Hello Everyone 

It has been a very busy term - excursion, Graduation, MAP testing, charity day, Year 2 open day, Y11-13 NLT meetings, a couple of teacher only days and athletics.

There is still plenty on over the next three weeks before the end of term.  End of topic tests, checkpoints and NCEA standards to name a few, that should always take priority.  

We also have Grandparents Day next Monday, which the Year 3-8 teachers have well in hand and are or have sent out Zoom pin invitations. If you haven’t received anything, Year 3-8 parents, please contact your student’s teacher. 

Also, next week we have the NLT team visiting each of our sites.  Nelson on Tuesday, and Blenheim and Greymouth on Wednesday. 

Finally at the end of the Term, is the Business Challenge Day.  

The Year 3-8 students are doing a house art competition - you will all receive an online voting form for these. 

The Year 3-6 students will also have a shared morning tea, while the Year 7-10s prepare and market student lunches for the day – this is also a house competition.  

The Year 11-13 students will be involved in the Perfect Pitch Business Challenge.  This will be held in Nelson and will be live for parents to view via Zoom. 

Further information and pins will be out at the end of the week and over next week. 

Finally, I would like to acknowledge some outstanding personal bests by students in their academics either meeting or exceeding their goals. 

A very pleasing shout out to Poppy, Oliver, Reef, Rome, Rai and Bree all for gaining Merit in their latest Math assessments.

Maddox for Excellence in Physics, Fahgan and Louis for Excellence in Math and Truan for Excellence for Accounting. 

For our juniors, I would like to congratulate these students for their gains in Reading, an area that I believe is particularly important, as Reading covers all learning areas.

Well done to Archer, Rilla Brewerton, Zillah, Frankie, Arlo and Stein from Year 3-6 and Ranger, Andre and Briar for Year 7 and 8s and Blaize, Boston and Danelle from Year 9 and 10. 

Take care and have a wonderful weekend. 

Grant Rogers

Last week the Blenheim Junior students were allocated a student from their class and they performed random acts of kindness for this person.

This involved opening the door for them, giving them a card or a gift. The following is what a few students chose to do.

Theo Faulkner 

I had Phoebe Clifford and to be kind I held the door open for her when we were going to P.E. When I was tidying up the computer area, Phoebe’s computer was left on the floor, so I put it away for her. Also I am making a card for her at the moment. 

Remy Beatson 

I had Beau Fisher and to be a good friend I gave Beau a chocolate bunny, it had a nice note with it to show my appreciation for his work at athletics. I drew him some pictures as well.  

Ingo Clifford 

I had Cyrus Clifford and to be kind to him, I gave him a card and I gave him a Bugatti photo. I opened the door for him on the way to lunch. 

Beau Fisher 

I had Stein Clifford and to be kind to him I gave him three lollipops and I opened the door for him on our way to lunch.   

Lilah Fisher 

I had Archer Faulkner and to be kind to him I put his computer on to charge, I put his headphones on the rack, and I brought him a cookie with a card.   

Stein Clifford 

I had Lahia and to be kind to her, tomorrow I am going to give her a cool pen from Kmart.  I made sure she was included in our games at morning tea and lunch time.  

Congratulations to Aubrey, Romer, Chelsie, Victoria, Lainee, Micah, Romano, Romane, Sequoia and Saffron who have earned their Bronze OneSchool Award.

Our Inquiry question is: how might we be scientists?

Our task was to create a balloon-powered car. Our learning involved force, motion, mass, friction and energy.

Like true scientists, we had to test our designs, reflect, make changes and test again.

Then, of course, it was a healthy competition to see which car could travel the furthest in a straight line. 

Congratulations to Romano, Micah and Leroy for the winning design.

Enjoy our clips.

For Inquiry, the Year 7 and 8 West Coast students have been learning how to be a scientist and all about the four strands of science.

The last couple of weeks, we have been learning about the physical world and about how things move.

We have been making balloon powered cars to race. We learnt about how force, thrust, air resistance, wheel friction and mass can affect how far your car can go.

Our first race, none of the cars worked, so we learnt from our mistakes and adjusted our cars.

Please note there will be an excursion day on Wednesday 11th May - more details will follow in Week 1 of Term 2.

Parents/caregivers can now record absences on the Edge App.

Below are the instructions.

You will need to set your password on a laptop or PC before trying to access the App.

Click ‘Forgot Password’ to trigger an email with a new one, which can then be changed by clicking ‘Edit Profile’.

To mark the child/children Absent, caregivers can select Sick, Doctor or Dentist appointment, Family Reasons or Other.

In the case of using Other, additional information is required, which is recorded as an Attendance Note.

These notes can be seen by the child’s teacher and the campus OA.

Please note the next newsletter will be Week 2 of Term 2 - Friday 13th May.