Balmoral School Newsletter 24 March 2023
Principal's Welcome
Kia ora e te whānau
Last week we saw the largest-ever Strike action from teachers and Principals from multiple education sectors across New Zealand. This across-sector protest reflects a deep seated feeling by those of us in it that change is necessary.
Our teachers do not like causing such massive disruption to families and children. Working so closely with our young they recognise how important the stability of schooling is and how the difficulties of the last four years have manifested in our schools.
Teaching is a demanding occupation but also one with tremendous rewards. The joy of a child achieving a previously inaccessible task we witness every day is the similar joy a parent gets when they see their child walk. This is why our staff do what they do.
The Primary Teacher and Primary Principal Collective Agreements expired early in 2022. Inflation and cost of living have hurt our staff, and I believe it is a just claim. We all need an attractive and highly valued teaching profession, and an up to ten per cent pay cut in real terms just won't achieve this. Primary beginning teachers are now paid marginally above minimum wage. Few would argue that this is a fair or sustainable situation.
There continues to be pay equity disparities, with Primary Schools receiving significantly less support and resourcing than secondary in terms of staffing, leadership personnel, release time and access to learning support for students in genuine (and increasing) need.
Furthermore, recruitment for teacher training has dropped sharply year after year. Applicants for vacancies are harder to find than ever (particularly in Auckland suburbs that teachers typically can’t afford to live in). A worrying proportion of those who do train and embark on a teaching career leave within the first 5 years. Just look at the three staff who left teaching from our school in 2022.
We now have more New Zealand teachers who have left the workforce than those who have remained.
As a school leader, I want and need outstanding class teachers for all students. To achieve this all politicians across the spectrum must work together to develop a workforce strategy that encourages teaching as a sustainable and rewarding professional career pathway, both now and into the future. Our young deserve this.
These same politicians have to ensure the children who experience significant barriers to success receive the specialist support that they promise in photo shoots while holding up glossy Ministry of Education brochures. When children have access to what they need and deserve, they can achieve their potential in a decent, high-functioning society.
Funding for our school relies on endless fundraising and teacher goodwill to meet the most basic of curriculum needs and is outdated. To continue to support a system that is resourced according to different funding models across education sectors is unjust to our primary and intermediate school children.
Research has also confirmed that many dedicated Principals are overwhelmed with the expectations of achieving excellent outcomes with inadequate resourcing, leaving us with the highest proportion of first-time Principals we have ever had in Auckland schools. This shows there is a significant amount of knowledge and educational expertise is being lost unnecessarily.
We understand that some of you are frustrated by yet more disruption on top of other disruptions we have faced. It’s worth bearing in mind that our teachers also feel that frustration, but like you, we all want the same for the longer term for our pupils and the education workforce that works with them.
I know that everyone will sincerely hope that any further action can be averted and that a settlement can be reached very shortly with the government.
Nāku noa
Malcolm
School Closes @ 12:30pm on Thursday 30 March
Ākonga and Whanau Learning Conversations Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 March
We are holding our first child/parent/teacher Learning Conferences next week. These discussions will focus on the learning your child has been involved in so far this year. Please ensure you bring your child with you to these conferences as they have a lot to show you.
On Wednesday 29 March, the school will close, as normal, at 3.00 pm. Conferences will start at 3.15 pm and continue until the final interview at 5.45 pm. Please bring your child with you.
On Thursday 30 March, the school will close at 12.30 pm. Please arrange to collect your child from school at this time. Conferences with teachers will begin at 1.00 pm and the final interview for the day will be scheduled for 6.45 pm.
You can book online by following these instructions:
- Go to https://parentinterviews.co.nz/
- Click on Book my interviews
- Enter event code into box and click on start my booking
Code is URJVPLEL
Choose your teacher - Bookings are open to all available teachers including the
- Intermediate Technology teachers (Lauren, Sarah and Craig),
- Learning Support (Jacqui SENCO, Kylie ESOL, Don Literacy Support) and our
- Music staff (Alex Urlich, Year 5-8 music and Sarah Dunn, Year 1-4 music).
If after the conference, you still wish to talk to the teacher further without your child present I would encourage you to email them for another time to meet.
