Balmoral School Newsletter - 21 July 2023
Principal's Welcome
Kia ora e te whānau
Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te tau | Celebrate the rising of Matariki Celebrate the rising of the chief of the sky Celebrate the rising of the New Year |
Matariki – a time for new beginnings.
We've had a great start to our Term, although things have been hectic. Our Whakatau on Tuesday morning was a resounding success, with a fantastic turnout. It was an honour to extend a warm welcome to the new families joining our school on behalf of our wider school community.
On Wednesday, we held our Intermediate Open Morning and Open Evening, bringing together familiar and some new faces. Our intermediate students did an outstanding job as guides, impressing everyone with confidence and the ability to speak about our school. We were also treated to a fantastic performance by Tīwaiwaka, one of our school bands. The amount of work these tamariki have put in with the support of their music teachers is a credit to them, and it is such a joy to witness our talented musicians again performing live concerts.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Professor Peter O'Connor, Leanne and Whaea Charlotte were in working with Hub 12A1 on the development of a new Mitey (Mental Health) Drama Resource for use in New Zealand Schools. The quality and depth of the pupil's thinking while in character was a real credit to us all.
And this morning, we celebrated Matariki with a little bit of rain! We received an overwhelming response of over 300 people indicating their attendance through our Google form. Having our ākonga perform to a reasonably large audience was also so good. It was a delightful occasion where our community came together to honour Matariki. The kai (sausages, porridge and waffles) also went down a treat on a cold and wet winter morning.
We look forward to many more community events over the coming Term. Please keep a look out for upcoming events in our school calendar.
Have a great weekend.
Nāku noa
Malcolm
Out of Zone Enrolments
The Balmoral School School Board may approve a limited number of out-of-zone enrolments for 2024.
Balmoral Intermediate School
- Applications for out-of-zone enrolments for 2024 must be received by 3.00 pm, Wednesday, 30 August, 2023. Should a ballot be required for out-of-zone enrolments, this will occur on Wednesday, 6 September 2023.
Balmoral Primary School
- Applications for out-of-zone enrolments for 2024 must be received by 3.00 pm, Wednesday, 11 October, 2023. Should a ballot be required for out-of-zone enrolments, this will occur on Wednesday, 18 October 2023.
Out-of-zone applications use the same online application procedure as in-zone students.
However, out-of-zone applications do not require the completion of the in-zone Statutory Declaration Form or provision of proof of residence.
More information about enrolment can be found here on our website under enrolment.
Intermediate
Primary
Vacancy
Sports League Coordinator
Are you passionate about sports? Do you enjoy coordinating and organizing events? Are you a great communicator? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you as our Sports League Coordinator!
As a Sports League Coordinator, you will play a vital role in ensuring the smooth running of our sports leagues. You will act as a liaison between league organisers, venues, coaches, parents, and Sports Unit Holders, facilitating effective communication and collaboration.
This is a part-time position, requiring approximately 4 hours per week on-site. If you are looking for a fulfilling role where you can combine your love for sports, effective communication, and organizational skills, we would love to hear from you!
Join our school team as the Sports League Coordinator and make a positive impact on the sporting experiences of our ākonga and community.
For further information and a job description, contact the school office.
Send a short CV and cover letter to Malcolm by Friday, 21 July. office@balmoral.school.nz
Internet Safety 'Beat the Bullies' Webinar'
TikTok will share the tools that are available to put you in control in a special live webinar during Netsafety Week - 12noon Wednesday 25 July.
They will cover topics like:
- Family Pairing,
- Managing comments in a way that work for you,
- How to report content,
- The tools available to protect younger users.
You’ll also hear how TikTok moderates, what they do proactively and how we can work together to keep our community safe online.
The session will also feature a brief Q&A to ask anonymous questions.
A live NZSL Sign Language Interpreter will support us during this event for accessibility.
