2012 t4 newsletter

7/30/2019 2012 T4 Newsletter

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Community

NewsletterSummer 2012 Tena koutou Konnichiwa Bonjour Ni hao Privet! Greetings

RSS is a community school. The charter values reflect those that are held as most important by thecommunity and the curriculum reflects priorities in providing sound foundations in literacy andnumeracy, but also extending children in the fields of the arts, sport and science.

RSS is an inclusive school –this too reflects the strong ‘moral sense’ of the community it serves. Wecare deeply about each other and respect the beliefs and uniqueness of all that comes with greater diversity.

When we achieve success, we achieve it together. This newsletter is full of notable achievements,both for staff and students. As a community we have much to be collectively proud of. It gives megreat pleasure to announce that Joy Kitt has won the prestigious Alumni Award from the ‘RoyalSociety of NZ’. This is awarded to one teacher in NZ annually, recognising that person’s excellenceand leadership in the field of science education. The school is also honored as part of this, receiving20k to further support the development of science education. And also, this term, Jennifer Moss, wasnamed as one of Manawatu’s ‘Creative Giants’, alongside other notable people –John Clarke (FredDagg), Jeremy Corbett, Madge Alsop, Alison Quigan, Joy Cowley and Tom Scott, to name but a few.

We have ambitious plans to develop our sense of community further. This includes looking for valuable learning opportunities outside the walls of the classroom and also extending the

availability of our school resources beyond 9-3. In particular we plan to make our library (known asthe ‘The Hub’) available outside the hours of school as a place to meet others and enjoy all of theresources that are available (including reading with/to your children and checking your emails etc).We even have a coffee machine in place to make it more inviting for some of you.

We appreciate the continued support of the wider community and wish you all wellfor the upcoming season.

Regards to you all,David Reardon

Principal

7/30/2019 2012 T4 Newsletter


Term Four Log:

• RSS wins nine awards at Inspire NetManawatu Digi Awards, seven fromthe very clever students from 3D.

• Georgia T. wins best actor/presenter at both Manawatu Digi Awards andNZ Made Awards for two differentdigital presentations.

• Kapa Haka rocks audience at PaeTamariki with a very polishedperformance. Whanau roopu put inmany hours in preparation andshare hangi.

• Millar aces the long jump at PNSchools’ Athletics, while Sam P (4th

in 1000m) and the relay team (7

th

)also perform with credit.

• R14 hosts city celebrities for sharedlunch (cooked by them!) as a thank

you for their direct involvement in‘Seed to Table’.

• A group of talented artists representthe legend of Okatia through pou,soon to be erected in the entranceto the office area.

• Teacher Stephen, receives ‘NZ

Interface’ award for ‘Top Teacher Tweeter’ and is runner-up for ‘BestTeaching With ICT’ with the Snailand Whale project.

• We purchase new sound systemgear for the band. Thanks PubCharity!

• Whacky Hair Day nets $700 for KidsCan.

• Our performing arts groups tour Manawatu schools and stop off at

the Salvation Army for performances. This includes the‘Rustling Ukes’, ‘Kapa Haka’ and‘Adopted Owl and The Epic’ (Schoolband)

• The whole school takes to theMassey track for athletics for a dayof community and competition.

• An urgent call made for more sportsuniforms as numbers playingexponentially increases –19 teams

across the summer codes! Greatstuff RSS!

Board of Trustees’ Window:Some of our recent work has been the workshoppingof student achievement data, primarily in nationalstandards for reading, writing and maths. Being

directly involved in identifying patterns or trends of achievement has assisted greatly in determining thepriorities for further improvement or targets for achievement for all learners. This is the core of our work.From this two-hour workshop, we found out that:-over 95% of students are reading at or above nationalstandard; over 90% of students are at or above NS inmaths; and 87% of students are at or above NS inwriting (all of these are well above the nationalaverages);

-there is close tracking of students below standard andprogrammes of support to accelerate their learning;-outside of high quality classroom teaching, readingrecovery has the single biggest impact in acceleratinglearning.

Each of these reports, with associated data, will bemade available to the community, once privacy issueshave been thoroughly considered. We expect this tobe the start of next year.Also tabled was data on: attendance, engagement of students and achievement and progress in ‘Catch meif You Can’ which we found equally interesting anduseful.

