Matawara Parents 2018

Welcome to Week 7! This week we continue our Inquiry Rotations on Tuesday, with all students experiencing learning simulations around the NZ Wars, Early School Life, The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and Bastion Point.  SKI TRIP -  What a shame our ski trip was postponed last Wednesday, however we will get another day allocated, which I am sure will be lovely spring ski conditions! Please ensure you read and follow up on any notices or requests that come home regarding this, as you are no doubt aware, this is a mammoth day to organise - again!  TE REO-ATHON -  The Clarkville School PTA latest fundraiser is the 2018 Te Reo-Athon! The PTA works tirelessly to raise funds to help ALL children of this school, and this is a valuable learning experience for our Team in helping to leave a legacy for others. It is our expectation that ALL of Aspire will learn and be tested on these words, with us allowing some class time for this to happen. We encoura...

Hi Everyone, Week 6 and it is starting to feel more like Winter at the moment, which is just as well as our Ski Trip on Wednesday is looking great now that there has been some fresh snow! ST JOHN FIRST AID -  Our annual workshops with St John are happening on Monday and Tuesday this week, with Aspire having their time on Monday. These are always very well facilitated with students gaining hands on, practical information for assisting others in need, should the time arise! SAUSAGE SIZZLE -  Don't forget, we have our PTA Friday Sausage sizzle this week. SKI TRIP - WEDNESDAY is the day of our annual ski trip! The weather is looking fantastic! Please ensure you read all notices regarding this day VERY CAREFULLY and direct any questions you may have, to either Vikki or myself. PLEASE NOTE - it is school as usual for anyone who has not signed up for Ski Trip.  TE REO-ATHON -  The Clarkville School PTA latest fundraiser is the 2018 Te Reo-Athon! The PTA wor...

Hi Everyone! Welcome to Week 5 - we are at the half way point! We had a stunning day in Town last week, with many connections made to our Inquiry 'New Zealand History.' Once again we were so proud of how our students conducted themselves while on this trip. Thank you to those of you who attended our Values Assembly last week - it is great to see the values that we all hold dear, becoming part of our school community. CANTAMATH -  The VERY BEST OF LUCK, to our Year 7 and 8 Cantamath teams, who are heading to the Horncastle Arena on Wednesday. The Year 7's will competing at 4pm, and the Year 8's competing at 5pm - all the VERY BEST OF LUCK! Lesley Ottey  NEEDS your VOTE!  Lesley is our school Enviro teacher who not only comes in and supports our Thursday Enviro programme, but also supports the school when we have our Gala and other events.  She is asking for all of us to VOTE FOR HER IN THE NORTH CANTERBURY BUSINESS AWARDS - People's Choice Awards!  ...

Hi Everyone, TOWN TRIP -  We are off to Town on MONDAY! Thank you to all parents who have offered assistance with this one - it is a great supplement to our Inquiry study, with LOADS planned in our scavenger hunt and on our Tram ride. This trip will provide the students with vital information to continue our Inquiry study on our return. Have a conversation with your child about this on Monday night! ALL children are to wear correct school uniform for this trip.  NOTE - Parents who are helping - we will meet in the MPF shortly after 9:00am to get into groups etc. You will be given your handbook with all information in it at this time.  SEXUALITY ROAD -  Please note the parent evening planned for our teaching of Sexuality Road this year is this  TUESDAY 4:30pm. If you have any queries, questions or wonderings, you need to attend this evening to have them answered. Aspire's Sexuality programme will begin towards the end of the term in Week 7 and run...

Welcome to Week 3! (ALREADY...?!) We are flying through the term and last week was a great one with our Cantamath teams doing us proud in the North Canterbury Cantamath Competition!  The town Cantamath competition is Wednesday 22 August, at the Horncastle Arena, with the Year 7's will competing at 4pm, and the Year 8's competing at 5pm - all the VERY BEST OF LUCK! KAIAPOI HIGH SCHOOL PARENT EVENING -  We start the week with our Kaiapoi High School parent evening with Principal, Bruce Kearny on Monday evening 7pm - 8pm. Bruce will discuss any questions you have regarding your child's transition to High School, in addition to talking to you about some of the exciting things that are happening at Kaiapoi High in the future. Thank you to the parents who have let us know that they are coming. PLEASE NOTE THIS COFFEE EVENING HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO LIMITED INTEREST. SKI TRIP -  You will have received your 2018 Ski Trip notice in week 1. The permis...

