Flagathon Event

Well done to all of the HQ students that are gathering sponsors for our school wide flagathon fundraising event.  EVERYONE in the HQ is currently learning the 52 flags given to us to learn and some classes are having a mini comp to see who can learn the most.

Shivam has made this Kahoot to help you learn them:

Flagathon Kahoot Quiz

We are also have mini flag quizzes during team hui every now and then and have matching games set up, flash cards and posters.  Try your best to learn as many as you can.

If you AREN'T collecting sponsors, you and your family might like to bring along a gold coin or $5 note donation as a contribution to this fundraising event.  This can be given to the classroom teacher.  Every little bit counts!

Have a great week everyone!

Week 5, Term 3 2019

Wow! Unbelievable to think we are at the half way point for the term! It has been a busy term with a lot of people being hit by nasty colds and flu. It is a timely reminder for us all, teachers included, to make sure we are looking after ourselves and resting when needed.

Here are a couple of things to be aware of:

Camp
The notice with the permission slip went out last week. Please return these as soon as possible as we need to finalize numbers with the activity providers in Hanmer. We also would like to be able to notify those parents who will be going to camp so that they can sort leave if needed. The activities we are planning on doing:

• Mountain biking
• Tree climbing
• Orienteering
• Thermal pools (3 times!)
• Walks
• Bush hut building
• A 'giving back' activity

Weekly Sport
Today is the last day of weekly sport. This is a great opportunity to thank those who have helped with taking a team. This has been a great help; we wouldn't have been able to do it without you.


Cantamath
On Wednesday 28 August, we are planning on visiting the Horncastle Arena to see our Cantamath displays. This will be a cost of $3.00 that will be added to accounts.

We would also like to wish our Year 7 and Year 8 teams the best of luck for the evening competition on Wednesday. We know you'll do us proud!


Farewell Miss J
Our student teacher, Emily Johnstone, finishes her placement today. On behalf of the entire Year 7 and 8 team, we would like to thank her for her efforts and contributions to the tam. She has really added a new dimension to the team and will be sorely missed.


Have a great weekend and enjoy the sun!

Bruce Rodger

Ski Trip 2019 Movie!

As you know, we had a great time on our annual Senior HQ ski trip to Mount Hutt on July the 25th.  The weather conditions were amazing with blue sky, no wind and lots of sun.  The snow was beautiful and powdery.   Special thanks to the parents who came along and provided great hands on help for all of our students.  Without you we wouldn't be able to go on our annual trip.  Check out our movie (special thanks to Rahil for compiling this in such a talented way):

Week 10, Term 2 2019

Wow! This term has gone so incredibly fast! It is hard to believe that it is almost over. Here are the things to be aware of for the final week of term:

Monday 1 July
The Year 7/8 teachers will be out of the classroom for the day for our termly team CRT day (Classroom Release Time), The relievers are as follows:

• Room 23 - Mrs Angela Whitely
• Room 24 - Mrs Helene Pollard
• Room 25 - Mrs Hayley Ellison
• Room 26 - Mrs Jayne Gidden
• Room 27 - Mrs Rosanna Baxter

Tuesday 2 July

• Technology as usual - please ensure students are here by 8:30 am as we are having some students who are regular late arrivals

Wednesday 3 July

• Avonhead School Art Adventure - we invite you to come to our school art exhibition in the school hall from 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm. This will be a celebration of the different art tasks we have been completing this term. It will include our wearable arts section being displayed on the catwalk.

Thursday 4 July

• Avonhead Cultural Concert - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Friday 5 July

• Last day of term.
• Reports to go home.
• There is NO weekly sport on the last day of term.
• Ski trip notice due.

Finally, a big thank you for all the support we have had this term. It has been great having regular discussions with parents when you have come into the classroom before and after school. The home/school relationship is very important to us as it helps us to know what is happening in your child's life and where we can help.

Have a great weekend!

Bruce Rodger.

Zumba Event This Weekend!

Family Friendly Zumba Event!

A REMINDER that we are holding a family friendly Zumba Event on Sunday 30th June from 4-5pm in our school hall. This will be suitable for all ages and we encourage you to bring your whole family along for an hour of fun! Come along in your best colourful or themed outfits. There will be spot prizes up for grabs!

The price to attend will be $2 per child and $5 per adult, or $15 per family. To book a spot for you and your family, please pay online via the FWA account (FWA 03-0830-0035632-00). Use your first and last name as the reference. If you would like, there will also be the option of paying on the day in cash.

Details:

Family Friendly Zumba Event

Why? To raise money for FWA

Sunday 30th June, 4-5pm

Avonhead School Hall

Many thanks, 

Mara Kennedy and Amelia Page

Team 5/6 teachers

Week 9, Term 2 2019

The shortest day has been and gone, and we can now look forward to 1 minute (approx.) extra of daylight each day!

