25.08.2023  

From the Principal

As we come to the end of Week 6 there are so many things to celebrate, as well as things to look forward to.

CELEBRATIONS:

*The positive behaviour shown by our learners both inside and outside of the classroom. This morning we met in the PAC for school assembly and it was delightful to see learners celebrating other’s successes and listening respectfully. Congratulations everyone – you are amazing!

*Congratulations to all learners who were a part of the school poetry and speech finals last week. It is so good to see the confidence these learners have when speaking to a large audience.

*The Crazy Hair disco last Friday night. A big thank you to Mrs Davies and her team for organising this event. Many learners turned up with fun and outrageous hairstyles and enjoyed the music played by Mr Sila.

*Congratulations to Kate Finlayson and Madison McKillop who represented Alfriston School at the ECCS Speech Competition this morning. Kate placed 2nd in the Year 5/6 event and Madison placed 3rd in the Year 7/8 event. Outstanding girls!

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

*Our last Kelly Sports session this coming Tuesday. Coach Cameron and Coach Brad have been teaching Ki-o-rahi and Fundamental Movement skills to all learners and these sessions have been a highlight of the week. We look forward to our last session on Tuesday.

*Sports Camp for some Year 7 and 8 learners in Week 9. This is going to be an actioned packed week of sport which will see our learners develop friendships with learners from many of the local schools. Thank you Ms Paul for organising this wonderful opportunity.

*Mini Fair on Friday 1st September. Thank you to Mrs Galvin and our school leaders for organising a fun lunchtime event. You can order pizza and buy a concession spending card on kindo now. Remember only concession cards and coins on the day 🙂

*This coming Tuesday (29th August) Akaldeep Singh and Faith Sila will compete in the Auckland Zone Cross Country event to be held in Franklin. This is an amazing achievement and we wish both runners all the very best.

*On Sunday 10th September our Jump Jam team will be competing at Point Chevalier School. A big thank you to Miss Groom for training the team and supporting them on the day. We look forward to hearing of your success. 

UNIFORM REMINDERS

We ask that caregivers support us by ensuring our uniform expectations are followed. A few reminders:

• Learners are to wear plain black shoes to school.
• The only jewellery items to be worn are a watch, stud earrings and if required an item of cultural significance (this should be discussed with Mrs Cook or Mrs Galvin).
• Additional layers of clothing under our uniform for warmth should be grey in colour.
• Hair below the collar is tied up using black, brown, white or navy hair ties.

SCHOOL POETRY / SPEECH WINNERS

Tupu Tahi Team

Mini Fair

Our Student Leaders will be having a small lunchtime Mini Fair on Friday 1st September (next week) 

There will be games to play and some food items available on the day. 

Popcorn – flavoured milk – small lolly bags – Guess the lollies in the Jar – Pizza slices and Ice blocks! 

Guess the Lolly Jar will be available all week with the winners being announced on Friday afternoon.

Please read… 

• • To help with the organisation on the day we request that the Pizza is ordered on Kindo. Some Pizza will be available on the day but may sell out quickly.
  • We are trying a new approach and offer a Pre paid game and food card that can be purchased on Kindo ($5 & $10) this should eliminate cash handling  
  • or your child can bring coins only on the day
  • Games and food will be either $1 or $2

A BIG THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ALWAYS SUPPORTING OUR EVENTS!

School Policy Review

Pies! Pies! Pies!

Alfriston School Frozen Pies & Savouries Fundraiser

Here is a link for your to order your delicious pies.

Learning Celebrations

Room 1

Room 13

Room 11 was enthusiastic to know about the Focus of this term –  Change. What has changed? Why should we change? When is change absolutely necessary? Who can bring about the change? Questions like these made the learners think deeply about the changing world around us. We started to dig deep while learning about New Zealand History through Journals. The protests movements gave us a glimpse of the past, making us aware of those fearless leaders and their stories. We explored a few scenarios and debated about the probable solutions. We we will now be writing Biographies on the leaders of peaceful land protests in Aotearoa History.

Room 11 learners presented speeches on the topic “Kaitiakitanga” with our own interpretations. We made sure we used a variety of language features, descriptions, examples, explanation facts and figures.  Through our speeches we conveyed  strong messages. Madison, Fiona and Carter delivered mesmerizing speeches to compete with other intermediate classes. Madison was the overall speech winner and Fiona was placed third. Madison will be representing Alfriston School at the Rehu Tai Speech competition to be held at Maraetai Beach School Hall on Friday 25th of August 2023.

Day by day we are getting better at Math as we practice our basic skills, tables and simple techniques to remember formulae. Through a fun Popcorn Activity we calculated the area of the cooked and uncooked popcorn and tried to estimate the number of popcorns that would fit in a big box. During Matariki week we identified the brightest stars in our lives and pondered over how we could be the brightest stars for the people in our lives. In addition to that we handcrafted our Matariki stars by cutting cardboard circles of different diameters and creating star effect using wool.

We participated in the Emergency First Aid course with St John’s where we learnt basic life saving techniques to use in case of emergencies. We all love to spend time outdoors learning different sports and over the weeks we have enjoyed learning various basketball skills and tried different drills to improve our performance. In order to be able to compete at Sports Camp we are learning Ki o Rahi, Lacrosse and Archery. 

We enjoyed learning different waiata for Powhiri this year and look forward to singing these every day.

Room 8

The learners in Room 8 are reading  about key historical events in New Zealand.

They are using their prior knowledge and other texts to deepen their understanding of what they read.

As a class we have been exploring fractions since the start of this term. Part of this exploration includes using real life authentic scenarios during our maths workshops. 

Room 8 has also started a Statistics Survey Project where they will conduct statistical investigations to research the opinions

of their school. Learners will be expected to analyse their data and present it using appropriate graphs.

During our writing sessions we have explored different persuasive techniques to enhance our writing. The learners were able to show off their persuasive skills when presenting their speeches.

An instructor from Kelly Sports runs weekly  sessions focusing on a game called Ki-o-rah and Fundamental Movement Skills. We are having lots of fun learning a new game!

Room 8 is looking at change makers of NZ History and the problems they were trying to overcome. They will research our House Leaders and identifying the qualities they had to achieve greatness. After their research learners will ask themselves the question ‘What is my legacy?’

KARATE – HAVE A GO!

REPORTING TO PARENTS/CAREGIVERS

In the past we have provided learners with a report at the very end of the year. This year however learners will receive their 2nd Progress and Achievement Report at the beginning  of Term 4. The reason for this is so that we have the time to discuss your child’s next steps with you and then to spend time working on these before your child moves on to a new teacher and new year level.

The written reports will be sent home on Tuesday 24th of October and Three Way Conferences will be the following two days, Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th October. We ask that all whānau attend these meetings and that the learner is present. A link to book a conference time will be sent out in the near future.

Alfriston School continues to evaluate and review systems and processes and makes changes in the best interests of our learners.

Congratulations to..