Welcome to Week 2! Last week was a great week to be getting back into learning with some excellent goal setting from the students, tuning in to our Inquiry for Term 3 (NZ History)  and buddy group activities for the whole school. This week we have the North Canterbury Cantamath Competition at school on Wednesday (GOOD LUCK to those of Aspire who are taking part in this!),  ICAS English on Tuesday and of course our community assembly on Friday morning. KAIAPOI HIGH SCHOOL COFFEE EVENING -  Please see the attached poster for details about the Kaiapoi High Parent Evening here at school in Week 3. PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE BY EMAILING KRISTIE AND VIKKI BEFORE 2ND of August.  DISCO - The date for this year's disco is Friday, 10 August, 6-8pm.   Entry is $5 per child which includes a goody bag. The theme this year is Masked Ball and with DJ Straya (Vikki) we promise great music, games and  prizes for the most creative masks. Clarkv...

Welcome back to Term 3! We hope all of Aspire are well rested, and ready to begin the second half of the year! We have plenty planned for this term, and the best thing is, the weather begins to improve as we go along! NORTH CANTERBURY CANTAMATHS -  This competition is on WEDNESDAY 1st August (week 2) in the morning. Good luck to the teams who are competing for Year 7 and Year 8! TUNING IN -  This week we will tune into our new Inquiry focus for Term 3 - "It is part of who we are..." make sure you ask your child what they have been looking at. LEADERSHIP for TERM 3 -  The yYear 8's will begin to carry out their Leadership Projects this Term, and we look forward to seeing how they all progress with this! Throughout our team we will be looking into 'CHALLENGE the PROCESS' within our Leadership Challenge.  We have some fun activities planned to have the students explore this concept and we will share these with you as we complete them! STATION...

Welcome to Week 10! It is hard to believe that we have reached this end of the term already! It has been a jam packed term with a heap of learning along the way. This week the Year 8's will be handing in the 'Research and Skill Building' part of their Leadership Project on MONDAY 2nd JULY.  Year 7's are to hand in their 'Emerging Leaders Pathways' on MONDAY also.  3 WAY CONFERENCES -  These continue this week - please note the early finish time of 12:30pm on WEDNESDAY 4th JULY.  Conferences are 20 minutes in duration - please appreciate that with 50 to get through, we will run to time - sharp! Should you run late, we can't allow for a late finish to make up time, as this generates a flow on effect that will put other parents and teachers behind. A buzzer will sound at 17 minutes to assist the children to know to wrap it up. We look forward to seeing you all and celebrating your child's learning with you. VISION and HEARING TESTING -  This...

Welcome to Week 9! This week is a huge week for all of us here in the school community! It is always great to connect with families and see students sharing their learning in our team. 3 WAY CONFERENCES -  These begin this week - please note the early finish times of 12:30pm, on MONDAY 25 JUNE and WEDNESDAY 4 JULY.  Conferences are 20 minutes in duration - please appreciate that with 50 to get through, we will run to time - sharp! Should you run late, we can't allow for a late finish to make up time, as this generates a flow on effect that will put other parents and teachers behind. A buzzer will sound at 17 minutes to assist the children to know to wrap it up. We look forward to seeing you all and celebrating your child's learning with you. YEAR 8 SPEECH COMPETITION -  On Monday 18th June, at 1:30pm, we held our annual speech competition against Ohoka. We were so proud of our 3 speakers! They spoke with real confidence, despite this being the first time...

Welcome to Week 8! We thought this was a wonderful graphic to start the week with. With the pressures and the stresses we are exposed to on a daily basis, there are some messages here to be mindful off for your children, and actually come to think of it - OURSELVES! 3 WAY CONFERENCES -  It is great to see that most of you have signed up for a conference time with your child - if you have not done this yet, please ensure you get this done ASAP. YEAR 8 SPEECH COMPETITION -  On Monday 18th June, at 1:30pm, we have our annual speech competition. This is the semi finals, before deciding who from Clarkville OR Ohoka will represent us at the Rotary Speech Competition for 2018. We look forward to sharing the results of this with you on Monday! YEAR 8 LEAVERS REPORTS -  We are very aware that this end of the term is a very busy time with many Year 8's applying for High Schools. Please let us know when you are embarking on this paper war (!) as we have a Leav...

