October

Wk	*Mth*	Wk *Beg*	*Notes*	*Value*	*Assembly*	*Holidays and other important dates to note*


Term 4 Tuesday 25^th October – Friday 10^th December (72 half days)
1	Oct	25	MODULE 8 RESUMES Tues 25^th – Day 1, Term 4 Wed 26^th – Newsletter Number 8 out today - 5.30pm: BOT Meeting - 7pm: PSG Meeting Thurs 27^th – 7 – 9.00pm: Spring Social (in hall)	Tolerance Trust Fun Creativity and Innovation	67	Mon 24th – Labour Day
2	Nov	31			* 70
3		7	Tues 8^th – School Athletics Day (Mt Smart) Wed 9^th – APPA Choir Festival Thurs 10^th – 6 – 8pm: ‘Girls Night In’		74
4		14	Tues 15^th – Zone Touch – APPA Kapa Haka Performing at Town Hall Wed 16^th – 6 – 8pm: ‘Boys Night Out’ Fri 18^th – HOUSE ACTIVITIES		72
5		21	MODULE 9 STARTS: Wed 23^rd - Fri 25^th – Outdoor Education Activities		NIL
6	Dec	28	Tues 29^th – Zone Athletics Wed 30^th – Sausage Sizzle 7: Nga Tangata - Newsletter Number 9 out today – 5.30pm: BOT Meeting Thurs 1^st – 11am: VIP Morning Tea		* Mr T
7		5	MODULE 10 STARTS Mon 5^th – POROPOROAKI – 7-9pm : Yr 8 Graduation & Social Tues 6^th – Class Timetabled programmes Wed 7^th – Timetable: 8.45 – 10.30am: Class Programmes; 10.30 – 11am: Interval; 11 – 11.15am: Form Time; 11.15 – 1pm: Prize Giving, then back to class; 1 – 1.30pm: Lunch; 1.30 – 2.55pm: Form Class activities, tidy up and pack up; Reports home; Newsletter 10 (Prize Giving Flier) 2.55pm: Dismissal		NIL

* = “Parent/Whanau – Principal Coffee Chats” (after assembly at approx 10.10am; on the first Friday of the month)

1) BIRTHDAYS – the following students are having a birthday over the next 5 weeks. We wish you an early Happy Birthday and trust you have a wonderful day! Happy Birthday to:

NB: There may be times when we inadvertently ‘miss’ a birthday – please let us know if we do, so we can acknowledge it in the next newsletter. It is important that we do this so please do not feel bad in telling us.

a) Well how can we not make mention – of the wonderful All Black win, 8-7 over the French on Sunday night! The past six weeks has been a wonderful time for NZ, and we have seen many players display so much perseverance, commitment, effort and dedication over a sustained period of time. Exactly what we ask OF our students – so we have had some wonderful role modelling. Let’s see this demonstrated by all our students throughout term 4!

b) SMaT Fair (Science, Maths and Technology) – well done to all students for some outstanding work with the recent SMaT Fair held at school the last week of term 3. It was just so disappointing, after all their efforts that you, their parents/caregivers, didn’t make the effort to join with them, to acknowledge their work, by visiting the Open Day/Evening as advertised so many times!!

To the handful of whanau who did turn up who did take an interest in the academic work your children are involved in – thank you! Your time was appreciated. As I have commented before, it is a “two –way street” and it is so unfair on the school for all the opportunities given to your children - (given in time, experiences and money!!) and you did not bother to give something back! I realise I am probably writing this to be read only by those who normally do give us support (so thank you) but we just wish all whanau would engage!

We go out of our way to enable this to make you feel welcome and comfortable yet to no avail. If anyone has any bright ideas how we can achieve this please let us know – 266 8268!

c) VOLLEYBALL – on Wednesday 5^th October the girls Volleyball team travelled to Allen Brewster Recreation Centre to participate in the Counties zone tournament. Our first goal for the day was to win at least one game so we could make the finals. In the rounds we won two games and lost two games, but that was enough to get us through. We made it into the semi-finals and played against Greenmeadows. To make the finals we had to win, it was a close game and Greenmeadows made us fight hard to win. We won that game and we had to play against Te Matauranga in the final. It was hard. We had already played them and they beat us, badly. So we had to search deep. It was a really hard game. We started off on the right foot, and Te Matauranga were never able to overtake us. We won and now we get to go and compete for the title of Auckland Champs next week. Thank you to all the parents and Miss Tamaki

a) TO ALL STAFF 1 – for their time and effort over the last two weeks of term 3 with the SMaT Fair, and for their help at the Open Days. A special thanks to Miss Bland for her outstanding leadership and expertise in coordinating this fantastic event.

b) TO ALL STAFF 2 – for a great start to our last term, and we look forward to a smooth finish over the next six and a half weeks. A special thanks also for all the additional work being exerted with the Week 5 Outdoor Education Module and the end of year reports.

c) SCHOOL CHARGES – thank you to those who have paid the school charges for the year ($120) or the term ($30). If you are still to pay term 3 charges please do so at the office or via your child asap. We appreciate this support! Term 4 charges are now due!

