It feels like the kids are sort of ‘sneaking into the school year: a three-day week last week; four days this week; and then finally the full works next week.

Strike one!

Anyone can make a mistake, right? And I acknowledged that when talking with the staff during last week’s Teachers Only Days. One of the administrivial issues I referred was “careless printing” – the stuff that happens when you fail to make sure you print only the bits you want - not the entire chapter / book / website. I was very clear that unnecessary printing was unnecessarily expensive too. Equally so:

”Black and white printing is much cheaper than colour,” I said, “so make sure that you get the settings right,” I said.

Somewhat carelessly, I failed to follow my own advice…….which is why the newsletter was in living colour last week……… I bet that doesn’t happen again.

Kia ora tatou.

Kia ora tatou katoa….welcome to the 2012 school year – especially if this is your family’s first day at Waverley Park School! We trust the holiday has recharged your kids’ batteries (even if your own suffered a bit of wear and tear in the process); and that everyone is ready to rock and roll.

Speaking of welcomes; we are pleased to introduce our newest member of our teaching team Carolyn Williams. Carolyn is in room six with her brand new year 3 & 4 class. We also have with us University of Otago 3^rd year teacher trainees Faith Takuta (in room 3 with Brenda Devery) and Carolyn (Caz) Smith (in room 7 with Janelle Shaw).

Indeed, with the arrival of the two Carolyns (Williams and Smith) the possibility for confusion abounds – we already have a Carolyn (Olphert). Come to that; we’ve got three Helens too. And two Sharons – tho’ spelt differently (the parents of the Carolyns and the Helens weren’t quite so accommodating).  In the interests of clarity “C1, C2, C3, H1, H2, and H3” seems almost as inevitable as it is logical.

However, only one of them appeared in the New Year Honours list. We are extremely proud to claim Helen Campbell-O’Brien as one of our own; her becoming a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit is a thoroughly deserved accolade after twenty-five years of working to promote the cause of children’s literacy. Helen (just for the record – “H2”) has been as tireless as she has been innovative in working to improve kids’ literacy capabilities. Those who know her work applaud the acknowledgement and recognition that this award represents. 

Upgrade…

Plenty of sweat and effort expended over the summer break by the team from Karl Boniface Plumbers means we start the year with improved drainage services. Lots of the digging had to be done by hand as many places were inaccessible to the machinery…and it was hot … except for the days it rained… when they were trying to pour concrete… (sigh).

Thanks guys: a good effort and a good start to a property upgrade that will be done in instalments over the next five years or so.

Supporting our supporters…

In paying for their ads, the kind people who advertise on our newsletter ensure that the paper for our newsletters is supplied free – all year! It goes without saying that we consider all of them worthy of your support (and ours too!) when the opportunities to do so arise. Please consider using their services when you can. Thanks.

Parent information night…

Come and find out how things will work in-class for your child this year: in the school hall 7.00pm Wednesday 8 February.

Planned programme:

7.00pm    Police Education Officer Paul Frith introducing the “Keeping Ourselves Safe” programme we will be running this term.

7.30pm    teachers introducing the year in their classrooms

8.00pm    repeat session (so you can get to at least two of your kids’ rooms).  

Parent helpers for year 6 camp…

There will be a meeting at 6.30 – 6.55pm in the staffroom for parent helpers coming on the Year 6 camp, on Wednesday 8^th February (just before the Parent Information Night).

School uniform is compulsory…

1    Please make sure that your Waverley Scholar comes to school wearing school uniform – neck to ankles; wearing the odd item of uniform just doesn’t cut it. If the whole uniform is in the wash due to some random set of circumstances; please let your child’s teacher know. One enterprising avoider last year insisted his complete uniform was indeed in the wash…… apparently for six uninterrupted weeks!

2    If your scholar is arguing the toss with you every morning and refuses to wear the uniform – let us know – we’ll sort it out.

