Balmoral School Newsletter - 26 May 2023
Principal's Welcome
Kia ora e te whānau
Delivering a rich, wide and challenging curriculum for tamariki is challenging and requires dedicated teachers with a high level of skills. Always before an election, the politicians issue the same speeches about falling standards. In particular, they will always comment on what they call the basics, reading, writing and mathematics.
What they fail to comment on is the children's mental health. We know that after COVID we have a number of children and adults struggling with anxiety and their mental health. We also know that without being mentally well, learning reading, writing and maths is extremely difficult. Surely mental health is the basics.
At Balmoral, we take mental health seriously and include it in our teaching through the MITEY programme. We also have two staff who have a responsibility to ensure that our staff keep mental health education at the forefront of our teaching. We want to ensure that we create a learning environment where our rangitahi can thrive in all areas of the curriculum.
Nāku noa
Malcolm
New Staff
We are currently experiencing a severe teaching crisis. Recently the school has had to use a recruitment company for the first time to find a teacher. Luckily we have found two teachers for our New Entrant Team.
Welcome to Phoebe Millwood, who will join Koru on Monday, 29th May. Phoebe has a real passion for Learning through Play and has been relieving in our school before her appointment.
We have also appointed Beth Watmore. Beth is an experienced teacher currently teaching in England. Beth completed her Master's in Education with a thesis question. "To what extent is play justified in the key stage 2 curriculum?"
We look forward to having Phoebe and Beth contribute to our learning organisation.
Parental Behaviour: Please Stop and Think
This week I have been contacted by five neighbours expressing great displeasure about the behaviour of parents. All complaints have been about parents parking over their driveway, being rude to our neighbours or dangerous driving, putting children and other adults at risk.
I do not come to work each day expecting to write or ring neighbours apologising for the behaviour of a small handful of drivers.
We need good relationships with our neighbours so that they can watch our school when we arent here or help our learners when they fall off their bikes or need some help on their way to and from school.
Please help me, our children and the community we live in by being respectful and courteous.
Primary School News
School Cross Country
Years 3-6 Cross Country was a memorable day filled with energy and excitement. The sun was shining and the students were puffing. All students participated enthusiastically, giving their all during the race. They ran with determination and displayed impressive speed and endurance. The cheers and support from teachers, parents, and fellow students added to the motivation and created a positive environment. It was great seeing so many parents coming along to really boost the event.
Overall, it was a successful day of running and an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Congratulations to all students who participated, especially those students who managed to qualify for Eden/Albert.
Unfortunately, Eden/Albert has just communicated to us that year 4's will not be taking part in the Eden/Albert Cross Country Event.
The following rangitahi have qualified for Eden/Albert Cross Country in order of 1st to 7th
| Year 6 Boys | Year 6 Girls | Year 5 Boys | Year 5 Girls |
Max Gaskell Harry Culpan-Hammon Louis Pacey Lachie Jack Hayden Brown Ollie Clement Reserve: Charlie Peldmanis | Ellie Mark Isla Mcgowan Edie Moffett Sophie Wright Maggie Allen Esme Robson Reserve: Emmy Frithio | Henry York Reuben Trowsdale Quinn Prebble Harry Standen Caleb Hoggard Josh Moates Reserve: Archie Stewart | Cici Zhang Lucia Alchin Natalie Haagh Antonia Yarrow Lucia Greet Octavia Walsh Reserve: Caylin Jayasekera |
Eden Albert Football
Last week on 16/05, three football teams from the primary school attended the Eden Albert Football Tournament. The year 5 boys, year 6 boys and a year 5/6 girls' team all had a great day in the sun at Keith Hay Park. They were excellent ambassadors for the school and were able to come away with some good results. The boys year 5 team lost 1 won 4, the girls team lost 1 won three and the year 6 boys lost 1, drew one and won 3. The teams were unlucky to miss out on a playoff spot but displayed a high level of skill in all their games and can be proud of all they achieved on the day. A special mention to Oscar C, Charlie M, and Finn W for volunteering to be referees on the day for the teams.
