Office Newsletter No 07

26 May 2016

From the Principal’s Pen

Tena Koutou te Whanau, Talofalava, Greetings PARENT INFORMATION EVENINGS: KiVa Last week, 16 – 20 May, was the first ‘Bullying-free New Zealand Week’ and a new website was launched (www.bullyingfree.nz). At Khandallah School we launched the KiVa anti-bullying programme and joined the other 13 schools in New Zealand who are already running it.

On Tuesday night I went with two staff members (Linda and Sharon) to the inaugural lecture by Professor of Education, Vanessa Green entitled ‘A life-span perspective on bullying”. She referenced the KiVa programme as a way forward for New Zealand and later told me that Dave Rutherford, the Children’s Commissioner, had recommended it to her.

Prof. Green’s research shows how important it is for parents to be able to work constructively with agencies, such as schools, to enable effective change to happen around bullying. Her research also highlighted the levels of bullying behaviour experienced by New Zealanders at school, in the workplace and on social media. It shows that bullying begins to ramp up in pre-adolescent years, peaks in the early teens and starts to decline around the age of seventeen. Cyber-bullying is on the increase. It is unclear who has responsibility for addressing this because devices are so ubiquitous and one post can be seen by many over and over.

I am of the view that all schools should actively promote a culture of anti-bullying within their sphere of influence, teach adults and children how to respond in an effective, systemic way, and gather data to understand if the interventions are making a difference over time.

I invite you to an evening where we will explain what the KiVa programme is, how it will be implemented in Khandallah School, and what

your role can be in helping to create the sort of positive culture you would like to see at Khandallah School. It will be held in the school hall next Thursday, 2nd June from 7 – 7.45pm (doors open at 6.30pm). You may wish to look at the KiVa Parent’s Guide beforehand http://www.kivaprogram.net/parents/

A notice was emailed to all parents about this last Friday and a copy can be viewed on our website under the “communication” tab. If you would like to attend, please RSVP with ‘KiVa’ and the number coming in the subject line to reception@khandallah.school.nz. I hope to see many of you at this evening.

Maths-Whizz This is a new, online support for our maths teaching programme. It is similar to Mathletics but has some significant enhancements in that it constantly adjusts the levels of difficulty and challenge in relation to the student’s responses. It is now available to all students in Years 2 – 6. It can be used as supplementary home learning and parents are able to view their children’s activity.

The Maths-Whizz trainer, Chris Perkinson, will be running a parents’ information evening on Wednesday 8th June in the Khandallah School Hall from 7 – 8pm. If you intend to come, please RSVP to reception@khandallah.school.nz and put Maths-Whizz and the number coming in the subject line. I hope to see many of you at this evening.

Sports gear donated by the iSPORT Foundation to

Khandallah School just in time for winter. Sofija B-M’s

mum successfully nominated us on Facebook. Thanks

Giselle.

Home and School Committee While winter has truly and finally arrived, it has been a busy 2 weeks for the committee organising an Evening with Lisa Tamati, planned for 19 June at 7.30pm. Lisa is an elite sports woman who is coming along to share her inspirational stories of success by overcoming personal adversity and ill health to become one of the world's best endurance runners. Tickets can be booked through the school website, using the Communications tab. More details are in the advertisement which appears later in this newsletter. Updates to this and other events will also be posted to the Khandallah Home and School Facebook page. We are sadly saying farewell to our highly regarded Chairperson, Lenka Dowell! Lenka is relocating and while we are really sad to see Lenka go, it does mean that the HaS committee is recruiting for another Chairperson. The role in itself is a really rewarding one and an opportunity to be part of an exciting group of parents who meet once a month and work closely with the school and its staff for the benefit of our children. Our Chair runs our monthly meetings, is an organiser, a networker and a campaigner who has the exciting role of maintaining the relationships with our stakeholders and sponsors. Sounds like you? For more information, please contact Lenka at hands@khandallah.school.NZ.

