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Taihape Area School
Monday 14th October 2013
Term 4 – Newsletter Number 1
Phone: 06 3880130
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: http://tas.spikeatschool.co.nz
Principal’s Corner
Tena koutou katoa
Welcome back after the holidays, and a
special welcome to all new families. We
hope you all had a wonderful break, and
the opportunity to spend lots of quality
family time. As with all new beginnings,
this term promises much, and will
hopefully be a time of further growth and
development for our school, and for the
people we work so hard for, our students.
This is an extremely busy term with a large
number of events and activities scheduled.
And with the term only nine weeks long, it
is going to be frenetic.
The start of a new term is a very
important time for everyone involved
at school. It is essential that all
children, parents, and teachers get
things right, and begin the term in a
positive manner. Good habits and
attitudes at school need to be
reinforced by a positive support
system at home. Hopefully you were
able to take the opportunity in the
holidays to talk to your
child/children about their school
work, and provide plenty of positive
encouragement, and help set some
goals for term four.
As student’s progress through the
school system, each term, and each
year in turn, becomes progressively
more and more important. We aim to
set all children up for success from
day one at school, and hope to avoid
the “ambulance at the bottom of the
cliff scenario”, whereby students are
continually behind the eight ball, and
spend their time in catch up mode.
To ensure this happens, and that all
students are given every opportunity
of success, they really do need your
unconditional support and
encouragement.
For our Year 13 students, and other
leavers, in particular, this is a very
significant term, as it is their last at School
- next year they take another big step in
life‟s journey when they tackle the realities
of the outside world. Therefore we expect
an even bigger effort from them as they
prepare for the challenge of life away from
Taihape Area School. For a number the
next 7 weeks are absolutely crucial, as they
set themselves up for life.
A major headache we will soon face is the
allocation of the End of Year Prizes,
Awards, and Scholarships as once again
there will be many strong candidates.
Nevertheless this is a positive challenge we
welcome.
As outlined in the term calendar, a
number of major activities are planned –
see later in this newsletter for the detailed
list. As you can see, the final term of 2013,
promises to be a very exciting time for us
all.
Please remember we operate a genuine
open door policy – contact us with
any concerns, problems, enquiries, or
suggestions.
I am trying to move on from the America‟s
Cup, but what a
fantastic event that
was. The sight of those
amazing “yachts”
flying
around San Francisco
Bay was astounding.
However I can‟t help
thinking this regatta
was definitely a lost
opportunity.
While on the topic of sport, the Rugby test
between the All Blacks and the
Springboks, at the South African Fortress
of Ellis Park, was an incredible contest,
and surely one of the very best games of all
time. It was a wonderful advertisement for
all the very best attributes of our National
Sport.
Have a great week!!
Richard McMillan
Principal
End of Term We had an extremely busy and enjoyable
last week of term 3, perhaps the busiest of
the year thus far. Activities included:-
The Junior School Whanau Sharing Day;
The Celebration Assembly (hosted by
Awa);
The Ohingaiti Tough Kids Competition;
The NCEA Information Evening;
A visit by Ronald McDonald;
The start of the Girl‟s Rugby Competition;
Book Week;
Fancy Dress Day (as part of Book Week).
One of the joys of being a teacher, is the
diversity and variety that is a natural part
of each and every day. The list above
clearly illustrates this fact – it was indeed a
very busy few days!!
Planning for 2014 Planning for 2014 has started, and will
continue this term. It would be hugely
helpful if we knew of anyone who is
intending to enrol their children here in
2014 – or if you are shifting. This makes
planning easier.
An issue we face is ensuring that classes
are set up as well as possible from day one
– we endeavour to avoid disruption to
classes, but unknown enrolments can make
this difficult at times.
The Primary School Students will find out
their classrooms and teachers for 2014 in
the last week of term.
Richard McMillan
Principal
Prize Giving Cups and
Trophies
Please can all students who
received cups and trophies at
last year‟s prize giving return
these to school before the end
of this term. Thanking you.
