This is it!

I have been enjoying my last few weeks as principal, reflecting on the great place that Warrington school is.

Last week Room One rehearsed waiata and harvested a bumper crop of tri-coloured potatoes which provided some great data for a mathematical investigation. This week as part of our health programme we made soup using school-grown vegetables, herbs and quinoa. We have also enjoyed using the all-weather court for sport and fitness. Elsewhere in the school we have had dry ice experiments, tropical island feasts and a black stick hockey player assisting with coaching. I have seen crazy whole class maths games, students clamouring for library car books, thoughtful assessment being gathered from a group of students and children being supported with their learning.

My principalship began in Northland as the first gulf war erupted. I typed the school newsletter with twink as my spelling correcter and in the top drawer of the office desk was a dried and cracked leather strap. Much has changed. No one would have thought a spell-checked newsletter could be sent down a phone line and schools have awoken to the fact children can learn and behave without fear.

Change is escalating. It has been my aim over the last few years to equip students with the necessary skills for a future of uncertainties and to provide memories of their schooling that they will treasure.

I am looking forward to continuing part time teaching in Room One and to becoming the school's self-appointed enviroschools teacher.

Having spare time for my own thoughts and Friday mornings at the play centre is also fairly appealing.

 

• I would like to thank the BOT who have supported my endeavours.
• To all those people who have volunteered and assisted over the years - your energy and input has been much appreciated.
• A special mention to the past and present Warrington students and staff - you have been a delight to work with.
• And a final thanks, congratulations and goodbye to Katrina – we have enjoyed having you at Warrington School. 

All the very best of wishes for our new Principal Jeff Burrow – I look forward to working with you.

Peace and arohanui,

Nathan

Boards and boards

Matariki celebrations will this year be in week 6 with our usual line-up of lantern festival and beach clean-up. If you can assist with lantern making or repairs please let Wendy know.

The school is about to run Keeping Ourselves Safe (KOS). This is a positive personal safety (child protection) programme that aims to provide children and young people with the skills to cope with situations that might involve abuse. It will help them keep themselves safe in their interactions with other people. The programmes are planned and taught by the classroom teachers and the local Police Education Officer, working in partnership. A meeting for parents/caregivers with the school's PEO Kerry Fegan is being held next Tuesday afternoon.

The school's other health theme this term is food and healthy eating. The aim is assist students to make informed choices about their eating.

We presently have a large percentage of students making the most of our smooth asphalt with skateboards and scooters being ridden around the school. Senior students are setting up a Warrington Wheel-being Way workshop in the technology shed and are keen to run an after school wheels group. The group aims to meet at school from 3.30–4.30pm on a Monday with pedestrian free riding, access to simple plank ramps and the workshop open for scooter, skateboard and bike maintenance. If your child is keen to join in or you have skills riding or maintaining a small wheeled vehicle come and join us at 3.30pm this Monday.

Nominations close next Thursday 16^th for people wishing to stand for the Warrington School board of trustees. This is a great opportunity to be involved with the school and shaping the educational landscape of Warrington – go for it and put your name forward!

Quinoa and cricket

Daylight saving has ended and it's great having more light in the mornings, no excuses now for arriving at school with clothes inside-out!

Our cricket teams finished off the summer sports season with some great games at the inter-school tournament. Winter sports have now begun with the school fielding both hockey and mini-ball teams and many students involved with Saturday sports. For a small school we have some very sporty students.

Room 1 students have now harvested and processed their Quinoa plants, from 6 plants we have 2 cups of this highly nutritious grain. We also have left over seed for further plantings. Our next step is to decide on the best recipe to trial.

This weekend is the 'Blueskin on Show' event, the school will be running the cafe and we will need your support to make this a successful fundraiser!

Also this Saturday, educators from around New Zealand are joining marches and rallies because of concerns about the impact the Government’s education policies are having on children and their learning. Whether it's the rushed and flawed implementation of National Standards, the botched implementation of Novopay, the hasty mergers and closures of schools in Christchurch, the imposition of league tables or the introduction of charter schools that don't have to employ qualified teachers. The Government is being asked to stop, look and listen to the voice of educators and school communities.

Educators from around the country want a strong, vibrant, well-resourced public education system that invests in our children. The intention is to stand up for kids and defend our world-beating education system from failed overseas policies based on privatisation, competition and a one-size-fits-all approach to children's learning.

Unfortunately I am unable to join this rally on Saturday as I will be attending the 'Blueskin on Show' event. However this rally has my full support and if you have any comments or would like to discuss any of these topics please come and talk to me at the show.

Warrington Wawa Way

The annual WaWa beach triathlon was a success with perfect conditions - calm sea, low cloud and plenty of support. The individual champion event was won this year by Waitati student Lucan with a strong challenge coming from Purakanui. It was great seeing some younger Warrington students participating in the team event, then re-entering the individual challenge. We have some strong candidates for the next few years.

2 more weeks of swimming before we turn the heat pump off the pool for the season, a group of students will be representing Warrington at the East Otago swimming competition this week.

