22 October 2014 Newsletter No: 15

IMPORTANT DATES

OCTOBER

Thursday 23rd – Monday 27th Diwali

Monday 27th Labour Day School Closed

Tuesday 28th BoT Meeting 7pm

Friday 31st Y5-8 Electives start (through to 5th December)

NOVEMBER

Monday 3rd November Kaka Project Meeting Staffroom 7pm

Tuesday 4th Community Whānau Evening

Friday 14th Central Zone Athletics

Wednesday 19th Kiwi Syndicate Old Brooklyn Day

Thursday 20th Wellington College Induction Day

Tuesday 25th Interzone Athletics (postponement 27/11)

Wednesday 26th Final Gardasil vaccination Year 8 Girls

DECEMBER

Tuesday 2nd Regional Athletics

Thursday 11th End of Year Carols

Friday 12th Kiwi Long Lunch

Reports/Class Lists issued

Thursday 17th Leavers Assembly

School finishes 12.30pm

Visitors to the School - Andrew Durante, Michael Boxall and Alejandro Gorrin from the Phoenix

soccer team were mystery readers in Room 8 last week

Naumai e te whanau o te kura Brooklyn

Kia ora tatou Parents / Caregivers

Welcome back to Term 4, it is already cracking along at a quick pace.

We are busy confirming teacher placements for 2015 and will let you know when these are

confirmed. At this stage it will be a similar syndicate structure to this this year with Moa having 4

classes, Takahe, 4 classes, Kiwi, 4 classes, Tui, 4 classes with a new class starting part way through

next year.

Last week the Kiwi children shared their learning in ‘The Reading Hour’. In Room 14, over Term 2

and 3, some very keen readers from the Kiwi Syndicate met once a week to follow their passion.

They have been working with Miss Tuck, improving their research skills. Their task was to research a

topic they were interested in. The students used the Depth and Complexity icons and posed a big

question, using Blooms under the umbrella of the BIG IDEA. They shared their ideas with the rest of

the group in a presentation. Some talked to a Power Point and others used a poster. Some of the

topics researched were: What is the deadliest creature? How was the Periodic Table formed?

Judge the value of electricity. How has transport changed over time? How do humans change

during their lives? Hieroglyphics. The presentations have been amazing to listen to.

We have had a change in our school sun hat provider and are now sourcing these from The

Warehouse. Currently we are waiting for our order to be filled. There are some sizes available at

the office. Please come and check if your child is in need of a new hat. We are hoping to have

our order in later in the month. In the meantime, we would like your child to be wearing a hat of

some kind in the playground. This is especially important as the weather gets warmer. While I’m on

the subject of clothing we will be offering T-shirt and hoodie orders later in the term, please keep

an eye out for this.

Over the holiday break the windows in rooms 2,3,4,5 and 7 were replaced and new vinyl was laid

in the hall entrance, including the toilet areas. This has made such a difference. The hall entrance

will be painted in the next holiday break. The fence behind room 12 has been replaced. As part

of our Inclusion survey the children have requested a quiet place to play at break times. This is

part of our development in this area. We have planted this area out and are waiting for a paving

quote and have ordered 2 bench seats for the children to sit on. Already this area is looking a lot

brighter and more attractive.

The school photo proofs should come out to you in the next 2 weeks. This will be your opportunity

to order a class photo and individual photo.

When you come into the school office you may have noticed a tablet on the counter. This

replaces the “late book” sign in for children and the visitor’s book. If you visit the school in any

capacity you must sign in and out as well. A new practice is that children must sign out when

leaving the school grounds. This is part of our emergency planning as in the event of an

emergency we can take the tablet with us.

We warmly welcome our new cleaners and caretaker from Wellington Cleaning Company this

week and farewell cleaners Tony and Nancy from Green Acres, and Neil Strutt who has been

amazing as our handyman/caretaker. They have been an integral part of the day to day running

of the school. We have decided to link the cleaning and caretaking together into the one

contract.

The Moa and Takahe electives are starting this week and this year there is more variety than ever.

We thank the parents who have offered to help.

Maori and Pacifica Focus- Community Consultation

We are planning to hold a community meeting around Maori and Pacifica Giftedness in week 4

of next term on Tuesday 4 November. This will be held at 6pm in the school hall. Planning for this

evening is underway. We will send out more information next week.

Feedback on the “Kaka Project

Brooklyn Area Community Planning” needs to be returned by Monday 27 October. It’s really

important that our school community has their say so fill in the survey online

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KakaProject or grab a paper copy (from your child’s school

bag or school office) fill it in and return it to the box in the school office. What do you want in the

way of community services and facilities? Do you have any safety concerns? Have your say.

There’s a coffee meeting tomorrow night in the staffroom if you want to discuss further.

This week we extend a warm Brooklyn School welcome to New Entrants Toby Hanna (brother of

Niamh Year 5 & Ethan Year 2), brothers Casey James & Lachlan Kerr, Natalya Bromley-Ralph

(sister of Sasha Year 3) and Quinn Daly. Also welcome to the Hill family recently arrived from

overseas – Rosa - Year 8, Inacio - Year 6 and Nia - Year 5.

Ka kite

Liz Rhodes

Principal

Poets Corner

Swimming

My brother Josh likes to tackle me softly

and it is fun. It is fun

because he does a lot of things with me.

We dive together and then we

come up to breathe. The most funniest

things of all is floating on our

tummies. Together we float on our backs

happily and we have a lot of fun.

By

Ayja Ongun

Room 3

This year we will be collecting donated goods for The Wellington City Mission and the Breeze Radio’s

Christmas promotion of “Pack the Bus”.

