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Principal’sMessage

WelcomebacktothestartofTerm2,asImentionedinthepreviousnewsletter, this term will see the academic curriculum, arts andsports flourish. The EOTC programme is replaced with intensiveliteracy and numeracy lessons – we call this REEP – Recovery,Enrichment and Extension Programme. Each student is carefullyplacedbasedontheirindividuallearningneeds.IneachissueofthenewsletterthistermI’llshowcaseoneparticularcurriculumareaindetail–thisweekwelookatExploringTechnology.InMarch theEducationReviewOffice (ERO) conducteda reviewofthe school. Please read the confirmed report, everyone involved inthe‘PonsonbyExperience’shouldbeincrediblyproud.Over theEasterbreakwehadthecrewfromTigerTurfputdownalovely new sports surface on the inner school basketball court. Nomore scraped knees and with the bean bags and picnic tables aperfectplaceforlunch!PlayinggolfintheWorldMastersGameswasafantasticexperience.Iwas3rdonthefirstday,afterthesecondroundIwas3rdequal,andafterplayingatMuriwaiinthethirdroundIdroppedto7th.Missedthecutforthefinalsby1(Onlythetop6qualified)...anddislocatedmy right shoulder at my son’s under 10's soccer practice the nextday!Regards,NickWilsonPrincipal

10 May 2017

10MayCentralZoneRugby11MayGirlsFutsal15MayCentralZoneWaterpolo16MayOPENMORNING17MayRevolutionTour–ShowduringRecreation22May–26MayCareersWeek25MayYoungLeadersDayYear8GirlsFootball26MayPinkShirtDay30MayYear7BoysFootball1JuneYear8BoysFootballProductionRehearsalDay2JuneSpellathonTesting5JuneQueensBirthday

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EducationReviewOffice-ERO

Acopyof thefullEROExternalEvaluationreport forPonsonby IntermediateSchoolwillbeemailedtoyoutoday.HereistheSummary;

EROExternalEvaluation

PonsonbyIntermediate,Ponsonby,Auckland

Summary

PonsonbyIntermediatecatersforYear7and8students.Theschoolhasapositiveprofileinitscommunityandhasagrowingroll.SixpercentofchildrenareMāoriandsixpercenthavePacificheritage.

Since ERO’s 2011 evaluation the board has successfully managed a period of leadershipchange.Anewprincipalwasappointedin2016.Thenewprincipalhascreatedawiderseniorleadershipteam,whichhashadastrongfocusondevelopingamorestrategicapproachtorespondingtostudents’hauora/wellbeing.

Wideconsultationwithschoolcommunityhasresulted inthedevelopmentofanewvisionstatement‘articulate,energisedachievers,readyforthefuture’.Thisvisionishighlyevidentinstudentoutcomes.Learnersdemonstratehighlevelsofsocialandemotionalcompetenceandareachievingverywell.Theyarecurious,enjoyintellectualengagementandconfidentlytacklechallenginglearningtasks.

The school has established a specialist subject teaching model as a framework forimplementing all of the learning areas of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). Thiscomprehensiveandusefulmodeliswellembeddedintheschool.

Since the2011EROevaluation the school has revitalised its approach to responding to allchildrenwhose learningandachievementneedaccelerating.Thisapproach iswellplannedandcoordinatedacrossallcurriculumareasandisverywellsupportedandimplementedbyschoolleadersandteachers.

Howwellistheschoolachievingequitableoutcomesforallchildren?

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Theschoolisveryeffectivelyachievingexcellenteducationaloutcomesforchildren,includingMāori, inrelationtoNationalStandards.Schoolperformancehasbeensustainedovertimethroughwell-focused,embeddedprocessesandpractices.

Theschoolhassuccessfullyaddressedin-schooldisparityineducationaloutcomesforMāori.InconsultationwiththePacificcommunity,schoolleadersandteachersarealsosuccessfullysupportingPacificchildrentoachievewell.

