Friday 11 December 2009

Farwell to Kala Deepak - BOT Chairperson

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Some of you may be aware that Kala Deepak, our current BOT Chairperson, is standing down from her position on the Board. Andrew Howe is to take on the role of chair of the BOT. Kala has given nearly 10 years of service to the Board of Trustees for Burnham School. It goes without saying that this is a massive commitment to our school and our community.
Kala has overseen much change in her time at Te Kura o Tiori and it is her guidance and leadership that is part of what makes our school the amazing place it is today. On behalf of past and present students, families, wider community, staff Board members and of course Principal's we thank you for your leadership and guidance and we wish you all the best. Please know that this place is your place and that you are always part of the Tiori whanau.

Thursday 10 December 2009

Staffing Updates - Congratulations Linda Sweeny

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I have some updates regarding staffing. I am delighted to announce that Linda Sweeny has been appointed as our Associate Principal. Linda is currently teaching in Room 6 and will take over the leadership of the senior teaching team from Sandra Keenan, who will move into the junior team as the Associate Principal in this area of the school.

This has been a very exciting process and I'm excited that we've been able to appoint two exceptional classroom teachers who are also fabulous leaders in their own right! Congratulations Linda you should be proud of this promotion. Given that Sandra is leaving the senior team this means we are seeking another classroom teacher, which I will update you on in due course.

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Welcome Kelly Sheppard to our team

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It gives me great pleasure to welcome Kelly Sheppard to our teaching team. Kelly has had experience teaching in London and has many skills and talents to enhance both our team, but most importantly the learning of the children in Room 5 2010.

Welcome Kelly we know you'll love working and learning with us at Burnham School.

Monday 7 December 2009

Assembly Evaluation PMI

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Below are our thoughts about what is good and what could be improved about our school assemblies. We will be giving children more and more say in how the school functions and this is one example of this. The thinking behind this is that the more say the students hav - the more ownership they will have of their learning.


If parents have comments we'd love to hear from you, just click the comment link and make them.


Room

Plus

Minus

New Ideas/Solutions

1


Singing

Certificates

House Points

Principal Award

Boot Award

Notebook

Art

Mr Clarke's guitar


Sitting down too long

Too much talking

Clapping

Telling off

Junior Hui


Certificates on birthday

Exercise in the middle of assembly

Assembly everyday (short)


2

When everyone gets certificates
learning new songs

Coming into the hall with to much noise
All the class have to be in the same spot
when all the classes are talking
when we have to wait for all the other classes cause it makes the assembly to long
being told off for talking


Fake birthday cake and some candles
When we sing songs someone to play the guitar
When you get certificates you get a toy
Everyone should have a idea to share with assembly like an item or something.


3


Certificates

Songs

Prayer (karakia)

Ball Skills

National Anthem

The Boot

Mr Clarke talking

House certificates

Getting out of the hall

When we have to stay there forever

When Mr Clarke has to growl

Too noisy

Same songs


A golden boot

We could sit nicely, be quiet

Listen

Better songs - ABBA


4


Singing

Certificates -standing on the stage

Boot

Principals award

National anthem/karakia

Notebook

House points- Certificates

End of term prizes

Sitting up nicely

Mr Clarke talking-his photo

Teachers sharing notices

Having senior leaders

Ball skills


Noise!!

Ball skills

House points-talking-been around to long.

Singing too long

People being told off

Everyone talking while waiting to begin and talking again at the end.

Seniors running it its not fair on the other classes

Sitting to long

Waiting for people to be quiet


Mr Clarke - talk about whats happening in the school-events

New songs-fun songs

Ball skills every second Monday

House points-power points slide, already added, Mr Clarke announces winner, does certificates

A different class runs it each week and have a class item to share
Song to come to into sing while waiting also a song to go out with but change it weekly.
Comfy seats.