Spaces are limited, attendees can register for free on Zoom using this link: (https://netsafe-org-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ld633JH6S9eBqdFcaPhfcQ)
Links to all the Netsafety Week events can be found on this webpage: https://netsafe.org.nz/netsafety-week-2023/
Primary School News
New from whānau Hiringa
Hub 12
During Matariki, Hub Tui has been sharing stories about the nine sisters and discussing traditions for celebrating the Māori New Year. One of the ideas that came up was making art, so we studied some printmaking by NZ artist Shane Hansen, who has commonly represented the star cluster through his linocuts. We studied symbolism in the art work such as birds, koru, mountains and stars. From the stories, students decided on one of the nine matariki sisters to represent through a print design. We learned about what the sisters are connected with, for example we learned that Hiwaiterangi is the star connected with granting wishes and realising aspirations for the new year. The students planned out the design in their inquiry book. The next step was to practice embossing the design onto foam. This was the tricky bit as we had to make sure to apply the right pressure to get a strong indent, but not cut right through the foam! Next we tested our prints with ink and rollers. After a few trials they started to come out really stunning! We chose the best copy as the final art piece. We learned a lot throughout this process and we’re very pleased with the final result!
Hub 13
Over the last couple of weeks, Tawhai has had a big focus on Matariki. We have looked at some of the different ways in which we can celebrate Matariki, such as by making flying kites, creating art and letting stories through dance.
We found that kites have been flown in Māori culture for hundreds of years and can date back thousands of years in other cultures. Kites were flown around Matariki so that Māori people could feel closer to their ancestors. We thought making our own kites out of bamboo and paper would be interesting and fun.
A group of students from hub 13 also worked on art to celebrate Matariki. They focused on Waitī (freshwater) and Waitā (saltwater) as these related to our inquiry topic about water. We learnt about Waitī and Waitā and chose an animal or item that linked with the stars. In our paintings we drew the southern lights with pastel and smudged it across the black paper. Next we splattered white paint on the top of the painting to create a starry look to it and carefully painted the nine matariki stars on and left them to dry. For the bottom half we drew the animal or item related to the star and filled in the blank space around out with features from the animal's environment. The students were very creative and had lots of fun creating their very own Matariki art.
The Matariki Dance group has been exploring ways to tell the matariki story through movement and choreography. They’ve worked creatively in small groups to bring each part of the story to life. We’ve also explored making our own soundscape to go with each dance by using our voices and bodies to enhance the story.
Term 3 Balmoral School Year 4 -6 Basketball Session Info:
- Week 1 (20th Jul) - Week 10 (21st Sep);
- Thursday 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm;
- Term Fee: $112.5 (10 sessions);
New Players Enrolment steps:
- New Players: Please click the enrol link: https://forms.gle/c3jfuHq1LrYsZgxq9. Fill up the form, choose the school programme – Balmoral School;
- Each player will need to pay $112.5to enrol in Term 3, Please transfer the money to our bank account: 02-0108-0531348-000 (Their Reference - "Child's Full Name + BS", example James Smith BS);
- Once we receive your payment, you will receive a confirmation email.
Intermediate School News
Term 3 Balmoral School Year 7 & 8 Basketball Session Info:
- Week 1 (20th Jul) - Week 10 (21st Sep);
- Thursday 7:30 am – 8:30 am;
- Term Fee: $112.5 (10 sessions);
New Players Enrolment steps:
- New Players: Please click the enrol link: https://forms.gle/c3jfuHq1LrYsZgxq9. Fill up the form, choose the school programme – Balmoral School;
- Each player will need to pay $112.5to enrol in Term 3, Please transfer the money to our bank account: 02-0108-0531348-000 (Their Reference - "Child's Full Name + BS", example James Smith BS);
- Once we receive your payment, you will receive a confirmation email.
Community News
Come on, Barbie, let's go party. Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
Come dressed in your best Barbie or Ken outfits. There will be a spot prize on the night for best dressed !
Please click on the link to buy tickets https://www.thecapitol.co.nz/movie/balmoral-aims-fundraiser
Auckland Netball Centre is offering a school-based programmes that involves a qualified Auckland Netball coach coming into our school to deliver quality coaching clinics to teams or age groups from Year 3- Year 8.
You can choose a 4 or 6 week programme. Programmes are adjusted to the skill level of the group and cost is variable based on numbers and sessions. We will have a minimum of 8 in a team to train.
4Week session: $70 per person
6-week session: $100 per person
If you are interested contact bhavana@balmoral.school.nz
Many thanks.
Ngā mihi,
Bhavana Mehta
Intermediate Sports Coordinator
Year 7 Teacher (Te Kaiako)
Balmoral School |Te kura o te Roto a Rangi
E ako ki te ora, e ora ki te ako.
Learn to live, live to learn.
