National Literacy and Numeracy Standards

I had the opportunity last week to listen to and be part of a forum surrounding the introduction of the proposed literacy and numeracy standards. At present, numeracy and lit standards will be in place from next year and will need to be reported on by schools from 2011. As well as feedback from schools and teachers, there is also the opportunity for parents to give feedback on how schools can best report progress of the proposed standards. You can check these out at

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/Consultation/NationalStandards/ConsultationPackParent.aspx

Nathan.

Puberty!!! (& homework)

The kids will be starting off Puberty in the next couple of days. A notice should have come home giving you information about the programme that the Year8 classes are running. If you have any concerns or queries, please feel free to get in touch with me.

During this term you may have noticed a lack of the homework sheet. I've been trying to make the homework relevant to what the kids are doing in during class time. One of their moans was that 'it has nothing to do with what we are doing at school', which I thought was a pretty fair observation. But they still should be organising their time in order to complete the tasks that they have been set. If you are wanting a homework sheet to be sent home then by all means, please touch base with me and I will be happy to provide one.

Mike Robbie got back from Auckland yesterday after being part of the schools kids lit team that competed in the national finals. They didn't quite manage to get up and win, but had a great time nonetheless. I will get Mike to post a report with photos in the next couple of days.

Nathan

Teacher Only Day (Friday)

Just a reminder that on Friday kids will be staying at home due to a Teacher Only day related to working around the new curriculum document.

Talking Business

Last Weds and Thurs mornings the kids had the pleasure of listening to Warren McKenzie (New World Windsor Manager) and Jo Jensen (Facemakers) discuss the ins and outs of running a business. The class got a bit of a reality check as they began to realise that owning a business doesn't give you a licence to print money!! :) Hopefully the advice that they recieved will stand them in good stead as they set about developing their own product/service over the next few weeks.

Thanks again to Warren and Jo for giving up their precious 'spare' time!! :)

Nathan

Young Leaders Day

On 25-5-09 9 school leaders and 2 teachers got into a school van and drove up to Dunedin for The Halogens Young Leaders Day.
The hosts were Chalie Pananpa and this other lady. The speakers were a journalist, Justin Jones, Alison Shanks, 2 Highlanders including Stephen Stephoniao and Alando. The last speaker was Nick Tuitasi.
These people talked us about leadership and what it takes to be a leader.
It was a fun day and we all enjoyed it.

Cameron and Kristy

X-Country and Upcoming Parent Visits!!

Thankfully the weather played its part today and we managed to get the x-country out of the way for another year. It was great to see all of the class getting involved and while we didn't get any major placings, I'm sure the kids enjoyed it more than an afternoon in class!! :) I'll get some photos up when they become available.......

Thanks to Warren McKenzie and Jo Jensen who are coming into the class this week to share their wealth of business knowledge with the kids. We really appreciate the time that they are giving up and the kids have got a heap of questions that they are going to ask. One of the questions that we have at the ready for Jo is "how many men do you get in to shave their legs....??" Could be an interesting morning!! :) Report to follow...!

Hi all,

Due to the fact that we do now live in the 21st century(!) and that there are now a number of ways to communicate, I thought that it might be a good idea to set up a blog for the class where the kids and share their school experiences and things that have been happening. I am also in the process of trying to set up an email exchange with overseas classrooms, with the goal of continuing to broaden the kids horizons (and mine) and get them interested in what is happening outside of their little bubble :)

We shall see how things pan out......!!!

Nathan.