On behalf of the staff and our school community I would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new children and their families.
What a brilliant weekend! Apart from a few heart stopping moments on Sunday night, we have been treated to an incredible event and it makes me so very proud to be a New Zealander.
To celebrate this momentous occasion we are having an ice block day tomorrow. Your child brought a notice home about this today. Please let your child's teacher know if you do not want your child to have an ice block.
Welcome to Term 4 -
And what a term this will be! We have a fantastic line up of events planned and with the term only 8 weeks long there's pretty much something happening each week. Our major events are the WOW Factor finals and the 10th Year Celebrations on the 18th and 19th of November, we look forward to seeing you all here as we celebrate 10 years of
Discover, Develop and
Nurture at Willowbank School.
It’s our 10th birthday and we’re celebrating… and we’d love you to join us.
Friday 18 November:
Classrooms will be open from 1.00 – 3.00pm. Children will be sharing their inquiry learning and our Kapa Haka and dance groups will be performing on the outside stage throughout the afternoon. At 5pm Clara and the team will be judging the WOW showcase to announce the supreme winner of the 2011 WOW Factor. From 7pm we will be ‘Mix n Mingling’ in the hall and bidding for items at the auction. The mix n mingle is for people 18 years and over. Tickets to the mix n mingle are $7 each and available at the school office.
Saturday 19 November:
Classrooms will be open from 11am – 12pm. During this time the home learning competition (sand saucers, novelty pots, mini gardens etc) will be judged. Enjoy something from the food festival from 12pm and stay to enjoy some classic outdoor games with your children at 1pm. Teams have prepared games such as potato and spoon races and tug o’ war. Winners of the home learning competition will be awarded their certificates and prizes at 2.30pm on the outdoor stage.
It would be fantastic to see you at all or parts of our 10
th year celebrations. Please come in and purchase a ticket for the mix n mingle – come by yourself, with your partner or with a group of friends. Meet present and past staff members, Board of Trustees and students.
Requirement for Willowbank School children:
Children will be at school on Friday so the open afternoon will be part of their programme for the day. They are welcome to attend the WOW showcase with a parent from 5pm. All children are required to come to school on Saturday for an 11am start. Children can bring their home learning competition entries in at 11am and display them in the designated areas (more information about this at a later date). Children will move to their classrooms and stay with their teacher until 12pm. Please collect your child from their classroom at 12pm and spend the afternoon with them enjoying the food stalls and games.
Please ensure children are dressed in their full school uniform on Friday 18 November. Children may wear mufti to school on Saturday as they will be participating in games from 1pm.
Archives:
Our archives (pictures, photos, scrapbooks) will be on display in the e learning room on both days. Pop in to have a look at how things have changed and what we’ve experienced in 10 short years.
We look forward to seeing you all at the 10
th year celebrations.
10th Year Celebrations - sharing the learning
It has been wonderful to see the inquiry learning about globalisation and citizenship throughout the school, we now have classes of experts on topics such as fair trade, different cultures and their celebrations and Willowbank's history. Not only have the children have developed deep understandings of these topics but they are using their understandings to create resources, share their ideas and make a difference in their world. I know the classes are all looking forward to sharing their learning at our 10th Year celebrations.
WOW FINALS
Less than two weeks to go to the WOW finals on 4th November. Junior Finals - Year 1 - 3 from 4 - 5.30 and the Senior Finals 6pm to 7.30pm. Tickets are $5 per person and are available from the school office. Tickets are limited - so please ensure you get yours soon.
In addition to the WOW factor finalists we will also be entertained by school dance and choir groups.
To continue to celebrate WOW we will have a WOW mufti day on the 4th November - $2 per student, and a sausage sizzle outside the hall from 3pm onwards. All proceeds will go towards the school van.
Winners of each category will be announce on the 4th November. All the winners will then be invited to perform at our showcase on the 18th November - where we will announce the Supreme WOW Winner.
Good luck WOW Finalists. Lets support our school, our fantastic talented students - and have a great evening on the 4th November.
We look forward to welcoming you all.
Telecom's Bills to Storybooks
Are you a Telecom customer? Telecom’s Bills to Storybooks is a nationwide programme which aims to celebrate the art of storytelling – by giving 10,000 storybooks by Kiwi authors to primary schools when customers switch to online billing. Once you’ve switched you’ll still get your bill each month, but it will come via a handy email instead. It’s good for the environment, good for our kids, and you benefit too! Go to http://www.telecombillstostorybooks.co.nz/switch/ and nominate Willowbank School.
School Lunches and Allergies
At Willowbank we have a number of children who have allergies to certain food types. The two foods that are of most concern are peanuts and egg. We ask that you do not send these foods in your child’s lunchbox. Please remind your child that they must not share their food with anyone else or accept food from others.
Sometimes parents wish to bring special treats in for children to share with their classmates. Please speak with your child’s teacher prior to sending treats so that we can advise you of any allergies and contact all parents to advise them.
Please do not send lollies or chocolate in your child’s lunch.
As an Enviro school, it is important that we continue to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint by limiting the amount of waste going to the landfill, therefore we ask that food is put into small containers or reusable bags instead of being wrapped in gladwrap. All non-recyclable items children bring in their lunchboxes will be sent home again.
Thank you in anticipation.
Uniform
Hopefully summer is here to stay and the weather will be warm enough for children to wear their summer uniform. It is compulsory for children to wear the school regulation hat over the summer terms (term 1 and 4). We have sunhats available for purchase at the school office.
Children no longer need a change of clothes to play on the field but Year 4-6 children do need to bring their PE uniforms for fitness and sport. The Willowbank School uniform is available from the school.
Measles
Measles continues to cause concern and we remain vigilant for any signs of this disease amongst our children. If your child is unwell please keep them at home until their health improves. As the illness is contagious please notify us as soon as possible. Thank you.
Waterwise
Each year our Year 6 children have an opportunity to participate in the Waterwise programme of kayaking and sailing. This programme however is very reliant on parent support and at the moment we are struggling to have the required number of trained sailing instructors. If you are interested in training (we pay for this) please let me know. The programme runs every Tuesday in terms 1 and 4. This is such an excellent education outside the classroom activity, it would be devastating to lose it. You do not have to have a child in Year 6 to train.
Congratulations
Our congratulations to Jerome Sauni for winning the Percy Jones Cup. Jerome was Sportsman of the Year for the under 7's at the Pakuranga United Rugby Club.
