Balmoral School Newsletter - 8 December 2023
Principal
Tēnā koutou i tēnei ahiahi
As we bid farewell to 2023, it is important to reflect on some of the events of 2023. We have been fortunate as it has been filled with achievements, challenges, creativity, laughter and a sense of community spirit.
Our annual Art Festival was a resounding success, showcasing the talent and imagination of our students and the creativity and perseverance of our staff. Keeping this creative part of our curriculum alive is essential as it is so integral to being human.
We also can't forget the three school camps that not only allowed our students to explore the great outdoors but also fostered teamwork, resilience, and an appreciation for nature, including the weather! These experiences will stay with our tamariki for a lifetime.
The Band Quests and school cultural performances, where our talented musicians and dancers captivated audiences and earned well-deserved accolades. We are immensely proud of their dedication and the joy they bring to our school.
Sports enthusiasts had their moments of triumph with victories, personal bests, and the invaluable lessons of teamwork and sportsmanship. Our ākonga have participated in the spirit of healthy competition.
The School Newspaper, Kawepūrongo, has provided a platform for our tamariki to voice their thoughts and share their experiences. The commitment of our young journalists has been commendable, reflecting a passion for writing and a commitment to truth. They have had pieces published in The Spinoff and spoken to a variety of community members.
Our school community events, be it cultural celebrations, fundraisers, or community service initiatives (ECO Warriors and rat traps), have strengthened the bonds that make Balmoral a wonderful place to learn and grow.
As we bid farewell to the ākonga, staff members and whānau who are embarking on new journeys, we extend our heartfelt wishes for success and happiness.
To those returning in February, we look forward to your return. The adventures, learning discoveries and new stories to be made and told await us.
Have a safe and rejuvenating summer break. Embrace the warmth of whānau, the beauty of our whenua, and the joy of simple pleasures.
Ka pai te hararei (Have a good holiday)
Nāku noa
Malcolm
School Closes 12:30pm on Wednesday 20th December
School Reports
These will be available on our Edge school portal from 9:15am on Monday 18th December.
Pisa Test Results Released This week
This week, the PISA international test results were released. Much has been made online about the drop in attainment for NZ students. We know that children from high socio-economic backgrounds are still achieving well, but NZ has a real problem in education with equity. Children trapped in poverty are not doing so well.
John Gerritson on Radio New Zealand has a well-written piece on these results. This article reported that Phones, bullying, hunger, COVID-19 and teaching staff were revealed as problems. Also, a quarter of New Zealand students were in schools where the principals said they had inadequate or poorly qualified teaching staff, and nearly half were in schools that struggled to hire teachers. The number of students reporting that they weren’t eating at least once a week in the past 30 days due to lack of money to buy food was 14%, compared to the OECD average of 8%.
There are always some interesting facts when you dig into the data. What was also peculiar about New Zealand's results was that our students scored lower on the measure of learning autonomously. When learners are self-motivated and self-directed, learning improves. In our intermediate school, our ākonga are asked to complete a Rich Challenge as their homework task. This has been designed to deliberately develop this habit. Our Inquiry Curriculum and Play is also designed to allow children to practise and develop this independence.
Although principals complained about poorly qualified teaching staff this is directly aligned with their concerns about the training institutions in NZ and the programmes they offer. We are entering a phase, however, where the yearly intake in these training institutions is reducing dramatically. At Auckland University this year, there were less than 60 students training to be a teacher; a decade ago, this was over 300. With over 400 schools in Auckland, this does not cover normal attrition.
While the new Minister of Education may wish to create a policy of one hour of reading, writing and mathematics a day to raise achievement, we as a country have to do a lot more to support our children if we do wish to raise achievement.
The key ingredient in educational success is always going to be a highly competent and professional workforce led by the best from the profession, along with good profressional development, high expectations, sufficient resourcing and children out of poverty.
Music Theory Exam by New Zealand Modern School of Music
On the 28th October 2023, a number of students from Balmoral School sat their Grade 1 Music Theory exam. Huge congratulations to them all.
