3-6=0".

Interschool Cross Country Last Thursday a number of students took part in the Annual Wanganui

Interschool Cross Country Championships, held @ Wanganui Collegiate.

Well done to James McCann, Jesse Tweeddale, Paparangi Kavanagh, and

Elise Fannin for being such worthy participants.

As we are all aware Cross Country is a tough art, and requires huge

determination, a big heart, and the right body type. These young people

are all very natural athletes, and represented their school with real credit.

Hockey Draw - Tonight TAS v Dannevirke High School, on Turf 2 @ 4.15pm.

Draw – Next Week No Hockey – Queen’s Birthday Holiday

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Winter Sport’s Exchange Taihape Area School

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Tongariro Area School

When: Thursday 1st June, @ 10.00am

RUGBY

NETBALL

FISHING

KI O RAHI

BASKETBALL

TUG OF WAR

Help: We would appreciate any offers of soup for the shared lunch after the sport

on Thursday. If you can help please contact Cathy in the Office.

Westpac Chopper Appeal

Mufti-Day this Friday

- Gold Coin Donation

Westpac Chopper Appeal Mufti-Day “New Zealand’s Rescue Helicopters provide a vital safety

net for all people. Performing over 7,590 missions last year,

and operating nationwide through 16 local rescue helicopter

services, many of the rescue helicopters act as flying

intensive care units.

Along with remote rescue, the highly trained specialist

crews have been called upon to perform critical hospital transfers, attend emergency births,

and respond to car and boating accidents. In fact they may attend any type of emergency

where rapid response or difficult location is a factor. And they’ll do this any time of the day

or night, every day of the year, right across the country. The majority of funding for this

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unique service comes from the community - through sponsors like Westpac and people like

you.

Running throughout May, the Westpac Chopper Appeal is our national fundraising event

where we raise awareness and funds for the charities that provide New Zealand’s rescue

helicopter services and includes a nationwide street appeal.

100% of the money raised from Chopper Appeal goes straight back to the local rescue

helicopter service in the area where the funds were raised, meaning money raised locally,

stays local. This enables rescue helicopters across the country to continue helping people in a

range of emergency situations, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Westpac has been a proud sponsor of rescue helicopter services for over 35 years. They -

are the principal sponsor of the Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury rescue

helicopter services;

are an associate sponsor of the West Coast, Tauranga,

Taupo, Palmerston North and Rotorua Rescue

Helicopter Trusts;

provide people and funding to promote and manage the

annual nationwide fundraising campaign, the Westpac

Chopper Appeal. They proudly support all rescue

helicopters in New Zealand through their appeal.

For any queries please email westpac_chopper_appeal@westpac.co.nz

The Chopper Appeal Charitable Trust. Charity no. CC53253. IRD no. 119-205-328.

Mufti-Day this Friday - Gold Coin Donation

Why is breakfast so important? There are many reasons why breakfast is promoted as

being the most important meal of the day. Generally

there is a long break between the evening meal, and

breakfast. The name of this meal comes from the long

period without food - i.e. you are "breaking your fast"

from dinner the night before.

At this time it is important to refuel your body to

kick-start the day. Overnight glucose (sugar) stores

tend to be depleted and to ensure your energy levels

are back on track it is important to eat breakfast. Children need to refuel to help them cope

with their energetic day ahead.

Studies show that breakfast helps with weight control. Eating breakfast means you are more

likely to snack less during the day. Children who don’t eat breakfast may graze during the

morning, eating more energy than they need.

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Also at school they may be more inclined to eat all of their lunch at morning break leaving

them with nothing to eat at lunch time, leading to hunger and more

snacking after school.

It is also a well-documented fact that breakfast is important for

concentration and mental performance. We all want our children to be

able to concentrate and perform to the best of their abilities at school.

Breakfast is also one of our three main meals each day. If you skip

this meal then you are at higher risk of not getting adequate nutrients from your diet.

Breakfast foods typically tend to be a great source of fibre, carbohydrate, and a wide range of

vitamins and minerals.

Quotes of the Week

TAS Behaviour

Expectation Rangatiratanga

We actively participate in all activities. This

looks like: -

“Face your life, its pain, its

pleasure, leave no path

untaken” ― Neil Gaiman,

The Graveyard Book.

“The only way to

survive eternity is to

be able to appreciate

each moment” ―

Lauren Kate, Fallen.

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We listen during instruction and follow

directions;

We have what we need to successfully complete

the task;

We ask questions if we do not understand;

We share ideas in discussion time;

We complete tasks to the best of our ability.

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