3   A reminder that all items of Waverley Park at Postie Plus have 30% off until the end of this term. 

Thank you to everyone who attended the kapa haka performances this morning. Special guests in the audience were the kids from Waimahaka School – all nine (or so) of them – who had come to see their first kapa haka performance. We may well see them come back and take part in a few of our Friday sessions next year.

Our big group Kotahitanga (when we say “big”, we mean 170+) led-off a programme that included their first public performances of poi and haka. Then Tuinga Tahi demonstrated their polished routine from Putangitangi earlier this term. We are very proud of both groups.

The kids love performing for you – it really boosts them. Their self-esteem rises; they feel your support; and your own kids feel and see the pride that you have in them: it’s a win-win all-round. Clearly, the future for both groups looks strong. 

Thank you whanau…

The whanau runanga met on Wednesday night and Raiha led the hui through a process focussed on what we do well; what we could do better; and ideas for future development. The feedback provided is valued and will be used in our school’s plans for the future; thanks for giving your time at a time of year when there’s lots happening.

First and foremost, we want Waverley Park to continue to reflect what our community wants and what our kids need. In the main, that will mean we keep working to improve and develop all the good stuff we do; and to do better with the stuff we need to do better. 

Meanwhile…

When the last government came to power, National Standards were passed through parliament under urgency in late December – bypassing even the pretence of consultation or any form of community input – at a time when schools had just closed for the summer break. Expect more of the same this time too. The New Zealand Principals Federation sent a flyer to members this week. It included the following advice and guidance:

“If you look back in history, New Zealand is listed as the first country to initiate Charter Schools, before the US. New Zealand’s 1980’s education policy reforms,  ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ dismantled the regional education boards to devolve power to local communities by establishing self-managing schools governed by their own boards of trustees.  Each school has its own charter which is submitted to the Ministry annually.

Our public schools are charter schools. So why would we want some other model which has failed overseas?

It’s not about achievement.  It’s really about the funding of our public education system. The Charter Schools under discussion now are to be funded partly by the government and partly by the private sector. They would be based on a business competitive model. They would be exempt from the rules and regulations that apply to our current public schools and would have targets of accountability to meet and be judged by.  The possibility of performance pay for successfully meeting the targets is a common feature of such Charter schools in the US and in the UK (where they are commonly called ‘academy schools’). 

2009 reports of US charter schools show that only 17% of children performed better than their public school counterparts with 46% performing the same and 37% performing worse.

         The best example of Charter Schools is what we have now in NZ: publicly funded self-managed schools governed by local boards of trustees.  This system should be protected.

         In NZ there are some excellent and successful intervention programmes aimed at low decile schools with high proportions of Maori and Pasifika. Government should get behind these programmes which are showing they lift children’s achievement.

         A foundation group to develop Charter Schools in NZ will be established.  This group does not include practitioners, which is like establishing a new medical clinic without asking the doctors. Here we have another example of the sector views being ignored and professionals being dealt to by non-educators.

         It is suggested that Charter Schools be trialled in South Auckland, where it is believed students are failing and are of low socio-economic status and Christchurch, since some of the schools there have been displaced by the earthquake.  This is the last thing Christchurch needs after having such a traumatic year.

         Targeting Charter Schools for poor areas will result in the winner and loser schools in the same community.

         Charter Schools will undermine the world-class public education system we have now because so called ‘failing’ public schools will be closed and replaced with public/private funded Charter Schools. This will leave parents no choice but to send their children to the Charter School.

         There will no longer be equal access to quality publicly funded education.

         The privatisation model of Charter Schools will create competition in the sector and a break down in the collaborative culture that has made New Zealand’s education system one of the best in the world.”

Class presentations timetable…

Where to find your child next Wednesday evening:

December 1 is officially the first day of summer. Many older cultures regarded the summer solstice (the shortest night) as the start of summer. Whichever you prefer; at last we’ve finally seen a few hours of sunshine. The kids have even had a second game of touch!