Abhishek Singh
Year 5/6 Kaiako/Teacher
Intermediate School News
CZ Year 8 Girls Football
Last week the year 8 girls football team took part in the Central Zone Tournament at Seymour Park. The competition had 13 teams in all and after the round robin games the girls had done enough to make it to the elimination rounds starting with the quarter finals. They played the later 3 games with a lot of passion and tenacity and were unlucky on a number of occasions. They never gave up and were great representatives of the school with the way supported each other. Their final place was 8 out of 13 and they can definitely hold their heads high as the team had a mix of regular footballers and those that were new to the game. A great result and hopefully the girls will look to be a part of more tournaments when they get to high school.
Abhishek Singh
Year 5/6 Kaiako/Teacher
Art Project 2023
Artist Sarah Yates and some of the Year 5-8 students are part of a new art project happening at school. We are making the nine Matariki stars with colorful smashed tiles. At the moment the area outside of Hub 14 is just a muddy patch of ground. Our plan is to turn the nine Matariki stars into circular shaped stepping stones that will go in this area and make it much more interesting and fun. At the same time we hope everyone who sees our artwork will learn more about these special stars. We have been learning about the different Matariki stars and how they are connected to different parts of nature. For example Waitī is linked to the rivers and lakes. We have spent time drawing the stars, paper mosaicking, sculpting clay and painting. At the moment we are working on our final designs for the stars. Geoff the landscape gardener has made the base for the stars out of concrete. Next we need to mosaic our designs onto the stepping stones. We would love some adult helpers to help us with the mosaicking. If you are free on a Friday and would like to help, even for an hour, please email Saffron at saffron@balmoral.school.nz
By Bella
Pink Shirt Day
Last Friday, Balmoral School participated in Pink Shirt Day and encouraged our staff and students to Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora – Speak up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!
Bullying in Aotearoa is a real problem. We have the third-highest rate of school bullying out of 36 OECD countries and one in five workers feel discriminated against or bullied at work. Those bullied are far more likely to experience mental health issues.
Pink Shirt Day works to reduce bullying by celebrating diversity in all its forms and supporting schools, workplaces, and communities to be safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive for everyone.
Here is what some of our students and staff have to say about Pink Shirt Day and bullying
- I wore a pink shirt to stop bullying. I feel sad about bullying. -Arlo (Year 3)
- I wore pink because I support anti-bullying. I don’t want to be bullied. - Marsh (Year 7)
- There is a lot of bullying going around and we want to stop it. - Emmy (Year 6)
- I participated in Pink Shirt Day because it is good to support those who always get bullied and it is not right that the bullies always get the upper hand. - Elsa (Year 7)
- Pink Shirt Day is trying to stop people from bullying. - Teresa (Year 6)
- I wore a pink shirt. Pink Shirt Day is to stop bullying. Bullying is bad. - Jack (Year 1)
- Pink Shirt Day is to protect those that get bullied. Pink is a bright colour so it stands out. - Sam (Year 7)
- Pink Shirt Day is when we wear something pink. We are saying we don’t like bullying! We don’t like bullying! - James (Year 2)
- Pink Shirt Day is to help stop bullying and to stand up against the bullying. It is encouraging people to stop it. - Emma (Year 7)
- Bullying isn’t nice. It hurts people. - Persephone (Year 6)
- I wore pink to support the anti-bullying campaign. I heard the story of how it originated and I was inspired. It is great that everyone is standing in solidarity. - Emily (Teacher)
“Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new Year 10 student was harassed and threatened for wearing pink. These students bought dozens of pink shirts and distributed them to their classmates to wear the next day. The word got out online and hundreds of students showed up in pink, some from head-to-toe, to stand together against bullying. It has been celebrated in New Zealand since 2009.” (Quoted from www.pinkshirtday.org.nz)