School leadership is strongly ethical and professional. Leaders have a strategic focus onensuring all children have equitable opportunities to learn. School internal evaluation isrobustandusedwelltodriveschoolimprovement.

Children experience personalised learning pathways where teaching approaches respondvery well to their particular strengths and next learning steps. High levels of studentengagement in learning are evident and contribute to children achieving excellenteducationaloutcomes.

Agreednextstepsare:

· to continue monitoring the progress of all groups of students, including Pacificlearnersthroughrefinedtargetsetting

· to explore further how culturally responsive teaching practices can shape futurecurriculumdevelopments.

• EROislikelytocarryoutthenextreviewinfour-to-fiveyears.

Ko te Tamaiti te Pu ̄take o te Kaupapa The Child – the Heart of the Matter

SportsUpdate

Termtwohasbroughtwithitamyriadofsports,thefirstbeingthecommencementoftheIntermediateSchoolsNetballCompetition.AllteamscompetedintheirfirstgradinggameonThursday, 4th of May, with three more rounds of grading games to follow before thecompetition really gets heated. All students are hopefully in contact with their teammanager/coaches.Foranyquestions,pleasecontactSamJardine(samj@ponsint.school.nz). The inter-schoolwaterpolocompetition isalsoset tocommence in thecomingweeks,andwhatbetterwaytowarmupfortheseasonthanwithaCentralZonewaterpolotournamentonMonday,15thofMay.

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OurFutsalteamswillshortlybecompeting,withaboystournamentdayonthe9thofMay,andgirlsonthe11th.Wehavebeenfortunateenoughtoenterfourteamsineachtheboys’andthegirls’day,whichisatestamenttotheawesomelevelofenthusiasmandskillthatourstudentsboast. Hockey competition is also starting this term,with gamesunderway fromMonday8thofMay.AlsoofnoteforthosekeenhockeyplayersisourCentralZoneHockeytournamentday,whichwillbeinweek8ofthisterm.Moreinformationwillbeprovidedlaterinthetermforthisdaythroughthedailynotices. Ponsonby Intermediate’s rugby teams will soon be springing into action, with zone daytournamentsforboththeU45andU55kgweightcategories. FootballtrialshavebeengoingforthelastfewweeksofTerm1,andthestartofTerm2,andTriciaOrrhasbeendedicatingahugeamountofhertimetoensureeverystudenthashadafair chance to showcase their skills. The teams will be competing at the Central Zonetournamentsonthefollowingdates;Year7boys-30thofMay,Year7girls-24thofMay,Year8boys-1stJuneandyear8girls-25thMay. Check out our Tiger Turf that was completed over the Easter break, a multi-purpose, allweatherarea.

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PubertyEducation

During Term 2Health lessons, students are learning about “Our Amazing Body”. The finallessonsof this unitwill be focusingon the changes that occur duringpuberty andhow topositivelymanagethesechanges.Thelearningoutcomesforthisunitwillenablestudentstowork towards achievement ofHealth and Physical Education guidelinesmentioned in theNewZealandCurriculum2007.Thepubertylessonswillprovidestudentswiththeknowledge,understandings,andskillstodeveloppositiveattitudestowardsthechangesthattheywillexperienceduringpuberty.Throughthekeyconceptsofthisunit,studentswilllearnabout:

• Thephysical,mentalandemotional,social,andspiritualgrowthanddevelopmentthatoccurandthenewneedsthatariseduringpuberty;

• Strategiestomanagethechangestheywillexperience;If youwish your son /daughter tobewithdrawn from the classwhile a specific activity isbeingtaught,pleasemakethisknowninwritingtothePrincipal–nickw@ponsint.school.nzbeforeMonday15May.