Results with Distinction
Thea Bruns, Angus Cameron, Leo Cairncross, Greta Daniels, Hudson Falconer, Blake Spalding, Oliver(Ollie) Goudge, Susie Pham, Jan Vogels, Ahaana Duffadar
Results with Honours
Zoey Pearson
Primary School News
News From Whānau Koru
Inquiry:
Hub 11 teachers took their tamariki right back to the beginning of their Inquiry journey and asked them to think about their time at school and “What makes this place special”. Their responses reflect not only aspects of inquiry learning but a growing sense of belonging in their new school.
What Koru children have discovered is that we share our school with a multitude of different animals and plants and along with friends this makes this place pretty wonderful.
‘How can we keep it special?’. This is something we constantly ask and of course, again we just need to ask the children-they know. They felt so strongly about spreading their message that some just had to make signs for the school.
Koru and Mahira had a great morning on Tuesday with egg and spoon, sack and wheelbarrow races, high jump, bean bag throw, hurdles, skipping and the favourite by far, it turns out, the parachute!
We are so proud of the children for having a go at everything and making new friends from different classes and year levels along the way.
Thank you to all of you who came to watch! It was wonderful having you there. It certainly brought a smile to the children’s faces.
Thank you to our Koru whānau for all your support and kindness over the year.
We couldn’t do it without you.
Have a wonderful summer break, Koru team.
Intermediate School News
Pasifika Dance Groups
This morning both our girls and boys Pasifika groups performed at assembly. It was wonderful to see them showcase their hard work and perseverance. Both groups were led ably by Gasaloga, who then performed a very, very entertaining dance with her brother Norman.
We were also lucky to have Peter Leilua come and talk to assembly about holding firm to your values as you make your way through life as this will influence your attitude and behaviour. Thoughtful words for our Year 8 ākonga as they contemplate their big change coming up, and for our Year 7's who become the leaders in the school next year.
Thank you to Dale for his work organising this today.
Central Zone Badminton Report
As we gathered outside the hall on the 4th of October, a mixture of excitement and anxiety filled us as if adrenaline surged through our bodies. The team who would represent our school for Y7 and Y8 had already been selected and after having multiple practice sessions, our big day had arrived. As we went to the Auckland Badminton Centre in Epsom, we felt excited as well as nervous. With a total of 14 schools participating, we couldn’t wait to play against our opponents.
Throughout the day, we competed against other schools in rounds of 5 minutes each. It was exhausting but we pushed through and gave our best. We had a few wins and a few losses but all that matters is that we had lots of fun and gained real-life experience in playing a badminton tournament
By Saanchi Singhal
Sports Leagues
Netball Umpiring
The official league games finished in Term 3 however Auckland Netball ran a social Summer League for teams that wanted to keep playing. This league had lots of teams enter and they had the option of paying to have an umpire each week. Auckland Netball asked for those interested in umpiring to sign up and selected a group of Year 8 students to be on the umpiring roster. This was a paid opportunity. The organiser picked umpires that she had seen being confident and competent on the sideline and most importantly reliable. Of the 17 umpires needed, I am pleased that 8 Balmoral School students were selected. They were Milly Wilson, Isla Greenwell, Pippa MacDonald, Hannah Jack, Lela Vince, Ida Singh, Oscar Cowan and Payton Nobilo. Well done to these students who navigated the real-world requirements needed for a part time job. They all committed to the 8 weeks required and turned up on time for the pre-game briefings. They gave back to our community as their help enabled younger students to keep playing netball.
If you have a 2024 Year 7 or 8 student who hasn’t talked to me already and wants to be involved in netball umpiring, please email me on sport@balmoral.school.nz
Basketball Term 1 2024
The sign up form is live if you would like your 2024 Year 5-8 child to enter the basketball league. We have 3 teams entered into the competition, Y5/6, Y7 and Y8. More can be entered if needed. We are looking forward to supporting and growing this sport at Balmoral in the 2024 season.
https://www.balmoral.school.nz/basketball
Flippa Ball Term 4, 2023
We entered 4 Balmoral School teams into the Atlantis Flippa Ball competition this term. We played for 8 weeks across 2 venues at Diocesan School and Epsom Girls Grammar School. Good luck to Balmoral School Hapuka and Balmoral School Narwhals who are both playing off for first place in their grades on Sunday.
