Springston School Newsletter 6 December 2013

Springston's 'Celebrate Summer' Community Market

On Friday Springston School had a very successful market night. There were all kinds of different things being sold. There were things such as tic-tac-toe, sand jars, worm juice and wooden Christmas trees! All of the profit from this evening will go to the new adventure playground. 

Springston School Newsletter 29 November 2013

A+ Certificates for Assembly 6 December:
 
Room 1: Arohaina
Room 2: Hayley, Ianthe
Room 4: Darcie, Frida
Room 5: Zoe B, Sevao
Room 7: Molly B, Georgia L
Room 8: Olivia, Libby, Valey, Thomas L, Hannah M, Rohan, Georgia, James B, Blake F, Zach S.
Room 9: Patrick, Sarah

Concept Plans arrive for Springston School's New Adventure Learning Centre!

Following on from this morning's excellent presentation to parents by the Playground Inquiry Team, there was great excitement this afternoon when the concept plans for our new Adventure Learning Centre arrived by courier.

Check out the draft plans displayed in our school foyer, and ask any of the students in the Playground Inquiry Team to explain them to you.

Team members (all from Room 7) are:

And here they are, opening the package!

• Jackson
• Hamish T
• Haidee
• Callum S
• Brooke
• Rob
• Anja
• Georgia
• Jack G
• Jack M
• Zakai

Sorry, we can't post photos or copies of the plans here because of copyright. These aren't quite the final plans (very close), but they do give you a great idea of the Recreation Company's design that the students have decided on. Do pop down and have a look!

Springston School Newsletter 14 November 2013

Springston School Newsletter 1 November 2013

Pet Day

During the first half of today we had our school Pet Day. There were animals from goldfish to horses in all shapes and sizes. Lots of parents turned up to watch the animals being judged. It was a fun filled morning with lots of different activities. The highlight for us was seeing all the different varieties of animals.

Athletics Day

Athletics Day is always one of the most enjoyable sporting days of the year. Everyone competed well and we all showed our house colours with enthusiasm.

The events were shot put, long distance, sprints, discus, high jump and long jump.

Reporter: Alice T

Springston School Newsletter 17 October 2013

Secret Garden Party

The Spring Garden Party

At the Springston Community Secret Garden 

on the 20^th of October from 11 am until 2 pm

Bring your family along to the first ever Spring Garden Party at the community garden in Springston. We aim to raise awareness of the garden, promote its benefits for the community and create a fun-filled event for primary school students and Springston community members.

There will be: 

• A hat competition (Which primary student can make the best spring-themed hat before the event?)
• A letter hunt challenge
• An opportunity for community members to swap plants
• And free BBQ sausages

Springston School Newsletter 27 September 2013

Vote for our school and $1000

Click on this link and vote for our school.  We could win $1000 of Tui vouchers for the Secret Garden if we win out of all the schools. You need an e-mail address so get your family to help.  All teachers and Room 7 - we need you!

Link to vote

Spud in a Bucket Competition

Have you been to the office to get your very own spud and bucket?  Get it planted as soon as possible to gain the most growth.  We will be checking out the spuds on Picnic Day.

There will be prizes for the most spuds, the biggest spud and the ugliest spud.

Make sure you get yours growing and all the money raised goes to The Secret Garden so we can begin some more cool projects.

Tui Garden Challenge - vote for us!

Check out the blog posts from schools in the Tui Challenge.  Make sure you write us comments and vote for our posts.  Is there any other learning in the garden that you would like to post a blog about in the comepetition?

Remember - vote for us using the big tick!
Click here to visit the blog posts.

Springston School Newsletter 13 September, 2013

School Open Friday

Congratulations on your A+ Adaptability as we struggle with the challenge of no power. We have no indication as yet when power will be restored to school. We plan to open school on Friday provided the weather is fine, regardless of the lack of power.

