End of year activities

We have reached the final two weeks of school for 2009.

The PREP market day proved very popular with the students and the students were really motivated to succeed. There was so much interest in the day that the number of students away from school on the day was at an all time low! Nothing like authentic learning to motivate and engage students.

In our last two weeks there are a lot of activities.

Our Year 7 & 8's have their end of year social (3 Dec). This is always a great night to celebrate.

Our Bluestone Music Christmas Roadshow is performing at a variety of retirement Homes and Kindergartens. The skills learned and the enthusiasm to perform never fails to amaze me. Musical performances are also taking place for Rotary (Dec 16) and for the Christmas Float Parade (Sat 5 Dec), and at the Bay. We will hold a musical talent quest on Tuesday 8 December.

Celebration Journals will be sent home (Wed 2 Dec) and will show you what your child has achieved over this year. Take time to discuss the contents with your child. I hope they are proud of their efforts.

Our athletes will get to perform at the SC Primary Schools Athletics Champs (Tue 1 Dec). Those students who reach this level have shown a great attitude and determination. We wish them well.

Our sport teams will have their photos taken on Monday 7 December after school. Students involved will be given a free laminated photo before the end of the school year.

We will hold our annual pool party at Maori Park on Thursday 10 December. The Home and School will cook free sausages for the students for lunch.

Our Prize Giving will be held at the TBHS Hall on Monday 14 Dec starting at 7pm. We will have a VERY special guest who will present a wonderful role model for the students to aspire to.

Visits to Other Schools

In the past week I visited three schools, Nelson Central, Enner Glen, and Lower Moutere. I went to see examples of Human Rights In Education (HRiE) in action. This is an approach and an attitude we wish to embed at Bluestone School. Children have rights, and need to know and to celebrate these rights. With these rights come responsibilities.

The HRiE approach sees students and teachers discussing the rights and responsibilities, drawing up class, playground and school agreements which then guide decisions on actions, attitudes and behaviours. I spoke with students, principals, staff, and parents about what the schools I visited have been doing with HRiE in 2009. I visited classes and saw first hand the work completed and the understandings gained. This whole approach works in so well with what we are doing at Bluestone. Our values, our vision, the key competencies, restorative justice, and peer mediators at Bluestone all sit within an effective HRiE school.

The Principal of Enner Glen School is Isaac Day (a former Deputy Principal at Bluestone) so it was great to see his school and the pride Isaac has in his school's direction. Isaac keeps a strong interest in Bluestone and it was great to catch up with him.

With just 4 weeks left of this school year there is much to be achieved. There are lots of activities for the students so plenty to keep everyone motivated and learning!

School Camp for Year 5&6

School Camp provides opportunities and challenges for students. The key competencies of relating to others, and managing self are given a chance to be developed and used in real life settings. For many students it will be the first time they have been away from home without their parents, and for many parents it will be the first time they have had their child show such independence. It can be a nervous time for both students and parents. But the growth and the achievement and personal satisfaction that can result for students in a well organised and managed camp soon outweighs any worries.

The Camp at Woodend will give exciting new challenges and students will feel really good about what they have achieved by the end of the camp. Risk taking (within appropriate boundaries) will help a growth in confidence to give new things a go. Friendships are strengthened, people are seen in a new light, and memories are created. A terrific group of parents is going with our students and will provide wonderful support to the students and to staff. The parents involved really show they care for those on camp and have a great time themselves.

I am looking forward to getting up on Tuesday to see the camp in action. I will take a camera and post some shots of the action on the website. So here's to a GREAT camp!

Bluestone PREP for all students

It is great to see all classes thinking about what they will make for our PREP market day. As groups set up businesses and put plans together there is some very good thinking in evidence. It is wonderful to see the excitement in the rooms as they create items for sale with real pride. This is learning with a purpose and as a result motivates students and engages them. It has been pleasing to see students working together and supporting each other. There will be successes and failures and therefore lots of lessons learned. The value of planning before rushing in to the making phase will be highlighted. Next time we are involved in PREP we have agreed that we will have groups working together made up of students of various ages. Working as a team will be an important lesson.

As Market Day approaches the excitement will build. I hope lots of parents ask their children about what they are doing in PREP, and encourage them to be well involved. Ask about what lessons are being learned. Share ideas because everyone benefits from talking the process through. I hope parents have a look at the class blog pages as many of these show what each class is doing in PREP.

As a staff and Board we are looking at Human Rights of children. With rights become responsibilities. The rights of one child should not block the rights of others in a class to a great education.

Ced Simpson (the head of Human Rights in Education, HRiE) has spoken to a number of us and we have been left feeling very impressed with how practical this knowledge and approach can be in making a positive difference.

The knowledge and approach provides a foundation for all the positive things we are doing at Bluestone, like peer mediation, restorative justice etc.

We need to have some discussions with parents so that it is understood that HRiE is of real value at school and at home, that it is all about children accepting responsibility so that rights can benefit them.

Next year students will learn far more about what HRiE means for them and how this understanding can impact positively on the culture and atmosphere of Bluestone School.

If you want to know more about HRiE then visit www.rightsined.org.nz This is a website well worth exploring.