5


Certificates

House points

Singing

Notices

Boot

Vouchers

Notebook

National anthem/karakia

When classes show art

Students running

When we're 1st to leave

Principals award

Honors award


Too long

People talking/Playing

Staying in to practice

People always in trouble

Lots of waiting

Sore bottom

Repeating songs

Having to wear shoes

Making up silly words in songs

People turning around

People humming instead of singing

People try to talk to others

People make fun of songs




Each class has a principals award

Sit on seats if good

Pencils with principals award

Best class gets seats next assembly

Assembly outside

Classes lead assembly

Stretches

Notebook gets pencils

Big prize for one person in the notebook

All do stereo yr 4+

classes sit boy/girl

Different songs

Fun songs like sing star songs 90s 60s

Karaoke

All to take part

Classes take turns to choose songs

Performances

Year 8's hand out awards

Classes watch out for good people




6


Awards- The Boot, Certificates, Notebook

Prizes- Rugby Tickets, End of term notebook prizes

Singing together

Year 8 seats at back

Humour

Being at end of a day


Audience behaviour- Clapping

Mucking about

Talking while items are happening

Leader doing everything

It's repetitive

Waiting for people to stop

Mucking around- having to set the example

Song variety- Type, Repeating

Too long

Leaders not being clear

It gets hot




More songs to choose from

Teaching how to sing songs

1 senior + 1 junior song

Class items/sharing/plays/student notices

Better behaviour entering

Exciting (no pushing)

Shorter time

School soap opera/running/news desk

Teachers/counting down to leaders to get attention

Everyone sits on seats
Different order for certificates

Class choose song to teach

Talkers have consequences

7

Don't have to do any work
Certificates
The boot
The notebook-winning prizes
Songs
House points
Some classes share their work
Learning new songs
Everyone gets together
Kapahaka  performances at the assembly
I like the tingling feeling I get inside when I get a certificate.
Sharing of manual projects
Principal's award
Mr Clarke's motivational speeches
The principal's blog


We are constantly repeating the same songs over again.
Sitting down and having to listen.
My bottom gets sore at assembly
I hate having to wait for people to stop talking between assembly.
My legs hurt after having to set so long.
Sometimes the assembly is too long
Always on a Monday-Why?
Everything is the same nothing changes.
Things are said that don't need to be said e.g we know we have to wear hats.
You get pins and needles.
Its not exciting it is boring.
It takes the kids to long to find the song.
We never move other than stand up or when we sit down.
All the juniors get to go first
The teachers get to talk but we don't.


Year 5 and 6 should be able to help out with the assembly to.
We should have actions to our song so we can get up and dance
We should have it on different days
Have more kids providing entertainment each week a different class should organise the assembly.
Mini snacks like popcorn
All the boys sit on one side and all girls on the other
Could we have an isle so it would make it easier to go and get certificates
We could sit with juniors and do activities together
Have seats to sit on
Jump jam in assembly
5 minute talking time in assembly
Fun facts could be shared
Birthday certification and sing happy birthday also have birthday badges.




Thursday 3 December 2009

The Tree of Knowledge - draft 1

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Here is a video which describes our school logo - The Tree of Knowledge. This video is our first draft and we are working to put titles onto this movie:

Wednesday 2 December 2009

WANTED - Music tutors for Burnham School

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Help Us Make Our Music Room Rock!
Music tutors needed in 2010 to teach musical instruments to the students of Burnham School! This could be before school, after school or even during class time. We are looking for people who are talented and want to teach us different instruments. We have lots of instruments, including guitars, pianos, keyboards, recorders and more.


For more information contact us on 3476851 or email: admin@burnham.school.nz

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Assembly Item - Respect

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Today in assembly we talked about respect - what does it mean to be respectful? There were three questions that Rob asked people to consider:
  1. What does it mean to be respectful?
  2. When is it difficult to be respectful?
  3. What do you do when you see someone being disrespectful?
Classes over the next couple of days will be discussing these questions and coming up with their own ideas.