Some things you need to know: The back gate to school via the field and Secret Garden are both locked and closed until further notice. This is a safety issue because of tree damage and it is likely that these gates will be locked for the rest of Term 3.

On Friday afternoon we are planning a fun event at the Domain for the children to welcome them back to school. We will be leaving for a picnic lunch and activities at 12pm and welcome you to join us. Subway will run as normal. Icy-slicy will be postponed until next Friday.

Please note that with the power being out, we have no phones, heating or alarm systems. We will leave it to your discretion as to whether you send your children to school. If the weather should turn cold or wet, these plans will need to be reviewed. The school will open unless you are advised that it is closed by school websites, Facebook and the More 92 FM radio station.

School Closed Thursday 12 Sept

School will remained closed today due power outage. We will update further details today.

Springston School Newsletter 30 August 2013

Springston School Newsletter 16 August 2013

Future Learning Seminar for Parents - Derek Wenmoth and Modern Learning Environments

Anticipation and excitement are growing ahead of Tuesday's Parent Seminar (13 August, 7:30 pm). We're hoping to see all families represented at this informative, entertaining and social evening. Don't miss out!

Derek Wenmoth will be discussing Modern Learning Environments and the transformation of learning that is able to occur within them. This is particularly of interest because the construction of our very own MLEs begin next week! 

Derek is a top notch speaker and recipient of a George Lucas Foundation Glogable 6 Award for making a difference in education. We guarantee you will find the evening very stimulating.

We'll look forward to seeing you at the Errol Tweedie Pavilion, at the Springston Domain. Please RSVP to the School Office (Phone 03-329-5724) by this Friday as we are organising catering :-)

From http://www.core-ed.org/sites/events.core-ed.org/files/Caves-campfires-wateringholes.pdf

Community Circle Time

I was lucky enough to get to visit all the Community Circle Time groups last Friday and these are some of the exciting things I saw.  I challenge you to write a comment to tell us about some of the things you have been learning in our sessions.  Allana

Community Circle Time on PhotoPeach

Springston School Newsletter 2 August 2013

Springston Radio Episode 3 - News and views from our students!

Bringing the Kiwi Classroom into the Digital Age - Campbell Live Monday 8 July

Image from Campbell Live

Did you see 'Bringing the Kiwi Classroom into the Digital Age', on Campbell Live? 

The team visited and interviewed students from Hingaia Peninsula School, and also featured interviews with NZ and other internationally renowned educators. We highly recommend that you watch this programme - it is very exciting and inspiring! 

Christchurch schools that are facing rebuilds are moving in this direction, and new schools are being designed following this sort of model for learning. You will notice that this isn't just about the physical environment, but how we can make the best learning happen for all of our students - modern learning requires modern learning environments. 

We are thrilled to have Derek Wenmoth coming to talk more about modern learning and modern learning environments with us all on 13 August. We look forward to seeing you there!

Some rights reserved by roujo

Springston School Newsletter 5 July 2013

Playground Survey for Springston School Parents and Caregivers

Weedons School

Clarkville School

Prebbleton School

As you know, a group of senior students has been conducting an inquiry into our growing needs for a challenging and engaging adventure playground at school, so that all age groups and abilities are catered for.

Thus, all Springston School Parents and Caregivers were emailed (on Thursday) a link to a short survey, asking for your ideas for a new adventure playground at school. Please check your email and help us by completing the survey by Monday 8 July.

A Kiwi Big Night Out - Springston School Production update

Springston Radio - Episode 2 - listen in for another great broadcast!

Parenting Week: 11-18 August

A message from our PTA

Parenting Week is being held from 11-18 August 2013, with top quality speakers and free community events and expos happening throughout Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri. The full programme of events is available at Neighbourhood Trust. There are links on the website to book tickets to all events. They have a fantastic programme.

Tickets are now live and on-sale! They are already selling fast, with some events expected to sell out weeks in advance. Be quick to book your ticket(s) so you don't miss out! Please pass on details to your Christchurch-based friends and families. 

