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06 3880130
26 Huia Street
Taihape, 4720
www.tas.school.nz
TAS Radio - 88.1FM
Principal: Richard McMillan
Lead Me to Lead My Learning
Taihape Area School
Monday 29th May, 2017 Term 2 – Newsletter Number 5
Important Dates
This Week Thursday 1st Tongariro Sports Exchange
Ball Tickets on Sale
Friday 2nd Mufti-Day Westpac Chopper
Appeal
Next Week Monday 5th Queens Birthday Holiday
Tena koutou katoa
Welcome back after the Weekend. We have another busy week
ahead with the Tongariro Sports Exchange on Thursday, and a
Mufti-Day to support the Westpac Chopper Appeal on Friday.
Last week we had the Life Education Trust Classroom on site.
The Junior Classes in turn spent time in the Classroom with Life Ed Teacher Mark Keely.
Mark was here two years ago and commented that the behaviour of our students was
outstanding. We love this sort of feedback – so well done to the Junior School.
One of the real strengths of Taihape Area School is the important role student voice plays in
the day to day life of the School. The Students Leadership Team meets weekly with members
of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss issues, and plan for future events, and activities.
As well the School Council meets regularly to provide all students with the opportunity to
have a voice in the operation of the school. The high level of student involvement is a real
forte of TAS, and surely one of the special features of an Area School. An example of this is
that our Level 2-3 PE Students traditionally coach our Year 4-8 Sports Teams, including
Teams for Winter Tournament (this year Winter Tournament is in Term 3). The Students take
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this responsibility very seriously and it provides them with genuine opportunities for
developing their leadership and mentoring skills, as well as positive role modelling.
In traditional Māori Society, this relationship provides a model
for buddy systems. An older or more expert tuakana (brother,
sister or cousin) helps, and guides a younger, or less expert teina
(originally a younger sibling or cousin of the same gender). The
benefits to both parties are mutual. By the time our students reach
the ages of 15 or 16, they have accumulated a large amount of
sporting (and life) experience – in some cases 10 or more years.
The opportunity to share this with younger children encourages them to reflect upon the
knowledge they have amassed, and develop positive methods of sharing this learning with
others. It also teaches them to be organised, to be tolerant, and to be patient. A number of our
Year 12-13 Students are natural teachers, and thoroughly enjoy the coaching opportunity.
Bullying
The issue of bullying is always in the headlines. There is no
denying that bullies are present in schools, and in fact in many
sectors of our society. It is also undeniable that adults are often
the worst bullies of all, in terms of the way they speak to others,
and treat others. The problem of course is that children, young
people, are very impressionable and, as they seek their place in
society, tend to imitate the actions of the important adults in their
lives.
Unfortunately schools can, and do, become the meat in the
sandwich as they endeavour to enforce and develop socially
acceptable norms of behavior, attitudes, and values. Sometimes it seems like an uphill battle
as we correct students for behavior’s they often regard as being normal in their lives outside
school. This is illustrated by the situation regarding swearing and bad language - we never
teach children these things at school.
Schools do their level best to teach children to respect each other, to look after each other, to
care for each other, and to accept and celebrate individual differences and attributes. In other
words to live our School Values of: Manaakitanga, Rangatiratanga, Wairuatanga, and
Whanaungatanga (see below).
As a School we work extremely hard, often against the odds, to develop and instil these
values in our students. We always endeavour to treat our students with respect, sensitivity,
and compassion even when things turn to custard, and they are angry, upset, or bewildered.
At times we have instances of harassment and bullying in this school. However, I am
absolutely certain that this bullying is considerably less than previously, and is at the lower
Speak up! Stand together! and Stop bullying!
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end of the scale. As well we have procedures in place to ensure all students are safe, and that
any issues are investigated and dealt with.
All students are encouraged to speak to an adult about anything at all they are worried about,
or have concerns about. Generally most are quite content to do this, and even happily report
their friend/s for inappropriate behaviour. They need to know that this isn’t “narking”, but a
positive way in which they are able to retain their power, to stand up for themselves, to
protect themselves, and that by doing so they may be helping prevent others from developing
anti-social behaviours.
As someone who has taught for quite some time – beginning in the late 1970’s heaven forbid
– I’m convinced that the level of bullying is now considerably less, much less in fact.
In a previous era natural justice often prevailed, and physical fights were quite frequent. The
involvement of our students, during intervals and lunchtimes, in a wide range of physical
activities (including the age old favourite’s bull-rush and tree climbing) definitely has some
impact on channelling their energy in a positive way.