 Staffing changes for 2012…

As you often do in a school, we will be starting 2012 with some changes to our personnel line up. At the end of this year, we will be saying farewell to Whaea Paula Kamo and au revoir to Lucy McColm. Paula will head north to be with family for a few months - prior to heading overseas; while Lucy is taking a year’s leave to head overseas too.

Consequently, we welcome to the staff Carolyn Williams who will be looking after room 6 in Lucy’s absence.

School organization for 2012…

NZ schools are staffed with teachers according to roll-numbers-based formula. While our roll hasn’t dropped over the past twelve months; neither has it grown to the calculated level. We have enrolled more than the numbers we predicted; but they have been off-set by the higher than predicted number of families who moved away – out of town in the main. Consequently, we will be starting 2012 with ten (rather than the current eleven) classrooms in operation. The larger number of pupils is at the junior school’s end of the spectrum so we have had to make some changes to our organization to make things work and class sizes even.

We will start 2012 with …

-  one new entrant class: Shona Hoffman (R5)

-  one year 1 class: (Dale Black (R4)

-  two year 1&2 classes: Wiki Burdon & Justine Hewer-Marley (R8); and Cynthia Bell (R10)

-  one year 2&3 class: Elizabeth Gerrard (R1)

-  two year 3&4 classes: Carolyn Williams (R6); and Sharyon Ralph (R9)

-  one year 4&5 class: Brenda Devery (R3)

-  two year 5&6 classes: Janelle Shaw (R7); and Helen Kennedy & Sharon Witheford (R11)

A good number of known enrolments coming in during the year means room 2 will eventually be needed  as long as they are not matched by a similar number of withdrawals.

So you think you can dance…

This week, room 3 used their knowledge of dance to organise a “So you Think You Can Dance” competition. The winners of each section were announced at assembly this morning:

1^st Solo:                       Bree 

1^st Pairs:                       Kate and Tayla (room 3)

1^st Group:                     Maison, Harrison, Jacob, Liam  (room 2)

1^st Overall:                    Bree 

Miss Devery said, “Well done to all those who took part as the results were very close. Everyone should be very proud of themselves.”

 Overallwinner Bree struts her stuff

One parent e-mailed the class: “Congratulations to you all on a splendid dance competition today. All your hard work paid off. The event was very well organised and it ran very smoothly. Everyone knew exactly what their role/job was and they did their job superbly.” She also commended the quality of the performances.

One performance that nobody was expecting was the closing act: a group of talented but barely recognizable members of staff…

… yes really!

On Wednesday, the Southland Times published the letter below. I wrote it for obvious reasons; it is included here for our community because these are worrying times for the future of our kids and their education.

“In February last year, I put the newly launched New Zealand Curriculum up for sale on Trade Me. The intention was to stimulate informed public discussion. The advert’s wording included that the then three-year-old New Zealand Curriculum was “well researched; tested and proven to be effective”; and that it was being replaced with (untested) national standards.”

Monday’s education press release from Mr Key referred to the National Curriculum: “Our National Standards and the National Curriculum are helping teachers focus on the education outcomes children will need in the 21st Century,” it stated.

“Surely he meant the New Zealand Curriculum?” I thought. Sadly, no. A quick search revealed that National’s policy statement quite clearly states “The National Curriculum and our new National Standards are helping teachers focus on the education outcomes that children will need in the 21^st Century.” Indeed, the wording of the press release reverses the order of the policy statement; promoting “our new National Standards” to the start of that sentence.

It appears that the prophesy of February 2010, has become November 2011’s reality. Even the pretending has stopped. The internationally recognized New Zealand Curriculum is in the throes of receiving the last rites… and nobody really notices.” 

Michael Fullan is Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Recognized as a worldwide authority on educational reform, he said: “The more complex a society gets, the more sophisticated leadership must become.”

Renowned thinker and writer Eric Hoffer wrote, “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

 World-wide, standards-based education systems focussing intensely on reading, writing, and mathematics (even when paying lip-service to the rest of the curriculum) have proven both men right.

