Relationships – Whanaungatanga, Resilience – Manawaroa, 

Respect – Manaakitanga, Responsibility – Tiaki

 

A community of agile and collaborative learners – Proud of who we are, empowered to make a difference

 

Dear Parents

Welcome to the new school year!  We hope your child has enjoyed getting to know their new teacher and classmates.

Our senior school  team teachers for this year are:

Room 1    Ms Redpath (Team Leader)  Year 6 jillian@bbps.school.nz

Room 2     Mrs McIntosh  Year 5/4 l.mcintosh@bbps.school.nz

Room 3     Mrs Chilvers  Year 5 faye@bbps.school.nz

Room 4     Mrs Millinchip Year 5 robyn@bbps.school.nz

Room 18  Mr Chamberlain Year 6 nick@bbps.school.nz

Room 19  Ms Jochimsen (Ms J) Year 6 k.jochimsen@bbps.school.nz

 

Meet the Teacher

These are scheduled for Monday 22nd February at 6:30pm. Please go to your child’s classroom and their teacher will outline their class for the year. Should you require an additional one-on-one meeting with your child’s teacher, please email them to range a convenient time.

Project Based Learning in the Senior School

During this term we will be investigating Hauora/Well-being. This is a Maori belief about Health. Hauora is made up of five areas; physical, social, mental and emotional & spiritual, belonging well-being. All of these areas work together and overlap with each other to form total well-being in a personal’s life. Areas of Hauora: (There are 5 Dimensions): Whenua well-being- knowing our roots; Spiritual well-being (taha wairua) – the sense of purpose a person has in their life the values and beliefs they live by); Physical well-being (taha tinana) – a person’s body, growing up, how they care and maintain their body; Mental and Emotional well-being (taha hinengaro) – expressing thoughts and feelings in a honest positive way, maintaining control over thoughts and emotions; Social well-being (taha whanau) – amount of connection a person has with others. This can include being part of a family or social group that shows care and concern for each other.

The Life Education van will be at school during week 7 and 8 to support us with this learning. more information regarding attendance and costs will follow.

As a senior team we will be investigating how our school caters to the different pillars of health. We will be particularly looking at a project of new things that can be added to our playground to support mental/emotional health, particularly for those children who need  quiet, non-physical activities.

Whānau Leadership Day

Once our Whanau Leaders for 2021 are named, they will attend a leadership training session on the 25th February, learning about the habits of highly effective leaders.

Student Council

Last year our Student Council was instrumental in creating a student voice in our school. The students had many great ideas and took part in supporting change. This year we will continue to have a nominated representative from each class, to share ideas about school issues. Those students who are Whānau leaders and Enviro leaders will also take an active part in Student Council meetings.

Howick Rotary Fun Run

The Howick Rotary Fun Run is scheduled for Sunday 28th March. 

EOTC – Year 6 Camp 

Unfortunately the year 6 camp was scheduled for this week.  We will be arranging an alternative date 17th-21st May.

Special thanks to the flexibility of the parents who were going to attend this camp and to the Year 6 teachers who have already put a lot of time into the preparation.

EOTC – Beach Ed

The Year Fives had a fantastic Beach and Surf Safety day on Friday with lots of learning and glorious weather.  Thank you to all the parents who supported us on this day.

Physical Education- Swimming

All students must bring their swimming suits to school on their swimming days or a note to explain why they are not swimming.  We have many students in the Senior School who need a lot of practice learning skills in the water. This is part of our school curriculum and is a necessary skill for living safely in NZ. Please support your child with this organisation as we have some children who have not been in the pool to date.

A Senior School Competitive Swimming Sports will be held at Howick Intermediate on Friday 26th February (with a saving day on the 1st March).  This competition is for those students who can confidently swim a length of the Howick Intermediate Pool.  On this day students involved will need to be at school by 8:30 am so we get an early start before the day gets too hot. We would appreciate parent help on this day – please indicate on the permission form below if you are able to support, or talk to Mr Chamberlain. Children who do well in these races will go on to compete in the Interschool competitive races on Thursday 11th March. A trial will be run for Year 6 students who would like to be considered for the Curry Cup – the date will be decided when we are out of lockdown. 

For those students who are not confident swimmers, they will take part in a Non-Competitive Swimming Sports event. Students in these races will not go to the Howick pools, but will remain at school for a fun day of non-competitive races.  Your child will be informed which swimming sports they are attending.  This will be held on the same day the students go to the Howick Pool.  The school also offers swimming lessons at school during lunch times for our less confident swimmers.

Cricket

On Tuesday 2nd March we have a cricket day for our Inter-school team at Lloyd Elsmore and a second follow up day

 on the 17th March. Trials for this inter-school cricket team have been completed. The trials for the inter-school girls 

cricket team are about to begin. At this stage BBPS will be attending two days for the inter-school team, and we are 

waiting for the date for the girls team. This year the squads will be coached by Mr Duncan and Mrs Patel.

Softball

Mrs Howie is again coordinating the BBPS Softball team to represent the school at the HPPA Softball Day on the 

8th March at Meadowlands. Sign-up for the team has already begun and she will be coaching those selected over 

the next two weeks so they’re match ready on the day.

