5th april 2012

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LAWRENCE AREA SCHOOL

Community Newsletter 5th April 2012

No 4

Term 1 has just rushed by. The wonderful weather of the last month has been savoured andappreciated. It would be fair to say that Term 1 was brimful of activities. Students did however have plenty of time in the classroom. Seniors have made a good start to their academic year inpursuit of NCEA qualifications, which for Years 11-13 is outlined in ‘Reflective Reports’ that will gohome this week.

The singularly most important of our five strategic goals for the year is to ‘raise studentachievement and engagement’.It is very pleasing talking to both students and teachers and hear them speak about progress,especially in reading and numeracy. That students know about their ‘achievement’ levels andgoals (next steps) is a critical element in building success. It is important that we share this

information with parents also and embrace their support. This has happened for many throughthe co-construction of ‘Personal Learning Plans’.

‘PLPs’ provide similar information to reports - achievement, barriers, goals, next steps for thestudent and review. Three way conferences - Teacher - Student - Parent have been held todiscuss the PLP and set goals for the next term/six months/year.We are evaluating the effectiveness of the PLP’s. Early indications are very positive.

S O U T H I S L A N D

S E C O N D A R Y

S C H O O L S

A T H L E T I C S

L I A M S M I T H

S O U T H I S L A N D

S E C O N D A R Y

S C H O O L S

A T H L E T I C S

L I A M S M I T H

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

Kind Regards John Auld

On Friday the 28th March, Liam, Kate and Cassidy traveled toNelson for the South Island Secondary Schools Athletics

Championship. Liam was there to compete in the Shot Put, Discusand the 400metre track event.

After a rough start with their flight from Dunedin being cancelled itwas looking like a long day. Next minute they were in Wellingtonwith a 3 hour wait for their flight to Nelson.

Saturday was a big day with the Shot Put event being first. Liamcompeted well taking out the event with a throw of 10.43m whichwas not only a personal best for Liam but also a new AWD SouthIsland record.Next event was the 400 metre track. Liam was placed second inthis event but still broke the current record.

The last event of the day was the discus. Liam already held therecord for this event from last year. He broke his own record withhis first throw and went on to improve with his second and thirdthrows, coming away with another first under his belt and yetanother AWD South Island record.

These results mean that Liam will be competing at a National levelin Dunedin later this year.

Liam would like to thank the Lawrence community for their supportwith his fund-raising which enabled him to travel to this event. Hewould also like to say a very special thank you to Kate Anderson for

giving up her weekend to travel with him and for all the support andadministration work she put in. By Liam Smith

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P T A M E E T I N G

A N D

E M M A S H A W

F R A N C E

P T A M E E T I N G

A N D

E M M A S H A W

F R A N C E

The recent meeting was very well attended with20+ people present. In terms of business PTA havebeen busy and very successful with a range of ventures. Two major fundraiser proved especiallysuccessful. Local Telephone Book and catering for the Lawrence Lions Trail Bike ride. As a result thePTA has excellent funds to put towards school

ventures. Friday 22nd June (the shortest day) hasbeen set aside for a mid-winter school fair. Thegoal for this fair will be to raise money for Information Technology equipment.Highlight for the evening was however aninspirational talk from Emma Shaw as she sharedher recent exchange to France with those present.The mature perspective Emma formed was notedand enjoyed as she guided us through her trip.This was a very pleasant meeting. PTA executiveencourages all parents to take part in meetings andactivities, in order to keep up with what is going on

in school.

France - Emma ShawI arrived in Paris at the start of December and spent2 days with 30 other exchangees. We got to seelots of famous buildings and landmarks, then we alltook trains to different parts of France. My hostparents, Eric and Christine, and my host sistersElise, Claire, Leonie and Josephine met me in

Arras. The day after I arrived I started school. The

class I was in with Elise were really friendly andkeen to try their English on me and teach me allsorts of interesting french.

English is a compulsory subject, and I probablylearned the most french from trying to explainthings in ‘franglairs’ to my friends.

