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Amesbury Drive School Blog / May 2012

June 2012 | April 2012
    • Harakeke Happenings in Term 2
      • We have been a busy hub in Harakeke so far this term! We have been focusing on:*Art - completing portraits either in Picasso style or using foreshortening (optical illusion making some parts of our body look closer than others) *Performance - for our official school opening all students took part in at least one performance, with most students being involved in several, including street dance, guitar, tuned percussion, Chinese dance, World Cafe maths, library activities, singing and many more! We also performed a wide variety of items for our school concert after the official opening.*Creative electives - choosing from a range of activities such as creating dioramas and print making*Language learning: Te Reo Maori and Mandarin*Developing our understanding and performance of our powhiri ceremony *Maths and literacy learning*Music - tuned percussion, singing*Learning conferences: all students spent between 30-45 minutes with one of the Harakeke teachers talking through their three matrices (maths, reading, writing). This discussion then led to the creation of a personal learning treaty (PLT) for each student, including a series of goals chosen by the student, using their matrices to identify their next learning steps. Students then talked through the matrices and their PLT with their parent/s, and these documents have been shared with students and parents so that they can be continually viewed and updated. Now that our art unveiling and school opening  ceremonies are behind us we can move into the more settled part of our term. The learning conferences and creation of PLTs have been extremely useful in helping to inform our planning for the rest of this term. Focus areas for Weeks 5-10:*Maths: Specific skills based work through workshops, Snappers and World Cafe Maths. For information on World Cafe Maths please see our Harakeke blog - scroll down a little way to find an explanation of it. Snapper maths involves short videos we are creating to explain specific skills. To view Snappers we have created thus far please see the ‘Snapper’ link at the top of our Harakeke blog. Our Snappers will not only be about maths skills, they will be created for all learning areas. We have just begun to create them, so there are only a few to begin with...watch this space! Maths will be personalised for all students with workshops, activities and snappers developed for groups of students needing specific instruction or skill development. We are currently spending time showing the students how to use their maths matrix and PLT to identify their next learning steps and then choose particular activities/websites/materials/textbooks to achieve their learning goal. Specific maths areas we will be focusing on: fractions, division and multiplication skills and strategies, problem posing and solving.Below is a collage of Snapper maths work: *Literacy: Matariki module - students are reading and analysing books and information about Matariki (Maori New Year). They share their learning in a variety of ways, including retelling the story orally and in written form. Students will then be researching a range of Maori legends explaining Matariki and presenting their learning in a variety of forms, culminating in a Harakeke video telling the story of Matariki, along with a range of legends. They will then be exploring and researching explanations of the Matariki stars from other countries and cultures. We are also developing our narrative writing skills, including giving and receiving feedback from peers. Students are practicing using their reading and writing matrices and their PLTs to ascertain the particular skills they need to focus on when reading and writing. Creative writing is also an ongoing task for all students. *Inquiry: Students are continuing with their inquiries from last term (such as creating lunch orders made for students by students, exploring 1-1 devices at school and ordering senior literacy resources). These inquiries will be completed by the end of Week 6, with proposals, where necessary, written and presented, and actions taken across the school. For Weeks 7-10 a variety of different inquiry work will then begin, including beginning a travel plan for the school (a group of students investigating how students travel to school, exploring how environmentally friendly our travel habits are to/from school and looking at any actions we can take to increase sustainable and environmentally friendly travel) and exploring our school and its features. Food tech: Amaria Picard will begin working with our school lunches inquiry group to start creating school lunches prepared and cooked by students one day a week. This module will include planning, costing, purchasing, storing and cooking the lunches. Amaria will work with this group for 5 weeks, and then she will start the same module with another group of students. All Yr 4-6 students will complete this food tech module with her by the end of the year.  *Active learners: We will continue to focus on students becoming active, self-directed learners through developing their understanding and use of their matrices and PLTs to inform their learning choices. All students will be directed to continually access and use their matrices to ensure their focus is on their next learning steps in reading, writing and maths. Every Friday students spend an hour reflecting on their learning, reviewing their PLT goals and identifying what they have done to achieve their learning goals. They are also asked to inform teachers of the workshops, Snappers or 1-1 guidance they now need to achieve their learning goals.
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    • Attendance at school (part 2)
      • Legal requirements: Did you know?Did you know that the Education Act 1989 says that all children enrolled at a school must attend school whenever that school is open?Did you know that the Board of Trustees is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that students do attend school whenever it is open?Did you know that every parent of a child who is not at school without a good reason, commits an offence and can be convicted and fined?Did you know that just because parents have provided an explanation to the school for their child’s absence, that does not mean it is a justified absence? The principal is required to make decisions about whether an absence is really justified.What are good reasons for a student being absent?• Illness (a medical certificate should be provided if child is away longer than a week)• Bereavement• Medical appointments• Class tripsMany schools do not consider family trips or holidays or even overseas trips as good reasons for being absent from school. You should discuss such trips with the school principal prior to going. Attendance procedures next....
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    • Board of Trustees Election Results
      • Amesbury School Board of Trustees Election 14 May 2012Parent Representative Results Candidate Name Number of Votes John Bunting 24 Steve Dunbar 36 Roger Ellis 29 Kelly Harlen WITHDRAWN Melinda Jones 15 Simon Law 22 Nigel Schofield Matthews 17 Lorraine Walmsley 31 David Waters 39 I hereby declare the following duly elected; John Bunting Steve Dunbar Roger Ellis Lorraine Walmsley David Waters Staff Representative Result As there was only one candidate for the available position, I hereby declare Angela Johnston elected as the staff representative on the Amesbury School Board of Trustees Gail GreensladeReturning Officer 
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