Cultural Festival Dress Rehearsal Movie

Cultural Festival here we come

Today our kapa haka had a full dress rehearsal in their preparations for the Christchurch Schools Cultural Festival performance on Friday 3 September - only one week away! The tamariki did a great job. Below are some shots taken of earlier practises leading up to today's shots taken during the rehearsal. Thanks Nicola for helping with this:

We are incredibly appreciative of Matua Joe Murray who is supporting us towards this important event for our kura. I would also like to thank Whaiea Karina for supporting our wahine to learn their poi routine and Tama Andrew for the amazing lyrics and programme he has put together.

Success! Lowering the Speed Zone on Godley Road

AWESOME!!!!

We've just been informed that the Selwyn District Council (SDC) have moved to lower the speed zone around all schools in our district to 50km/hour! This is a major achievement in improving the safety of our school community.

Ironic - the site I got this image
from reports a lowering of speed zones
dating back to 2001... hmmm.

This has been a long, drawn-out issue which has not had success for a number of years for our school. I'm delighted to announce that we've finally done it. A huge thank you to Amy Adams, MP for Selwyn District, for her tireless support and in championing this safety issue for our schools and community. Thank you also to everyone in our community who signed the 4,100 strong petition (across the district) and Commander Phil McKee who also supports our cause.

Click the title of this post or here to download the report from SDC explaining the decision.

Further reading and more here...

Photo from our unsuccessful meeting at SDC earlier this year.

Web Safety Seminar

Next Thursday we are holding our first ever Web Safety seminar just for parents and caregivers. This evening seminar starts at 7pm in the hall and will go until approximately 8pm, with tea and coffee provided.

We have an internet safety specialist, Dean Stewart, from Web Safety NZ, facilitate the session which is free. To RSVP to this event please go to:

www.burnham.school.nz/rsvp

Senior Ski Trip Photos

Here are some shots from our recent ski trip to Porter Heights for our seniors. A huge thank you to Kelly Sheppard, Gemma Odering and Melissa Lawler for their organisation and determination to make this such a successful experience for our tamariki.

It was awesome to see the rapid improvement in confidence and skill of our children on the slopes. Only a small number of children had been skiing or snowboarding before, so this was another great 'first' for Burnham School!

Sickness Update 3 August

Dear parents/caregivers,

This week we have as many as 30 students away sick on any one day with a variety of ailments. This number is a large proportion of our student body and so we want to ensure that it doesn't continue to rise. Some of these symptoms are 'flu-like' and so we need to remind parents/caregivers of the importance of keeping their child(ren) at home if they are not 100%. If your child is away sick, please let us know what is causing this.

At school we are reminding children of good personal hygiene practices, such as washing hands with soap, covering your mouth with your elbow when coughing or sneezing and facing away from others. We will be contacting parents as per our normal procedure if their child(ren) fall sick while at school. We are also in close contact with our local public health service regarding any possibilities of flu entering our community. We will keep you updated.

Thank you,
Rob Clarke
Principal

Maori Language Week

Kia ora koutou katoa,

This week is Maori Language Week across Aotearoa New Zealand. Here are a couple of really cool opportunities for children or adults to take part in:

Kotahi Mano Kaika: 12 Week Te Reo Challenge - this link from FaceBook has a challenge which will extend y our  usage of te reo maori. It has a whole range of resources and activities you can try at home or school. You can even set the challenge based on beginner, intermediate or advanced.

Maori Language.net - this web site has loads of resources for you to explore.

Maori Dictionary.co.nz - this is a great site for learning those words you need to know quickly.

Finally, check out the Te Reo Practise page on our Room 2 blog, which has some really easy to use te reo movies - you can listen and learn then practise!

The Korero Maori web site is another excellent resource. It gives background about this week, including links to the NZ History site which has a page of the 100 words every New Zealander should know.

Senior Ski Trip Cancelled

Unfortunately the ski trip to Porter Height's is off due to blizzard conditions on the mountain. Kelly will try to find an alternative date and will keep you posted. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Kelly, Mel and Gemma for their amazing hard work in organising this first for our school. What stunning people we have working with our children!

Zones Hockey and Soccer Photos

Below are some shots from our zones hockey and soccer tournament for you to enjoy. Well done to all the students who competed well during the day. A huge thanks to Linda Sweeny and Gemma Odering for organising the event and teams. Thank you to the parents who helped us by supervising teams during the day