16 June 2023

Week 8 Term 2

Greetings, Kia Ora, Tālofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Kia Orāna, Mauri,

Dear Parents / Caregivers,

As we head to the last two weeks of term we are seeing some tired children. Please ensure that your children get to bed early, especially over these next few weeks. This makes our job much easier and will help to ensure a positive end of term for all.

New and Pre Enrolments 2024 - Have you registered with us ?

Please go to the school website (www.queenspark.school.nz) and click on the 'Enrolments' section if you have not yet registered your preschool child for the 2024 school year.

It is important for us to receive these enrolment details asap as it is vital information that we need for staffing and class planning for next year. We are already preparing for the coming year so if you are aware of new families coming our way we would appreciate it if you could let us know in advance.

Leap (Learning to Excel through Arts Performance)

Congratulations to the children who took part in yesterday's LEAP. Everyone did well. Performing in front of an audience is not easy. We admired all the children as they stepped up and gave this a go. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

Firefighters visit the YR2/3 team:

The Year 2 and 3 teams have been working on a 'Get Firewise' unit. The students have learned some fire-safe behaviours.

Today the Firefighters visited us at school with their fire engine and we practised getting out of the room FAST. "Get down, get low, get out FAST!"

The Firefighters asked us if we knew our address and city in case we needed to call 111. Please help your child/children learn their house number and street address. Your child will be bringing home the Get Firewise Family book along with a Safe Meeting Place sticker. We encourage you to read the story with your whānau, watch the videos and get everyone involved in making your home fire safe.

Canterbury Primary Schools Gymnastics Competition

This week 26 children represented Queenspark School at the Canterbury Primary Schools Artistic Gymnastics Competition. They competed in Grades 1 & 2, Iron, Bronze, Silver and competitive levels. Around 200 children competed on the day from as far as Ashburton and Hokitika. All of our gymnasts had an awesome day, performed their well practiced routines to a personal best level and represented our school with pride.

Grade 1 Results

1ST TEAM OVERALL !

Marina Shaw-4th Floor, 3rd beam, 1st Vault & 1st Overall

Katie VanArendonk-3rd Vault, 1st Beam and 2nd= Overall

Heidi Tarr-4th Bar, 2nd Vault & Beam and 2nd= Overall

Skyla Robertson-3rd Floor

Grade 2 Results

1ST TEAM OVERALL (Blue) !

Kate Parker-1st Vault & Beam, 2nd Bar, 4th Floor and 1st Overall

Sophie Davis-1st Bar, 2nd Beam & Floor and 2nd Overall

Millie Boyte- 5th Bar and 6th Overall

4TH TEAM OVERALL (Gold) !

Daniella Calderone- Best Score 9.1/10

Niyati Gupta- Best Score 9/10

Zoe Williams- Best Score 9.1/10

Boys Level 2 Individual Results

Jack Burnside - 2nd Rings, 3rd Floor, 5th Vault and 3rd Overall

Robbie Anderson - 5th Floor

Iron Results

1ST TEAM OVERALL (Yellow) !

Josie Musson-1st Floor, 2nd Beam and 2nd Overall

Jessica Collier-3rd Beam and Floor

Sophie Shawe-2nd Bar

Chloe Douglas- Best Score

2ND TEAM OVERALL (Blue) !

Torah Ilott-1st Beam and 4th Overall

Charlie Douglas-5th Floor

Iliana Lee- Best Score 9.6/10

Bronze Results

1ST TEAM OVERALL !

Milly Tucker-3rd Floor, 5th Vault and Bar and 3rd Overall

Leah Ross-1st Bar

Libby Overend-3rd Vault

Amelia Haughie-4th Overall

SIlver Results

3RD TEAM OVERALL !

Maddie Campbell-Bird-2nd Floor, 5th Bar and 3rd Overall

Lilly Armitage-4th Floor

Angelique Ayloff- Best Score 9.3/10

Our results were OUTSTANDING! Congratulations to you all for your hard mahi and focus - ka pai!

Matariki Open Afternoon Friday 30 June

Titoro Whakamuri Kōkiri Whakamua

On the last day of term we are inviting you to come along and celebrate Matariki with our tamariki. Our akonga-learners have been learning about Matariki and the importance of this time of year for Māori and all New Zealanders. We will be opening our classrooms on the last day of Term 2 (Friday 30th June) for family members to come along and celebrate with us.

Order of events:

12.30 - 1pm Meet in the Hall - Te Taumatua for waiata and Kapa Haka performances

1-1.30pm - Shared kai in classrooms (children are asked to please bring a plate of food for shared kai).

1.30-3pm - Parents are welcome to stay in classrooms to see what activities children have been working on and share in Matariki activities.

Culture zoom lessons with Chinese Classes:

Beginning within the first few weeks of term 2 this year, Ngahere Inch went on a zoom call with a class all the way in Guangdong Province, China! On the first call we met with students from Chengdong Primary and Hub 3 showed them how to make ‘flax kete’ (flax baskets Maori used to create) using paper with the assistance of a translator to interpret Chinese and English for both of our classes. The woman translating also helped when Ngahere Inch asked questions, as well as answer questions from Chengdong Primary!

And on the second call we had a few weeks later, we were introduced to another school in China; Aojiang Primary School. The set up was similar to the first time, but instead of us demonstrating how to create something Aojiang Primary was teaching us how to do ‘Chinese paper cutting’. An art process that was similar to cutting snowflakes out of paper. Multiple designs were created and it was overall an experience of plenty fun and learning!

Written by Gratia (Ngahere Inch)

New School Fence:

As you may have seen we are making good progress with the school fencing project.  Thank you for your patience while the contractors are on site.  For the children's safety we have had limited access to our play areas. We look forward to this project being completed and the children having full access to the fields and courts once again.

Have a great weekend - Go the Crusaders 

Ngā mihi

Ross Willocks

Principal

Queenspark School - Te Hua Mānuka