The S.M.a.T Fair last term was a great opportunity to work together with our form class to complete an investigation. Our big question was: Do girls really have a better sense of smell than boys? It is a commonly held belief that this statement is true- but we proved that it is actually FALSE, well in our class anyway! During the week we learnt how to plan, and carry out a test, research findings, and then gather, collate and analyse data!

Visiting the SMaT Fair and seeing everyone else’s work was really great- here is the PMI we did after we had visited the fair:

SMat Fair – during the last week of Term Three, Manurewa Intermediate School held the Science, Maths and Technology Fair. This is an event that is run every two years.

Teachers and students prepared for the fair over five days, choosing from a variety of topics. All class presentations were based around a “testable question” which means a question that can be answered through hands-on investigation by students. The investigations included aspects of all three curriculum areas – science, maths and technology.

Students spent one week with their form teacher working towards their final investigation. Classes worked cooperatively and their work included a number of different skills. Students were involved in creating questions, developing a test, choosing variables, writing methods and evaluations, and collating and graphing results.

There were a variety of investigations on display from Tuesday 4 October running through to the morning of Thursday 6 October. Some of the topics included: flight; bridge building; forensics; string art; flammability; volcanic eruptions; food; gender; and design projects. Investigations were grouped under the strands of the Science curriculum as well as Maths and Technology.

When you walked into the gymnasium, it was incredible to see all the scientific thought and investigation come together into a visually delightful display. There were things to smell, touch, investigate and even punch!

We would like to thank those parents, students and teachers who showed their support and attended the Fair during either of the evening exhibitions. Our students and teachers did an incredible job and the presentations were excellent. We now look towards the 2013 S.M.a.T. Fair and the possibility of entering the Manukau Science Fair…..watch this space!

GIRLS MILO CRICKET – the last week of term Mr. Peyton took the girls cricket team to Pukekohe for a warm up game before their Northern District Finals play off in week 1 of term 4. The girls played in helmets, and full pads to give them more experience running with the pads on, much to the entertainment of Mr. Peyton!! The girls showed that all the hard work they have been doing over the winter is paying off and displayed some very good bowling and fielding. All we need to do now is score lots of runs when we are in batting and we will be awesome!!

The team now goes to the Northern Districts Finals play off in Hamilton where they can play; Peachgrove Intermediate School, Tauranga Intermediate or Gisborne Intermediate. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Auckland/Northern regions.

1. SUMMER UNIFORM – all students are now back to the summer uniform meaning no: long pants, track pants, tights, skivvies, hats, or gloves!

A reminder if students are in the incorrect uniform without a note or pass the item is confiscated and returned at the end of the week.

Once again we will be holding a Uniform Check at the gates sometime very soon. This means the Beeston Crescent gate is locked and access is only via the main gate for that week. It is however manned on the first day of the check so as to disadvantage students who access the school that way. Then the rest of the week they use the Russell Road gate.

2. TERM 3 SCHOOL CHARGES – reminder the term 4 charge of $30.00 is now due if you did not pay as one lump sum in term 1, 2 or 3. This can be paid in cash or eftpos at the school. Your support with payment is much appreciated.

For those who are still to pay the term 1, 2 or 3 charges of $30/ or $60 this can also be paid at the office.

You will note that students get to participate in all activities without paying and we therefore need your support with this very cheap cost! Already students have had the Survival Camp, swimming sports carnival, numerous sports trips for selected students and the Museum and MOTAT visits, and outside performers visiting us and performing! All students also receive the goods/resources used in classrooms where they make and keep resources ie. Foods, XPLO-Tech – charges schools are entitled to charge for!

You will realise in most schools if a student does not pay for a trip/visit/activities etc then they don’t get to go / or attend. At Manurewa Intermediate – all students do regardless, but we need your support, with the very cheap $30.00 per term charge which you all can afford! This also gives us some real support!

3. PARKING – please do not park in the Half Circle Turning Bay in front of the school. You will have noticed we have recently landscaped the centre of the turning bay and would also appreciate drivers not driving over the gardens! Thank you to those who are supporting us in our endeavours to create an environment that we can all be proud of!

· UPDATE OF INFORMATION - if there have been any changes to the custodial arrangements, change of address, change of telephone number, change of emergency contact numbers, or any other changes we would be very grateful if you would inform us as soon as possible, so our records can be corrected.

· CYCLE SAFETY – students MUST not ride a bike to school unless they also have a helmet to wear. We

will be doing regular checks on this and those who are caught breaking the law will have their bike locked up and will need them to be collected by their parent or caregiver.