2013 School Prize Giving
Friday 6 December
Important Events Term 4 October
Monday 14th Term 4 Begins
Tuesday 15th- Friday 18th Room 6 Camp
Monday 21st Junior Cross Country
Thursday 24th Tongariro Sports Exchange
Monday 28th Labour Day ( School Closed)
November
Friday 1st Interschool Cross Country
Tuesday 5th- Friday 8th Year 9 Camp
Wednesday 6th Celebration Assembly
Monday 11th NCEA Exams Begin
Monday 18th Teacher Only Day
Friday 22nd Interschool Softball
December
Friday 6th Prize Giving
Last Day of School
Tall Poppies A number of students excelled last week.
This included:-
Year 1-8 End of Term Awards
Room 2: Sports - Hinemoa Rolston,
Academic - Phoebe Huxtable, Values - Taylor
Hay-Martin –
Room 3: Sports - DeAne Raukawa, Academic
- George Abernethy, Values -
Melodie Grant
Room 5: Sport - Te Ngore
Witika Black, Academic -
Tayla Nathan, Values - Emma
Squires
Room 6: Sports - Aden
Tapu, Academic - Emma Fellingham, Values –
Caryse Clark
Room 9: Academic - Morgan Nathan, Sport
- Koal Clausen, Values - Kasey Hurinui
Other Tall Poppies
Excellent Endorsement NCEA Level 1
(already): Nicola-Mary Geraghty
Merit Endorsement NCEA Level 1 – Vidya
Vijayakumar
NCEA Level 1 70 Credits – Maxwell Sage
Excellent in Year 9 Fractions - Zoe
McCaughn, Lily O‟ Brien, David Frankham,
Sarah-Anne Cripps, James Hamilton, Leah
Murrell, and MacLayn Witika
Excellence in Year 9 Statistics - James
Hamilton
Excellences in Year 10 Statistics - Shelby
Inwood and Teresa Sumich
Wanganui Girls Representative Rugby 7’s
Team – Tayla Barrett and Brooklyn Walker *
Sarah Elwin reserve)
HOD Science Current Head of Science, Janet
Greenhough, leaves at the end of this term
to join her husband, Richard Baker, in the
sunny climes of Nelson. We are fortunate
to have secured the services of an excellent
replacement in Alan Carson, who will take
up his new position from the beginning of
the 2014 School Year.
Alan is currently Head of Department at
Piopio College, and has a very strong
background in both Science and Math‟s.
A Message for School
Leavers “One of the challenges facing many
students is deciding on which career they
wish to pursue. I was told not long ago,
that a good way to choose a career is to go
through a phone book (yellow pages), and
pick out anything that may interest you –
research and find out what you need to do,
and which courses you need to take, in
order to undertake your interest as your
chosen career. It sounded simple, but
effective”.
Shaun Carrick
Chairperson PNGHS Board of Trustees
Quotes of the week “When a child asks difficult
questions, invention is the necessity
of mother” – C.W.
“The more you sweat in peace, the
less you bleed in war” – Admiral
Hyman Rickover, USN.
Homework Getting homework done can
sometimes be an arduous task for both
parent and child. Here are some great tips
to ensure you and your child get the most
out of the time spent on homework and
hopefully make
homework time a little
less stressful for the
whole family.
1. Make sure your
child has a quiet well
lit area to do their homework.
Try and associate one room or area with doing
homework.
2. Be positive about doing homework. Explain to your child why it is important.
Remember if you are positive your child will be
too.
3. Provide help but do not give the answers. Giving them the answer
will speed things up but your child needs to learn
how to tease out problems for themselves and
learn to be independent.
4. Keep communication open between the school and home. Watch out for signs of your
child struggling with aspects of their homework or
if they are spending too much time on it. If you
think a problem exists, talk to their teacher and
maintain regular contact in order to update each
other on how you think your child is doing.