The Village Trust, our after-school care provider will be open during these conferences to supervise pupils. There is a cost involved.
The Village Trust will be running a half-day session on Thursday, 30 March - parents can book this if they are needing childcare from 12:30 pm here.
Education Policy: It's a Political Football...Again.
Once again, it is the silly season where politicians go for short sound bites to gain votes in an election cycle.
Yesterday we had the National Party launch its education policy. Of course they use the simplistic language "Back to Basics' to appeal to the public. They then talk about tests twice a year for children in Primary and Intermediate Schools. This is very similar to their National Standards policy implemented under urgency in 2007. During the much hyped "National Standard Regime" New Zealand saw the largest fall in international achievement against the tests used. This similar type of policy also did not raise achievement in the UK when they introduced the Literacy Hour and nor did George Bush's "No child left behind" strategy.
To validate these policies these same politicians will say based on international research, I have looked at in say Finland or Singapore. What they have failed to do is spend quality time in a New Zealand classroom with real live NZ children at Year 3 and see what they can and can't do.
Obviously, our elected leaders have again failed to recognise that learning is not linear and as every child is different, so is every class, every year group, and every school, so being overly prescriptive on an individual year basis is detrimental to children. They have also failed to learn anything from a too much testing regime.
The best assessment to improve learning is in real-time, intervening exactly when children need it; a professional teacher calls this formative assessment. It informs what we do and then we adapt and act. Any classroom teacher will tell you that to do this better, you could lower class sizes from the current 1 teacher :29 children. A teacher would then be able to see your child more often and intervene far quicker.
What a shame our politicians over the last thirty years have failed to spend real time in our classes and get together to develop a national strategy to resource our schools better and better serve those members of our society who can't vote. They continue to underserve our ākonga.
I agree that schools can do better but this is more systematic change. We need to redesign our curriculum to make it more explicit in its outcomes in some areas, use the data such as PAT across the sector, reinstate the education advisory so we have a uniform message across the sector and improve our teacher training.
Also, give us the staff to help children when they need it rather than heighten parents' anxiety, blame Boards, schools, teachers and worst of all punish children for failing rather than resource schools adequately and therefore appropriately support our ākonga.
Staff Learning or Professional Development
We have a commitment to ensure that our staff our highly trained to ensure that our school is a high-quality and safe learning environment. To achieve this, we have a well-thought-out professional learning programme.
On Friday 10 and Saturday 11th March, six staff attended their first philosophy or P4C course. Joe Teague also attended as a facilitator.
Ten staff have participated in two Mitey Zooms to ensure they are up to date with mental health education.
Our ongoing professional learning in mathematics with Massey University continues. This involves in-class observation and then feedback on the teacher's practice as well as numerous staff meetings.
Kylie Hogg has enrolled in a post-graduate degree to support our new learners of English, and Don continues with his Reading Recovery training.
On Monday night 34 teachers and support staff completed their first aid training from 3:30 pm until 8 pm.
I would like to acknowledge our staff and their commitment to our community. This willingness to improve is greatly appreciated by me.
Nominated for Outstanding Flippa Ball School
This month our school was one of three schools nominated for this award. Congratulations to St Heliers School, who were deserved winners, which was just recognition for how their whole community has positively supported children in flippaball.
We were nominated due to the support our children have from their parents and school. I want to acknowledge all the parent coaches and managers of all our school teams who willingly step into these roles to support not only their own child but also other children in their community.
Special thanks must also go to our parent coordinators. Their task is often somewhat thankless, and they get caught in the middle between the team / Waterpolo NZ and the school. Without them (Pippi Laing and Caroline Taku), we would definitely not have received this nomination and have so many children enjoying this league.
PTA
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the PTA AGM. There was a great turnout with 18 parents present, lots of new faces and some enthusiastic discussions about the year ahead.
They have some great ideas to continue to build links to our community, however, they will require support from the wider community to hold these activities Please get involved.
Congratulations to the Executive Committee, and thanks for stepping into these roles.
Chairperson – Emma McDowall
Leadership team - Scott Blanks, Amir Merchant, Kellie Ames
Treasurer – Zainab Mussa
Secretary – Leanne Corkill
Staff Representative - Trish Cullen
Ramadan Mubarak
Some families at Balmoral School begin Ramadan this week. We wish you a "Blessed Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr".