Rotary Fun Day

This day is scheduled for Friday 26th March and will involve some Senior School students.

Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD)

The Senior School has been using Apple iPad, Apple Minis and Chromebooks. If your child has an Apple Mini we also 

suggest they have a keyboard. It is important that devices are named and charged before they are brought to school 

each day.  All students have given passwords to allow them access to the school internet and their class dashboard. 

Please note that internet access is turned off at 3pm each day. All students should now have returned a signed 

BYOD agreement, which we need before access is given to the internet.. The E-Learning Apps can be found on the school 

website on the E-Learning Guidelines newsletter.

Home Learning

If you wish to  take the opportunity to support your child’s learning at home we suggest: 20 – 30 minutes per night. We recognise that our students have clubs after school so Home Learning is assigned for the week to fit your timetable.  If you have your own activities going on out of school, or prefer your child didn’t do Home Learning, please email your child’s teacher and let them know.

Word Study – there will be a weekly focus on a spelling pattern/rule linked to goals ready for use in dictation or partner testing towards the end of every week. Please discuss word meanings and use with your child.

All students need to be reading regularly at home. This could be reading independently or might involve sharing a book with a sibling. Even looking at the writing techniques in a sophisticated picture book can still be a rich literary experience. If your child is reading independently, it would be good to check their comprehension occasionally by asking them questions to do with the text and vocabulary. The children are also able to subscribe to an online book store called EPIC. We recommend you trial this at https://www.getepic.com/promo . This is free to schools, but not for home use.

It is important to keep up with current affairs and search for information related to our Project Based Learning topics,  we will use the Kiwi Kids site. www.kiwikidsnews.co.nz

The Senior School will this year use MathsBuddy online as their Maths home learning (this is optional but highly recommended as we use this in Lockdowns and this programme has videos to support the learning which are also helpful to parents). MathsBuddy gives flexibility for the children to work on their own individual needs and at their own pace. If you would like your child to access MathsBuddy, the cost is $30 for the year and can be paid for on the School shop (Kindo) on the School website.  If you choose for your child to access MathsBuddy, we ask you to factor this into their homework time. Short and regular visits to the site are best.

Playing multiplication games to increase their fluency so that they can be applied in other areas of maths and problem solving is encouraged.  www.nzmaths.co.nz/families – Is a specific site on the NZ maths curriculum designed for home learning.

Some children may be keen to improve their keyboard skills – see Dance Mat Typing

Lunch Boxes/Drink Bottles

School lunches can be ordered on the school website on Thursdays and Fridays.  As the first term is always very hot we encourage all children to have a named water bottle in class.  It is also helpful if all lunch boxes are named as these sometimes get left outside the classroom. As part of our enviro ethos, we encourage wrapper free (nude) food in lunch boxes.

Library Bags

Students need their named school library bag at school on their classes library day.  If you need to purchase a new library bag these are available from the school library for $5.00. 

Year 6 Puberty Talk

A year 6 girls puberty talk has been scheduled for our girls on the 9th March at 7pm. Parents will be invited to a short meeting prior to this to be informed as to what is covered.

Senior School Reminders

  • Hats must be worn outside this term to be Sun Smart – No Hat, No Play. The hat must be a bucket hat not a cap.
  • Hair that touches the shoulder must be tied up for health and safety purposes.
  • Uniform items, hats, drink bottles are to be named with a permanent marker
  • No jewellery is to be worn (only plain studs in pierced ears are allowed and wrist watches)
  • Please leave toys, collectables and trading cards at home to enjoy. We cannot be responsible for any loss or damage of personal items brought to school. (Cell phones must be left in the office and collected at the end of the day.  It is only be used after school hours.)

Rubik’s Cubes are allowed

  • Due to food allergies, it is school policy that children do not bring food treats to school for the other students, including birthday lollies/cake.
  • Please don’t forget we have an Easter break Friday 2nd- 6th April

Please note for student safety, if your child is sick, late or absent for the day it is important you phone the school office on 534-6543 or go onto the school website and click on ‘Report an Absence’ to send an email to the office, by 8.50 am. Our office staff follow up students who are unaccounted for.

Thanks for your support with this.

We look forward to seeing you at the Meet the Teacher evening.  If you have any other queries please contact Jillian Redpath (Team Leader).

Regards

 

The Senior School Teachers

Please remember the school calendar and this newsletter can be viewed on the school website

 

    

 

            Senior School Term 1 2020 Permission and Payment Form

 

  I give permission for my child _____________________________  of Room  ____ to attend the following: 

       Senior Swimming Sports at Howick Intermediate ( if selected) and to travel by bus. Yes / No – No Charge

    Payment can be paid on the school website using Kindo, or at the school office (not Hero)

    Maths Buddy Home Learning              (Y5/Y6)                          $30.00
                                                                                                          __________

                                                                                  Total                  $ 30.00              Total                           

                                                                                                           __________                                                                                                                  

I am available to help at the Senior School Swimming sports at Howick Intermediate Yes / No

I am available to help at the Senior School Non Competitive Swimming day at BBPS Yes / No

I would like to attend the Year 6 puberty evening for parents (9th March) Yes / No

(This talk is about girls puberty only)

 

Name _______________________________________

 

Signed ________________________________________             Date  ________________