3 November 2014

Kia ora whanau!!

It has been go-go-go around here the last 2 weeks!!

Nga Putangitangi





So amazingly proud of our entire school on this day the non-performers were an outstanding crowd supporting enthusiastically
and were a joy to have away for the day. We truly are lucky at how easy our kids are to have away on days like this they just go
with the flow and make the most of any occasion without fuss.
Our performers represented all of us phenomenally and their hard work showed off with polished, beautiful and powerful
performances. It takes a lot of dedication and work to put those performances together from the kids and the adults involved
congratulations and a huge thanks to Paddy, Kylie, Kereama, Jamie and Trish we are lucky to have such skilled people able to give
the time to work with our kids to enable them to do the best they can!

The junior group achieved 2nd in entry, chant and exit. 1st in action song, poi, haka and taiaha. Well done Nathaniel and Ashlea with
3rd and 2nd for leaders. They came 2
nd
overall in the Junior section!
The seniors achieved 3rd in exit, action song and male leader (go Seb!).



Reminders:
- CAMP - Seniors away on camp next week (all cross fingers for the weather to play the game!). Thanks to those who have
paid and I hope you all have your aprons on doing yummy baking for us to take!!
- SWIMMING it starts this week (for 4 weeks). Weka and Takahe swim Mondays; Pukeko and Kereru Tuesdays; Tui and
Kakapo Wednesdays.
- Please all try and get any money owed to school paid as quickly as possible trips, stationery, ski trips, netball etc


Pak 'n Save vs Countdown:
- When you go to do your groceries you can choose which place you go to
- Both offer different specials and ways of operating but the bottom line is, you will walk out with your groceries done
- Some products from Pak n Save are better and some products from Countdown are better
- You know there is competition but you have the right to choose
- Both shops have financial incentives to get you in the door - they both want your business and money.
This situation in a lot of ways parallels our school with high schools.
- Wherever you go, you will get an education and learn if you are a willing participant and engage with it
- All schools operate differently, have different strengths, and different things to offer but one is not necessarily better than the other!
- You have the right to choose which one you go with for your child's Year 7 and 8 education, as does everyone else
- All schools need numbers to keep all their teachers and school funding is based on numbers

Please can everyone be aware that you would not go into Pak n Save and shout down the aisles about how Countdown is better, or
ask Countdown to help you get a great deal at Pak n Save. Unlike the supermarkets - we have an emotional connection to each and
every child that comes through our doors and have invested in the well being of each and every one of them to the best of our
abilities - this makes some of the talk about other schools feel yuk from our perspective.

Curiously, I have been asked about farewelling Year 6 kids heading to high school next year. This is curious to me for several
reasons as we never really farewell students, no matter what year they leave. It has made me wonder if I have articulated why we do
what we do - so here goes: this is because we are a community school, these kids are still part of our community and we want them
still involved and associating with the school, so to farewell them seems to indicate cutting all ties. We acknowledge our Year 8
students who leave as they are completing their primary schooling with us, not because we will never see them again - it is an
acknowledgment not a farewell. People get far too wound up in the emotion of farewells - we want our kids excited and calm about
whatever it is they are doing next - confident that they have the skills to cope and that they are always welcome back here to pop in
as we love hearing how they are getting on.

Art Wonders:
As a way of extending particularly our older kids and as a way of offering different things, we have an extra teacher Emma in one
day a week to do extension and extra bits. Over the year this has included writing groups, cooking, sewing Wearable art costumes,
organising events, and a fair bit of art. Some of our bigger kids have been working on an art installation. They made the seat, built
the wall, painted everything, made clay heads and scarecrows etc to make this very cool display! It is out at The Hideaway (Lochiel)
for an art walk they have on for the next week if anyone wants to pop out and see it next weekend. These girls went out to install it
and we think it looks great!



Facebook:
Dont forget that you can keep up to date with what is going happening on our facebook page. You do not need your own page to get
onto it as it is a public page. Feel free to also put up photos etc of school events if you take any good ones! It is not the most reliable
method for communicating with us or asking questions however, as it is not checked all the time.
https://www.facebook.com/bluffschool