 These are times of change; and New Zealand is rapidly engaging the educational equivalent of reverse gear.

Waverley Park School Board of Trustees Election

Declaration of Parent Election Results

Parent Representative votes:

Harper, Craig                       19

Smith, Melanie                     23

Tou, Lisa                              75

White, Joanne                      58

Invalid votes                          5

I hereby declare the following duly elected.

Lisa Tou

Joanne White

Signed:

Denise Findlater

Returning Officer

With school swimming well underway, I occasionally get to be a “minder” in the boys’ changing rooms; making sure that our kids are safe from members of the public and vice versa. Generally depending on their age and stage (but not always!): the boys show varying degrees of haste, self-management, independence, persistence, logic, and occasionally style; in completing the relatively simple task of getting changed for (and after) swimming.

 Pre-swimming gems…  

• Towel and togs safely in a tied-shut supermarket bag. Rip the bag to get the gear out. Togs on – ready to go: “Um, I don’t have a bag to put my clothes in.”  

• “Can you undress me – I don’t know how to do it?”

• Lay out togs, towel, goggles. Undress, methodically fold each item and pack neatly in bag; one at a time. Togs on; goggles on – adjust several times – perfection. Can’t really see; goggles off, towel neatly refolded and carefully stowed in bag. Goggles back on – adjust several times - perfection. Pre-swim shower; goggles fog up; remove goggles; walk to pool - carefully stow bag and shoes in locker en route – goggles on – adjust several times … ”I’m ready!”

• Into changing room – whip off school shirt: togs already on – ready to go in under three seconds. (But check out the last point in the next section.)

• “I can’t get my foot out of my pants.” “Why not?” “My shoe’s still in it.” 

After swimming – pure gold…

 • “Can you dry me – I don’t know how?” 

• “I can’t do up my shoes! Oh…I didn’t bring any.”

• “I lost my top. It’s brown and white.” “Did it have your name in it?” “No.” “Isn’t     this school uniform top what you were wearing?” (clearly named and neither brown nor white). It’s got your name and address on it.”  “Oh…all right …I s’pose…” 

• “Why did you put your socks and shoes on first?!” “I don’t like the feel of the rubber mat”

• “I haven’t got any pants!” “Why not?” “I left them at school…with my shoes and socks…and undies…towel…”

There are some lads for whom a career in the fire service is definitely not going to be an option.  

Maori whanau hui…

Raiha Johnson is leading a meeting for our Maori families at 5.30pm on Wednesday 7 December. Details are in a separate notice from Raiha - given to whanau kids to bring home today.

Values programme…

Remind your kids about their “Pay it Forward” card. The card has instructions on how to use it; tips; and a challenge to kids to post their Random Acts of Kindness (ARKs) on the Waverley Park School website.

Congratulations Taylor Clive: Waverley Park’s representative after being presented with his certificate at the dinner that concluded last week-end’s “Storytellers Workshop”

Dec 14: 7.00pm end of year class celebration presentation (based on the current arts inquiry); details to follow.

Dec 15: 7.00pm year six farewell ceremony

Dec 16: 2.00pm Christmas service and final assembly. 

Board meeting…

A change of date – the next meeting of the Board of Trustees has been brought forward a week to 14 November: 7.00pm in the staffroom.

Putangitangi…

 Tuinga Tahi spent yesterday in competition at the Civic Theatre. Their second year in the contest that is Putangitangi, they returned to school with accolades for all aspects of their performance, overall second placing (matching the last year’s achievement); and the trophies for best male leader – congratulations Taylor Clive – and best choral performance.

Raiha Johnson, the kids, and their extensive support team have worked incredibly hard for this. Their achievement is one we are very proud of; coming on the back of hours and hours of practice as it has.  

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui, Tuinga Tahi.

Olivia, Makenzie, Kaytlin in full dress rehearsal overdrive last week. 