5. Keep a routine. It is important as a family
to get into a routine of doing homework. Sit down
together and agree a homework routine.
Remember to involve your child (even young
children) in the decision process. If they feel they
were asked and gave their opinion they are more
likely to stick to the routine.
6. Reward Progress. If your child is
working hard and making a real effort, celebrate
it. For example, allow them to pick out a DVD, go
to the cinema, get a pizza, or buy a nice book to
read together.
Nationwide NCEA Level
2 Goal The government has an overriding goal of
an 85% pass rate at NCEA Level 2 for all
School Leavers, to be achieved by 2017.
The challenge for all Schools is to ensure
this happens for all groups, ethnic, as well
as gender. The table below highlights the
challenge – the pass rate for all students in
2011 was 74.3%, a gap of 10.7%. The
table clearly highlights the discrepancy for
Maori and Pacifica Students.
Table - Accelerating NCEA Level 2
Achievement
Group 2011 Gap 2017
Projection (without
intervention)
Remaining
Gap
All
Student
74.3
%
10.7
%
73.9% 6.1%
Pakeha 79.3
%
5.7
%
84.2% 0.8%
Maori 57.1
%
27.9
%
66.2% 18.8%
Pacifica 65.5
%
19.5
%
71.6% 13.4%
Male 70.9
%
14.1
%
75.3% 9.7%
Female 77.9
%
7.1
%
82.7% 2.3%
Currently, without any form of
intervention, there is an annual growth rate
of 0.8%, which means that by 2017, the
pass rate at Level 2 would be only 78.3%.
The goal for all groups is 85%. The
challenge for schools is to accelerate the
rate of achievement. Obviously the data
above shows quite clearly that the real
challenge is to lift the achievement of
Maori and Pacifica Students.
For this to happen it is important that
Schools work hand in hand with parents
and whanau. This encouragement and
support from home is crucial to enhance
what is happening at school.
NCEA - WHAT PARENTS
CAN DO TO HELP How can you as parents help your children
succeed at School? Talk often about how
school is going, what is happening in the
classroom: - Discuss their goals for the year, for the
next 3-5years;
Be a coach on time management. Avoid
making it a battle. Gently remind them of their
longer term goals;
PART TIME WORK: Watch the amount
of hours. It is a balance. Research has shown that
10-12hours per week can enhance NCEA
performance. More than this can be detrimental.
Reduce the hours around exams and revision time;
SOCIAL LIFE: Again work out a
balance. Perhaps as a reward for completion of
tasks;
Find out when they work best on their
study, morning, afternoon or evening;
Create a good
space to learn. A desk,
good-light, comfortable
chair, quiet;
Music: Appropriate
for the task;
Revision for
externals should
mirror the
exam situation – quiet;
Breaks every 40-50 minutes;
Practice exams for external assessments
are on the NZQA website: www.nzqa.govt.nz;
Practice tasks for internal assessments at:
www.tki.org.nz.
N.B. NCEA External Examinations begin
on Monday November 11th.
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE
ADVICE
Washing hands kills germs but how
much difference does it make to a child‟s
health? Children who
wash their hands
regularly have fewer
sick days with colds and
flus, and less time off
with „tummy bugs’.
Teach children to get into the habit of hand
washing to help control the spread of
disease. If your child is a reluctant hand
washer, liquid soap (from a pump) may be
more fun. It takes 20 seconds to wash your
hands properly … that‟s the same time it
takes to sing „happy birthday to me‟ twice.
Drying your hands is very important
too, as wet hands attract bugs like a
magnet.
COUGHING AND SNEEZING Did you know that viruses
travel about 6-metres when
you sneeze, and 3-metres
when you cough??
These days, as one way of
preventing the spread of viruses, we are
teaching children to cough and sneeze into
their elbows or alternatively to cough or
sneeze into a tissue and then throw it away.
This is a good practice to get into as well
as cleaning hands after every time you
cough or sneeze.
