It was a much more lively place up in the Edmond Rice building this year and we enjoyed the extra company!

Learning Support 2016

2016 has been a busy and exciting year for Learning Support. With the school’s new building projects underway and the demolition of C block, Learning Support shifted around a little to make room for other classes. Many of the seniors also found our space a good place to get some study done. It was a much more lively place up in the Edmond Rice building this year and we enjoyed the extra company!

As usual, a lot of hard work from the students went on this year. The Learning Support team were very busy assisting boys with their school work and helping them to achieve their goals. Learning Support provided one-on-one tuition in both literacy and maths, gave guidance to students working on their NCEA assessments, took literacy groups and tested students to better identify their needs. Time was also spent on helping some of the junior boys with their latest INS projects whether it was inventing a game, making plans to save the environment, or building a popsicle raft. Small groups from the junior and middle school came up often to work on their computer literacy programmes such as STEPS, Reading Plus and Core5. Many boys also came up frequently to complete their Correspondence work. We are always impressed by how hard our students work and the positive attitude they have towards improving their learning. It helps that we always have time for a quick game of Uno or Hangman when school work gets too stressful!

The Learning Support garden is still going strong this year with a variety of vegetables being planted and plenty of mild weather to help us along. The boys learnt about which vegetables were best to plant depending on the time of year, how to prepare the soil, and how to care for their growing vegetables. There was also the odd weed to pull out! Gardening is such an important practical skill and we feel the boys benefitted from learning about self-sustainability. It should be said that on a sunny day weeding and planting were sometimes a welcome alternative to sitting inside doing school work! It was good to see that a few of the boys had the “green thumb” and were quite knowledgeable about gardening. The results were impressive, especially the flourishing celery and parsley crops. A big thank you to Graham, Roger and Ted for helping with the upkeep of the garden and for the fabulous greenhouse!

One of the highlights of terms 2 and 3 was taking some of the boys down to the local gymnastics centre on Watts Road every Friday morning. With the help of an instructor, the boys tackled obstacle courses, manoeuvered on balance beams, bounced on trampolines and swung on bars and ropes. A favourite activity was making a running leap into a thick gymnastic mat and playing in the foam pit was also popular! These activities were a great way to get some exercise and help the boys to develop new skills. It was exciting to see how the boys’ confidence and coordination improved each week. The boys had a blast and it became something that they looked forward to every week.

Mrs Collins took it upon herself this year to teach the boys a few cooking skills. Muffins, pancakes and scones were all on the menu (with a little help from Edmonds cooking products).

One lesson saw the staffroom oven turn out 6 pizzas - all of which were quickly devoured. This lesson also featured a heated debate about whether pineapple was considered either a disgusting or delicious addition to a BBQ pizza. In any case, it was decided that large amounts of cheese and ham were always a good idea.

On the last day of term 3 we took two of our boys down the road to Villa Maria College to attend Mercy Day. This is a fantastic event organised by Villa every year and gives the St Thomas boys a chance to have a bit of fun with students from other Christchurch schools. The day included playing games, doing a bit of artwork, meeting a few cute animals and enjoying a yummy lunch provided by the school. To finish the day off, the girls put on a concert in the Villa auditorium. The boys had a great time and it was a wonderful way to round off the term.

We always try to reward the boys at the end of each term for all their hard work and this year we managed to visit Jelly Park, Carl’s Junior, and Mega Air centre. A friend of Mrs Ferguson’s was very generous and invited a couple of our students to visit her farm to feed some lambs. We were all quite surprised at how excited and vigorous the lambs were when fed with a bottle. Another highlight for two of our boys was the Yaldhurst Car Museum. This museum had a fantastic display of vintage cars, however the boys were also fascinated by the museum’s impressive collection of old computers and printing press machines.

We are very fortunate that we have such warm, caring and compassionate staff who always go the extra mile to help our students succeed. Whether it is helping make items to sell at the year 7 Market Day or encouraging (read nagging and stand over tactics ) a year 11 student to complete much needed credits for NCEA, stepping into the breach to be a reader for an exam or chasing up students doing Te Kura work, they cheerfully respond to students needs.

On that note we are very sad to farewell Joannah Clark after two years wonderful work in the department. We must have done something right though as she is leaving us to do her teacher training. We wish her all the best for her new career and we hope that some of her experiences with us will stand her in good stead in the classroom.

Learning Support aims to provide a space where any student feels comfortable asking for help with their work and we eagerly await the challenges of next year and the opportunity to support more students with their learning. We hope all our students have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday so that they will be refreshed and ready for learning in 2017.

By Narelle Ferguson