After 2 weeks of school, we had 2 weeks holidaysfor Christmas. Elise and I rode horses; Claire andEric took me hunting with ferets; Leonie and I tookthe donkey walking through Wancourt, I drew withJosephine and did food stuff with Christine.

The extended family had a huge meal on ChristmasEve and we went to mass in a small church onChristmas morning before having lunch with thecousins.

My host family took me driving though the north of France; to Reims and the Champange region,Bergues and the coast south of Calais. There arelots and lots of small villages close together, and

most of the land is flat cropping farms.

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There were not many farm animals around so we went to a friend’s dairy farm, where the cowsspend 2/3 of the year inside because the winters are too cold for efficient production.

We went back to school in the first week of January. The days were irregular, some days westarted at 8am and finished at 6pm but others started at 9am and finished at 4pm.

By about halfway through January, I could understand when my class mates spoke to me, butsome classes I couldn’t understand anything, like studying novels in French; while otherswere lots of fun, like forensic science and chemistry, where we got to do cool experiments.

In my last week my friends and I spent an afternoon walking round Arras, window shopping,sitting in a café in the main square, taking silly photos in the park. Elise and our friendCharlotte had made me a book full of photos and notes from my whole class, and they mademe promise to come back in the summer when its warmer, so I will go back one day.

Thank-you so much to everyone who helped me with fund-raising:

the Lawrence Area School PTA, the Lions, Havelock Commonage, everyone who cametailing and contributed to the quiz, and everyone who has asked me how it went since I gotback.

Especially thank-you to Elaine Kelly for helping me with my French before I left, or I would

have been totally lost!

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SCHOOL UNIFORM

Cricket season comes to an end. Finally at the end of the season the weather came right

allowing several games to take place. Lawrence Gold took a good win over the South Otago High

School Girls Team, then came up short against Lawrence Blue in the last of the season. Key players in the last

game with the bat were Max and Tyrone for Gold and Merran and Oscar for Blue. Our youngsters playing semi

soft finished with a narrow loss to Millers Flat. Throughout the season all players bowled really well and many

good catches and sharp run outs were made. Improving our batting has to be the goal for next season.

Cricket - Yr 4-10

Following last October’s uniform survey, the Board of Trustees has decided that the

Junior School will move into uniform.

At this stage, we are awaiting information about Roxburgh Area Schools Junior School

uniform, and a PTA committee is standing by to give their opinion.

The Board has decided that the whole School (Junior and Senior) will have a Navy blue,

V-neck, raglan sleeve, woollen jersey. A sample is on display in the Library. This is an

80/20 wool/nylon blend so will be warm and hard wearing. It is machine washable, unisex,

and will be available to order through the Librarians as soon as prices have been

confirmed. These jerseys are made in Dunedin.

This is not yet compulsory but will be available for this winter.

This is the only change planned for the Senior uniform. Year 13 remains in mufti, but is

expected to wear PE uniform for representative fixtures.

There will be further information at a later date.

BOOK AMNESTY Could you please have a hunt around at home for any school resources, such as library

books, reading books, resources for maths and other subject areas.

These can be returned to school, no questions asked.

Currently we are missing many copies of reading resources and library books in

particular, which amounts to a considerable amount of money. Any books can be returned

to the classroom teacher or left with Kate in the office. Thank you. Pauline Taylor

ROOM 6 RAFFLE RESULTSBeaumont Jet Package Card Number 1 Ticket 5 Anne Benington

Grocery Hamper Card Number 53 Ticket 3 Maurice and Margaret

Grocery Hamper Card Number 10 Ticket 10 Sue Wither

Two Adult Movie Passes Card Number 30 Ticket 8 Bev Barcley

Thank you for your support - Room 6

Dictionary Donation to Year 6Recently all Year 6 students were donated a Dictionary by the Milton Rotary Club.

The students are very grateful for the donation and are looking forward to using these

wonderful books.

5th april 2012

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