Poor Children do Worse,
National Standards
Show By JOHN HARTEVELT AND CLIO
FRANCIS
From their first day in the classroom,
children from poorer backgrounds are
more likely to fall behind in reading,
writing and maths. National standards from
primary and intermediate schools from
across the country shows pupils at lowest-
decile schools are more
likely to perform below
national standards than those
at the highest-decile schools.
The figures have prompted
calls for real efforts to
improve inequality. Stuff published results
from more than 1000 schools nationwide at
the weekend.
Principals Federation president Paul
Drummond, who remains staunchly against
the national standards in literacy and
numeracy, said data obtained by Fairfax
Media at least confirmed the "very strong
correlation between student achievement
and socio-economic status".
"This highlights the fact that if we want to
improve and lift achievement and learning
in our schools across all things, then we
have to make a really genuine effort to
improve equity," Mr. Drummond said.
"Maybe this will be the catalyst for a
stronger Government response around
those equity issues. It has been worthwhile
in confirming those correlations, but we
knew that before national standards."
At the decile-1 Tairangi School in Porirua,
it was against the odds that 76 per cent of
pupils were at or above the standard in
reading. Principal Pip Newton said poverty
was a problem among the school's pupils,
but that did not mean they could not
achieve in the same way as their peers at
higher-decile schools. However, getting to
the same level might take longer.
At the decile-10 Worser Bay School in
Wellington, Principal Jude Pentecost said
good results were not simply due to pupils
coming from wealthy backgrounds. The
school's staff and structure also played an
important role.
Andrew Wilson,
Board of Trustees
Chairman, with two
children at the school
and a third starting
next year, said:
"Parents tend to be well-engaged, and
interested in their children's learning and
well-being. We're not having to deal with
issues like kids coming to school without
breakfast.
"There's no question that there are benefits
(of being in high-decile area): there's a
preparedness, and a willingness amongst
the parental community to take an active
interest. If you're holding down two or
three jobs, that gets a whole lot tougher."
The 69 decile-1 schools that returned data
to Fairfax had a much higher proportion of
pupils not meeting the standards compared
with pupils from decile-10 schools. Just
over half (52.3 per cent) of pupils at decile-
1 schools did not make the writing
standard. Of the 135 decile-10 schools that
sent data, the
proportion not
making the writing
standard was only
20.3%.
In reading, the gap
between decile-one
and 10 pupils not making the standard was
30.9 percentage points. And in math‟s the
gap was 31 percentage points, with nearly
half (47.6 per cent) of kids at decile-one
schools not meeting the standard,
compared with 16.3 per cent at decile-10
schools.
The National Chairman of the Quality
Public Education Coalition, John Minto,
said the socio-economic divide in
education achievement was the "elephant
in the room" from the national standards
results.
"The inconvenient truth for Education
Minister Hekia Parata is that the strongest
indicator of student achievement is the
socio-economic background of their
families," Mr. Minto said. "The
Government now has no excuses for
ignoring child poverty and allowing
income inequality to increase."
Ms Parata said the Government wanted the
results from the standards to drive "an
outbreak of student achievement".
"Actually, student achievement is pretty
good but for New Zealand, all learners
achieving to their fullest potential is what
our aspiration is," Ms Parata said.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Cricket Sadly the cricket season started in dismal
fashion with a rain enforced cancellation of
the first scheduled game, and a home game
as well, on Saturday.
This season the Taihape Cricket Team is
playing in the Wanganui Premier 2 40 over
Grade, as well as a composite Premier 1
and 2 20/20 Grade. These games are
interspersed through-out the summer.
This weekend Taihape is travelling to
Wanganui to play Wanganui City College
at Victoria Park, in a 20/20 game.
If anyone is interested in playing cricket
this season, please contact Richard
McMillan (021774121), or Brad Fannin
(0223339195). We have the nucleus of a
very good team, but life being life, things
happen and not everyone can be available
every week.
Junior Cross Country The Junior School is holding their
Cross Country Championships next
Monday, on the rec, beginning at
9.00am.