Welcome to Week 6!  Crikey it is hard to believe but, this term is heading to the business end at break neck speed!  This week is a shorter week, with Queen's Birthday weekend to start it off - we hope you have had a wonderful time with your family with the extra day!  NORTH CANTERBURY CROSS COUNTRY -  This Wednesday our Clarkville team of runners will make their way to the Loburn Domain to run in the Pegasus Zone Championship Cross Country. All students will leave school at 11:30am for this event, and will return around the end of the day. Remember, school sports shirts will be issued for this event, and we appreciate them promptly coming back clean. We wish all of our Aspire competitors all the very best! SEESAW UPDATE -  This week you can look forward to reading about your child's progress towards their Maths and Reading Goals. Please take time to sit with your child and look at their learning, as this strengthens their understanding of th...

Welcome to Week 5,  WOW what an amazing Cross Country we had last week. Stunning weather, beautiful scenery, and our team exceeded our expectations by running the additional lap for their personal races, AND then running with the juniors of the school - we are very proud! Leadership is not always easy, and it is not always focussed in the areas that are your favourite! We also had our first week of Options and Winter Sport with all of our team off doing their own things that interest them. It has to be said, that we are very grateful to those parents who have offered up their time to assist with these programmes. We understand that it is certainly not always easy! DEVICES -  There is a distinct number of children who are not bringing their own devices, despite owning them. We encourage ALL children to bring their own device as this is the easiest and fastest way to access our learning. To avoid the drain on our team devices, and the inevitable 'waiting' for learn...

Welcome to Week 4! What a wonderfully informative week we had last week - Kaiapoi High students came to chat to Aspire regarding what happens at High School, in readiness for next year for our Year 8 children. Our Year 7's also sat in on this, and some wonderful questions were asked. On Tuesday, John Parsons came to school, and ran a Cyber Awareness workshop with Aspire and that evening he hosted a superb parent evening. It has been wonderful to hear the feedback from those of you who went, and he has easily been, one of the best speakers we have heard on this topic! If you couldn't make this evening, or you just want more information, follow this link , to find many podcasts and videos that John has on his website, that cover some of the topics he spoke about last Tuesday. On Tuesday evening 4 of our students participated in the EPRO8 Technology Challenge! Vikki has made a fun video about this, which we pop up on our team website this week! FROM OUR CANTEEN LE...

Welcome to Week 3 and this week is 'NZ Bullying Free Week' and what a big week we have on! Firstly, a HUGE congratulations to our two Debate teams that competed last week - both teams did a wonderful job and it was a fabulous experience to be involved in.  JOHN PARSON'S - Cyber Saftey We are super fortunate to have John Parson's delievering a Cyber Saftey workshop to Aspire at 1:30pm on Tuesday.  Don't forget 6:30pm  is the parent evening with John Parsons  (http://www.johnparsons.nz/ ) regarding Technology. This talk will be in the MPF.  ALSO...  On this same night 5-7pm: EPRO8 Technology and Engineering Challenge - good luck to the team heading to this!  YEAR 8 PIZZA FUNDRAISER -  Don't forget to support the Pizza Fundraiser on Friday - Angie and Theresa are organising this.  WINTER SPORTS -  Please ensure these forms are returned, if not done already. We are desperately seeking umpires in all spor...

Welcome to Week 2, We have had a great start to the term, with our debating teams selected, and the first of our debates are this week. * Clarkville 1 - debate against Ohoka (at Ohoka) on Thursday 10th May at 1:30pm * Clarkville 2 - debate against Swannanoa (at Clarkville) on Wednesday 11 May at 11:00am. SEESAW -  Thank you to all of you who have looked at the reporting from last term on your child's seesaw account. It is great to see the comments you are writing to your child, as they do read this, and it is a great way for them to feel supported in their learning. This term we will be posting learning over the course of the term, with the first focus being on LEADERSHIP. Seesaw is a way for children to show you the process of their learning, so it is not always a 'finished product.' Every family has been given the Reporting handout, that Juliana presented to those who attended the workshops last term. If you require another copy of this, please let us know...

Welcome to Term 2!  We hope you had a lovely time with your families over the last couple of weeks, and are ready to start another busy term here in Matawara!  We start with Pizza with the Principal on Monday, so any children whose name was drawn from the hat, remember don't pack lunch!  Friday we have our Buddy Group Inquiry Launch Day, with the focus being on communities, and the roles and responsibilities within these. Lots of fun is planned, with it taking much of the day.  STATIONERY -  As usual, children seem to haemorrhage stationery! Last term we noticed a particular lack of red pens, pencils and rulers as the term progressed... can you please ensure your child is ready to go, day one with these things. DEVICES -  There is a distinct number of children who are not bringing their own devices, despite owning them. We encourage ALL children to bring their own device as this is the easiest and fastest way to access our learning. To...

