West School Reunion

In the holidays I had the real pleasure of being at the reunion of West School students who had left the school before 1946. Those in attendance ranged in age from 73 to 86. It was wonderful to listen to the stories of school the way it used to be. Many great tales were told. The thing that impressed me was how proud those in attendance remained of their school, and how positive they were about life. Young people today could learn a thing or two from them!

I was so impressed with the friendship of those present on the day and of the interest shown in what was happening at school today. I have promised that I will help to get the West School 100 year reunion organised. I can only hope that those who attend will be as passionate about their schooling and get together as this group were!

Mark Bang standing down as BOT Chairman

Mark Bang has announced that due to the realities of his current job he is standing down as Chairman of our Board of Trustees. Mark will remain a valued Board member.

We owe Mark so much!

He has been an inspirational and visionary leader and has lead Bluestone so well during its establishment.

Mark has encouraged us all to focus on our vision for our students. He has been a great listener, and been a very reflective thinker encouraging us to think before we act.

I have been very grateful for Mark's wisdom and support.

Mark has encouraged board members to grow professionally in their role. Thanks to this we have a highly competent board ready to lead Bluestone confidently and competently into the future.

I hope those of you involved in the life of Bluestone will take time to thank Mark for all that he has done in his role as Chairman of our Board over many years.

Art Exhibition at Bluestone

At our Art Exhibition we have had 18 exhibitors who are parents or who have close connections to our school. In addition we have had work on display that has been completed by our students.

The Exhibition has given students the opportunity to see artists in action and the questions asked have reflected their level of curiosity and interest.

It has been humbling to realise the depth of artistic talent that exists in our school community.

What an awesome and worthwhile event on our school calendar!

Helping and supporting children affected by the earthquakes

We have been thinking about what we can do for the children affected by the earthquakes in the Canterbury district.

We are exploring the possibility of running a camp in Timaru. There are members of Rotary and a good number of teachers who are keen to organise a camp with fun activities to give some of the children affected by the earthquakes a break from the realities they are facing. We will be looking to our community to rally around with ideas and support to make this idea a reality. We may be able to bring a bus load or two from areas like Kaiapoi.

We could look at providing some counselling sessions for those who want to talk and de stress.

I think our community will rally round and donate experiences and time and goods to make sure that the children we work with will have a great time with happy memories.

I have emailed local schools to see if they might consider sponsoring a child. Already several have replied to the affirmative which is great!

If anyone reading this blog can help or has some useful, creative ideas then please let me know

Events and visitors to Bluestone

The remainder of this term is shaping up to be very busy. Just look on our website calendar to see the range of activity.

The Minister of Education will tour our school on Tuesday 31 August. We look forward to showing her around and giving her the opportunity to see children in a range of exciting learning activities.

Danyon Loader our Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist, who was born here in Timaru, will be visiting us on Friday 2 September. He will be promoting the exciting new Caroline Bay Aquatic Centre. We are having a mufti Day on Thursday 1 September so we can make a donation to the new Centre.

We are having visitors from Hartwell School in Melbourne who are keen to see the great things happening here at Bluestone. We look forward to sharing ideas about student learning.

Several staff and Board members are attending a seminar by Joseph Driessen a world authority on Boys Education. This will help us to reflect on what we are doing and on what we could do better.

Our Year 5-8 students are having a school Disco on Thursday 9 September from 6 - 8.30pm.

Our Year 3/4 students are visiting the Rocky Shore and doing a beach clean up on Tuesday 7 September.

Four of our staff are visiting several schools in the South Island over 4 days to look at how Interactive Whiteboards are being used to promote quality teaching and learning. As we have these boards in everyone of our classrooms we want to continually reflect on how we are using them and how we might use them even better.

On Wednesday 15 September TV6 will be at Bluestone to do some filming with Jim Mora. They are looking specifically at the Year 4 students who were presented with super new dictionaries by Rotary. They want to show how these have helped students in writing. Rotary has won a major regional award for their project.

A travelling show called Oceans Alive will be presenting 4 shows to our students on Tuesday 14 September. It is an important link to our studies on sustainability and links to our caring and respect for the environment.

On Friday 17 and Sat 18 September we will have our school community Art and Craft Exhibition which will show children a range of arts and crafts that will interest them.

School photos will be taken on Monday 20 September.

There certainly is a lot happening at Bluestone for your child!

New school vision phrase

Instilling the desire to excel in a challenging ever changing world.

This sums up the intent of our school vision and strategic plan. The word instilling is deliberate as it implies that the values and efforts to excel are embedded and not just something that is aimed for at school alone. If values and attitudes and a desire to learn are to have real value then they need to be part of the students life and extend into all they do both at school and beyond for life.

Parents, students and staff have shaped Bluestone values, attitudes and intentions. It is clear from parents that they want students to excel and to aim high.

Our world is challenging and we want students to be excited and positive about challenges and about taking risks so that they might find solutions to the challenges and changes met in life. We accept that technology has made the world the children interact with global. Social networking sites can be wonderful ways of communicating with a global audience. messages can be spread very quickly. Our students need to appreciate the inherent dangers in such networking as well as the potential.

Our students live in exciting times with huge challenges and constant change. We (parents, teachers, school community, wider community) have a big responsibility to prepare and equip our students for their part. We must encourage great citizenship so that students offer back as well as expect to take and receive. So let's all get behind Bluestone School and give our students the best support and opportunities we can. Let's do our bit to give them the skills and attitudes and values that will help them to excel in a challenging and ever changing world!

Art Exhibition at Bluestone

On Friday 17 & Saturday 18 September we are going to have a special Art and Craft Exhibition at Bluestone School.

The point of this is for students to be able to view a range of arts and crafts up close.

A number of artists who are parents or who have close connections with the school will each set up a display in a section of our hall. The students will be able to go through and view the displays up close. Some artists will be working at their display so that the students can see what is involved. There will be a variety of things to see from painting to sculpting to carving to teddybear making to costuming to photography and much more!

Student art will also be on display as will some secondary senior students portfolios to show our students what they might wish to do at a later date.

If you know of someone in our school community with talents then please let me know or encourage them to get involved. I hope this will become an annual event.

On the Friday from 2.45 until 4pm and then on the Saturday from 10am until 3pm the hall will be open to students, parents, and to members of the public. There will be no charge to view. Some art work will be for sale. We hope for a good turn out to appreciate the wonderful talents that exist within our school community!