30 August 2007

From the Principal

Dear parents/caregivers

We are having a wonderful week at school.  All the Year 1 classes have been to Ambury Farm and have enjoyed a very special farm experience.  Thank you to the parents and other family members who assisted with supervision.  The children were very excited about the visit and we are about to see some outstanding art and writing as a result. I understand that lots of lovely lambs and other baby animals added to the enjoyment.

Each year the City of Manukau Education Trust organises an event called “Principal for a Day” and  today we have hosted Brent Impey, the CEO of Canwest Media as our principal for the day.  Brent, a former student of our school, was the guest speaker at our jubilee in March and he expressed an interest in coming back to spend a day with us.  He has attended our regular property and leadership team meetings and enjoyed a special assembly, lunch with the BoT, and a fantastic time in our lovely classrooms.  We really enjoyed hosting him for the day.  He was a very gracious guest at our school.

School Production

The children are very busy practising their contribution to our school wide production to which you are all invited.  There is great excitement around the place.  It is going to be amazing and we hope that you will all be able to come along to one of the performances the week after next.  We are looking forward to seeing you here.

ERO report

Included in today’s newsletter is a brief summary for you of our ERO report from the Education  Review Office. The Review Office likes to provide each school’s community with a personal summary of the report.  As you know, our review was completed in May of this year and we were extremely pleased with the report as I am sure you will be.  The most pleasing aspects include the excellent support that the BoT gives to the school, the good progress that students are making at our school and the teachers’ focus on improving student learning. The complete report is available on our website and on ERO’s website.  We are all very proud of it.

I hope that you all have a great weekend and that you are able to get out and enjoy the fresh air and early spring sunshine.  We are highly organised here at school to support the All Blacks at the World Cup.  All staff are members of a supporter’s team for each of the teams in the competition and we have a number of activities planned throughout the tournament to hopefully celebrate the success of the All Blacks.  It is going to be a wonderful tournament with lots of national pride at stake, for sure.

Kind regards

Marilyn Gwilliam
Principal


General Notices

Welcome to our New Students: Papatoetoe Central School welcomes the following new students to our school – Anna & Victoria Yang, Jasdeep Shergill, Anzac Warwood and Wikitoria Thompson.

Assembly Day:  On Friday, 31 August assembly will be run by Room 05.  As always you are most welcome to attend but please make sure that you are seated by 1.15pm.  The Chess certificates and medals will be presented at this assembly.

Class visits to St Christopher's Residential Home:  This Monday, 3 September (weather permitting) at 1.30pm, Room 05 will be visiting St Christopher's Hospital.

Road Safety Fact:  Wet days mean more traffic and less visibility. Extra care and patience is needed. Use your lights, bring an umbrella and be prepared to walk further than usual to pick up your child. It is better to catch a cold than to collect a car.

Daffodil Day:  We will be raising money for the Cancer Society on Friday, 31 August. Children who bring in a gold coin may come in mufti. $2.00 will buy a daffodil and $1.00 will buy a tattoo. Please help us support this very worthy charity.

Out of Zone Ballot:  The Board has decided to conduct a ballot for out of zone new entrant, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 students due to start in 2008. The ballot will be conducted on Tuesday 18 September 2007.  Please note that priority is given to siblings of students already attending our school.  This is not an automatic right and you must apply on the appropriate form which will be available at the school office from Monday 13 August 2007.  Please ensure that you have your application in on time.  Applications close on Friday, 7 September 2007.

Event Date:  Papatoetoe Gymnastics Zones Competition is on Tuesday, 18 September. Venue - Gym City (Papatoetoe Gym Club), 91 Cambridge Terrace, Papatoetoe.
Year 4s start at 9.30am        Year 5s start at 11.00am            Year 6s start at 1.00pm
We will be using the school van to transport the children to the venue, when it's their turn to compete.

Spellathon:  Students will all have their Spellathon forms at home now.  Please assist them with their spelling learning and with collecting sponsors.  Our Spellathon fundraising this year is going towards our Laptops in Classrooms project.  These are also known as COWS – Computers On Wheels, where sets of laptop computers are housed in specially made trolleys that can be moved from classroom to classroom as and when they are required for the students to use.  We look forward to your continued support for our Spellathon.    



Community Notices

Taita College 50th Jubilee:  19-21 October 2007 (Labour Weekend).  Information available from www.taita.school.nz  Registrations are coming in thick and fast so take the opportunity to catch up with some old mates.  Download your registration form today and send in with your payment.  7.30 -11.30pm Friday night Mix ‘n mingle in the school hall,  6pm -12 midnight Dine & Dance at the Duxton on Saturday night.  School based activities (including photos) on the Saturday.  Sunday - more sedate activities and rest!  Any queries please email reunion@taita.school.nz

Children’s Art Classes:  These are held at Children’s Art School, Creative & Visual Arts Dpt, University of Auckland, Faculty of Education, Epsom.  Holiday classes Sept/Oct.  Term 4 classes begins Saturday, 13 October.  For a brochure or further information phone 6238858.