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Good afternoon students (and parents),
We received notification last week of a policy change from OSG, in regards to mobile phones and watches at school. Please be aware that you are all required to adhere to this. Note that it includes all wearable technology. As a Campus we need to ensure that we are protecting student safety and that we are complying with this new direction. I know that many of our students do choose to wear watches, such as these. Please ensure that these do not come to school. If staff are aware of students having these devices, it is my expectation that they will be removed and handed into the office for collection at the end of the day.
Information from National
It has recently come to our attention the serious nature of Students having mobile phones and wearable technology at School and on School transport.
The OneSchool Global Board want to control this area in our Schools, and we need your full support to adhere to the prohibition of any of this equipment:
- Student Phones
- Smartwatches
- Fitness Trackers
This includes all student mobile phones, wearable technology such as Smartwatches, fitness trackers (including Fitbit, Garmin, Tom-tom, Samsung and other brands). This means any device that connects to a network, syncs to the internet, tracks movement, or is not school-owned or supplied.
Student Learning Conferences are coming up in week 10. Our approach to these conferences will change from purely Student Led Conferences to Three-way Conferences.
Communication between home and school is extremely critical to enhancing the future success of our students. We are always wanting to improve that link and as a result we are going to run “Conferencing” meetings between teacher, student, and parent(s)/ caregiver(s).
We want families to feel supported with their child’s goals, expectations and needs in the school. The strength of this partnership can help determine the level of success a learner has at school and can be used to encourage them to engage in and take ownership of their learning.
Three Way Learning Conferences are a conversation between the student, their parents and their teacher. The student have an opportunity to share with parents, with the support of their teacher, their growth as a learner.
All three parties -- student, parents and the teacher -- sit together and talk about the student’s learning. There is also opportunity for the parents and teacher to spend some 1:1 time without the student to discuss other matters.
These conferences will be carried out over two afternoons;
Wednesday 10 April from 2:30pm to 5:30pm
Thursday 11 April from 1:00pm to 5:30pm.
School will close at the beginning of lunchtime, 12.30pm, on Thursday 11th April.
Absentees
There is a link at the ‘Play Store’ for the WESTMOUNT smartphone app where parents can log in that their child is away. This sends an email to the OA.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=westmountschool.apps.school.nz&hl=en
Before 8am, can you please use this app, email the main office, or call the office absent line to notify the school when your child will be away for appointments or sickness.
As you will be aware, we have Measles circulating in New Zealand; there are confirmed cases in Christchurch and Auckland regions. There are also current outbreaks throughout Europe and in the Phillipines.
To date, we have no confirmed Measles cases in the Nelson Marlborough health districts; but it is important that we all as a community, are prepared for the possibility of this highly infectious disease affecting people here at some stage.
ANZAC DAY ACTIVITIES
The Year 3-6 students at Marlborough took the opportunity to enjoy some ANZAC Activities whilst the seniors were away at Regional Athletics. With the help of our in-house art expert Mrs Fisher, they created painted rocks, and beautiful poppies made using old plastic bottles. Next they wrote diamante poems which began with the word ‘War’ and ended with the word ‘Peace’. They also baked some delicious ANZAC biscuits with Mrs Winitana and Mrs Houston.
INTRODUCING KAREN SONG
Karen is very happy to join the Greymouth and Westport Campuses as the Learning Leader. She and her family have been living in Cambodia where she was serving as Acting Principal and Curriculum Specialist at an international elementary school. She and her husband have four children, three boys and a girl, who are ages 15, 12, and 10 year-old twins. Before living in Cambodia, her family spent two years living in the United States and four years living in Thailand. Karen is currently a student herself, working on her doctoral degree in Educational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California. A fun fact about Karen is that even though she has four children, they only have two birthdays each year. Her first two were born on the same day three years apart!
USTUBE
USTube is up and running again in 2019. Here are the first videos demonstrating continued student growth and expertise as they continue to immerse themselves in a second language - Spanish.
GIANNI
Gianni is starting to feel very comfortable in his new school. We went to Nelson for athletics and he participated in all activities and had fun doing so. Yesterday Gianni decided to have a turn at being the teacher. He stood in front of the class and wrote his instructions for baking, turned back to them, and pointed his finger. He enjoys watching zoom classes where he points his finger at the students and tells them to do their work.
REGIONAL ATHLETICS PRACTICE
NOT THE REGIONAL ATHLETICS DAY
Meanwhile, on the West Coast of the South Island, on Wednesday 3 April Greymouth, bathed in sunshine took the opportunity to host themselves in a ¨NOT the Regional Athletics Day¨.
The Y3-6 students who are exploring Change in different contexts during 2019, created some new games by changing up some old ones. The new games include; Scatterbat, Target Throw, Bounce-it Roll-it Hit-it and Ten Pin Toilet Rolls.
They invited some guest athletes to join them and had an awesome afternoon of fun, frivolity and sportsmanship.
MOTUEKA SANDSPIT
The Year 3-6 students have been using the Motueka Sandspit as their outdoor classroom for their inquiry around the theme of Change.
Makarn Senior went on a hunt for crabs and shells on his first visit to Sandspit.
Anais Woodman and Tesori Bailey take a quiet moment to sketch their surroundings.
Alana Petrie works on her sculpture.
Amber Trewavas and Zaria Hewetson sit back having completed their art work.
Carter Beatson wrote this description of the sculpture he created on his second visit to the Motueka Sandspit:
Standing high in the air, the fragile driftwood sculpture goes on a continuous loop beside a separate bridge.
Carter said this about his writing: “It’s so easy to write when you’ve made something and actually had the experience.”
Motueka Sandspit – 18.3.19 (A Cloudy Day) Journal Reflection
When walking over the beach our feet are gently splashed. Further on, chocolate mud lay over the ground like damp clay. The moist air, not warm, not cold blows gently into our faces. With the rotting logs and the variety of seaweed colours, the beach shone with nature and amazing structures of the earth leapt out.
Lainee Petrie Year 5
YEAR 3 - 6 CHOIR
YEAR 7 - 8
Year 7 - 8 have been creating plays to showcase our understanding of the Value: Care and Compassion. Here is a segment from the Year 7 - 8 boys and a drop in by Mr Rogers.
TECHNOLOGY AT TASMAN
Year 7 - 8 students have made a great start to Technology this year. Students are provided with opportunities to develop their culinary skills, enhance their creativity and learn fundamental design principles. They are working toward designing their own healthy lunch and creating a photographic display promoting healthy lunch options.
STINGRAY DISSECTION
Something fishy went down at the Tasman Campus last month with this foul-hooked sting-ray wrestled from the sea by Trenton, Zach and Burkley thanks to a guiding hand from Mr John Woodman. The short-tailed ray left a lasting impression (and a strangley persistant odour) on the Year 11 Science class who dissected it with Mr Brooks as part of their Life Processes Topic.