Thursday 26 November 2009

Future Learning Survey

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We have put a special survey on the school web site that is aimed at gaining your thoughts on what is great about our school, what you feel needs to be strengthened, plus your ideas for what our children's future learning environment needs to include. Thank you to those parents who have taken the time to respond and share their ideas already - we need more! 

Everything we do in our school is part of the 'curriculum' in one way or another, so it is important that everyone has a say in this process. We plan on giving children more of say in the design of how they learn in future, and one way we are starting this is to allow children to nominate others for showing excellence.

WANTED: Someone to connect up our Rain Water System!

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From Blog Photos
If you have the skills to connect a downpipe to a barrel and install a tap, then we'd love to hear from you. Hannah from Room 5 is showing you what we need. If you know someone who could help with this small project, please tap them on the shoulder and get them in touch with us.

Monday 16 November 2009

Assembly Item - Setting Goals

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At today's assembly I shared a story about a visit to Room 5. I went into Room 5 today and was inspired by the conversation they were having about goal setting. We talked about the importance of knowing why you are setting goals.
My challenge to everyone is to set themselves a goal every day and to think carefully about why it is important to them.
Do you think it is important to understand why you have a goal?


One really easy way to start children thinking about how to set goals is through what I call a GLP - this stands for Grateful, Learned and Promise. A GLP is an easy to use way to establish the type of thinking that can lead to goals further down the track. Try it at the dinner table!

Week 6 Awards

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Here is a shot of our assembly awards for this week. Congratulations to everyone who is always saying 'I can' and making a difference to their learning!

Policy Review - Achievement of Māori

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We are in the process of reviewing the policy for the achievement of Māori students. This is an important part of our cycle of review and we want to encourage as many families as possible to give us feedback on the wording of the policy, but also the implementation of it.

Follow these steps to log in and review our policy:

  1. Click this link to go to the policy called 'Improve Educational Outcomes for Māori Students'
  2. This will take you to the policy under review on our schooldocs site, then have a read of the policy.
  3. Once you've read the policy, click the button at the top right called 'Policy Review' (like the picture to the right) and a window will pop up.
  4. Choose parent/caregiver, put your name and password 'pin'. 
  5. Rate the policy and write any comments to give us feedback on both the wording and how well you think it implemented.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Water off - School Staying Open

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Dear parents/whanau of Burnham School,

At 2pm today Fulton Hogan are turning the camp and surrounding housing area water supply off. This means the school will have no water supply between 2pm and 3pm. We have decided to keep the school open this afternoon and to manage the risks associated with having no water supply. We've made this decision because we believe the disruption to the community and learning outweighs managing the situation.

These are taking these steps to manage this:
  1. Prior to going out to lunch, all children will fill their drink bottles so they have a water supply for the afternoon.
  2. Children have been reminded to go to the toilet before the end of lunchtime. Those who need to be reminded at the start of the afternoon session (1.30pm) will be reminded by their teacher. Anyone who needs the toilet will obviously be able to use it.
  3. We will fill some buckets with water for the sick bay and in case we require water.
We have emailed the Burnham Regional Support Centre on the camp who will forward this communication to all military staff who may be parents/caregivers. This will also be put onto the Principal blog, which appears on the home page of the school web site. This message will go onto the school answer phone.

Should water supply remain disrupted tomorrow morning, a decision will be made by 7.45am and communicated using the same methods.

Monday 9 November 2009

What is feedback and how does it help learning?

5 comments
Did you know that great feedback is one of the things that can really make a difference to student learning? Auckland University researchers have found that quality feedback is one of the factors that can potentially have the largest impact on student learning. They believe that ‘feedback' includes telling students:
  1. what they have done well (positive reinforcement), and 
  2. what they need to do to improve (corrective work, targets etc), 
  3. but it also includes clarifying goals.