Narwhals (Year 4)
The Balmoral Narwhals had a great term 4, capping off a fun year. They bring such wonderful determination and enthusiasm to every game they play. And with each game, the skills and the team work just get better and better. Thanks to Meredith for all the organisation, and to the loyal band of Narwhals supporters (the Narwhalytes?) - there can often be quite a crowd there on a Sunday. Thanks most of all to the Narwhals themselves.
Gareth
Coach & Manager: Gareth Kayes
Trevally (Year 4/5)
The Trevally Flippa Ball Team has had a wonderful season filled with lots of lessons and tons of fun! We wrapped up the season with a culmination of wins which typified our season of learning. Our players showed marked improvement and resilience throughout, and did so with plenty of smiles on faces.
The highlight for all the parents was the remarkable improvement in the kid’s skills, demonstrating determination and great sportsmanship. The season may not have been defined by victories on the scoreboard, but the growth and camaraderie among the team.
Every match was an opportunity for the Trevally team to learn, adapt, and enjoy the game. The positive spirit and enthusiasm displayed by our players, and supporters created an uplifting atmosphere that made game day special.
A big thanks to Meredith for organising everything, Simonne for managing, Gareth for running the practices, parents for supporting, and of course the kids for turning up and giving it their best!
Leigh
Coach: Leigh Foster
Manager: Simonne Elliot
Kingfish (Y5/6)
The Kingfish Flippaball team have enjoyed playing this term with a mix of wins and losses, always coming out of the pool with smiles on their faces. They are a resilient bunch of kids who won't let a loss get them down and have shown fantastic sportsmanship throughout the season. After playing together for a number of terms it's fantastic to see in just a term how much they have developed their skills and capabilities. We have been focused on playing in positions, looking around the pool for opportunities rather than doing everything yourself, working together as a team, and as always the number one rule - have fun while playing. You are able to see them helping one another out, communicating with each other and making decisions on the fly when things are not quite working. The team has been an absolute pleasure to coach on gameday.
It has also been great to see the parents' continued support of the children, the team have a great entourage of supporters at each game encouraging the team. Without our parents' continued support we wouldn't be able to play, so thank you parents!
Emma
Coach: Katie Wright
Manager: Emma Freeman
Hapuka (Y5/6)
Thanks to all the kids who have been part of the Balmoral Hapuka this year. The Hapuka have played all four terms this year, and have hugely improved their skills, communication and teamwork throughout the year. They have also scored a lot of goals - they are unbeaten so far this term and were top of their pool in Term 3. Best of luck in the final on Sunday Hapuka!
Katie
Coach & Manager: Katie Wright
Thanks to Alf, the caretaker, for prioritising getting the pool up and running for us each training morning.
A big thank you goes out to Gareth, Leigh and Katie for coaching our teams this term. Also thanks to Simonne and Emma for being team managers. We could not have entered the teams without your support.
Meredith Hughes
Sports League Coordinator
Balmoral School |Te kura o te Roto a Rangi
Flippa Ball Term 1 2024
The information for Term 1 Flippa Ball run through the Atlantis competition will be sent to me next week. Once I have received this, I will put the information on the Balmoral School website with a link through to registration. You will also receive an email if your child will be in Year 4-6 next year. I am pleased to announce that the Neptune Express pre game coaching will be available to our teams every term in 2024. This means the team coaching will be done by Atlantis before the games each Sunday.
Walking School Bus
After 2.5 years of being the Balmoral WSB coordinator, I need to step down due to a change in circumstances. I have absolutely loved my time as the coordinator; it is a fun and rewarding role.
We are now seeking an enthusiastic new coordinator to take over the reins. The role doesn't take up much time, and the school and AT provide fantastic support.
If you have any interest in taking over the coordinator role, please reach out to me at amykcampbell@gmail.com
The School Tuckshop
First Order for 2024: Wednesday 14th February 2024.
The Village Square Trust
Our holiday programme dates are:
Wednesday 20th December - Half day from 12:30 pm
21st - 22nd December
8th January to 2nd February
(We will run an extra day at your school on Monday 5th February if there is enough demand.)
We have a number of options to choose from including:
- Clubhouse (onsite activities)
- Adventure Seekers (day trips)
- On The Move (day trips for older kids and smaller groups)
Summer Holiday Programme bookings are live and enrolments are now open and can be found here: Enrolmy | The Village Square - Programmes for Children
Community News
