1 August 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principals supporting Principals… Principals supporting Principles!

Kia Ora

Please find this week’s Monday Mailing below.

You can access all Monday Mailings by clicking here or going to http://www.wpa.ac.nz/1/newsletter_sets/1-monday-mailing/years/2016 in your web browser.

Kind regards
Pat

Help! Adventure Trail - Sub-committee Role

Our Board has just set up a sub-committee to plan and construct a new adventure trail. Does anyone out there have a sub-committee/policy/procedure that relates to playgrounds?

Something that outlines what they can and can’t do/lines of communication/health and safety issues to be considered.

Responses to principal@deanwell.school.nz please and I will forward them on.

Help! Staging & Wireless Microphones

Staging & Wireless Microphones for Senior School Production (Term 3):

Monday 12th September to Wednesday 14th September 2016

We require staging, preferably with adjustable height mechanism, to cover a total area of approximately 36 sq metres (6m x 6m). The ideal height would be approximately 30-50 cm. We also require two wireless microphones to connect into our existing ESGO12-200 system.

If you are able to help us, we would be most grateful. Full care and responsibility will be taken of the equipment at all times. A teacher will be monitoring use of the equipment during rehearsals and the performance.

We will be happy to lease the equipment or make a donation to your school.

Please contact either Andrea Neil (andrea.neil@patave.school.nz) or Music Therapist Shona How shona.how@patave.school.nz

Help! Social Media Policy

A school is looking for a Social Media Policy. If you can help, please send it to principal@deanwell.school.nz and I will forward it on.

Important Notice

Please note that Nigel Latta is NOT presenting at the Catch Up Day on September 7. The WPA sincerely regret this, but it is beyond our control.

Watch this place for the replacement programme.

WPA Subscriptions

Have you forgotten to pay your WPA member subscription? Please do it today… click here or go to:

Catch Up Day – Have You Paid?

12 schools have not paid for last term’s Catch Up Day. Please pay as soon as possible. You should have received an invoice when you registered; if you need another invoice please contact Sandra at rtlb.admin@mi.school.nz.

Attached is a list of schools that have paid.

WPA Dates

Other Dates

August 4 - NZEI/WPA Managing Mental Wellbeing Day

CORE Breakfast – August 11

The next CORE Breakfast is on 11 August with Cathie Johnson from NZCER presenting a seminar and workshop session on Improving learning: Student engagement using the key competencies as the tens

Using the NZCER Me and My School' engagement survey as a context, the seminar and workshop will explore what research suggests about how important it is to know both teachers' and students' views of what they think engagement with learning looks like. Cathie will connect the aspects of engagement explored in the survey with the front end of the curriculum, in particular thinking about the key competencies being ‘the key to learning in all learning areas' (NZC p12). Cathie will look at a variety of ways the data can be used to follow an inquiry into the strength of connection between student learning needs in engagement and teacher practice in your school.

Jo Wilson
Senior Consultant

CORE Education Ltd M: 021 2780768 T: jmw58
ULearn Conference 2016 | Rotorua 5-7 Oct | Register your interest to be the first to know about NZ's premier education conference | Follow @ulearnnz #ulearn16

Rant – National Standards

I was talking with a colleague last week. He was pondering why his school’s National Standards results were lower than those of neighbouring schools.

Of course, no-one knows if the children in his school are achieving at higher or lower levels than other schools because the judgements made to determine a child’s achievement levels (below, at, above) are so subjective.

Nor do the National Standards measure the hugely important areas of resilience, the ability to collaborate and relate to others, caring…

So this is just a reminder not to fall into the trap of gauging your school’s effectiveness on the basis of National Standards results. They are flawed to the extreme.

Hmmm…

Good teachers are those who can challenge young minds without losing their own.

Hauora… Health & Happiness

THE MAYONNAISE JAR...AND COFFEE

By Laura Bankston

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your God, your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal." Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

A Reading…

John Hattie on BBC Radio 4: “Homework in primary school has an effect of zero” – an interesting listen.

Leadership…

A Thought…

A Laugh

USEFUL GOLF TIPS

The First Truly Useful Golf Book includes the following chapters:

1. How to properly line up your fourth putt.
2. How to hit a Nike from the rough when you hit a Titleist off the tee.
3. How to get more distance off the shank.
4. Crying & how to handle it.
5. How to rationalize a 6-hour round.
6. How to find that ball that everyone else saw go in the water.
7. Why your wife doesn't care that you birdied the 5th.
8. How to let a foursome play through your twosome without getting embarrassed.
9. How to relax when you are hitting 5 off the tee.
10. When to suggest major swing corrections to your opponent.
11. Re-gripping your ball retriever

Funny… or obnoxious?

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