Final Assembly 2010

Last Friday we had our final assembly for the year. This is an annual event and is always a fabulous celebration of the achievement of our children and school from throughout the year. Thank you to everyone who supported us in attending.

Below are some shots taken of the assembly and we will be putting up media and video of some of the proceedings during the week.

End of Year Reports - Celebrating Success

By now all families will have received their child(ren)'s end of year reports. This is a culmination of a whole year of work on the part of your child and his/her class teacher. We hope you enjoy these reports with your son or daughter and use this as a chance to celebrate their successes and how they've overcome challenges throughout the year. Please take note of any suggestions for 'next steps' that your child's class teacher has made, as they are important for his or her development.

Please also thank your child's class teacher for the hard work they have put into the learning of your child throughout the year. I've certainly enjoyed reading about the successes and sharing in many of them for our children.

Dental Care over the School Holidays

The Community Dental Service will operate an emergency service over the school holidays. This service is to provide relief of pain only and will not undertake ‘routine’ treatment. The service will be available each working day from 8:30am until 12:30pm from the Oral Health Centre, 16 Tuam Street, Christchurch for the following times:

Friday, 17^th December 2010, Monday, 20^th December – 24^th December 2010 (excluding weekends)

AND

Monday, 10^th January – 28^th January 2011 (excluding weekends)

This service will operate by appointment only and if we are unable to see your child, alternative options will be given. If your child has dental pain as a result of an accident please contact your dentist in the first instance.

You can phone and make an appointment for the emergency clinic by ringing 335 4222. Alternatively, your school dental clinic phone will have a message on how to access emergency care.

Staffing Update - Welcome Nathan Riki

I'm excited to announce that we have employed Nathan Riki for the first two terms of 2011 to take Tamara Bell's maternity leave position. Nathan is actually Tamara's brother so this is a fantastic teaching combination for our school! Nathan brings with him many talents and skills, including kapa haka, te reo Māori and sporting skills.

Nathan is a highly motivated person and a talented teacher who is very keen and excited about becoming a member of staff at Te Kura O Tiori! He is looking forward to meeting you all in the near future.

Welcome to our dynamic and talented team Nathan!

Staffing Update - Welcome back to Joe Murray

Matua Joe has led the Kapa Haka now for a
number of years,  it is great to have him back making
a difference to our children and our school.

I'm delighted to announce that Matua Joe Murray is our new Maintenance/Groundsperson and Kapa Haka tutor. Joe is a former parent of our kura and is well-known in the Tiori whanau for his amazing work in supporting and leading our Kapa Haka.

Joe is leading both junior and senior Kapa Haka and we will continue this into 2011. This is an exciting development in strengthening our kura.

Welcome back Matua.

Message from the Board of Trustees - National Standards

3 December 2010

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

The Board of Trustees wants to let you know our plans for the National Standards at our school.

We have decided to start our implementation of the National Standards in 2012. This process will begin during 2011 as part of our curriculum implementation. We are currently working towards our own version of the New Zealand Curriculum and are about to launch our new Strategic Plan for the next few years. Our wonderful staff have been working hard to develop our Curriculum to support our new Strategic Plan. The curriculum work in 2011 will incorporate the National Standards as a tool to help us make the best decisions about teaching and learning for our children. Consultants from the University of Canterbury are assisting us with these exciting developments.

We are liaising with the Ministry of Education regarding how best to implement the National Standards while we develop our own version of the New Zealand Curriculum for Burnham School. This will ensure that parents receive the best information about the learning of their children that will show what they have achieved in alignment with the Burnham School Curriculum and the National Standards.

We will keep you informed as the Curriculum development and National Standards work continues. Please contact us if you have any questions about this, or feedback regarding our reporting processes. It is feedback and positive communication that strengthens our partnership in learning.

Kind regards,

Angela Colenso and Rob Clarke

On Behalf of the Burnham School Board of Trustees

[click the title of the post or here to download this letter]

Holiday Programme - Fun with Electronics

You, your family and friends are welcome to come to Kendal School during the Christmas Holidays to build your own radio receiver. You will identify and solder electronic parts, assemble and test it and learn how it works. Full instructions, tools, parts and friendly help will be provided.

Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and your friends are welcome to join in the fun too.

You’ll learn a lot of interesting stuff, a great snack and drink is provided, and you’ll take home a project that works to show and amaze all your friends.

Places must be strictly limited so tell us you are coming now.

Just call David or Mary on 03 358 2424 or e-mail ZL3DWS@nzart.org.nz

http://sites.google.com/site/zl3buildathon/