There are certain items that make more practical donations. The ‘Christmas Items’ listed below are most useful, but if you would like to donate gifts or toys, here are some ideas.

Christmas Items: * Christmas fruit mince pies (6 packs) * Tinned fruit * Jelly * Tinned meat or fish * Small Christmas cakes * Fancy biscuits & confectionery * Toiletries for the whole family * Retail vouchers

New Toys & Gifts: * Vouchers – e.g. to the movies/zoo/pool * Lego/Meccano * Art equipment * Educational books * Beach/picnic/water toys * Puzzles * Outdoor sports gear * Board games Important: For health and safety reasons, please donate new gifts and toys only and also make sure these are unwrapped so we can redistribute age and gender appropriate gifts to children. Thank you.

Brooklyn Kindergarten Food Fair 4-6pm 8th November 2014

Come and join us at St Bernard's School Hall before the Wellington city fireworks.

Eat in or takeaway from our many food stalls. Gluten free, vegetarian, curries and baking.

Bring the kids their scooters or bikes, and enjoy

Congratulations!

George Baker Room 11 has been offered the singing/acting role of 'Tiny Tim' in

the Royal New Zealand Ballet performance of "A Christmas Carol".

He has a four verse solo to sing (!) and will alternate the role with another boy.

George will perform on the nights of 1st and 6th Nov and matinees on 2nd and

8th Nov. He will also tour to Palmerston North and Napier later in the month.

Hot Shots Tennis

Junior Tennis programmes available at the Renouf

Tennis Centre

Term 4 Junior Coaching

7 Week Program

Red Stage (5 - 8 years):

Tuesday - Wednesday - Friday 4:00 - 5:00 pm

Green Stage (9 + years):

Wednesday - Friday 5:00 - 6:00 pm

To register for Term 4 Tennis contact Joel Barr at:

PLANiTRPO |

P: 04 384 6294 M: 027 6836647 |

E: planitpro@yahoo.com

Meet Silver Fern Maria Tutaia

at New World Island Bay

Tuesday 28th October

from 3-7pm

See if you can pass the ball as fast

and guess how many shots in a

minute Maria can sink.

Spot prizes and chance to win tickets

to Silver Ferns game on 31st October.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Players from left to right: Back: Maxim, Shivaan, Jonathan, Michael, Arnan Front: Dhilan, Scott, George, Theo, William

These Year 8 boys competed in the U15 Floorball

Tournament at the ASB Centre, which was held

during the school holidays. Considering half the

team had never played floorball before, the boys

were extremely pleased to take third place, in

what was a nail biting 3rd/4th playoff against

Evans Bay Intermediate!

Room 10 & 11 Brooklyn Student Politicians

Weetbix Triathlon – Registrations OPEN – Sunday 29th March 2015

Hi all! As some of you will know, many of our children missed out on participating in the Weetbix Triathlon this year due to the event numbers reaching the maximum allowable in the first week of term one. This time around, we recommend if your child/children would like to do it, to avoid disappointment register as soon as you can (registrations are now

open).

What you need to know: Age – the event is open to all school children aged 7 through to 15 years on the day of the event. You can enter as an individual (i.e. Swim, cycle and run) or as a team (swim or cycle, and run) About – it’s not about competition, so the events are not timed, nor are there place getters. It’s about giving it a go, having fun, the sheer elation the kids feel having completed the event. It’s really safe environment (particularly the swim leg where course helpers are in the pool with the kids with flutter–boards at the ready should your child need them). Having been involved for three years now, I can thoroughly recommend it, especially for kids who are not keen on competitive sports – it’s great for confidence, fitness, and sense of community! How to Register – you can register online or through the school co-ordinator. Registrations are open now. Online Registration – go to the Weetbix Triathlon website: http://try.weetbix.co.nz/my-location/wellington and click the ‘Register Now’ icon and take it from there. Please make sure you link your child to Brooklyn School (the more we have registered, the more we are in to win some cool prizes!). The early bird price of $35 applies until Dec 19th at midday (i.e. End of term), but I wouldn’t leave it till then if you definitely want to secure your child’s place. The entry price will go up to $42 after that, except if you register through the school co-ordinator where it will remain at $35 per person (regardless if you are individual or team participant).

Registration through the School Co-ordinator – alternatively to online registration, you can pick up a form from the office, fill it out (one form per child registering) and bring back with your registration fee (and photo money if you order photos) to the office for registration by the school co-ordinator. This can be paid either in cash, by cheque (made out to ‘Brooklyn School’) or online (if paying online please put your child’s name and

‘Weetbix’ in the reference fields). Our Online account details are: Bank: ASB Willis Street

Brooklyn School Board of Trustees Account Number: 123 141 0139800 00 **remember, your child’s or family name in the reference field along with the word ‘Weetbix’ (very important) A wee tip:-T-shirt size – I would advise getting a size up than your child normally is….they are not over all big. If you have any queries, have a read of the website info first as most of your questions should be answered there. We will have the Brooklyn School flags at the triathlon which is a great place to meet/base ourselves and support each other. We are looking forward to a big Brooklyn School contingent this time around! Warm Regards Liz Rhodes School Co-ordinator for Wellington Weetbix Triathlon 2015

Last term Room 15 held a Bring a Pet Day.

Children also dressed up as animals. It was a

fin day and great to see the children’s pets!

Emma, Scarlett & Eva and chicken

Sam and his pet budgie

Ashleigh

dressed up as a

panda bear

Kiwi Syndicate recently held their Reading Hour and these

children presented their topics:

Benji (right) Cara (bottom right) and Luke (bottom left)