Darfield Primary School Newsletter

17 November 2016 Coming Up! 10 October—Term 4 begins 18 November—Yr4 Marae visit Malvern Athletics—postponed until Monday 21st November 23-25 November—Yr 6 Camp at Wainui 6 December—Yr 6 Day at Darfield High 7 December—Canty Athletics 8 December—High School Pantomime— school attending matinee 15 December—School End of Year Production 16 December—Last day of the school Two lovely young men started school this week—Levi (left) & Ryan. Welcome to Darfield Primary School—we are delighted to have you at our school.

Parent School Calendar—Download the App now! Well done to the parents who have already installed this app on their phone and have used it already! There has been a slight hiccup this week. The programmers have been working on an automated system which would have enabled the app to work during interruptions such as this week’s shake. Unfortunately the quake happened first. An instant push notification that would have reached everyone who had the app, letting them know that school was open on Monday, didn’t work! And absences sent through on Monday arrived today! So let me assure you that it IS all systems go now. Our latest newsletter is available through the app as well as the school events calendar. Today we sent out notification that the Malvern Athletics is postponed until Monday. Do install the app on your phone as we will then be able to send instant messages to you regarding school trips, cancellations, reminders etc. Please pass this on to other parents!

year—finishing 12.30pm

From the Principal’s Desk Collaborative Learning The Resource Teachers of Behaviour and Learning (RTLB) visited Darfield Primary School last week. They wanted to see how we are using Collaborative Teaching to enhance students’ learning. One member of the team had previously worked in an innovative learning environment in Christchurch so was able to use this knowledge when evaluating the Darfield learning spaces. The feedback from the team was very positive. They stated that the programme was effectively structured. That learning was targeted and purposeful. They also commented on the way we were using the learning spaces to enhance students ability to focus on what was being taught. The last comment made by the team relates to the way we have designed the space and learning model which is different than the single cell classrooms. In the old single cell classrooms the environment required everyone to be very quite or allowed everyone to be noisy. In our new environment we have dedicated spaces to fit the learning that is taking place. We have silent spaces where children can focus on their work. We have quiet spaces were teachers can work with groups uninterrupted. We have collaborative spaces where children can talk and share ideas. Unlike a single cell classroom where the teacher is constantly interrupted or distracted by what is happening around the classroom, the new spaces enable the teachers providing group instruction to provide the group with 100% of their attention without interruption. As we run a collaborative model, a third teacher takes on a "learning coach" role and roves around the collaborative space where children are working together. The role of the learning coach is to assist children who have questions and keep students on task. Parents need to be heartened by the feedback from these outside professionals. The new learning space structure and collaborative teaching approach is providing targeted learning in an environment that focuses students on their work. Credit should be given to all the teachers at Darfield Primary School who have worked really hard this year to implement the new learning model and effectively adjust their teaching practice to take advantage of the new learning spaces.

End of Year Four school weeks until the end of the year. It is going to be a busy time with lots of fun things happening. Please ensure that you keep yourself informed by reading the school newsletter thoroughly and checking the online calendar.

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The Courtenay Show takes place at the Kirwee Show Grounds this weekend. Darfield Primary School has a display in the Kirwee Community Hall. If you are visiting the show, please pop in for a look.

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Next week is the last week for Bible in Schools. This is an hour long event for children who have opted into Bible in Schools. Students who have not opted into this programme will continue on with their regular learning programme.

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The Year 6 learners are off to Wainui next week. Wainui is a great camp that provides our school leavers with some great challenges. I am sure they will return to school tired but full of stories about their adventure. Student Achievement Conferences take place on the 5th and 6th of December. This is an opportunity for parents with children in Year 4-6 to visit the school and look at students achievement. To book a conference time, please go online and visit www.schoolinterviews.co.nz. Enter the code: br5du and follow the instructions. If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the office. As students in Year 1-3 participate in student led-conference on their anniversary, the homebase teacher will contact parents due to attend a conference to make a time.

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The school production at the end of the year will take the form of a Wearable Arts Show. This will take place on the evening of 15 December in the school hall. Please put this in your calendar as all children are required to attend. 

School will close at 12.30pm on Friday 16th December. The year will conclude with a Year 6 assembly. This is an important time for us to say goodbye to our Year 6 graduates.

Athletics Competition It is unfortunate that the weather has caused the postponement of the Malvern Athletics. Darfield Primary School has 40 buddying athletes eager to reach their potential. The Malvern Athletics will now take place on Monday 21st of November. Let’s just hope that the weather improves. Please note that all competitors must report to their event 15 minutes before the start time of their events.

School Uniforms In the newsletter on the 13 October the Board of Trustees announced that the school polo shirt would change at the start of 2017. Although the change will be fazed in over the year, we recommend that parents stop purchasing any new red polo tops. Children can continue to wear their red polo tops until the start of 2018. More information relating to the new polo top will be released shortly.

Book Club The last Book Club issue for the year has been handed out and the closing date for orders is Thursday 24th November.

Orders can be placed in the Book Club Order Box in the school office or alternatively, you can place and pay for your order on-line through the Loop system. Please read the ‘how to’ on the order page of the Book Club pamphlet. Remember that if you want the books to be held at the office for pick-up (presents etc) please mark this on your order form, or if ordering on-line, there is a check box for you to indicate this. Your order will come to school with this indicated on the order.

Head Lice There is never a time when we seem to be free of head lice. It is an utterly frustrating time for parents when these horrid things make an appearance but there are procedures to follow to ensure their spread is kept to a minimum. Head lice spread by crawling from one person’s hair to another’s—usually amongst people who are in close contact, such as family or school classmates. Anyone can be infested and there is no obvious relationship to hair cleanliness. 1.

If your child has head lice they cannot attend school until they have been treated.

2. There are many products available for treatment of head lice. 3. Once you have carried out treatment your child may attend school again. Please be vigilant and treat as necessary and reduce the risk of the lice spreading to other heads! Check out any website on head lice so you are familiar with what you may be looking for and details on how to treat them.

Library Books We are nearing the end of the year and one of the things we will be doing shortly is a stock take of all our library books. Please start looking for any of our books that may be at home and return them to school as soon as possible. We will run off lists of books that children currently have out, as well as any overdue books. Please come and see us if you think a book has been returned and we are saying otherwise. Books sometimes slip through the system and with the current state of our temporary library, things do not run as smoothly as we would like.

Jump Jam Notice A notice went home yesterday to Jump Jam families with information on ordering photos (deadline for orders today!) and how to order the DVD’s—by this Friday through the school office. Some families did not receive this notice but you can get a copy at the office.

Cups and Trophies All cups and trophies awarded at the end of 2015 should be returned to the office as soon as possible.

Community Notices

Busy Bumbles Holiday Programme Xmas Week: 19th—23rd December 2016 January Holiday Programme: 9th—13th January 16th—20th January 23rd—27th January Holiday Programme enrolment forms are on their website but do contact them if you have trouble accessing them. If you have used the Holiday Programme before you do not have to fill this in but just email: [email protected] with the following info: Child’s name, venue enrolling in, dates, drop off & times, age/Year of child. See their website for full details.

Community Notices

4/736 Weedons Ross Road, West Melton 03 347 0800 ~ [email protected]

Community Notices