The after school surf group has been making the most of the wonderful summer with over a quarter of the school involved. Last week the group were entertained with a fishing kayaker being chased out of the water by an inquisitive sea lion who then turned its attention to the large group of Kings High School students also making a hasty retreat from the water.

Room 1 students have begun working on their archaeological test sites in the paddock. Many of the students have been surprised by the hard ground and rigorous scientific process that is required. So far we have found traces of a brick like substance and plastic. There has been some thoughtful discussions about uncovering moa or human remains – you will probably hear about it if we do! We are still on the hunt for small pointing trowels or cake slices.

The year 7/8s are on the bi-annual pilgrimage to Sutton camp this week, they will be hiking the local area and exploring the historic features.

No surf group this week - the next one will be on Monday 11^th March then back to Wednesday the following week.

Working bee reminder: Saturday 16^th March 9am-1pm. Many hands make light work...

Parent teacher interviews are on 18^th and 19^th of March. Don't forget to book your appointment!

Warrington Wheel-being Way!

         Sun, sun sun, lets hope this weather holds for our WaWa challenge next week. 

We are just about finished the formal assessments of students as part of national standards reporting. For most students this is a non-issue, but for a few the twice yearly assessment reinforces feelings of inadequacy. Teachers now have 9 months to teach and build up the self worth of students to manage another bout of testing in November. It seems children up to the age of 5 and adults both manage to learn without testing. Our ability to learn is based around how we feel about a subject, so with this year's school goals focused on science and writing we have conducted a student attitudinal survey of writing. We are hopeful this survey will give us a greater understanding of why some children do better in writing than others and what we can do about this.

NZ education is going through changing times, standing for the school board is an opportunity to help shape these changes at Warrington. Board meetings can be fun!

WaWa helpers needed to hold a buoy (wetsuit required) for the swimmers or to stand by a cone for the runners and cyclists.

We have received many favourable comments on how good the school is finally looking but we have some finishing off to do around the court and still some areas needing a general tidy up. We are holding a working bee on Saturday the 16th March 9am – 1pm. If you can assist, please let us know or just turn up on the day with wheelbarrows, spades, forks and brooms!

Room 1 students begin their archaeological dig this week and are on the hunt for a garden sieve and pointing trowels. Please let us know if you have any of these.

Summer 2013

 

It's wonderful starting back with the orchard trees laden, the court ready for action and our plantings of veggies and natives all surviving the summer sun.

Big changes for the school this term with board elections and the appointment of a new principal.

Katrina Hurst is teaching part-time in room 1 taking over from Brenda. I have resigned as principal as at the end of term one after applying and winning the permanent principal's release position. This is an unorthodox step to make but I feel that it is time to step aside and let someone else take over the responsibility of the school. Hopefully the students will notice little change as I retain my 2.5 days of teaching each week, this is the part of my teaching principal role that I am passionate about.

WaWa beach triathlon will be on Tuesday 26^th of February starting at 10am. This gives plenty of time to dust off the bikes and get some training runs in along the beach.

Sutton Camp for the year 7/8s is March 4-8 – cost is $110 per student.

An archaeological dig will be happening this term for room 1 students. We will hopefully be finding out what is lurking beneath the soil!

Fair Trade products are available to purchase from the office. Prices are similar to the supermarket but all profit goes to the school.

The Life Education Trust mobile classroom will be here on 27^th and 28^th February. This is a health based programme that will be delivered to all our students.

Our trial crop of quinoa – (keen-wa) continues to grow, we are looking forward to harvesting this interesting plant.

Surf Group on Wednesdays starts next week! We will be leaving school and walking to the north end of the beach to play in the surf with boogie boards – weather and surf conditions dependent. Students interested in this activity will need to see me for further information.

Sunhats – all children will need to be wearing a sunhat for outdoor play on sunny days.

Swimming starts this week so children will need to bring their togs.

Open Culture

Warrington School was awarded a Special Award at the NZ Open Source Awards in Wellington last week. This was in recognition for the school promoting Open Culture. Our award was for the “Ubuntu room”, a place where Open Source in NZ schools began in 2006. Computers were installed with the Ubuntu operating system, this was so successful that more computers were sourced for the school, families and wider community. Ubuntu and open source software now runs all our computers at Warrington. Our open culture initiatives also include the innovative use of WikiEducator for school documentation, a Creative Commons policy allowing teachers to share their intellectual property and our community radio station, Blueskin Bay FM. 

Last week's camps had wonderful weather, superb environments, food, water and fire. The perfect ingredients for some outdoor education magic. It sounded like the Waianakarua camp was a huge success with paella at the river and exploration of the elephant rocks making me quite jealous. The annual trip to Rabbit Island saw camp fire cuisine taken to new heights. Years of weeding has begun to make a difference with small natives in abundance around the camp-site.

With the arrival of some summer weather we are encouraging students to cover up with sunhats and the wearing of appropriate clothing for playing outdoors. Some children are also taking further responsibility by bringing sunblock.

Senior students have been busy building a trolley as part of their technology project. Isaac and June have been testing the design and both agree that the trolley should be horse-powered rather than human powered. More trolleys are in the planning stage for an end of year time trail derby.

A community garden is now established in the paddock with potatoes planted and plans for further plantings of beans and pumpkins.