Lead Me to Lead My Learning

06 3880130

26 Huia Street

Taihape, 4720

www.tas.school.nz

TAS Radio - 88.1FM

rmcmillan@tas.school.nz

Principal: Richard McMillan

Lead Me to Lead My Learning

Taihape Area School

Monday 30th May, 2016 Term 2 – Newsletter Number 5

Important Dates

This Week

Monday 30th Year 9/10 EOTC Mount Ruapehu

Day Walk

Thursday 2nd Mufti-Day for Youthline

Next Week

Monday 6th Queen’s Birthday Holiday

Wed 8th- Thu 9th Year 7/8 EOTC Rangiwhia

Hut Overnight

Friday 10th Matariki Celebration

Don’t Forget

The Annual School Ball is coming up on Saturday 2nd July. The venue this year is the Taihape College

Hall.

Tena koutou katoa

Welcome back to a new week. After a wonderful autumn, the weather has certainly changed

with a vengeance, and the prospects for this and the next few weeks are decidedly wintry.

And apart from Netball and Basketball, it was a very quiet weekend on the sporting front.

Well done to the Netballers for persevering in very wet and testing conditions on Saturday.

One of the real strengths of Taihape Area School is the important role student voice plays in

the day to day life of the School. The Students Leadership Team (SLT) meets weekly with

members of the Senior Management Team (SMT) to discuss issues, and plan for future

events, and activities. As well the School Council meets regularly to provide all students with

the opportunity to have a voice in the operation of the school.

The high level of student involvement is a real forte of TAS,

and surely one of the special features of an Area School. An

example very evident at the moment is the Level 2-3 PE

Students coaching our Year 4-8 Teams for Winter

Tournament. Winter Tournament isn’t until Week 9, but the

Students take this responsibility so seriously, they have already started weekly practices. This

provides them with opportunities for developing their leadership and mentoring skills, as well

as positive role modelling.

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In traditional Māori society, this tuakana– teina

relationship provides a model for buddy systems.

An older or more expert tuakana (brother, sister or

cousin) helps, and guides a younger, or less expert

teina (originally a younger sibling or cousin of the

same gender). The benefits to both parties are

mutual.

By the time our students reach the ages of 15 or 16,

they have accumulated a large amount of sporting

(and life) experience – in some cases 10 or more

years. The opportunity to share this with younger

children encourages them to reflect upon the

knowledge they have amassed, and develop positive

methods of sharing this learning with others.

It also teaches them to be organised, to be tolerant, and to be patient. A number of our Year

12-13 Students are natural teachers, and thoroughly enjoy the coaching opportunity.

The issue of bullying is always in the headlines. There is no denying that bullies are present

in schools, and in fact in many sectors of our society. It is also undeniable that adults are

often the worst bullies of all, in terms of the way they speak to others, and treat others.

The problem of course is that children, young people, are very impressionable and, as they

seek their place in society, tend to imitate the actions of the important adults in their lives.

Unfortunately, schools can, and do, become the meat in the sandwich as they endeavor to

enforce and develop socially acceptable norms of behavior, attitudes, and values. Sometimes

it seems like an uphill battle as we correct students for behavior’s they often regard as being

normal in their lives outside school.

Similarly in regard to the situation with swearing and bad language - we never teach children

these things at school. We do our level best to teach children to respect each other, to look

after each other, to care for each other, and to accept and celebrate individual differences and

attributes. In other words to live our School Values of:

Manaakitanga, Rangatiratanga, Wairuatanga, and Whanaungatanga (see below).

We work extremely hard, often against the odds, to instill these values in our students. We

always treat our students with respect, sensitivity, and compassion even when things turn to

custard, and they are angry, upset, or bewildered. At times we have instances of harassment

and bullying at this school.

However, I am absolutely certain that this bullying is considerably less than previously, and is

at the lower end of the scale. As well we have procedures in place to ensure all students are

safe, and that any issues are investigated and dealt with. All students are encouraged to speak

to an adult about anything at all they are worried about, or have concerns about.

Generally most are quite content to do this, and even happily report their friend/s for

inappropriate behaviour. They need to know that this isn’t “narking”, but a positive way in

which they are able to retain their power, to stand up for themselves, to protect themselves,

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and that by doing so they may be helping prevent others from developing anti-social

behaviours.

As someone who has taught for quite some time – beginning in the late 1970’s heaven forbid

– I’m convinced that the level of bullying is now considerably less, much, much less in fact.

In a previous era natural justice often prevailed, and physical fights were quite frequent.

The involvement of our students, during intervals and lunchtimes, in a wide range of physical

activities (including the age old favourites bull-rush and tree climbing) definitely has some

impact on channelling their energy in a positive way.

Have a great week, and have a special Queen’s Birthday Weekend.

