Virtues Awards Well done to the following students who were recently recognized for displaying their virtues.

Justice: Brooke Andrews, Damien Musso, Tana Hawley, Krishna Lal,

Harris Whittington, Lilly Terrey, Misha Young.

Perseverance: Xavier Jefferies. Joyfulness: Chloe Andrews, Vishvak Atluri.

Tolerance: Lara Crawford, Denby Whittington.

Friendliness:

Siobhan Sarkar,

Eli Lovell.

Truthfulness:

Jordyn McInnes,

Tana Hawley,

Diligence:

Isla Jones,

Sae Nakata,

Lucas Howard,

Ariana Taituma,

Xander Laird,

Tyson McKee.

Consideration:

Jazz Bains.

Creativity:

Sophie Bromley,

Joyfulness:

Olivia Loader,

Lucas Toohill,

Siya Patel,

Jacob Hodgson,

Alex Beitchef,

Te Awatea Mason,

Amelia Boden-Cave. Tolerance: Hunter Scrivener, Taumaru Town,

Braxton Pascoe, Noah Rattray, Zara Brown, Alex Lu, Rafe Hall.

Participants in the Walking School Bus receiving incentive spot

prizes at assembly.

Each step I put down on the green grass and path

is a black footprint less in the carbon monoxide math

Together we’re doing the wombling walk

While we smell the flowers, hear the birds and we laugh,

learn and talk.

We’re walking a bus without gas, seats and wheels,

We use our muscles, get air—good it feels

It might not be long—but the spirit is STRONG :-)

By Pernille Erstad (Walking School Bus Supervisor)

Academic Achievement and/or Progress Congratulations to the following students:

William Herd Creative descriptive writing. Matthew Adrole Impressive leadership in Kapahaka. Jordyn McInnes Creativity and effective word usage in writing. Payton Knight Grasping analogue/digital time. Zariah Wong Fantastic reading results in e-asTTle testing. Massive improvement. Caleb Richardson Well written and presented letter. Cameron Boyer Biggest improvement in spelling over the year in the class. Arshy Singh Excellent maths knowledge of basic facts and strategies. Phoebe Rickard Fantastic results and progress made with basic facts. Zoe Van Elswyk Making excellent progress as a writer by using exciting vocabulary and adding detail. Sam Watt Making great progress in writing—sounding out words independently. Devon Grant Great progress in reading. Using strategies for unknown words. Keanu Joseph Great progress using reading strategies to work out unknown words. Alex Lu Making excellent progress in his reading and sight word knowledge. Jaime Munro Making strong progress with reading.

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Whanau

I am constantly amazed at the talent and skill of our support staff (including administrative staff, teacher aides, caretaker and cleaners). We hold huge admiration for the demanding and important work they carry out to support management, teachers and akonga daily. Always ready to lend a hand, support staff attend to their daily responsibilities, with a minimum of fuss. Any challenges presented are dealt with judiciously and in collaboration, as required. They have an astounding amount of empathy, patience and understanding which is central to their respective roles. A talented group of professionals indeed! Ka rawe support staff!

Let’s hope the changeable spring weather settles by next week so our school community can enjoy the Athletic Sports on Tuesday. Our learners will be participating in a range of events, in which they have been earnestly practising skills. Best wishes to our akonga for a fun-filled competition!

Nga mihi

Alison O’Hara Acting Principal

Whakatauki

Respect The virtue of respect and having respectful interactions with others is always at the forefront at St Johns Hill School. Respect is an attitude of caring about people and treating them with dignity. Respect is being practiced when you:

Treat others as you want to be treated

Speak courteously to everyone

Be considerate of how others are feeling

Accept others for who they are

Show kindness and consideration

Learn from the wisdom of elders

Respect the rules at home and in school environment

Express strong feelings in a respectful way

Green-Gold Enviroschool EARTH KIDS Education for Sustainability Schoolgen School Health Promoting School

Womble of the Week

Riley Loader

Star of the Week

Dexter Bunker Melissa Lister

Whanganui School Halo Project

The Halo Project is a Bushy Park Education Group initiative aimed at identifying and trapping predators in the backyard of school property.

This school community project is intended to educate and increase awareness of predator damage to our native bird populations in our local backyard.

School neighbours will also be approached where schools share a boundary to support tracking and trapping initiatives carried out by schools.

The schools Halo Project in Whanganui is a first and has already been started at St Johns Hill School with the support of Kevin Booth-Deputy Principal and a team of 10 Year 6 Halo students. They have been involved in tracking predators within the school boundary and recording results. The next stage is to approach neighbours who share the boundary fence with the school. They will be asked if they could host a predator tunnel with tracking cards to gather any evidence of predators within their property. This work will be untaken by the students. Tracking tunnels and cards have been supplied to the school by the Bushy Park Education group.

Robin Paul, volunteer educator at Bushy Park is working with St Johns Hill School students along with support from Kevin Booth, Mandy Brooke, (Bushy Park Sanctuary Manager) Scotty Moore (DOC Community Ranger ) and Sara Threadgold (DOC Ranger).

The framework for this initiative is based on a programme that Zealandia has initiated for schools in Wellington.

The ultimate aim of the Schools Halo Project is to eradicate predators from within and beyond the school property.

Our Halo team: Noah Jones, Thomas Fitzgerald, Lachie Burroughs, Zoe Bullock, Morgan Taituma-Hamilton, Olivia Gibbons, Blake Smith, Zara Jackson, Chelsea Jones, Logan Symes.

Adventures on Kapiti Island

What a marvellous time was had by all who travelled across to Kapiti Island two weeks ago. Room 1 and 2 and many parents experienced beautifully calm, warm weather. The bush was sparkling and the birds were out in numbers. Last year the weather was not kind to us which made the trip impossible. The Kapiti experience has almost

become a right of passage for all senior pupils before leaving St Johns. Thank you to the parents who accompanied us and looked after our children for the duration of the day’s adventures. Many happy memories!

SJHS CODE OF BEHAVIOUR

Be honest

Be reliable, friendly and helpful

Show respect towards yourself, other people, and property

Be tolerant

Be fair in your work and play

Show understanding towards others

Look after the environment

Use good manners at all times

2018 Term Dates

Term 1 31 January - 13 April 2018 Term 2 30 April - 6 July 2018 Term 3 23 July - 28 September 2018 Term 4 15 October - 14 December 2018 Easter break: Good Friday 30 March, Easter Monday 2 April, Easter Tuesday 3 April. School resumes Wednesday 4 April 2018.

St Johns Hill School Athletics Day - 14th November

The scheduled start time for our school athletics is 9:15am. The junior classes (5, 6, and 7 year olds) will be running first with sprints and middle distance. This is expected to finish before morning tea. While these students are running, the top seniors (8, 9,10 and 11 years old) will be competing in the field events – Vortex, Quiots, Long Jump and High Jump. Run offs for these events have already been held. Just before

morning tea we organise a BOT/staff/parent/ vs student relay race, (so please bring your shorts and running shoes). After morning tea (11:00ish) all the seniors will compete in their sprint and middle distance races. The final events for the day are the house relay races—Juniors (Year 3&4) first followed by the Seniors (Years 5&6).

Welcome to School A special welcome to the following new students and their families. Jackson Hay, Haize Lacy and Jonty Belliss. We wish you all the best for your learning at our school.