Ramadan is a special month in the Islamic calendar. It is a time for fasting, prayer, and reflection, and marks the month in which the Quran, the holy book of Islam, was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
During Ramadan, Muslims are encouraged to read the Quran and engage in acts of charity and kindness towards others. In addition, it is a time for strengthening bonds with family and friends and for coming together as a community to share in the spirit of Ramadan.
While Ramadan is a time of spiritual renewal and reflection, it is also a time for celebration. The end of Ramadan is marked by the festival of Eid al-Fitr, which includes feasting, gift-giving, and special prayers.
Ramadan is a time for Muslims to deepen their faith, connect with their community, and renew their commitment to living a life of compassion and service.
As we enter this holy month, let us all take a moment to reflect on the values that unite us and embrace the spirit of Ramadan in our own lives.
Lost Property
We have new locations for lost property and revised the collection system in the Hubs in the hope of reducing the volume of uncollected clothing each term.
Each Hub now has a small red collection tub for clothing found in and around their hub and we encourage you and your children to check these regularly for missing items (including hats).
Any items found on the field will be placed in the larger red bins.
Intermediate (large bins) are now in the foyer between Hub 3 & 4
Primary (large bins) are now in the foyer between Hub 13 & 14
Hats (large bin) are located on the middle courts during school hours
Please remember to name your children's jerserys and hats as there is more chance they will find their way back to you.
Primary School News - whānau Whetu
Kia ora e te whānau!
Last Friday, the Mahira children ran the Primary Assembly. Thanks to all the friends and whānau who came along to watch. The teachers were proud of all the children as they sang and some spoke. A focus of our assembly was our Inquiry learning this term. We have been starting to think about what might live at Balmoral School. We decided to go for a walk and see what we could find. Before we left we talked about looking like scientists - using our careful looking and noticing eyes; looking for evidence and clues that show what things live at Balmoral eg holes in a leaf might mean a caterpillar or a nest might mean a bird. The children spent over an hour searching for, drawing and recording the living things they found at school. We came up with a list of over 20 ‘things’.
During this term we have been following a young black back gull and its parents who set up a nest in January on one of the school roofs. After heavy rain the gulls moved their nest to the school field. After a visit to view the nest (from afar) the children shared their thoughts:
“It’s a duck” - “No, a duck’s beak is flat”
“I think it could have eggs, it keeps looking down”
Austin “He is in the middle of the field because he can take off”
Neil “I can see spots on him”
Emma “It’s a gull, it looks like it’
Viann “He is sleeping because he is tired”
Aden “A storm came, the field turned back into a pond then the bird came”
Levi “It’s like the big, light grey bird you see on the beach”
Ivanka “Not a duck because it has a long black beak”
Josie “It’s a seagull, a type of gull because I have seen them, they have a long beak with a
bendy bit”
A sorting activity back in the Hub led us to conclude that the bird is indeed a gull.
As part of the learning the children have been sketching a black back gull by close looking and noticing. Repetition of this meant they could see how it was important to not do just one sketch, but go back and do another sketch and another.They were encouraged to think each time of how they could improve their sketch.
One of the things the children were curious about was the size of the gull. When they observed it flying they noticed it was significantly bigger than other birds around the school. We decided to make a life size gull. The children saw that there were different sizes of feathers on the gull so we had to be careful to place them in the right place. Some of the photos below are from our Inquiry Journey.
Ngā mihi nui
Whānau Whetu
Eden Albert Touch Rugby
On Tuesday 14th March, I had the privilege of taking thirteen very excited Year 5 and 6 boys to the Eden Albert, Touch Rugby Tournament.
They all played their hearts out and displayed excellent sporting values.
The Boys A team came 5th overall and the Boys B team came 3rd.
Congratulations to everyone that took part and a massive thank you to all of the parents who helped out with transport or stayed to watch the boys play their games.
We couldn’t have done it without you.
Ngā mihi
Intermediate School News
Central Zone Orienteering
On Tuesday this week both our Year 7 and Year 8 orienteering teams headed to Waiatarua Reserve to compete in the Central Zone competition. The teams had a combination of experienced and beginners, and the morning was enjoyed by all. Please look out for Leo's report in the next issue of Kawepūrongo at the end of the term.
