Boyle River Camp

Had a great day at Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre today with our Year 8 students. Check out a few of the pictures below.

Plant Sale Success!

Another hugely successful fundraiser today for our new multipurpose hall facility. Early estimates have the amount raised at $20,000! The small team of ladies that led this project have put in huge hours over the last 6 months on this fundraiser so it was great reward for them to see the massive crowd that turned up.

Here are a couple of pictures of the crowds that turned up.

Pet Day 2010

Another very successful community event. Thank you to all that came along with pets or just cam to share the day with your children. Have a look at the quick movie from the day.

Being Safe on the Web

Here is a great site for parents wanting to know how to manage our children in a digital environment. Some great information about how children are different today and tips on dealing with all the new technology.

Digital Citizenship at Home

School Closure Until Wednesday

The school will be closed until Wednesday, September 8. The ministry of Education has directed all schools in the area to be closed until they have had the opportunity to physically check buildings. Click the link to see the full decision from the Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education School Closure Media Statement

I hope everyone has stayed safe and is in reasonable spirit. Just to reassure everyone, the school is fine. I have done a visual check of the classrooms and checked the toilets and water, it all seems fine.

See everyone Wednesday.

One of the initiatives we have introduced this year after a class meeting in our Year 8 class was a Buddy Programme. The Year 8s felt it was important to 'stay in touch' with our younger students if they were going to be leaders and helpers in the playground so we came up with this idea. It is not a new or original idea but one that is really working for us at the moment.

Another Great Friday

I was walking back into school this afternoon after watching our soccer team compete in Rangiora and was struck by some of the cool things happening around the school. Our cooking team arrived back from the Maggi cook off, so did our Year 7/8 sports teams and our Year 3/4 children were enjoying some dancing on the courts. This is what primary school is all about I say!

Our Maggi Team in Action

Maggi Cooking Team-VOTES NEEDED

321…COOK!!!!!

This year Room 7 has entered 4 Year 7s into the Maggi Interschool Kitchen Showdown.

It all started with a test.7 people applied and only 5 survived. They had to do 7 different challenges testing their skills, knowledge and confidence in cooking.

We then picked our team name. A flyer went round the school and there were so many different names it was hard to pick. But in the end it was The Swannanoa Country Chefs by Liam Potter.

Our team has been working hard on their skills in peeling and chopping vegetables and preparing and cooking meat. Our team will be Shanya Hutt, Barclay Miller, Molly Lines, Kayla Burton and Kate Bartlett as a reserve. We also would like to thank Michelle Tavendale for her hard work to make us the best possible.

If we do win this competition we will get 5000 dollars to go towards the school hall. So please please go on to the Erin Simpson Show website and vote for the SWANNANOA COUNTRY CHEFS!!!

Week 9 Achievers

Our Achievers for this week are: (Back row) Grayson-R8, Barclay-R7, Max-R7, Alice-R8, Ben-R2, (Front row) Montana-R10, Brianna-R4, Fernando-R10, Laura-R6, Zoe-R3, Libby-R5

Week 7 Achievers

Our 'Achievers' for the week. The first photo shows our placegetters at the NC cross country event on Monday. Reuben (R7), Eacan (R7), Thomas (R8), Matthew (R7) and Edward (R1). The second photo are some of the weekly assembly award recipients: Shanya-R8, Bradley-R8, Cameron-R7, Mack-R10, Bonnie-R3, Jamie-R10. Photo 3 are our other weekly assembly award recipients: Greta-R5, Jack-R6, Brianna-R1, Hannah-R2, Laura-R2, George-R3 and Brianna-R3. Well done to you all and keep on achieving.

Week 5 Achievers

Top work to: (Back Row) Troy-R1, Matthew-R1, Coby-R7, Andrew-R7, Caspian-R8, Joanne-R8, (Middle Row) Charlotte-R2, Zac-R2, Cameron-R5, Corey-R6, Thomas-R10, (Front Row) Caleb-R4, Thomas-R10, Ben-R3.

Keep achieving everyone.

3-Way Learning Conference and Learning Plan Survey

Please click on the link below to give us some feedback in regard to the 3-Way Learning Conferences held earlier this term and the Learning Plan your child has received home this afternoon. We welcome constructive feedback and want to ensure we are doing the best we possibly can for you and your child.