When you get quality feedback you can make improvements. Teachers give feedback all the time as part of their job. One good example of teachers giving our students feedback is when they give class certificates out at each assembly (photo to the right of this week's recipients). Students can also give feedback to others to improve their learning. 


Did you know that by merely using the word 'because' you can make the feedback more effective? For example: Your writing is much better than before because...


How can you give someone feedback that will help their learning?
What is feedback? How does it help learning?
Write your thoughts as comments to this blog post. Discuss them with your class and come up with some ideas for how your class can use feedback to improve learning. The seniors are going to get some practise at giving feedback by helping with the decision for who may get the leadership cup at the end of the year.

What makes great leadership

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Today I was approached by the Selwyn Council to give them a decision of who is to receive the cup for outstanding leadership at Burnham School. This led me to wonder what the children think. I spent some time in Room 6 talking about leadership with our Year 7 and 8 students and they had some great ideas.

Please write your ideas about what makes great leadership as comments to this blog post.

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Samoan Day Celebrations

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Wow - what an amazing group of seniors we've got who organised today's Samoan fundraiser to raise awareness and gain some cash for the Samoan tsunami victims! I enjoyed refereeing some of our talented touch rugby players as a part of this day!

Thank you for a great event team - here are some photos:

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Class awards this week

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Well done everyone who has said to themselves 'I can' over the last
week! Here is a shot of the people who worked hard in their learning over the last week. Keep up the great work!

Monday 2 November 2009

Assembly Item - Always Try Your Best

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During Friday's athletics sports I was inspired by our students and staff. This event was a wonderful chance for our students to show their talents and passion for achieving and striving to be their best. I was also impressed with how well our students supported one another during the events. There is nothing quite like an entire school cheering each other on!

Below are some photos of Burnham School students trying their best to achieve during our athletics sports:




This led me to wondering, what is the relationship between how hard you try for something, and the chances you have for achieving it? I did a web search and found some really useful quotes about the importance of trying your best and being motivated. Here is a quote for you to consider, please put your own ideas as comments to this post below:
"Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is."  by Vince Lombardi from Inspirational-Quotes.info 


What does this mean for your learning and how can you use this to help you?


(Click here to view more shots from athletics...)

Thursday 29 October 2009

Let's celebrate our amazing teachers

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This Friday 30th October is a very special day. It is World Teachers Day! On this day, all students, support staff, families and communities are encouraged to celebrate the vital and important role that teachers play in society.



It is timely to reflect on the power of a great teacher and what they contribute to both your child(ren) but also to society in general. Teachers contribute in powerful ways to the development of children and help shape them, along with the family, to become the people and citizens of tomorrow. The influence and importance of our teachers cannot be understated, it is teachers who make the difference in schools.


Of course the job of a teacher is easier with support from home, when home and school are working in partnership to enhance the learning of our children.


Please do something to acknowledge your teachers - this could be a small gift or comment or something more significant. If you have a positive comment to make about your teacher you may want to share it as a comment to this blog post.


For more information about World Teachers Day visit this web page...

Wednesday 28 October 2009

125th Reunion Celebrations

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Our 125th Reunion Celebrations were held over the weekend of the 23rd to the 25th of October. These celebrations were a huge success, with a flow of positive feeling about Burnham School.

We have created an alumni web site for past students and staff to join and contribute to, as well as photos from the weekend for everyone to enjoy. Alumni will be able to order photos which were taken by a professional photographer during the Saturday soon.


Tuesday 20 October 2009

ICT Expo at Burnham School

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Yesterday a whole number of different schools came from the Selwyn area for the ICT expo. There was lots of interesting stuff, like some schools showed us their blog, web quests, slide shows, clay-mation movie, comic life and lots more. We were the best though with our E-portfolios. 



It was a great time, more things like this should happen at school.






Reported by Adam James Craig Room 6



Monday 19 October 2009

Assembly Item - Self-belief

4 comments
Henry Ford once said:
"Whether you think you can or you can’t… you’re right!”
What does this mean for learning? 