3 ticketing agencies are being used, in order to get the best deal for people purchasing:
 
Ticketek: Lisa O’Neill (Ticketek has a standing arrangement with Aurora Centre) – you can do bulk orders of tickets by phoning Ticketek (0800Ticketek) and if you use Ezy Ticket, there is only one transaction fee of $5.25 + credit card fee.

Dash Tickets: for all ticket sales $5 and over: Celia Lashlie, Diane Levy, Amy Scott, Jax Hamilton, Sophie Gray, Nathan Wallis’ Alcohol & the Teenage Brain at Riccarton High, Karyn Riley, Dean Stewart.
 
Eventbrite: for all gold coin events to reserve a seat: Philippa Murphy, Nathan Wallis' Alcohol & the Teenage Brain at Chisnallwood & Building Brains at St Albans Uniting, Amanda John’s Barnados talk, Laura Hall, ToughLove.

Thanks for your support of Parenting Week 2013 - bringing back FUN for Christchurch families and whanau.

Springston School Newsletter 21 June 2013

Will it snow?

Fran with snow woman (School snow closure, 2011)

Deciding whether to close the school is never an easy decision, and one that we do not take lightly.

Our first consideration is always the health and safety of our students and staff. This often involves the condition of the grounds and buildings. In the case of snow, it may be the remaining ice that causes even more concern, later.

Another aspect to consider is the safety of roads, and whether or not it is reasonable to expect teachers to drive to get here (many of our teachers live quite some way from the school). The bus company also notifies us as to whether or not they are going to put their drivers on the road. A decision has to be put together from many pieces of information, and from several sources.

If a decision was made to close the school in the event of a major snow storm, we would let you know as soon as possible and in a number of ways (some of which would depend on whether or not we had electricity!).

If possible, all of the following methods would be used, as soon as we were able to make that decision:

• Springston School website
• Springston School News Blog (ie this Blog)
• Springston School on Facebook
• More FM Radio (92.1 FM)
• Some of our class blogs (links on the School website, and down the side of the News Blog)

Now, WILL it snow....?

The BIG questions - Philosophy for Children (P4C)

This term a group of 13 students from Years 5-8 having been meeting regularly on Thursdays to discuss matters of philosophy. Guided by Carol and Wendy, they have thought deeply about a number of ideas, and examined their beliefs and understandings about their world.

Whether it is truth or beauty, friendship or fairness, violence or justice, what’s right or what’s real, philosophy deals with so many things that children love to discuss.

Developed more than thirty years ago by Dr. Matthew Lipman, Philosophy for Children is an international educational programme taught widely in many countries. Students learn to listen to, respect and understand a diverse range of views. They 'grow' their thinking, broaden their ideas, and realise there are different perspectives on every issue. They begin to develop the confidence and intellectual courage to put forward their own views in a group.

Here is a list of some of the questions that came up in last week's discussion on 'What is violence?' - these ideas will be explored further:

• Is it ok to help a friend, even if you're going to get into trouble?
• Do two wrongs make a right?
• Do we need to prove ourselves to others?
• When is it right to 'get even'? Do we need to get even?
• Why do parents treat children differently?
• Should we hold grudges?
• Does anger affect our choices?
• Why do people treat others badly?
• Why do people value different things?
• Who decides how money should be spent?

Discussions around the dinner table in the homes of these students will have been particularly stimulating recently! 

To understand what a P4C community of inquiry session looks and sounds like, this Australian video gives you a good 'taster'.



Information about P4C thanks to P4C NZ.

Starting School Party!

Today Helen, with some of the help of Senior students, organized a starting school party for all the children starting school soon at Springston School.

Here are the children and parents playing parachute games.

Reporter: Alice T

Our Amazing Support Staff

Today is Support Staff Day. 