Regards

Richard McMillan

Principal

The TAS School Wide Behaviour Expectations are: - Rangatiratanga:

We are Learners

We show Rangatiratanga

Whanaungatanga:

We are Caring

We show Whanaungatanga

Wairuatanga:

We are Reflective

We show Wairuatanga

Manaakitanga:

We are Respectful

We show Manaakitanga

Tall Poppies The following Taihape Area School students rose above the crowd last week as outstanding

achievers, and members of our Learning Community:

Jessica Chase and Cruz Wirori (Room 3) - for being very helpful to

Mr Walker’

Rewai Chase (Room 5) - for displaying Rangatiratanga and Ashton

Wirori (Room 5) - for displaying Wairuatanga;

Te Ariki Wikitera and Jesse James (Room 4) - for great skills in

their maths assessments;

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.

Taylor Hay-Martin (Room 6) - For always showing the TAS values;

Hannah Meadows and Jessica McGhie (Room 79) - for being very helpful to Miss Kelly;

Te Huinga Chambers (Year 10) - for showing perseverance, achieving the Physics Force unit

re-sit with high excellence;

Jesse Tweedale, James McGhan, and Samuel Troon – living the TAS values at the

Wanganui Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships;

Joshua Renwick, Laycie Bennett (Year 10) - for showing perseverance, achieving the Physics

Force unit re-sit with low excellence.

Tall Poppies from Learning Street – Week 4

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At the close of Nominations there were 8 nominations received

for 5 positions on the Board of Trustees so a voting election will

be held.

Voting papers were mailed to parents and caregivers by

Wednesday

25th May 2016

If you do not receive a voting paper and you believe yourself eligible contact the school.

This is a postal vote so your completed vote must be returned in the sealed voting envelope

included. Do not put any other correspondence with the voting paper as the envelope is not

opened until Thursday 9th June and is opened by the Returning officer.

Voting closes on Friday 3 June 2016 and the new Board takes office on Friday 10 June 2016

These awesome people are the candidates.

Their profiles will be mailed out to voters and can also be seen on the Taihape Area School

Website

Shelley Noble Andrew Law

Shari Chase Meretini Bennett-Huxtable

Andrew Fleury Stacey Simpson

Emma Abernethy Allison Bowsher

Mufti-Day On Thursday we are holding a Mufti-Day to support Youthline. Youthline have had a very

positive presence in the School as we come to terms with the tragic events of last term.

They have been a tremendous support for our

students.

Gold Coin Donation

please!!

Cross Country Last Thursday Jesse Tweedale, James McGhan, and Samuel Troon took part in the Annual

Wanganui Cross Country Championships. The boys all competed with credit against strong

competition - Sam was14th (Junior Boys), Jesse 14th, and James 16th (Year 9 Boys).

A special thank you to Bronwyn Troon for taking the boys to Wanganui for this event.

Well done boys!!

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Hockey Hockey was cancelled last week because of a thunder storm which flooded the turf. However

news of this didn’t reach us until we arrived in Palmerston North, by which time the turf was

semi-playable, and we had an opposed practice with players from Feilding Agriculture High

School.

A surprising feature of this outing were the number of

TAS supporters who turned out, even though the game

was cancelled – thanks supporters!!

Draw - Tonight

Taihape Area School v Freyberg 2 on Turf 2 @ 4.15pm.

Next Week

Queen’s Birthday Holiday – no hockey

Supporting Your Child’s Learning

Reading Listen to your child read regularly. In Years 1-2, they should have a book from school -

encourage and praise their efforts; • Read to your child - this models the skills of reading for

them;

• Allow your child access to books of high interest to them e.g.

books from home, school library, or town library;

Maths Click on the following excellent site and watch a video on how

you can help your child in math’s at home:

http://nzmaths.co.nz/families

While driving in the car, try this activity with your child: as you

drive in the car or walk beside the road, write down the numbers

you see on vehicle license plates. Add up each of the digits to give a total.

For example if the license plate has the numbers

5682, the total of the digits is 5+6+8+2=21.

Who can spot the car with the highest total?

Add or subtract the digits to get as close as

possible to zero. For example, if a license plate

has the digits 3726, you might say "7+2-3-6=0".

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Quotes of the Week “Face your life, its pain, its pleasure, leave no path untaken” ― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard

Book.

“The only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment” ― Lauren Kate,

Fallen.

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TAS Behaviour

Expectation

Whanaungatanga We use sports equipment safely and only in

designated areas.

This looks like

We use sports equipment only with

teacher/adult permission;

We use it only where indicated by

teachers/adults;

We take turns when using sports equipment;

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We follow the rules of the game we are playing;

We collect it and return it in good condition to

the correct place;

We use sports equipment only for the purpose

intended.

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Colgate Drive Send in your oral care waste to the School Office, where there will be a box for collection. What is accepted oral care waste? The following items:

Toothpaste tubes Empty pumps Toothbrushes Empty stand up toothpaste bottles Interdental Brushes Plastic toothbrush packaging Any non-electric Floss packaging toothbrush All oral care non-recyclable packaging Cardboard toothpaste packaging

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