Queen’s Birthday Weekend looms as a
welcome respite – hopefully the weather
behaves.
Have a great week.
Regards
Richard McMillan
Principal
The TAS School Wide Behaviour
Expectations are:- Rangatiratanga: Whanaungatanga:
We are Learners We are Caring
We show Rangatiratanga We show
Whanaungatanga
Wairuatanga: Manaakitanga:
We are Reflective We are Respectful
We show Wairuatanga We show Manaakitanga
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Tall Poppies The following Taihape Area School Students rose above the Crowd last
week as outstanding achievers, and members of our Learning Community:
Lea Ranginui and Riley Hart (Room 3) - for a positive start in Room 3;
Bailey Thompson (Room 5) - for creating an outstanding piece of writing
using a wide range of descriptive words. Great read Bailey;
Jamie Abernethy (Room 5) - for displaying your personal published writing piece about the
Takahe with such clarity. Well done Jamie;
Hinemoa Rolston (Room 6) - for Rangatiratanga in Maths;
Olivia Lincoln (Room 6) - always displaying the TAS Values;
Amorangi Toto and Hoani Herewini-Dygas (Room 79) - for displaying our TAS Values more
consistently.
Tall Poppies from Learning Street – Week 4
Queen’s Birthday Weekend School is closed on Monday for the Queen’s Birthday
Holiday.
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Scholastic Book Club
Scholastic Lucky Book Club
closes on the 22nd June.
Congratulations Congratulations to the TAS Dance Group "Form8tion" that won 1st place, in the Groups
Category, at the Rangitikei Got Talent Grand Final. From left to right - Caryse, Zoe-Leigh,
Jacob, Nicole, Jahna, Erika, and Jaymi:
Congratulations Form8tion!!
Student Accounts/Outstanding Fees
Students Accounts were send out last week. These included the travel component which has
been added now that we have received our final grants allocation.
Please pay as soon as possible, or contact the Principal to make arrangements for payment.
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Schools, generally, face huge financial pressures, with the result that there is always very
little money to come and go on. In response to the outstanding fees owed by some families
the Board has been forced to place a $500 cap on fees owed by individual students. Sadly any
student with accumulated fees more than this ($500) will not be able to participate in any
activities with a monetary cost. This goes against our philosophy of equity, but because of the
neglect of some families we have been forced into this situation.
Fees accumulate very quickly. All that we ask is that you make arrangements to manage your
level of debt.
TAS App TAS now has a free app which will enable you to receive
information instantly and directly to your smartphone.
How to download the free TAS app 1. From your mobile device go to App Store (iPhone/iPad) or Google Play
(Android), search for School Stream, and download the app to your phone.
2. Make sure you agree to push notifications.
3. Once School Stream has finished installing, open the app, type your school
name into the search, THEN select Taihape Area School.
N.B. We now have 175 TAS App users. The goal is 100% signed up as this will
give us the power and security of instant communication with our entire School
Community.
Rotary Rypen Going to the Rypen Camp was a challenge that tested our leadership, teamwork, confidence
and courage.
The first day we were nervous and shy as we didn't know anyone. But by the first hour at the
camp we had already met amazing people, that just after two days we could now call our
friends.
It was a terrific camp that we would recommend to anyone! The camp taught us many
valuable lessons that we were sure to take home. Even though the camp was short and we
wished for it to be longer, it was a life changing event.
We truly and wholeheartedly thank Taihape Rotary Club for sponsoring us and sending us to
the camp, as well as the amazing staff at Vertical Horizon.
- Kelsey Le Gros and Aaliyah Te Kani
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Supporting Your Child’s Learning Reading
Listen to your child read regularly. In Years 1-2, they
should have a book from school - encourage and praise
their efforts;
Read to your child - this models the skills of reading for
them;
Allow your child access to books of high interest to them
e.g. books from home, School Library, or Town Library.
Maths
Click on the following excellent site and watch a video on how you can
help your child in math’s at home:
http://nzmaths.co.nz/families
While driving in the car, try this activity with your child: as you drive in
the car or walk beside the road, write down the numbers you see on
vehicle license plates. Add up each of the digits to give a total. For example if the license
plate has the numbers 5682, the total of the digits is 5+6+8+2=21. Who can spot the car with
the highest total? Add or subtract the digits to get as close as possible to zero. For example, if
a license plate has the digits 3726, you might say "7+2-3-6=0".