In our October meeting, we were engaged in a charter review, primarily focused on our progress in enablingcreativity, an important aspect to the school’s vision.Important messages in this were that: creativity ispresent in all aspects of the curriculum, including butnot limited to the arts; authentic, project basedlearning promotes a personal response; that somethings are possible, that were never before; that the

‘how’ of learning, as well as the ‘when, what, andwhere’ have changed; there is more than one personresponsible for a child’s learning; and that we canhave both consistency and creativity. This was a veryinteresting meeting, full of lively debate.

And of course, there has been the ongoing policyreview and discussion/review around operations suchas ‘communication with parents’ and ‘reporting’.

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7/30/2019 2012 T4 Newsletter


Library News/Bookapedia Crew News:Rebecca, our School Librarian, is also a miniature model maker. We were so inspired by her miniature scene of The Borrowers that we thought it would be a great way to encourageother Russell Street Readers to try some new books. So ‘Bookapedia’ (our year 5-6 bookclub) and ‘The Book Talsy’s’ (our year 3-4 book club) got busy recreating a scene from their favourite story or event in history to inspire Russell Street students to read more. We knew

that accuracy and detail would help to capture people’s interest so this was the focus.Pictured below, two of the finished models/displays:

Term Dates 2013:Please note that it is always advisable to contact your local school confirming their term dates.Every effort has been made to coordinate the date of RSS terms with those of other schools inthe Northern Cluster of schools, especially Ross Intermediate.

Term One Monday, 4 February to Friday, 19 AprilTerm Two Monday, 6 May to Friday, 12 JulyTerm Three Monday, 29 July to Friday, 27 September Term Four Monday, 14 October to Friday, 20 December Waitangi Day –falls on a Wednesday (Feb 6) Good Friday -March 29Easter Monday -April 1 Easter Tuesday -April 2

Anzac Day –April 25 (in non-teaching break) Queen’s Birthday –June 3Labour Day –October 28

Please note: Teacher Only Day: Friday, May 31

Board of Trustees’ Election 2013:We have approved the date for our 2013 election, this being May 30. While it may seem a longtime away, it is critically important we get started now. I urge you all to consider putting your name forward or encourage others that you might consider suitable for this important role todo so. You don’t need to be a parent of the school to fill one of these positions, but very clearly

your focus needs to be on providing the best possible education for our young people. If youare interested in more information you can visit the official website http://www.trustee-election.co.nz , speak to one of our current trustees or drop by for a chat early in the new year with the Principal.

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7/30/2019 2012 T4 Newsletter


What’s on the Web? While class blogs slowed down a month ago, the school website has continued to provideupdates and footage from recent activities. A ‘must watch’ is our Kapa Haka’s performanceat Pae Tamariki. You can also view a slideshow of the miniature models created by theBookapedia Team, as displayed in the library. There’s a very cool movie thanking

McDonald’s and MOREFM (for the ipads) and some November footage from the WhanauRoopu Hangi day. And, of course, there is a whole lot more!

Enrolment at RSS:An updated copy of the enrolment scheme can be found by visiting the following websitepage: http://www.russellst.school.nz/?page_id=23 or by contacting the office.

The RSS student roll continues to be full, with a waiting list. If you’re new to the area andhave pre-school age children it is very likely we’ll meet soon. To assist us with planning,and to avoid over-crowding, it is very helpful to know a.s.a.p. of any in-zone children thatare likely to attend Russell Street in coming years. Please ring Ag or Renee in the office andmake sure your child/ren are on this list at your earliest convenience.Jumpstart Class: If your son/daughter is joining us then you’ll want to know about our four year old classheld on a Friday afternoon (for students in the three months prior to their enrolment).‘Jumpstart’ is one way that students get a ‘taster’ of school, getting to know some of thefaces that will support them in their learning, taking out a library book and engaging insome emergent literacy and numeracy skills. It is also a valuable time to become familiar with some other children of the same age who will be making the transition to school withthem. If you want to know more about this please ring Ag or Renee in the office.

Thank You For Your Help ....Thank you all for helping us win the McDonald’s MOREFM Junior Joker Competition. Wewon seven ipads courtesy of this. Thanks too for your support of the school in the ‘Go for Gold’ promotion at Melody’s New World supermarket. This netted us another two ipads.

Looking for a very cool Christmas gift at a very reasonable $10? The RSS cookbook has thiscommunity’s VERY BEST tried and tested recipes. Please drop in to the office beforeDecember 21 for any purchases.

Pictured below: Kids doing what kids do in a sandpit!And children joining Joy Kitt, 2012 NZ Alumni Award Recipient

2012 t4 newsletter

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