Linden School Website: www.linden.school.nz

Newsletter – 3rd September 2014

Kia ora, Talofa lava, hi everyone, johm riab sua, neih hou, kia orana, goeiedag, bula, kumusta, Namaste, malo e lelei, chao anh, kohomada, merhaba, kia orana, fakoalofa atu.

How wonderful to see this glorious spring weather. There seems to be more smiles and laughter as the weather gets warmer so long may it continue. We held our twice yearly powhiri to welcome new members to our school community. All of the children performed superbly with the karanga, waiata, and haka. It was lovely to see some of the parents here too. We have some photos later in the newsletter for you. Once again it is time for some of our younger students to receive reports. All yr 4-6 students have received their progress report in Term 2 and will receive their achievement report in Term 4. You are most welcome to make an appointment with the teacher at any time of the year, to discuss your child’s learning. Students in years 1-3 have their reporting schedule depending on when they started school. After about six weeks at school each child will have a six week check and parents are invited to come in and have a chat with the teacher about this and how their child is settling into school. When your child had been at school for two terms they will have a progress report. With this written report there is a student led conference with the teacher, parent and the child. The child will lead a lot of this conference, sharing their goals, what they have been learning, what they are proud of and where to next. The teacher is there to support the child and to help answer any questions parents or children have. This conference is about celebrating the learning that has gone on, if there are any issues to discuss another appointment will need to be made. After your child has been at school for four terms they will receive their achievement report. With this report there is an optional interview for you, your child and the teacher to meet.

There should be no surprises in any of these reports as we endeavour to keep parents informed throughout the year. Your child’s teacher will be sending home an invitation to you if your child is due their progress report, or information if your child is due their achievement report. If you have any questions around reporting please chat with your child’s teacher or pop into the office and see Melanie Dean. It was the last week of hockey on 29th August. The children (and parents!) have done so well battling the terrible weather. We will be having our hockey prize giving on Saturday 6th September in the school hall, to celebrate all the wonderful play and team work. I want to thank Gerard for his fantastic work with hockey over the past few years. He has been an outstanding asset, coaching all of the teams some years and most of the teams other years. For the past two years he has been ably assisted by Shane, who has taken up some of the coaching mantle. If you know of anyone else who would be willing or able to coach or manage a team next year we would appreciate them joining us. We really rely on our fundraising and we have another fundraiser on 20th September. This is a great opportunity for a family photo shoot for only $10. All the children brought home forms for this a couple of weeks ago but if you know someone else who would like a form, let us know and we can email it out to them. We need final numbers by next week, so get in quick. Melanie Dean Principal

GOTCHA winners from the last assembly: Abiraami, Room 2 for being confident, competent, considerate and creative when playing making loombands.

Proud Moments … Our confident, competent, considerate and creative students

Notices and Reminders… SWIMMING lessons tomorrow, please remember your togs and towel.

LAST CHANCE TO GET ORDERS IN …

Emiy, Room 2 for being creative by playing tag with lots of other children.

PARENTS & FRIENDS GROUP - ICON PHOTOGRAPHY FUNDRAISER – 20th Sept (same day as the general election). A reminder to please your orders in for this wonderful photo opportunity.

Patrick, Room 8 being considerate and creative by when playing parkour at lunch. Adam, Room 2 for being considerate and creative when playing a ball game.

This is a great fundraising opportunity as Linden School will receive the entire $10 sitting fee as well as 10% of any other photographs sold. The photographer will advise of the photo packages available at the shoot and organize the viewing time with you.

Allan, Room 9 being competent, considerate and creative by playing parkour at lunch. Shrutika, Room 8 being considerate by being a good friend.

The photographer will be at the school between 9am and 1pm and each sitting takes 10 minutes. We need to have a minimum of 25 bookings and payments. This offer is available to anyone, so please tell your family, friends and neighbours. All you have to do is return the voucher, along with $10 to the school office.

And another CONGRATULATIONS to all our pupils today – everyone was present!

Everyone who books will go into a draw to win a $259 photography package. An example of the photo and additional vouchers can be found in the Parents Hub. Once we have the required number of bookings we will advise times, so please indicate the times you are available on the voucher.

Photos from the powhiri held last week.

