Message from the Principal
Messages from Tony Mabin (Acting Principal):
Dear Parents /Caregivers,
Term 3 has started well and the children are busy. This is generally a term with lots on including increased sporting and cultural activities. The weather is always up and down - although with the visable pollen in the air lately, Spring may not be too far away!
Please make sure children are getting enough sleep. This is important in order for them to concentrate well during school time. Device time should be kept to a minimum and eating right is very important.
Fair 2017: We wish to send a huge Thank You to Kerri, Kate, Julie and the PTA Fair Team for all the work they did raising money at our last fair. The money raised allowed us to purchase black-out curtains which are up in the hall and the special effect lighting system is now in place - just in time for this years Showcase, the senior Production and other great performances we have coming up. Thank you also... to our fantastic parent community for supporting the fair and getting behind our school. Without your help we would not be the great school we are!
Term 3 School Events so far: The first two weeks of term 3 have seen the arrival of the Korean and Chinese student goups, a special assembly held to host the Mayor of Christchurch Lianne Dalziel and entourage, Year 5/6 field trip to the Christchurch Art Gallery, Red and Black Day to support the Crusaders in the final, Learning Conferences (Wks 1 and 2), Winter Sports Tournament, the continuance of Rawhiti Sports and the continuance of the Aikido itinerant programme. Week 3 sees the beginning of Cycle Safety sessions put on by the CCC for Years 5/6, Tournament of Minds tournament training at STAC. We have loads on this term that's for sure!
International Students: On Monday 30 July (Week 2) we welcomed the following international students to our school: 20 Korean Students - 11-12 years of age placed in both the Years 5/6 and Yeas 7/8 Learning Teams (3 week programme) 4 Chinese Students - 1 x Year 1 and 3 x 11 & 12-year-olds placed in the Year 7 & 8 Team (2 week programme)
The Korean Students are hosted by 10 or of our Queenspark Families; Our 4 Chinese students are here with their respective mothers - Christina and Rainbow and they have organized their own accommodation in the local area. There is two Korean staff named Chris and David who are based at our school. The school officially welcomed the international students on Tuesday 31st July at a special assembly:
Official welcome on Tuesday 31 July at our school assembly where they were welcomed by our Kapa Haka and two students each carried their countries flag into our school hall.
Lianne Dalziel also welcomed the students.
A number of the host families, as well as the Chinese Mums, were also in attendance at the welcome.
Mary McRostie our host family coordinator and contact for the Chinese and Korean market was also present along with 2 recruitment members from Beijing
The students are involved in the majority of the planned school programmes as their focus is on a Kiwi Experience. They have participated or will be participating in:
Classroom regular programme
Fitness
Rawhiti Sport - spectators
Year 5 & 6 Art and Museum Visits
Year 7 & 8 Technology weekly programme
International student ESOL booklet work - provided by Mrs. Jansen and supported by classroom buddies
NZ Art and Cooking experiences - alternate weeks when others are at Rawhiti
Margaret Mahy Playground visit with Buddies
Viewing our Kapa Haka programme
We are really loving having these visitors in our school. Our own students are enjoying learing lots about Koarea and China also. Thank you to the homestay families for having these students in your home. This is greatly appreciated and we hope you are enjoying this experience also.
Keep Christchurch Beautiful Award: At our recent special assembly we were also presented with a special Community Contribution Award by Lianne Dalzell and representatives from KCB, Alexandra and Linda. This award was in recognition of our school’s perfect record of participation in their schools programme, and acknowledges the extensive contribution Queenspark School individuals have made towards the on going environmental up-keep of an area of the neighboring Queenspark Reserve. A special mention must go to our hard working Caretaker Chris and his Green Team - plus the Green Teams from previous years as well. This is an honour to receive such an award. Well done Chris, the Green Team and Queenspark School!
Congratulations to Laura Jeffries & her husband Tim on the birth of a baby boy, Eddie Shaun Jeffries – Bubs and Mum are doing very well.
Teachers and Principals Strike - Wednesday 15th August
The following letter has been sent to all parents:
Re: Strike Action 15.8.18
The Board of Trustees cannot provide teaching for students during the upcoming strike
The NZEI has advised the Queenspark Board of Trustees that [the principal and] teachers at our school will be taking strike action on Wednesday 15 August 2018.
The Board has carefully considered the availability of teaching staff, and have decided that we cannot provide the normal teaching services during the strike. It’s important that you make alternative arrangements for the care of your child/children on the day of the strike.
The school will not be providing or making arrangements for any supervision of children on this day.
The Board has elected to close the school on this day as we have no staff available for the instruction or supervision of any children. Our school will reopen as normal on Thursday 16th August.
Thank you for your understanding with this decision.
Yours sincerely
Dean Taylor
Board Chair
Ross Willocks - Injury:
Some of you may have already heard that Ross fell off his mountain bike a couple of weekends ago and has suffered a broken wrist and broken ribs. He has been extremely sore (and not the best patient!) He is itching to get back to school but needs to give himself a little longer to recover. We hope to see him back once he is feeling alot better.
Kind Regards
Tony Mabin
Acting Principal