Learning Conferences 2011

Learning Conferences start next week. We’ve decided to alter one of the dates for these important meetings with your child and class teacher due to various clashes and to ensure this reminder gives you enough time/flexibility to attend. The dates are:

1. Wednesday 11th May - 2.15-7pm - school will close at 2pm the Wednesday 11th. 
2. Monday 16th May - 3.15-5.30pm

If you cannot pick up your child at 2pm on Wednesday 11th May, they will be supervised in the library until 3.00pm. Please let us know (t: admin@burnham.school.nz or t: 347-6851) if you are unable to collect your child.

If you do not have access to a computer please call Trish and she will make a booking over the phone. You need to have made your booking by 2pm Monday 9th May.

Please bring your child’s portfolio back at school for this meeting. If you have not yet completed the 3 Wishes survey, we'd appreciate you doing this prior. Unless indicated by your child’s class teacher (or if you want to have a private discussion without your child), please ensure he or she attends the conference.

Instructions for Booking:

Please book in using our online system following these instructions:

1. Go to www.burnham.school.nz and click the link. If you don’t have internet access, call Trish 347 6851 and she can book you in.
2. Enter the school code: 2XFVR.
3. The system will email you to remind you the time/day of your conference.
4. We’d love to see every family at this important celebration of learning and we encourage you to bring a picnic for dinner - the staffroom and library are open for this.

See you there,
Rob and the team

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Notes about portfolios:
Your child should now have their portfolio of learning. This is an important part of our reporting process and is a key tool for helping your child(ren) gain feedback. This is a time for you to celebrate what your child can do, and look forward to their next steps in their learning. Some questions you could ask your child could be:
What did you learn when you did that? How do you know? 
Can you show me how you know this?
What is the next thing for you to learn?
Our eportfolios are now set up so that when a child or teacher posts to the Ako Blog, it will email the parents/caregivers. We hope this helps you. It is great to see the children excited to be sharing their learning in this way. We will have a solution for printing the Ako Blogs out, if you would like this please send Rob an email and he'll send you the information.

End of term message

 

Kia ora koutou katoa,

We hope you and your family are doing well. As we reach the end of the term it is a good chance to reflect on all the achievements that our children and school has made during this rather 'eventful' term. 

Our thanks must go to the staff team who have ensured a safe and nurturing environment for our tamariki since re-opening on February 28th. This term has no doubt stretched our energies and so the team (and we hope you) are about to get a well-earned rest ready for an exciting Term Two. As our principal, I am grateful for the professionalism and care of our children that the team provide in addition to the amazing learning they inspire every day.

Thank you also to our Board for their leadership and support, as well as to our wonderful PTA who have given us and new whanau awesome support this term. We do appreciate your help!

Your child should now have their portfolio of learning. This is an important part of our reporting process and is a key tool for helping your child(ren) gain feedback on their learning from the term. This is a time for you to celebrate what your child can do, and look forward to their next steps in their learning. Some questions you could ask  your child about their portfolio could be:

What did you learn when you did that? How do you know? 
Can you show me how you know this?
What is the next thing for you to learn?

Our eportfolios are now set up so that when a child or teacher posts to the Ako Blog, it will email the parents/caregivers. We hope this helps you. It is great to see the children excited to be sharing their learning in this way. We will have a solution for printing the Ako Blogs out, if you would like this please send me an email and I'll send you the information.

The theme for the term two is a science focus, where children will develop a deep understanding of:

• how the earths systems (water, land, air and life) and universe subsystems are interdependent and that all are important.
• the affect of humans on these systems. 

We will soon be sharing our action plan from our Whanau Hui 2010. A number of the suggestions made during that hui have already been implemented. 

Finally, we hope you have a restful holiday break with your friends and whanau. It's been a challenging last couple of months and so we trust you get some rest and recuperate with the kids. We look forward to seeing you in the new term.

ka kite,
Rob

 

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.

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]

Senior School e-Portfolios

I'm excited to announce that the senior teaching team - led by Linda Sweeny, Kelly Sheppard and Gemma Odering - have decided to embark on the implementation of e-Portfolios for every student in the senior team. This is a development from the digital portfolios which were trialed in Room 6 (our Year 7 and 8 students) during 2009. 


These e-Portfolios are a combination of the following online tools:

1. A Blog for sharing of a wide range of examples and achievements from each child's learning. Feedback can be gained from other students, teachers, whanau or others who contribute to the learning journey of each student. In time, the sharing of learning will be seamless between home and school. This part of the portfolio is public, however it can be made private if the family wish.
2. A Burnham School 'Ako' account for sharing assessment information. 'Ako' is the Maori word which means 'to learn'. This part of the e-Portfolio is secure and private and requires a log in which we will share with you. This is a Burnham School Google account for each student which is managed through the school. Click this link to visit the school web page for student Ako accounts.

Click here for the letter which went home to all families of senior students informing them of this change...