· PLEASE NAME IT – we make every effort to see students’ personal items are secure. It would make our task considerably, easier and would drastically reduce levels of stress for students if ALL ITEMS – INCLUDING ALL UNIFORM ITEMS, PE UNIFORMS, SHOES, SPORTS EQUIPMENT, JACKETS, JERSEYS, LUNCHBOXES, WATER BOTTLES, BAGS etc WERE ALL CLEARLY NAMED!!

The Lost Property cabinet is near the office and parents are welcome to check this out should your child misplace anything. Named items are returned to the appropriate class, so only unnamed items should be in the cupboard. After two weeks all items are donated to a charity…..we apologise if you come along after losing an item and it is gone! BUT if it was named this would never be an issue!

Note: The new school jacket is a popular item and if left lying around, unnamed, could well be stolen. PLEASE NAME IT!!!

· ABSENCE – if your child is absent from school please call the office on 2668268, before 9.00am to advise us. If you do not do this we contact you immediately through our text system. After the second day of no notification the administration staff will contact the home directly as well.

· LATENESS – all students report to the office prior to returning to class, if they arrive to school after the bell at 8.45am. This is to ensure we keep a track of attendance and student safety.

· VISITORS – whenever you visit the school please do so via the office so you can be checked in. Thank you for your cooperation.

· SCHOOL PROPERTY – the school has a policy of “abuser pays”. Students who carelessly or wilfully damage school property or equipment will be asked to meet the cost of the repairs, or at the very least pay a fair share of the replacement. We hope this will become a rare occasion at Manurewa Intermediate, however, when this does occur, parents/caregivers will receive an explanatory letter and a tax invoice to cover costs. In addition to schools operating on very tight budgets, we see the development of personal responsibility as an important outcome of our school programmes.

· MEDICATION IN SCHOOL – no medication should be kept in your child’s school bag. If your child has antibiotics/medication that needs to be administered during the school day please ensure you have filled out a permission slip at the office. No medication can be administered to your child without approval.

· No – ipods, games, fizzy drinks, lollies, chocolate or chewing gum is to be brought to school. If student know, it will be confiscated and returned at the end of the day!! We look forward to your support with this!

· CELL PHONES – if students bring cell phones to school they are left at the office before school and collected after school. If students keep them on them or in bags during the day and they are “lost” or “stolen” we will not waste any time in following up. Owner beware – follow the procedures!

· MONEY – is not to be left in bags, desks or clothing when not being worn. Hand to the office or form teacher for safe keeping.

If the procedure is not followed and money is “lost” or “stolen” we will not waste any time following up. Owner, beware – follow the procedure!

· OPEN DOOR POLICY – a reminder we operate under an “Open Door Policy” and we want you to be involved in your child’s education. From a practical sense this means talk to your child about what they do, listen to them read and come and visit them in class at any time – just report into the office first!

If you have any questions or concerns about anything please do not hesitate to contact us. If at any time you wish to see any of your child’s teachers about something specific please telephone the school to organise an appointment. At times there are bound to be issues that crop up and we encourage you to air your concerns but ask that you speak to the person involved first. If you have done this and feel there has been no success, you are more than welcome to see the form teacher, the relevant Deputy Principal or myself.

If you are wanting information on your child’s progress, it is advisable to book a time to see the relevant subject teacher. This will enable the teacher to give you the time you deserve to have the proper conversation. Classrooms are busy places in the mornings before school and immediately after, and it is not always possible for the teacher to give full attention to your queries if you do not book in advance.

However less important, casual conversations are more than encouraged if you just pop in.

· HOMESTUDY – the issue of homestudy can be a contentious and emotional issue, and one that causes much conflict in the home and at school. There is always a wide range of views on the subject with some parents wanting more and others wanting less; so I confirm our guidelines.

However we do believe in the importance of some home study which needs to increase in time and demands as a child moves through school so they have established positive and effective work habits ready for secondary school homework expectations. We have an After School “Homestudy Club” every afternoon from 3-4pm except Friday, and 2.15-3.15pm Tuesdays. Any student is welcome to attend! Encourage your child to do so if they find doing work at home is difficult.

5. BI-ANNUAL SURVEY ON HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION ON THE NZ CURRICULUM – enclosed with this newsletter is a brief survey on Health and Physical Education programmes. Schools are required to survey their communities every two years about these programmes, so we would really appreciate you all completing this simple, 2 minute survey, and returning to school ‘asap’. The results form part of our own self-review processes that help us improve what programmes we offer your children.

1. Manurewa Athletics Club (Jellicoe Park, Manurewa) – athletics for children aged 2-14 years. Registration has started so for any enquiries and a copy of the latest newsletter phone BJ Munro, Club Secretary on 267 9132 or email on maahc@xtra.co.nz.