Particular congratulations to these boys who did well in their individual races:
2nd Xavier Mannering and Marshall Logan (Yr 7), Jasper Metcalfe (Yr 8)
3rd Archie Mead (Yr 7), Harley Lynas (Yr 8)
4th Jack Rice and Mackenzie Brent (Yr 8)
News from Hub 1
Hub 1's Inquiry has revolved around the question "Who's Story Is It?" As part of this, they have looked into symbolising the most important things in the world for them, written descriptive pieces of writing, and created their pepeha in visual form. This morning in assembly they shared these, and then sang and signed Pepeha by Six60. Well done to all of them!
Below you can see some of the artwork created about what is important in life.
One of my core values is creativity, and to symbolise this I 'borrowed' Will's idea of a paintbrush, so as you can see I stick to my core values. I used the moon as a paw print to represent how much we depend on the environment around us. I tried to use an open book to represent the importance of knowledge and wisdom, but I unintentionally turned it the same colour as the paint brush. The magenta background symbolises the emptiness around us aka space.
By Harley
The pool at the top of my page stands for knowledge, and water. The bubbles also stand for water. The green koru stand for oxygen and wind. The red and blue checker around the pool stands for the emergency services. The wooden planks around the art stand for shelter and the cow print stands for cows and animals. The arrows are for weapons and the music notes are for music because it makes me happy.
By Sienna
The squiggly tree on my art is my tree of knowledge, and there are numbers on it to show knowledge/intelligence. The eye in the middle is to symbolise consciousness. The music notes in the trunk of the tree are to show music. The arrows on one side of the tree represent anger, hate and death because it's shooting arrows into the tree. Now, the other side is a love heart to obviously show love, and it's to show happiness. The puzzle pieces in the heart are to show everyone being together and making one heart with every single puzzle piece.
By Navya
Community News
Wanted! House to Rent
Kia Ora!
We are a Canadian/American family of 5 living in Vermont, US, for the last decade. We are excited to arrive in Auckland for a sabbatical from mid-October to mid-April (6 months).
Our three kids will attend Balmoral School Term 4 in 2023 and Term 1 in 2024. We are looking for a place to live within walking/biking distance from the school, Mount Eden and surrounding areas. All leads are welcome! We are also open to a HomeExchange (Vermont winter, close to great skiing).
Contact Alison Link alisonlink@gmail.com
Orienteering for Whānau
A number of our tamariki love orienteering. There are plenty of orienteering activities that families and friends can engage in throughout Auckland during the winter months.
For the next seven months until the next SummerNav season starts up there are plenty of events to choose from. In the city there are night events in May and September. Between these there will be sprint events on Saturday afternoons to warm you up in the winter.
What about venturing a little further afield and try some forest and farm orienteering?
There is plenty of this right through to the next SummerNav. The first is only 10 days away on Sunday April 2 on the Awhitu Peninsula being run by the Counties Manukau Club. Look on the website (auckoc.org.nz) for details and come along for a bit more of a challenge than the SummerNav. There will be courses for all levels of ability and fitness. This first event will be mostly farmland to ease you into forest orienteering – the best orienteering.
Keep an eye on the website for the lots of other events that will be held over the coming months.
Jazz School, school holiday Big Band workshop
This will be an exciting three day school holiday workshop where year 6, 7 and 8 students will learn to play in a Jazz Big Band and then perform a concert for family and friends on the final afternoon. The Big Band is for Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone and Clarinet players plus Electric Guitar, Piano, Bass and Drums. The music we play will range from jazz standards to modern pop classics with an emphasis on having fun while producing music at a high standard. This workshop will be run by Drew Hutchinson. Students must be playing at grade 2 level or higher, or have had two years of lessons. The workshop is on April 12,14 and 14 from 9am - 3pm at King’s School, 258 Remuera Road, Remuera.
To register for the workshop please visit jazzschool.co.nz or email jnrjazzschool@gmail.com for more information.
Feedback from previous workshops:
“I cannot tell how much we enjoyed your workshop on so many levels; watching our child's confidence grow, making new friends, the location and of course the music was fantastic”.