To all our wonderful support staff at Springston School. Thanks for your amazing support and also your friendship. Not only do you keep things ticking over smoothly, you enrich the lives of our students, and you support the teachers in so many ways.

We hoped you enjoyed the lovely morning tea this morning, in your honour. And, we hope you enjoy your gifts (photographed below). 

No, they're not parcels of fish and chips - what do you think they might be...?

Guess what the gifts for our support staff were....?

PTA Book Exchange for School Parents & Caregivers

Please click this image to see it in a larger, more readable format

Springston Minecrafters

We are exploring the use of Minecraft as an educational tool. You can follow our journey through our new Springston Minecrafters Blog. 

You might enjoy watching our Minecrafters video playlist on SpringstonTube! 

Follow our journey!

Wonderful Work!

Remember that time

When we dined out

Every night

 for two weeks

Remember that

delicious food and wine

The French gourmet

And the real champagne

Remember the sight seeing

In Paris

The tall Eiffel Tower

And their museum

Remember France

That was a holiday

This is some of the work being produced in Room 7! 

Anja has been working on a poem which is called remember that time.

This is just a paragraph of some of Anja’s work!

Springston School Newsletter 7 June 2013

Our new Springston School website has been launched!

Have you noticed that the new Springston School website has been quietly launched in the past week?

We'd love you to check it out and tell us what you think. Please leave a comment below, and let us know if the new website meets your needs.

Home Page of the new website

The old website!

We're broadcasting! Welcome to Springston Radio

We're exploring the idea of radio broadcasting! A group of students from Room 5 (Year 5 and 6 students) has been helping Carol work out how to do this with iPads. They're working on their information skills, and their expression.

We're publishing our radio broadcasts on Soundcloud. We hope you enjoy our first effort!

Fun Run time this Friday

On Friday 7 June (postponement date is 21 June) we will be holding our annual School Fun Run at the Springston Domain. Parents are welcome to join us for this event. We have the coffee cart booked from 1:30 – 2:30 pm.

Children in the Senior and Middle Teams will be leaving to walk to the Domain at 12:30 pm.

Junior classes will be leaving at 1:30 pm. If any parents are available to help with walking children to the Domain please contact your child’s teacher.

Senior and Middle Team events will start at 1:00 pm. with the Year 7/8 Girls, followed by Year 7/8 Boys, Year 4/5/6 Girls and the Year 4/5/6 Boys.

Junior Team events will be starting at 2:00 pm with Year 3 Girls, followed by Year 3 Boys, Year 2 Girls, Year 2 Boys, Year 1 Girls and Year 1 Boys.

It would be helpful if students can bring a jacket as well as a change of clothes and shoes to run in. Students can dress in their house colours for this event or perhaps a New Zealand theme!

Decision on postponement will be made on the day and parents will be advised through blogs and Facebook.

Springston Secret Garden Open Day - come and visit!

Come along to the Secret Garden at 2:30pm on Monday 10 June to check out the amazing things that have been happening.

The Allottment Kids and the Choice and Challenge Kids will be there to share their progress but we would love to see any visitors from the Springston School families and wider community.

 We might even have a nibble from the garden to share!

Room 5 Goes Live on More FM!

Room 5 has won the More FM Crusaders Co-op Challenge. Well done everybody! They're going to enjoy the rugby on Friday night (The Crusaders vs The Warratahs 7:30pm). Click below to listen to the recording!

School Newsletter 24 May 2013

The Big Sad Wolf

On 17 May the whole school went over to the hall to watch the Big Sad Wolf performance. There were 3 actors sharing 7 parts. They did a very good job of remixing the Big Bad Wolf.

The story was about a wolf who was a vegetarian and was accused of eating sheep. Then the boy who cried wolf tricked him into looking like he was eating a sheep. The poor wolf was accused of many things he did not do. 

The messages they got across were don’t judge a book by its cover, and there are always two sides to the story.

Reporters: Georgia G and Molly B