We are now ready to launch our revamped website and get it working as a tool to keep our parent body well informed and linked to their children and their learning.

We hope that parents will use the website to keep up to date and know that all notices and newsletters will be available at any time of the day or night.

As we put info on and parents start using the website it will be important that we get feedback about what is working well and what is missing.

Steve Fennessy is released for a period of time to work on a number of ICT related projects.

One of these is to encourage students and staff to establish and maintain their class site on the website

Welcome to our new website.

This is a learning experience for me and I think some of our ICT savvy students will be a great help to me as I attempt to negotiate the art of blogging. Risk taking is important. What do you think?

Principal’s Welcome

Bluestone School was created in 2005 following a district wide Education Review. Timaru West School and Timaru Main School were merged and Year 7 & 8 students returned after the only local intermediate was closed. Bluestone is a decile 5 school with a current roll of around 500 students.

The name Bluestone relates back to when Mount Horrible erupted and it oozed a layer of basalt or bluestone over the local area. This is depicted in a mural painted by senior students.

Both Timaru Main and Timaru West had bluestone featuring in early building designs. Bluestone is now exported from our area and features in many modern buildings and pathways. So it seems appropriate that the current school carries the name of Bluestone to represent the solid foundation on which it is built, and to represent the bringing together of the best of the past with the best of the present.

In the building of Bluestone innovations that benefit and enhance student learning were researched and incorporated in the design. Quality acoustics and soundfield systems enable students to hear clearly. Natural light features. Air conditioning keeps temperatures and air quality at appropriate levels. Sub conscious learning is promoted in students through the placement of a number of features around the school. Exposed panels show the services required to make the school function. A cubic meter of concrete helps students comprehend a difficult concept to young minds. A sundial and directional arrows reinforce understandings of time and place. Rows of pavers across paths at regular intervals introduce distance. The school environment is attractive and purposeful.

Classes cover two-year age ranges. Year 1 & 2 (Creative Creatures), Year 3 & 4 (Team Explorer), Year 5 & 6 (High Flyers), and Year 7 & 8 (Think Tank).

Each of the four classroom blocks are designed around central common spaces. These spaces are utilised in a variety of ways to support teaching and learning. Assemblies, music, art, dance, drama, and technology benefit from the extra space and students frequently meet from the different classes in these spaces before and after school. They provide a welcoming place to eat on wet lunch hours. The central common spaces are often used for audio-visual presentations with soundfield systems ensuring that students can hear and be well heard.

Off each central space are classrooms, a shared teacher office, and storage. Toilets are in each block. Classrooms have retreat rooms off them allowing for small group work. Seating is arranged in groups as it is through interaction with their peers that students learn and are challenged. Classrooms have opening cupboards that store school bags and replace traditional cloakrooms. This helps with the monitoring and security of personal belongings. A variety of classroom furniture supports different teaching and learning styles.

Fibre optic cable carries the computer and phone network to all areas of the school. Wireless technology ensures that laptop computers and ICT are well used as tools of learning. Digital cameras, digital videos, and data projectors are used by students to present their work and learning.

We have a strong school-wide approach to teaching and learning and to behaviour management. We believe school should be a great place of learning for students. We recognise that many students will have several jobs in their lifetime (many not yet thought of). Therefore their education needs to encourage and give them the skills to become confident and flexible problem solvers, utilising higher order thinking skills (able to analyse, apply, synthesise and evaluate). We expect learning to take place, where possible, in authentic settings so that students realise the purpose of their learning.

We invest heavily in teacher professional development because we believe the most important aspect of successful teaching and learning is what happens between students and teachers. We continually strive for improvement and quality.

Our school wide values of honesty, excellence, aroha, respect, and tolerance (HEART) are central to all that we do. They are reflected in student and staff actions and interactions. Our values reflect in our Behaviour Management Programme and are recognised at student assemblies.

We place a strong emphasis on numeracy and literacy, especially in the first four years. Bluestone’s library is well stocked and open to the students throughout the day including at lunchtimes Adult and student librarians ensure that the resources are easily accessible. Laptops allow for students to access the web for research information. Once students are enrolled at Bluestone their siblings are encouraged to also use the library. Music opportunities include choirs, bands, and instrument tuition and are a strength of the school. There are lots of sport opportunities with school teams competing in netball, hockey, basketball, tee ball/softball, and cricket, in addition to our normal school sport programme. A senior and a junior school council give students responsibility and leadership and ensure students have a strong voice.

Should issues arise at school then we urge you to make contact with your child’s teacher so that any problems can be quickly addressed. As Principal I appreciate communication channels being effective and two way. I welcome your feedback on school performance.

Bluestone has a supportive Home and School group and a Board of Trustees who work tirelessly to ensure that students and staff are provided with a great environment for teaching and learning.

We welcome you to come and look around Bluestone School. We are proud of what our students achieve and proud of the wonderful tone and family atmosphere present in our school.

Call our office on 03 684 3706 to make an appointment for a guided tour. We look forward to meeting you and your child.

Ian Poulter

Principal

principal@bluestone.school.nz