Spellathon

Every two years, Ponsonby Intermediate School holds a school wide Spellathon to raisestudentsspellingability.This intensivefocusonstudent’s individualspellinglevelshasseengreatresultsinthepast.This eventhas alsobeena very successful fundraiser in thepast andhas raisedmoney toprovideourstudentswithawiderangeofliteratureandresourcestouseinEnglishclasses.OverthecourseofthenextfiveweeksyourchildwillbebringinghomespellingwordsfromtheirSpellathonlisttolearn. Inweek5,thestudentswillcompletethebigSpellathontest.Wehopeforsignificantgrowthinallstudentsspellingabilities.The fundsraisedbythis intensiveSpellathonwillgotowards further technologysupport inclassroomsandmorenovelsetstoassistourprogramme.Yourchildwouldhavebroughthomeabookletthisweekwheretheycancollectsponsorsfortheirspellingachievements.Sponsorscandonateasettotalamountoracertainamountperwordcorrect.The2017Spellathon isa funway for students tocontinue thevaluable routineof learningtheirspellingwordsfortheyear.Allstudentsandindividualclasseshavethechancetowin

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prizes during this fundraiser. Therewill be a range of prizes up for grabs including Appleproducts, book vouchers, iTunes vouchers and whole class prizes. Prizes will drawn forgreatestspellingimprovementsandtotalfundraisingsuccesses.ThePonsonbyIntermediateEnglishteamthankyouforyoursupport. EcoWarriors

Our topic for Term 2 is upcycling, sowe are all busy looking at differentways to upcyclevariousthingsaroundustohelpreducewasteandgetsomecoolnew-ishstuff.Wehavelotsof ideas, and are looking forward to sharing our discoveries and creations with youthroughouttheterm. CurriculumShowcase–ExploringTechnology(includingcoding)

TheYear7unitplanisbasedaroundaprogramthatwascreatedbyMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT)called“Scratch”.“WithScratch,youcanprogramyourowninteractivestories,games,andanimations—andshareyourcreationswithothersintheonlinecommunity.Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and workcollaboratively—essentialskillsforlifeinthe21stcentury.”http://scratch.mit.edu/about/I teach student basic photography skills including rule of thirds andmacro. I use a greenscreenintheclassroomsothestudentscanusethecamerasandthenphotoshoptheirimagewithmagic-wandintoadigitalformat.Thesepngfilesarethenusedinthestudent’sScratchgamesandstories.Thenext step is to createpopular games in theScratch formategCrossyRoad clone. Thestudents have also created a ‘Eco Story’ which incorporates photography, photoshop andScratchskills.Theyhaveadded‘mini-games’withintheirstory.Thethemeisthattheycreateaprogramthatencouragesotherstudentstoremembertopickuptheirrubbish.3Ddesign andprinting are a strong part ofmy Year 8 programme. For 3Ddesign,we areusing an online resource called “TinkerCad” (www.tinkercad.com), which uses premadegeometricshapes,andlettersthatthestudentscanmanipulateintowhattheywouldliketocreate.We are printing on Fuji Xerox's CubeProDuo.Using TinkerCad the students have createddesignerchairsandindividualisedkeytags.Wehave3Dprintedthestudentskeytags.ThestudentsalsodesignaprototypegamecontrollertobeusedwithaMakeyMakeydevice.AnexcitingsoftwareupdatefromTinkerCadallowstwostudentstologintothesameprojectandcollaborativelycreatetheirprototypecontrollers.They create a game on Scratch 2 that the controller will work with. This gamemay be aFlappyBirdclone,MrJumpcloneorsomethingelsethatthestudentshavecreated.

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The students create a marketing package including macro photography to promote theirprototypewithinaSharkTankenvironmentincludingtheteacherandtwoclassmates. OpenDaysinTerm2

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SchoolLibrary

Ihavesetupanewareafor‘NEWBOOKS,’asyouwalkinthefrontdooryouwillseeitonthebenchthathastheReturnsslot.Thesebooksmaybetakenout.Thiswillbearegularfeatureofthelibrarythatwillbechangedregularlywithnewbooks,bookthemes,favouritebooks,book series, non-fiction, fiction, graphic novels and sophisticatedpicture books. Therewillalsobea‘BookReview’displayinthelibrary,offeringareviewofparticularbooksthatIhaveread,andthesebookswillalsobeonofferforyoutoborrow.ENJOY!MrsMarsick

