Balmoral School Newsletter - 26 July 2024

Upcoming Events

Principal

Kia ora e te whānau

It has been lovely returning to school after my sabbatical last term The term started off with our wonderful whakatau and then a PTA meeting on Tuesday night. It was great to reconnect with the community.

I do thank the Board and the Ministry of Education for their support during this time away from school. 

A special thank you also to Katy, Jacqui, and Dan, who stepped up so capably into the roles left by Trish Cullen and me. Thanks also to the Whanau Leaders and the rest of the Balmoral team, who also took on a number of additional tasks in our absence. 

We appreciate the ability to step back and reflect on our school and what we do. I had the opportunity to reflect on our school-wide data through standardised tests (PAT), which show continuing high levels of achievement. Our attendance data is also very good (except for families taking holidays in term time).  

One thing often forgotten about in New Zealand curriculum is the importance of the Arts.  We need to make a huge effort to support the Arts.

The citizens and local and national governments valued the arts in numerous countries I visited. Interestingly, the arts are critical eyes in society, interpreting societal norms and events. From the artists in the Tate Gallery, who depicted the 1980s and 1990s, Judy Chicago at the Serpentine Gallery, the photographers at the Foam Gallery in Amsterdam, and the street art in Oaxaca, Mexico. All these artists interpreted what was happening in their societies at a point in time and helped to show insight into these worlds or offer a different or suppressed point of view. 

We value the Arts and we will be hosting our own art festival later this term. I ask you to take a moment to visit and observe your child's creativity and critical interpretation of their world. 

Nga mihi

Malcolm

Hello Balmoral School community!

Our Bars for books fundraiser is nearing the end and going well.  Thank you for all your efforts to date, and all the donations, they are really appreciated!  

On the last day of term it was exciting to present a $50 Westfield voucher to an individual who had sold 2 or more boxes (and deposited the $) by the 26/06, and 4 x $25 Westfield voucher spot prizes, 2 for intermediate and 2 for primary.  

We are about to draw the next 4 x $25 Westfield voucher spot prizes (2 for primary and 2 for intermediate). To be in the draw all you need to have done is sold one box of chocolates and deposited the money by Friday the 2nd of August!

The last day to collect more boxes to sell will be Tuesday the 6th of August, until then one of the PTA Chocolate-team will continue to be in the office on Tuesdays and Fridays after school.

The Bars for Books fundraiser will end on Friday the 9th of August, so please do your best to sell your remaining chocolates and please deposit the $75 per box either:

- in an envelope into one of the PTA boxes in the reception area; or 

- electronically, into the PTA account, details as follows:

Balmoral School PTA: 06-0145-0226748-00
Particulars: Chocolate Code: (Student Name) Ref: (Room Number)

If you have been unable to sell your chocolates by the 9th, please bring the remaining chocolates back to the Office, and deposit the proceeds you have been able to collect as per the options above.  

Just to remind you of the final prizes in store - we have changed it up this year to reward more of those who put in heaps of effort, as follows:

Primary: 

• Top seller $100 Westfield voucher 
• Second-place $50 Westfield voucher
• Third-place $25 Westfield voucher

Intermediate:

• Top seller $100 Westfield voucher 
• Second-place $50 Westfield voucher
• Third-place $25 Westfield voucher

These prizes will be awarded at the first intermediate and primary assemblies held after the 9th of August.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email balmoralschoolchocolates@gmail.com.

Thank you all again for your efforts and support.

Ngā mihi

Your Balmoral School PTA

Hub Water Damage

On Wednesday morning, at 5:30 a.m., a heating water pipe broke in the ceiling of Hub 14. Hot water caused damage to the ceiling panels, fire alarms, electrical circuits and walls. The area has been made safe and we are waiting for the Ministry of Education Emergency Response team to visit and advise about repairs. 

Hub 14 have been moved to Hub 7 for the time being. 

Primary School News

Inquiry learning in Hub 9 

Lexi Pearson Caden Warbey

At the beginning of the term we started to think about Tangaroa, who is the guardian of the ocean. We wondered where Tangaroa lived and if he lived deep down at the bottom of the ocean. We wondered what else might live deep down at the bottom of the ocean. We thought there might even be nothing down there at the bottom of the ocean as there is so much pressure so it is very hard to survive there. Did you know that the creatures at the bottom of the ocean, very deep, look very interesting and have very sharp teeth as they are predators? You don’t find coral or other creatures down there that you can easily eat so they have to rely on being able to catch their food. It is pitch black down there so some of the creatures make their own light by bioluminescence. The bioluminescence also helps them attract their prey. They wait for the prey to be lured close to their mouth and then they use their sharp teeth to catch and eat it. They have other special features to help them survive like big eyes to help them see in the dark, and the Anglerfish even has a highly extendable stomach that stretches allowing them to eat lots of food. We have been writing poems about the ocean, thinking about the number of syllables in words to help us create our poems. 

Ashton Marshall and Emma Wright

Within our learning about health we have been doing something called Movement, where we play games in groups with learners across the whole of Whetu. We play some games that are against each other and some games where we have to work together as a team. When we were playing a game of football it was challenging as the teams were not even. We had to work hard to try our best and help each other, and we realised that we were still learning to get better at football even though we didn’t win and we had lots of fun. We have been playing cooperative games to help us think about working as a team. It was easier to work in smaller teams than it was in bigger teams because there are less people to talk to. It’s important to try different ways to move so you can find something fun for you to do and you do need to let your energy out in a positive way. 

Intermediate School News

Inquiry in Hub 3

In Hub 3 last term the Inquiry focused on Rangitoto, and why it is such a special place in New Zealand. 

In 3A1 we were interested in the stories of Rangitoto, and decided that we would create our own taniwha using chalk, crayon and dye. To help design our taniwha we used a range of sources including books from the library and our own imaginations. Once the taniwha were complete we wrote our own stories of these beautiful creatures.

In 3A2 we studied the sea birds that live in and around Rangitoto. Each student researched a bird, including their habitat, diet and their conservation status. Once we had this information we made this into trading cards. Every trading card was different, and when they were all hung together on the wall, they all looked amazing, colourful, and unique.

In 3A3 we looked at the pohutukawa on Rangitoto, and found out that this is the only pohutukawa forest in New Zealand. We started by looking closely at the trees, and made lots of observational drawings of different parts of the tree, then used these to create pastel artworks. We liked that our pieces of art were very abstract by themselves and didn't look like much, but when they were all put together they made a beautiful piece of art. 

Choir

Being in the choir is an amazing experience for everyone that joined.

Lily and Abby our amazing choir teachers are one of the main reasons for this with their can do attitude and always there supporting us 

Together we have learned some great songs and have lots of fun singing them. We sang royals by Lorde and something in the water by Brook Fraser.

Lots of us were nervous to present but in the end I really enjoyed it and had a good laugh with my friends at the end. We will continue to sing at choir for the rest of the year and hopefully we can improve our singing and other skills.

By Neil Java, Leo Lauese, Haroop Benipal.

A BIG THANK YOU - from the Library!

Thanks to one of our wonderful mums who purchased 90 new books in Mandarin on our behalf.  We are very happy to have such a good range of quality books.  We have kept them all together in the language section. Thanks Ying!

感谢我们的一位妈妈为我们购买了 90 本中文新书。我们将它们全部放在语言部分。谢谢 Ying!

Community News