Welcome to the last week of Term 1, and boy... hasn't the term FLOWN by!  It seems like yesterday we were packing up for our camp at the start of the year, with new friends and relationships to form... yet here we are, 11 weeks later!  It has been a wonderful term, with amazing learning that has taken place, and our team has settled right into their role, as the Aspire learning community.  As we head into Term 2, we have more wonderful learning planned and plenty of excitement to  come! YEAR 8 PIZZA FUNDRAISER -  This week, we have a Year 8 pizza fundraiser on Friday - remember to place your orders on Friday morning in the Library - $3 buys you 2 pieces of pizza. SCHOOL BASED VACCINATION PROGRAMME -  This will be at school on MONDAY for those of you have signed up for this. SELF REGULATED LEARNING -  Over the last few weeks, all of Aspire have been creating an identity for a fictional character - 'Edmund.' This week all of the s...

Welcome to a very short Week 10!  We hope you enjoyed some time with family and friends over Easter, and found time to relax a little.  This week, we are racing towards the end of Term 1, with assessments and other deadlines being our priority. Hopefully, you have caught up with the seesaw posts to show case your child's learning this term - there is more coming! A HUGE congratulations to our Year 7 and Year 8 teams who participated in the PCT Competition last week!  CANTERBURY SWIMMING SPORTS -  These are being held on THURSDAY 5th April, so all the very best to those who have made it this far with their swimming achievements.  NOTE - Fish and Chips may NOT be a great option for these students this time around.  PIZZA FUNDRAISERS - Year 8 Parents A link to a google doc was emailed to you last week. Please ensure you attach your name to a date on this doc. We are yet to have one for this term - which is on the 13 April! ...

Welcome to Week 9 (and a long Easter weekend!) What a fabulous end to last week! The PTA deserve a real pat on the back for the hard work organising yet another wonderful Gala! A huge thank you to the community who gave up their time in support of this event, and of course the huge number of children who were integral in the smooth running of the evening also.  REPORTING at CLARKVILLE  With the changes to our reporting systems at Clarkville this year, Juliana and Linda are running a series of seminars designed to inform you about this. We would like as many parents as possible to come to these.  These are all run THIS week and the seminars are about 30 minutes in duration.  Monday 26 March - 2:30pm Tuesday 27 march - 4:45pm  Wednesday 28 March - 8:00am  HEADLICE -  It would appear that head lice are with us once again... they are being rather persistent, and it does require a whole team approach to nail this! Please check you...

Welcome to Week 8! TRIATHLON -  The day is here! MONDAY - weather permitting - we will be holding our annual triathlon from 11:00am - 12:30pm. Please follow all advice given on recent emails that have come out - it is VERY important we all abide by the safety procedures that have been set. NORTH CANTERBURY SWIMMING SPORTS -  This event is on THURSDAY this week and those who are part of it, will have been notified. This event is a warm up event for those children who will be heading to the Canterbury Swimming Championships later in the term. CLARKVILLE SCHOOL TWILIGHT GALA - 23 MARCH - NOT LONG TO GO NOW!  We rely on a lot of community support to run the gala. Recently, an email was sent home with how you can help, to see this information go to  https://clarkvillepta.weebly. com/twilight-gala.html .  There are plenty of ways your family can be involved. Please get in touch with  Krissie  to let her know how you can help. In Mata...

Welcome to Week 7!  Clarkville School Twilight Gala -  23 March 2018 We rely on a lot of community support to run the gala. Recently, an email was sent home with how you can help, to see this information go to  https://clarkvillepta.weebly. com/twilight-gala.html .  There are plenty of ways your family can be involved. Please get in touch with  Krissie  to let her know how you can help. In Matawara, we are charged with bringing $5 per family to help contribute to our Gala. This money will go towards purchasing the shortfall of items still needed for the Gala. TEAM UPDATE -  It is very hard to believe but we are past the half way point of the first term of this year! We are not quite sure where the time has gone, however when we reflect on what we have done with the team, it is clear we have been busy!  Here are some of the highlights that the team have identified under the umbrella of 'Leadership'... no wonder we are feeling it...