How can people discover when they do this and how to improve their 'positive self-talk'?

To the right is the photo of Henry Ford who made this statement. Click here to learn more about Henry Ford...

Assembly Item - being sun smart

1 comments
Today we had a whole school reflection about sun safety. This is to ensure that children understand the importance of sun safety and our rules at school. The question we discussed was:
"What does it mean to be sun smart and why is it important?"
Some of the thoughts shared are made as comments to this blog post.


Click here for the NZ sunsmart web site for an UV index of our area...





Parents, check this web site for messages which reinforce the "slip-slop-slap and wrap" message....

Friday 16 October 2009

Reflections on our first week

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During my first couple of days I have managed to spend time in every classroom. Children are focussed and engaged in their learning and happy to be back at school. My focus at this stage is to get to know all children and to gain a sense of the 'voice' of our school. This involves starting to learn the names of the children and spending time with them while they are learning. 


I would like to acknowledge the amazing staff we have at Burnham School for the vibrant learning environments they have created with their children. You have got to get into these classrooms - they are very exciting to a be part of! Please come up to me if you see me in classrooms, or around the school, I want to get to know you and your whanau. It is our partnership that will drive learning for your child(ren).



During our first assembly I shared some insights into me as a person and into how these relate to learning. The staff reminded children that now is the time for everyone to be wearing summer uniform, sunhats and appropriate footwear for sport activities. Please see Trish in the office if you are awaiting an order for a sunhat or require a replacement for the one the dog ate!



Another aspect of myself that I shared at assembly is that I would like children and parents to address me as either 'Matua Rob', 'Rob', or 'Mr. Clarke'. I believe an informal, respectful relationship will enhance the learning of your child. I explained that for children, this decision should be based on what their family is comfortable with. There is no expectation that classroom teachers should follow this, however it is important that both children and adults are addressed using the name that belongs to them. I do expect all children to communicate with respect and courtesy to each other and adults. I hope this clarifies my thinking.



Burnham School is such an exciting place to be - it's simply amazing! This is an action-packed term with a whole range of exciting events which will excite and enthuse the children and the community. We are now on the countdown to our reunion weekend celebrations for Labour Weekend. Click here to view the programme for the weekend...


I have loved my first week at Burnham School. It's fantastic to be here with the children and staff and starting to meet you all. Thank you for your friendly welcome.

ka kite ano,
Rob




Monday 12 October 2009

Rob's Powhiri and Handing Over Ceremony

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My first day at Burnham School was an extremely special time for me as your new Principal. I feel honoured and extremely touched having experienced the powhiri and handing over ceremony to start my new role in the community. Here are some photos of the FOS (Fendalton Open-air School) manuhiri prior to the ceremony:


I was lucky enough to have my a number of family members with me as well as one of the classes I taught at Fendalton and a number of close colleagues. I wish to express my gratitude to Whāea Lucy for her karanga, Mātua Joe, Chris Thurlow and James Petronelli for their whaikōrero welcoming me and offering me the challenge to help take our school to the next level, which I accept! 

Thanks also to Commander Jim Bliss and Chris Wilson for their support as well as other staff from the base and community members. Finally my thanks goes to the children for their welcome and warm, friendliness. What a wonderful bunch of young people we have at our school!

Saturday 19 September 2009

Expo 2009

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Last Thursday I had the pleasure of joining the community for the annual Burnham School Expo. It was wonderful to see the partnership that we have at Burnham School in action during this evening. The Wearable Arts Challenge this year involved families dressing up using recycled materials, culminating in a parade to show off the creations. Below are photos of many of the families having fun dressing up.

Here is the video of the junior dance performance and below are some photos from the evening.





Sunday 6 September 2009

Teacher Only Day - Burnham Curriculum

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The New Zealand National Curriculum has been revised and is updated so that schools can determine how it is implemented for their community. The vision for the new curriculum is very exciting, it states that we want lifelong learners who are confident, connected, and actively involved.