Learning Conference and Learning Plan Survey

Testing Debate in Aussie

The NAPLAN assessment is polarising views about assessment in primary schools in Australia at the moment. Let's hope this is not a pathway we are embarking on. Read the article at the link below, it is informative as well as quite amusing. Be sure to read the comments at the bottom too for some very strong views.

Leave Our Kids Alone

Love the author's reflections on his own days at primary school.

Parenting Hot Tip of the Week

A Family Culture of Co-operation

Everyone wants a home where conflict is minimal and children will generally do as they’re asked. There are times when this can feel far from reality; it seems so easy to form habits of communication between parents and kids that are negative, oppositional, and often unpleasant!

One of the keys to a culture of co-operation is to act and speak to your children as though you have every confidence they will want to come on board with your request. Children want to be respected and valued for what they can contribute, so show them from the start that you know they are helpful and considerate. The result will be a child that is more motivated to show you that side of themselves.

Week 4 Achievers

Our 'Achievers' this week: Teaghan, Helen, Pani, Alex, Ben, Lochlan, Alex, Laura, Pippa, Dylan and Ami.

Cross Country 2010

Well done to all our cross-country placegetters above.

Homework-Always a Touchy Subject

Have a read of this article. Really interested to know your thoughts.

Primary Students Too Young To Be Doing Homework

Cross Country 2010

Cross country is another one of those days that brings back all sorts of memories of my own days at school and I am sure all of our children will have the very same memories when they are older now, minus the Waikato river crossings and hills though of course.

Week 3 Achievers

Another great week at Swannanoa School! Here are our 'Achievers' for the week: (Back row, left to right) Aidan-R7, Ethan-R1, Pani-R2, Georgia-R8, Chris-R8, Eacan-R7, (front row, left to right) Mack-R10, Griffyn-R4, Harry-R10, Thomas-R6, Madison-R3, Liam-R5, Ella-R4.

Year 8 Debate

Last week I caught the end of our Year 8 debate versus Fernside school. The topic for the debate was 'NZ is the Best Place in the World to Live'. Unfortunately we just went down as the affirmative side but our team did an impressive job.

Here is a quick summary of the debate thanks to Brad (R8).

Soccer Heroes

Well done to our Year 6-8 soccer team who were first equal in the local Monday night soccer competition. Coby, Jordan, Andrew, Brad, Finn, Mackenzie and Matthew are pictured above. The gear in front of them, 6 soccer balls, kit bag, sprint drill ladder and cones is the gear they won as a result of their victory.

Road Safety

Concerned about the speed of vehicles outside of schools? Lucinda Rees has established a facebook site to register interest in getting behind this cause. Click on the link below to access it:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NZ-School-Speeds/109007702471189

3-Way Learning Conferences

3-Way Learning Conferences will be held on Monday (May 3), 1.30-7pm and Tuesday (May 4), 3.30-7pm. Bookings are now open for these by visiting the following website:

1. The website address www.schoolinterviews.co.nz
2. The school code CGMY3

If you do not have access to the internet then you may ring the school office and they will book your interviews for you. Once interviews are booked you will receive a confirmation email.

The Swannanoa Country Fair

What a great weekend for all on the weekend. A huge thank you to anyone who contributed to a fantastic community event. Below I have a few pics from the weekend. Unfortunately my camera died early on Sunday but a few good pics in my little i-movie anyway.

Gareth Hopkins-A Real 'Achiever'

On Tuesday we had a visit from Black Cap Gareth Hopkins whose niece, Caitlin is in Room 10. He spoke to the children about setting goals and planning effectively to achieve them. He Was really impressed with our ASPIRE model!

Junior Swimming Demo

What clever junior swimmers. I enjoyed watching how well you were all doing in our great pool. Keep listening to those teachers, swimming is such fun when you get it!

Successful Working Bee

A big thank you to all the community members who turned out for our working bee yesterday. The bus shed is almost unrecognisable on the inside, the recycling area looks positively spectacular, road frontage stunning and the rest of the school fantastic as well. What a great team!

Spelling-A Thing of the Past?

Read the article below it raises some interesting points about the relevance of traditional spelling in the future.

Internet Words Form the Language of 2moro