BOT elections…

As at noon today, our Returning Officer had received four nominations for two available positions on our board:

(* denotes current board member)

Harper  Craig

Smith    Mel

Tou       Lisa*

White`   Joanne*

Voting papers will be posted by Wednesday 9 November. Voting closes at noon on Friday 18 November.

Either drop them into the office or post them to:

Returning Officer

Waverley Park School

55 Eden Crescent

INVERCARGILL 9810

Class and individual photos…

A reminder to use your unique code that Jack n Jill Photography sent you to go online to view your photos. If you have trouble trying to access a computer, then please call at the school and we will help you view your child’s photos.  If you do not want to pay via the website then please send details of your order to the school with the money and this will be forwarded on to them.  All orders close on Friday 11 November.

Tour of Southland…

The tour of Southland whizzed past on Tuesday; the kids supporting the Share the Road and PowerNet teams who had visited in the lead-up to the event starting….all, that is, except for the Olpherts. Not surprisingly, they supported their own team - team jackets and all!

Welcome back to one of the shorter school terms we’ll see in a while. Well done to everybody who got their swimming gear sorted for the first day of the term. An interesting feature of day one was the number of stick-on All Black tattoos wandering around the school….many of them are still here today.

Sadly, the holiday break had a tragic start when, on Sunday 9 October, former Waverley Park staff-member Marie Watts died in a head-on collision near Timaru. Driving separate cars, Marie and her husband Alan were moving to Auckland. Friends and colleagues were deeply shocked by the news.

Southland was well-represented at Marie’s Auckland funeral by staff from Alan’s St Patrick’s School; Salford (where Marie was until the end of last term), Bluff Community, and Waverley Park schools. Alan and Marie’s kids spoke well and lovingly of a strongly family and faith orientated woman; she would have been very proud of the way they honoured her, and reflected their family values and upbringing.

We extend heartfelt Waverley Park sympathies to Alan and to his family: kia kaha; kia manawanui.

Putangitangi…

The annual kapa haka competitions are on next week and today, Tuinga Tahi had their final dress rehearsal; performing for the school and again for a group of visiting kindergartens. Raiha Johnson and her support team have worked hard with the kids; putting in lots of Friday after school practices as well as those staged in the weekends and during the recent holiday break. The kids look and sound awesome; they are serious contenders for the silverware. They will be on-stage at the Civic Theatre at 10.40am next Thursday – get there early to be sure of a seat. Kia maia, Tuinga Tahi. 

World Teachers’ Day 2011…

Tomorrow is World teachers’ Day 2011: a day where the role of teachers in society is recognised and celebrated world-wide.

Keep an eye out for an article about our Ms Kennedy in tomorrow’s Southland Times. A reluctant “stander in the limelight”, Helen’s featuring in the paper was instigated by the New Zealand Educational Institute HQ in Wellington. We know and recognise her as a passionate teacher – now everyone else will too. It is an honour to be publicly acknowledged in this may; congratulations Ms K; we are proud of you. (You should celebrate - take your husband out to dinner!)

Tour of Southland …

The “Share the Road” team have been here this week. With the tour just over the horizon, the team spent time promoting the safe cycling message to the kids.

 Tour of Southland … The “Share the Road” team have been here this week. With the tour just over the horizon, the team spent time promoting the safe cycling message to the kids.

Today being the last day of term, the kids are pretty excited; so too are their teachers. The fortnight gives kids a complete break and their teachers the opportunity to complete term three paperwork and get set up for term four (one of the shortest in NZ history thanks to the Rugby World Cup). 

Class and individual photos…

Room 11 doing their best “cheese” impressions…

Thank you to “Jack n Jill Photographers’” Karen Fraser for doing a fantastic job on Monday taking all the class and individual photos.

A flyer will be sent home the first day back of Term 4 on Tuesday 25 October with a unique code to view and purchase your photos online.  If you are unable to get access to a computer then please call at the office and we will assist you.

All orders need to be completed by Friday 11 November. Late orders will incur a $10 fee.