This is a great opportunity for us as a school, because we are able to design our future curriculum so that we best prepare our tamariki for the future. It is our chance to develop the competencies that work for our kids and will guide us in our partnership between home and school. It is also an opportunity to strengthen our partnership so we are all working towards the same goals and using the same language.

Our process started on Friday 4th September with our first Teacher Only Day. From my perspective as the new Principal this was a great opportunity to work with the teachers prior to starting on October 12.

The day involved staff coming up with ideas for what they want for our learners for the future, looking at the NZ curriculum and engaging in dialogue with tamariki and parents about what they feel is most important. The ideas was to interview families to look for ways in which we will consult more widely with our community in the future, as well as to generate some initial ideas.

Don't worry if you weren't able to contribute to this day, all families, children and community members will be opportunities to share ideas on what we want for the future learning for Burnham tamariki. We will take the amazing range of strengths of the school and build these into the new design for our future curriculum.

Some of the ideas generated include that children:
  • develop the confidence to be successful in high school and beyond.
  • develop strong ICT skills.
  • develop skills that are useful and practical, especially teamwork skills.
  • are able to take increasing control over their learning, having choice over both what they learn and how they learn.
  • have fun when they learn.
Please note that these ideas are by no means exhaustive, and you and your family will have your own, these are only initial ideas. There will be opportunities for students, parents and community members to contribute to the process of developing the Burnham School curriculum.

I invite you to make comments on this blog with your own ideas as comments to this blog post.

Sunday 30 August 2009

Cultural Festival Performance - Wow!

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Cultural Festival. It was great to see such proud, confident and incredibly talented young people. The performances were truly inspiring. I can't wait to join the school and start learning with these talented tamariki.

I'd like to acknowledge the leadership and commitment of Matua Joe Murray, our kapahaka tutor, as well as the dedication and support of Sandra Keenan and Linda Sweeny, two of our amazing teachers.

There are some initial photos from the festival here...

If you want to order the DVD, click here to download an order form...


TE ATUA
Te Atua tapu o ngā tapu
ki a Ihu te kororia te honore
Te Atua te mana hareruia
i heke mai te maunga tapu ki
Te Atua tapu o ngā tapu
i mate nei a ihu e te kingi nui
i mate nei a ihu e te kingi nui
Amine

We are like the raindrops on the land, and we are learning our language to keep our Māori culture alive. Kia ora Koutou.

Thursday 27 August 2009

Good luck for the Cultural Festival

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Kia ora koutou tamariki ma,

Just a short note to wish you all the best for your final preparations for the performance at the Town Hall on Friday. I know you have worked really hard and that it is very important to you and the school. I'm very much looking forward to seeing you perform!

You will be kauanuanu - amazing.

Matua Rob

Friday 7 August 2009

Introducing Matua Rob

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Tēnā koutou katoa e te whānau and friends of Te Kura O Tiori/Burnham School!

I am your new Tumuaki/Principal, Rob Clarke. I come from 
Ōtautahi/Christchurch and am currently working at Fendalton School. I've been an educator for 14 years and have a wide range of experience. I am married with one beautiful tamariki, Isabella, who is nearly toru. My wife Angela is from the United States and we met while teaching in London. Outside of school I enjoy reading, woodwork, keeping fit and travelling.


I am passionate about making a difference to the lives of tamariki and believe it is through our whanaungatanga (or relationship and connection to each another) that we are able to get the absolute best out of learning. When we have positive relationships there are no limits to learning!

Together we will be starting the process of developing our new curriculum and so we will be asking all children and families to contribute to this. There will be a range of ways to engage with each other to help this process. There are exciting times ahead at Burnham School!

I am very much looking forward to meeting you and joining the Burnham School whanau.

Rob Clarke
Tumuaki Te Kura O Tiori