CLASSROOM HAPPENINGS …

Room 1

As a part of our inquiry we have been sharing our families with the rest of the class and learning to talk about them. We created visual mihi of our whānau, our marae, where we come from and a picture of us! We have been also been creating beautiful artwork about the country of Samoa! We are being very creative in Rūma Tahi.

Room 2

Room 2 have been learning about different celebrations and cultures, we enjoyed learning about Diwali and made some great rangoli patterns. At the moment we are learning about Chinese New Year, we have done lots of different things, we have tidied the classroom that is supposed to bring good luck in, we have made Chinese paper cuts, and started making our lanterns. We have also been finding out why Red and Gold are lucky colours. We are looking forward to finding out more about Chinese New year and other celebrations around the world.

Room 3

Room 3 have been writing letters. This is one to Goldilocks from Elijah: Dear Goldilocks, I was shocked that you were naughty all week and you broke into the bear’s collage. The bears were frustrated and angry. When you ate up baby bear’s breakfast, he was sad as a baby. You are a bad girl. Next time be good. Bye …. From Elijah

Room 8 In Room 8, we have been reading about all sorts of subjects, like brains, albatrosses and even tsunamis! We have been getting more competent and confident at synthesising what we are reading.

Room 9 In Room Nine we have been studying fractions and decimals. We are becoming confident in all kinds of things like equivalent fractions, knowing what numerator and denominator means, and recognising fractions. We have been considerate of each other while working creatively and competently on our problems.

Check out our blogs at www.linden.school.nz

COMMUNITY NOTICES 2014 Term dates Term 3: Mon 21 July to Fri 26 Sept Term 4: Mon 13 Oct to Wed 17 Dec

* What do you think of ERO’s parent booklets? The Education Review Office (ERO) publishes a series of five booklets for parents and caregivers. We want to find out how useful the information is to parents, how the booklets can be improved, and if parents would prefer to receive the information in a different way. We’re starting with a survey of How is my child doing? To take part in the survey go to www.ero.govt.nz – Featured Publications. The survey runs until the end of September and only takes a few minutes to complete. Meanwhile if you would like a copy of one of the booklets email [email protected] * Kids Cross Country Series The next Kids Cross Country Series event for new entrants to year 8 students is a mini mountain run. It's being held at Mt Victoria on Sunday 14 September and is organised by Athletics Wellington and local athletics and cross country clubs. For more information or to enter go to www.athleticshub.co.nz or email [email protected] or phone 021 976116. Enter before this Sunday for a personalised race bib on the day

*Spring into Tawa Market Day is going to be held on Saturday September 13, from 9am12.30pm. Please contact the Tawa Community Centre for an application form, or for any more information. * Holiday programme Y1-6. SUPERHEROES. St

Christopher’s Anglican Church, Mon 29th Sept to Fri 3rd Oct 9.45-12.30pm. Games, music, puppets, quizzes, jokes, bible stories, craft and much more. Registration essential Ph 2328448. * Tawa Recreation Centre Holiday programme for ages 5-12, 29 Sept - 10 Oct. To book visit: wellington.govt.nz/holiday programmes 2322260. *ASB SUPPORTING SUCCESS IN OUR SCHOOLS – An opportunity to support Linden School if you are buying a house: For every new ASB home loan over $150,000 taken out before 31 December 2014, nominate Linden School and ASB will donate $500 to our school. Download the voucher from asb.co.nz/schoolbanking .

UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS Friday 12 September Room 9 Assembly Thursday 18 September Last swimming lesson Sat 20 Sept General Election, Linden School polling booth Tuesday 23 September Tawa Goes to Town Fri 26 Sept – last day term 3 Sausage sizzle by Parents & Friends Room 8 Assembly Mon 13 Oct – First day term 4 First day term 4 Mon 20 Oct – Thurs 24 Oct Linden School Production week Friday 31 Oct Sausage sizzle by Parents & Friends Mon 3 Nov Parents and Friends 6pm Friday 28 November Sausage Sizzle by Parents & Friends Mon 1 Dec Parents and Friends 6pm Friday 12 December Sausage Sizzle by Parents & Friends Wed 17 Dec – Last day of school year School finishes at 12.15pm