‘ Toiora te tangata’ – Healthy seas, healthy people
Kia Ora, Nǐ hǎo, Greetings,
A special welcome to our new students and their families who have started with us recently: Hailey Yan and Ryan Stone.
I hope you all have the Family Fun Night marked in your diaries. The PTA have worked hard to pull together a great sounding evening, with something for everyone. Thank you to all of the parents who are working to pull this evening together from buying and wrapping lucky dips, to planning and cooking ethnic cuisine. We are so lucky to have such a supportive community, and look forward to seeing you next Friday.
Cultural assembly
Now that we have most student’s photo permission forms back, we can share a Google Slideshow from our cultural assembly. Thanks to Faye Chilvers for pulling the photos together.
Student report feedback
As I mentioned in previous newsletters, the government has removed National Standards as a measure. We will continue to report student progress and achievement, however instead of using the National Standard terms of well below, below, at and above, we will be reporting progress and achievement using the New Zealand curriculum levels. Before we redesign written reports, we would like parent feedback. Please click on the link below to contribute.
Is your child getting enough sleep?
How does sleep affect learning?
For all of us, memory and learning are consolidated during sleep. Neuroscientist Dr Frances Jensen explains ‘Bedtime isn’t simply a way for the body to relax and recoup after a hard day working, studying or playing. It’s the glue that allows us not only to recollect our experiences but also to remember everything we’ve learned that day.”
Not only does sleep strengthen learning and memories – it also has the ability to prioritise memories by breaking them up and organising them according to their emotional importance. Essentially the more you learn, the more you need to sleep, which is why a good sleep is critical in achieving success at school.
How much sleep do we need?
There is no magic number for exactly how much sleep we need, but the Australian Centre for Education in Sleep (ACES) suggests the following as a guide:
Primary school: 10-12 hours per day
High school adolescents: 8-10 hours per day
Adults: 7-9 hours per day
(Sophia Gardener, 2016)
A message from the NZEI
You may be aware of the nationwide NZEI Te Riu Roa teacher union meetings that are being held over this and next week for primary and area school principals and teachers.
Staff from our school who are NZEI members will be attending these meetings to discuss solutions vital to addressing the growing crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers. There has been a 40% drop in the number of people going into teacher training in just the past six years.
Without bold interventions, we could see class sizes growing rapidly over the next few years.
With teachers and principals throughout the country, NZEI members at our school will be discussing a number of initiatives to ensure quality teaching for every child and how to make teaching attractive and sustainable as a career. These include:
- Reduced class sizes in year 4-8 (From 1 teacher to 29 students down 1 to 25)
- Funding for a special needs coordinator in every school, to meet the needs of every child and free up classroom teachers to teach
- A significant pay jolt to encourage new people to enter the profession and stay in it. Along with reduced numbers entering teacher training, a large number of teachers leave the profession within five years of graduating.
Children need teachers with enough time to teach so they can give each child the attention they deserve, and children need talented and inspiring people to be attracted to teaching. Children are missing out on some opportunities to learn because teachers are bogged down in administration or are struggling to get enough support for children with additional learning needs.
The meeting schedule has been planned so that teachers and principals across the country can work out the best meetings for them to attend, including the option of groups of teachers attending meetings at different times. This is to help reduce disruption to teaching programmes, children and parents.
Our children deserve the best education in the world, and New Zealand can afford to provide it. It’s just a matter of priorities.
We value your support for this important issue.
Year 5 Red Beach Day
Last Friday the Year 5 students travelled to Red Beach for a Surf Safety learning day. It was a magnificent day with warm temperatures and enjoyed by all. We left school at 7:30 in the morning and arrived back at 4:30.
The Lifeguards at the club taught the students to recognise rips, the work they do rescuing people and how they can keep safe in the water. Activities in the classroom were followed by time on the beach learning to use flotation devices and other equipment to help save someone in trouble in the water.
Thank you to all the parents who accompanied us. You were invaluable in the water to ensure all swimmers were safe. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as the students.
Beach Clean up writing
Beach Clean Up
It was very windy down at Eastern Beach, the whole school was picking up rubbish and the wind kept on flying past us like a shooting arrow. Me and Gabby could hear the waves tumbling as they hit the warm beach. There were heaps of mangrove seeds, and me and Gabby started making holes in the sand then we put the mangrove seeds in the holes and covered them with sand. In fact I was so busy planting mangrove seeds that I missed a really good photo and even Gabby stopped planting mangroves and she went in the photo too. I was very annoyed with myself and even a little bit sad.
Megan Room 12
The Windy Clean Up
As a tornado burst from the air we all picked up rubbish. Some people picked up nothing and some picked lots of rubbish. We went to Eastern Beach
Luke F Room 12
On March 2nd I was at the beach clean up. I was picking up some glass. I did not like that there was lots of glass. I did not see lots of rubbish. I saw kids making a stick fort. Then the wind was like a tornado. I could not stay on my feet. Then I got a stick to use so I can find rubbish. I saw my friend, my friend had a stick like me. I think I got specks of glass. I forgot to tell you that my mum was there. I like to pick up rubbish. I liked the shells. I found a shell that looks like gold. Then we went back to school. On the way back to school I thought about the beach clean up.
Nathan Room 12
When we were walking down the noisy footpath I could hear the thundering waves crashing down. When we got to the dairy we had to cross the road to the other side. When we got on the beach we got one glove and a rubbish bag and then we started to look for rubbish. I found a big fat, floppy nappy in the seaweed. It was gross. While I was picking up rubbish other people were playing. When the seniors came by they were very noisy. I mostly found straws and plastic. I was in Jessica’s mum’s group. We nearly filled a quarter of a rubbish bag. After we picked up rubbish we all walked back along the beach and along the noisy foot path. When we got back to school I saw a Tip Top van. I was so excited to have a Tip Top ice-block.
India Room 12
PTA News
Position Filled – we would like to introduce to you our new PTA Chairperson – Clare Tan. Clare currently has three girls at BBPS (and one more to come!) and is looking forward to becoming more involved in our school community as her children come of age. Welcome Clare!
Enviro News
Read the great writing from Room 12 about our amazing community effort to care and clean our local Eastern Beach. So far the Enviro Team have audited and sorted only 1 of the 12 bags of rubbish which we found and the results show a dramatic reduction of waste. In 2017 we had 27 glass bottles and this year, we found only 4! We also noticed that there were a lot less cigarette butts this year which is another noticeable improvement. Unfortunately, small items such as plastic bottle caps and small toys have increased. Thank you to the Local Half Moon Bay Rotary Club for their support.
“We hope to continue to keep our shared partnerships as an Enviroschool, and encourage the community and students to commit to ongoing community actions, which make a difference to our environment,” The school Enviro Leaders.
Thank you to Andy Wilgermein, Irena Giles, Steve Udy, Glenn Campbell,Terry Daniell and his team of Rotary volunteers who surprised the students by supplying a Tip Top Ice Block for every child! The leaders then asked the question, “what shall we do with the wooden ice block sticks and rubbish? “
Kind regards
Kelly Slater-Brown
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