School Athletics Sports postponed until Thursday 6th

Due to poor weather we are postponing our athletics sports until this coming Thursday.

 

If this poor weather continues, we'll advise a new date.

Volunteers needed for tree planting day - 8th Oct

Volunteers are needed for a planting day on Saturday October 8th at Mitchell’s Rd Mudfish Restoration. You’ll need to get yourselves there, but all equipment is supplied, along with morning tea and lunch!

Te Ara Kakariki are organising the day and all details are included in the registration kit, however, you will need to send an email to register@ kakariki.org.nz to let them know you are coming.

Mitchell’s Rd is a very important restoration site for WET – find out more about the site here.

This planting day is the final phase of the Canterbury Plantout – already this has involved 150 students, staff and parents from Burnham school and over 200 community volunteers in planting 3,800 native plants at 14 different sites.

Mitchell’s Rd is one site that couldn’t be included in the Plantout weekend in September so we’re having another planting day – hope you can make it.

 

Vege Garden Manure

Last week Room 5 helped fill up the new garden beds with pony manure for fertiliser. Most of us found it fun but a tiny bit gross. We took the manure from the trailer applied it to new garden beds.

We would like to thank Mrs Musgrave for the pony poo and for transporting to the school. Room 5 enjoyed the experiences but we had make sure that we had showers straight after school.

[cross posted from the EnviroGroup blog]

Newsletter - Term 2 Week 1

Dear parents/caregivers,

Our latest newsletter is now online for you. In this issue:

• Bullying article
• EnviroSchools - new vege garden
• How we use student images/names/audio and video
• Road safety success
• Learning Conferences - these start next week
• Cross Country - also next week
• Student Leadership Council update
• PTA tea towel fundraiser
• ANZAC speech is online

Have a great mother's day this weekend.

Celebration - well done Room 2

Last Friday Room 2 came runners up at a special ceremony to celebrate Earth Hour in the Selwyn District. We are very proud of Room 2 and Mr Thurlow for their outstanding video - here is the certificate they received and below is the movie:

Earth Hour - Go Room 2

Check out this awesome movie by Room 2 to promote Earth Hour - I think you are fabulous team!

 

What it means to be an EnviroSchool

We've been made aware that a couple of parents are wondering about the decision to close playground rubbish bins. This decision is an important part of our commitment to being an EnviroSchool. A growing number of other schools near us are all bin free, including new schools. The EnviroSchools programme (www.enviroschools.org.nz) is a national strategy which now includes a quarter of all schools - that's over 200,000 students! This number is growing as schools see the importance and relevance of what the EnviroSchools programme has to offer.

The purpose (kaupapa) of Enviroschools is to develop the well-being of the whole school, community and eco-system. It’s about working out how to live so that our society and economy nourishes the natural systems that give us life. Read here to learn about some of the other benefits to this programme...

Of particular note are the underlying kaupapa (or principles) that are very closely aligned with our school values of: Respect/Whaikoha, Achievement/Angitu, Tikanga/Responsibility and Whakapono/Strength or Self-Belief:

1. Empowered Students are enabled to participate in a meaningful way in the life of their schools and community, their unique perspectives are valued for the knowledge and insight that they bring, and they are supported to take action for real change. Our EnviroGroup does a wonderful job of leading this in our school.
2. Learning for Sustainability recognises the types of teaching and learning that foster student empowerment, decision-making, action and sustainable outcomes.
3. Māori Perspectives honours the status of tangata whenua in this land and the value of indigenous knowledge in enriching and guiding learning and action.
4. Respect for the Diversity of People and Cultures acknowledges the unique gifts, contributions and perspectives of individuals and groups, reinforcing the need for participatory decision-making in Enviroschools.
5. Sustainable Communities act in ways that nurture people and nature, now and in the future, to maintain the health and viability of our environment, society, culture and economy.

We are teaching children to take responsibility for their rubbish by taking it home. This includes yoghurt pottles which children rinse and take home to reuse or recycle. Already we are seeing children take increased responsibility and show more respect for our school environment.

One advantage for parents is that you can see whether or not your child is eating their lunch/snack. Some parents report that they are even changing what types of packaging they send lunches/snacks in, which is most encouraging!

This is only one aspect of our EnviroSchools programme, and the EnviroGroup will be exploring ways to continue to improve the system based on feedback. If you would like to give us feedback then please do so. You can do this via the school office, speak to a staff member or me, or comment on our blog posts.

Remember - the best way to strengthen our partnership is through positive communication in the right forum.