Lenka Dowdell Chairperson

Khandallah School Cross Country We were incredibly fortunate with the weather for last Tuesday’s school cross country event, and even managed to have all the races run in sunshine. There was a great turnout from parents, caregivers and supporters. Congratulations go to the following year 1-3 students who will go onto to represent the school at a junior cross country event to be held at Amesbury School in week 6:

GIRLS BOYS YEAR 1 YEAR 1

1 Olivia H 1 Thomas S

2 Charlie T 2 Max D G

3 India D 3 Logan F

Reserve Isla W Reserve Joshua P

YEAR 2 YEAR 2

1 Imogen S 1 Hugo M

2 Zoe J 2 Brody F

3 Rosa W 3 Isaac W

Reserve Grace A Reserve Ollie J

YEAR 3 YEAR 3

1 Lauren H 1 Cooper G

2 Carina G 2 Joshua D

3 Gabriella S 3 Sam F

Reserve Omnia E Reserve Kiaran P

Congratulations also go to the following year 4-6 students who will go onto to represent the school at a senior cross country event to be held at Nairnville Park next week: GIRLS BOYS YEAR 4 YEAR 4

1 Abbie S 1 Connor K

2 Olivia P 2 Lucas D

3 Maia S 3 David C

4 Neve D 4 Alfie D

5 Phoebe L 5 Miles W

Re Jennah M Re Jacob N

YEAR 5 YEAR 5

1 Charlotte C 1 Caleb T

2 Sophia W 2 Travys M-T

3 Piper G 3 Isaac M

4 Kyra M 4 Conor A

5 Sophie Z 5 Oliver H

Re Layla P Re Nico S

YEAR 6 YEAR 6

1 Lara S 1 Jack L

2 Lucy J 2 Andrew G

3 Sarah G 3 Ollie G

4 Jess S 4 Josh B

5 Kate H 5 Lachlan P

Re Milly H Re Ben D

Finally, a huge thank you to the many parents who volunteered their free time to assist at our senior school practices, and on the actual race day. It is very much appreciated. Zoë Horne

Congratulations to the Boys and Girls in blue for winning the Senior School Cross Country House competition!

Special congrats to Lara Smith for taking out the Year 6 Girls division by a country mile! Jonny Thompson

Library News Tom Gates Experience We went on a trip to see the famous author of Tom Gates, Liz Pichon on Wednesday the 11th of May. We saw her at Lyall Bay School. She also showed us how to draw like her, and at the end of the day we got autographs in our books. She told us to go check out Some Tom Gate books in the Children’s Book Shop because they have been signed by her. Thank you for reading our article. By Alana and Constance (R20).

Tom Gates Talk We went to a talk by Liz Pichon (the author of Tom Gates series). She taught us how to do really cool doodles. Liz Pichon comes from Brighton in the UK and she loves caramel wafers! She says

she loves her job, she gets to sit around, write books and eat chocolate all day. Most of the characters are based on real people she knew in real life (Mrs Worthington, the lady teacher with a moustache was a real teacher she had!) Liz Pichon also had doodles on her skirt and her shoes and a badge. She is a really good drawer, and she makes it look really hard but is so EASY!!! By Sophie & Abbey (R17)

Senior Science Senior Science students met recently with Dr Jen Blank, NASA Ames Research Center. Dr Jen was very happy with how the session went and impressed with the questions the students came up with. We even got into discussing terraforming and designing lunar villages!

Tough Guy and Gal Challenge

Entries close for this team event on Friday 22 July and spaces are limited. So if your child is in Year 3 or above and would like to be part of this event, or if you would like more information, please email Toni Shanks at tonishanks@gmail.com Early bird Registration is $20.00 per entry. After 22nd July you must register as an individual and registration is $25.00. For more details you can also visit the event website http://www.eventpromotions.co.nz/events/junior-tough-guy-and-gal-challenge/

Entertainment Books Support Khandallah School - Order your NEW 2016 | 2017 Entertainment™ Membership now! 20% of every membership sold contributes to our fundraising. Help us achieve our goal by sharing this link with your Friends and Family. Thanks for your support!

Community Notices The following notices have been received from a range of sources for inclusion in our school newsletter and are provided for your

information. Khandallah School does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of information provided.

This Year Onslow College is performing Bernstein’s West Side Story. A modern day Romeo and Juliet; West Side Story spins a tale of two young people from rival gangs. Maria and Tony, both desperately fighting for survival, find solace from a world of gang warfare in each other, but as with any Shakespearean tragedy there are dire consequences. Directed by acclaimed director Sarah Delahunty MNZM, and aided by the musical direction of Justin Pearce, the show draws on the many skills of the students at Onslow. 8 – 11 June, 7:30pm in the Onslow College School Hall Tickets: $10/$15 Overtures & Dancing – Tawa Orchestra Concert Venue: Salvation Army Hall, 177 Main Rd, Tawa Date & Time: Sunday 29 May, 2pm Entry: koha / donation

Help is needed for taking 2 boys (7 and 9yrs) to their after school clubs one or two days every week. If you think you could help or know about somebody suitable with a driving licence, please contact Lenka on 0221601552.