Interschool Cross Country Last Thursday a number of students took part in the Annual Wanganui
Interschool Cross Country Championships, held @ Wanganui Collegiate.
Well done to James McCann, Jesse Tweeddale, Paparangi Kavanagh, and
Elise Fannin for being such worthy participants.
As we are all aware Cross Country is a tough art, and requires huge
determination, a big heart, and the right body type. These young people
are all very natural athletes, and represented their school with real credit.
Hockey Draw - Tonight TAS v Dannevirke High School, on Turf 2 @ 4.15pm.
Draw – Next Week No Hockey – Queen’s Birthday Holiday
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Winter Sport’s Exchange Taihape Area School
V
Tongariro Area School
When: Thursday 1st June, @ 10.00am
RUGBY
NETBALL
FISHING
KI O RAHI
BASKETBALL
TUG OF WAR
Help: We would appreciate any offers of soup for the shared lunch after the sport
on Thursday. If you can help please contact Cathy in the Office.
Westpac Chopper Appeal
Mufti-Day this Friday
- Gold Coin Donation
Westpac Chopper Appeal Mufti-Day “New Zealand’s Rescue Helicopters provide a vital safety
net for all people. Performing over 7,590 missions last year,
and operating nationwide through 16 local rescue helicopter
services, many of the rescue helicopters act as flying
intensive care units.
Along with remote rescue, the highly trained specialist
crews have been called upon to perform critical hospital transfers, attend emergency births,
and respond to car and boating accidents. In fact they may attend any type of emergency
where rapid response or difficult location is a factor. And they’ll do this any time of the day
or night, every day of the year, right across the country. The majority of funding for this
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unique service comes from the community - through sponsors like Westpac and people like
you.
Running throughout May, the Westpac Chopper Appeal is our national fundraising event
where we raise awareness and funds for the charities that provide New Zealand’s rescue
helicopter services and includes a nationwide street appeal.
100% of the money raised from Chopper Appeal goes straight back to the local rescue
helicopter service in the area where the funds were raised, meaning money raised locally,
stays local. This enables rescue helicopters across the country to continue helping people in a
range of emergency situations, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Westpac has been a proud sponsor of rescue helicopter services for over 35 years. They -
are the principal sponsor of the Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury rescue
helicopter services;
are an associate sponsor of the West Coast, Tauranga,
Taupo, Palmerston North and Rotorua Rescue
Helicopter Trusts;
provide people and funding to promote and manage the
annual nationwide fundraising campaign, the Westpac
Chopper Appeal. They proudly support all rescue
helicopters in New Zealand through their appeal.
For any queries please email [email protected]
The Chopper Appeal Charitable Trust. Charity no. CC53253. IRD no. 119-205-328.
Mufti-Day this Friday - Gold Coin Donation
Why is breakfast so important? There are many reasons why breakfast is promoted as
being the most important meal of the day. Generally
there is a long break between the evening meal, and
breakfast. The name of this meal comes from the long
period without food - i.e. you are "breaking your fast"
from dinner the night before.
At this time it is important to refuel your body to
kick-start the day. Overnight glucose (sugar) stores
tend to be depleted and to ensure your energy levels
are back on track it is important to eat breakfast. Children need to refuel to help them cope
with their energetic day ahead.
Studies show that breakfast helps with weight control. Eating breakfast means you are more
likely to snack less during the day. Children who don’t eat breakfast may graze during the
morning, eating more energy than they need.
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Also at school they may be more inclined to eat all of their lunch at morning break leaving
them with nothing to eat at lunch time, leading to hunger and more
snacking after school.
It is also a well-documented fact that breakfast is important for
concentration and mental performance. We all want our children to be
able to concentrate and perform to the best of their abilities at school.
Breakfast is also one of our three main meals each day. If you skip
this meal then you are at higher risk of not getting adequate nutrients from your diet.
Breakfast foods typically tend to be a great source of fibre, carbohydrate, and a wide range of
vitamins and minerals.
Quotes of the Week
TAS Behaviour
Expectation Rangatiratanga
We actively participate in all activities. This
looks like: -
“Face your life, its pain, its
pleasure, leave no path
untaken” ― Neil Gaiman,
The Graveyard Book.
“The only way to
survive eternity is to
be able to appreciate
each moment” ―
Lauren Kate, Fallen.
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We listen during instruction and follow
directions;
We have what we need to successfully complete
the task;
We ask questions if we do not understand;
We share ideas in discussion time;
We complete tasks to the best of our ability.
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