CouncillorsComment–GreatHouseRace

HiPonsonby,Excellent jobonourGreatHouseRace. Itwasanamazing funday,andranverysmoothly.Overallthekidshadlotsoffunandtheweatherheldforus.CongratulationsTotaraonyourwin. Keep checking the councillors noticeboard for everything you need to know that’shappeningatourschool.Thanks,TheoandAlonso

ChinaTrip–ACulturalExperience

ThisyearthePonsonbyIntermediateSchool ispleasedtoannounceourculturalexperiencetripwillbetoChina. Students will visit the Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors and Beijing. We know that paststudentswhohavetakenupthisopportunityhavegainedanappreciationforlifeindifferentcountries,openedtheirmindstonewcultures,growninselfesteemandleadershipqualities. Thetripwill takeplace18–29SeptemberandtheteachersattendingareMsKatieMuller,MsAlisonTripp,MrSamJardineandMrMattBennie. Thetripwillcost$5,100.00.Thegroupwillconductsomefundraisingactivitiestohelpwithgroupspendingmoney. StudentapplicationformswillbeavailableonFridayfollowingSchoolAssembly.

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HomestayFamiliesneeded

Weareneeding school families to help us host our short term international students (3-4weeks) at the beginning of Term 3. If you are interested please contact:jillc@ponsint.school.nz. Paymentis$245.00perweekperstudent.

FrenchOptionsTeacherneeded

WearelookingforaFrenchlanguageteachertotakebeginnerFrenchlessonsonThursdays2:10pm–3:10pm.PleasecontactNickWilson,Principal–nickw@ponsint.school.nz

CommunityNoticesMathsandEnglishTuitionBoostyourchild’sconfidenceandeducationwithNumberWorks’nWordsspecialistafterschooltuition.WeprovideindividualisedinstructioninMathsandEnglishforstudentswhoarestrugglingtokeepupandthoseburstingtoraceahead.Phonenowforanassessmentandintroductorylesson.Phone489-8399Takapunaor418-0950Birkenheadorvisitwww.numberworksnwords.comformoreinformation. MothersDayPsssst...heyDad!Don’tknowwhatyoucangetthekidstogivetoMumthisMother’sDay?Amassagevoucherofcourse!She’llfeelsuper-relaxedwithsometime-outandyou’llscorebrowniepointstoo!WeatBalanceMassagehavebeenlookingafterMums(andDadstooforthatmatter!)forover12yearsandwearejustuptheroadfromschoolonSheehanStreet.Dropusanemailtoinfo@balancemassage.co.nzorgiveusacallon3780059toarrangeavoucher,youcanpaywithcreditcardoverthephoneorpopintopurchaseone.OrjustbookherinonSunday14thMay.Checkusoutatwww.balancemassage.co.nz

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Flyerdeliverypeoplewanted…LetterboxdropswithinHerneBay,StMarysBay,Ponsonby

andFreemansBayCausalbasis–whenneeded

Perfectafterschooljobforstudents

PleasecontactAngelaon:0274498586

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Open Day Thursday 1st June 2017 - 9.30am to 2.30pm Auckland Girls’ Grammar School welcomes enrolments from students throughout

Auckland. You are warmly invited to visit our school. Parents and students will be taken on

guided tours between 9.30am – 2.30pm and find out about all the opportunities that the school

offers.

The Principal will be giving short talks at 10 am, 11.00 am and 12 noon.

Information Evening - Nga Tumanako o Kahurangi Thursday 1st June 2017 - 6.00pm-8.00pm Maori students and their families, who are interested in our Maori Whanau Unit are invited to attend a meeting between 6-8pm in our school’s wharenui. This is located in the main administration building with the school office. Parking for Open Day tours and the Kahurangi information evening is at Gate 2, Howe Street Newton, Auckland. Ph 307 4180 or email enrol@aggs.school.nz for more information

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