Matariki begins this week - students not in Kapa Haka have been learning about this special time of the year.

A huge congratulations to Rahil who won the Rotary Speech competition on Thursday night with his speech on "Grown Ups are a Weird Species".  Abigail also represented Avonhead in the Year 7 section with her speech on "Why Books are better than Movies." 

Van, Thomas B. and Matthew A. enjoyed an afternoon of science at the University of Canterbury on Wednesday afternoon.  They did all sorts of chemical experiments based around colour.
                    

Congratulations to our cross country runners who competed at the Centrals on Wednesday.  Mrs Moore was really impressed with the huge effort put in by all the runners along with the amazing sportsmanship shown in the cold conditions.  Important to mention was Charlotte P's placing of 18th out of 188 Year 7 girls in her race!

Thank you to Mrs G and the Student Council for the disco on Friday night!



We have a bit of a busy week coming up...

Monday
*NW Festival participants (choir and chorale only) need to collect their performance uniform.
*Last day to order sausage sizzles (for Thursday) - $2 - please order from outside Room 27.

Tuesday
*After technology we are going to Riccarton High School to watch their musical production of Grease.  We are bussing there (straight from technology, so no extra charge) and back ($2 cash - please give this to your homeroom teacher by Monday).  A notice came home last week and was emailed to parents too.

Wednesday
*Room 27's visit to the city - Room 27 students please make sure your permission and payment is back on Monday.

Thursday
*Eric, Shivam, Bentley and Uros will be competing at the Year 7/8 Canterbury chess tournament - good luck boys!
*NW Festival rehearsals from 9am-12pm, with the concert at night starting at 7pm
*Sausage Sizzle
*Mr Rodger returns

Sunday
*Zumba in the hall from 1:30 - 2:30pm (school fundraiser)

Darelle and Karalee :)

And the Year 7 Speech Winners Are.......

Congratulations to all our Year 7 speech finalists.  You were all AMAZING.  The finalists have been selected:

1st place - Abigail H with her speech "why books are better than movies" (centre)
2nd place - Helen L with her speech "why social media should be banned for under 13s" (right)
3rd place - Talia F with her speech "why books are better than movies" (left)

Like Rahil, our Year 8 speech champion Abigail will be competing in the hall on Thursday night at the Rotary inter-school speech competition.  We wish her all the very best!

Wearable Arts Afternoons - look out America's Next Top Model!

Each afternoon Monday to Thursday the Senior HQ comes alive with seamstresses, designers, model, rummagers and technicians.  If  you would like to lend a hand and come and join us, just pop into the HQ on any one of these days from 2pm to 3pm.  Have a look at what we get to be a part of:

Drum roll please.........

We have just held our Senior HQ speech finals today in the meeting space.  Selected class finalists from Mrs G, Mrs B and Mrs Moore's classes were chosen to present and what a high standard they demonstrated!  The teachers had a tough time picking the top Year 7s and the top Year 8s.  With one student away today and yet to present, we haven't finalised our top 3 Year 7s.  We can however announce the Year 8 finalists:

1st place - Rahil Udin with his speech on 'Grown ups are a weird species!'
2nd place - Mia Anderson with her speech on 'Social media should be banned for under 13 year olds'
3rd place - Isaac Wilson with his speech on 'Grown ups are a weird species!'

Rahil will present his speech as the first place winner this Thursday night in our school hall at the Riccarton Rotary Speech inter-school competition.  We wish him all the very best!

Year 7s will be announced later this week.  Watch this space!  Congratulations to all our finalists - you should be very proud of yourself and your amazing ability to entertain, persuade and stand in front of so many people and speak confidently.  You certainly wow'd us!

Week 5, Term 2 2019

Talofa!

This week is the (almost) half way point of the term and we are well under way with our learning for the term.  Our theme this term is Exploration which we are doing through Art.  You may have heard there will be a school wide art school in week 10 of this term.  Team 7/8 will be doing wearable arts as well as an individual piece for this.  Student have selected their groups for their individual piece from Photography, Landscapes, Masks, Picasso and Zentangles and have begun working on these.  We also began the term looking at art from different cultures...

It was great to see so many of our students take part in the Cross Country, and run most of the way! Well done to the team who went to Zones and those who placed and will run at Centrals soon.
Year 7 girls: Charlotte, Kathryn, Christina, Lena, Kayla and Neve
Year 7 boys: Aidan, Thomas E, Rupert, Tyler, Matthew and Joe
Year 8 girls: Nicole, Zoe, Mia, Nyella, Arabella and Jasmine
Year 8 boys: Ngakau, Neeraj, Tyler, Aidan, Daniel and William

We are into our second week of winter sport - a reminder to bring your gear for a practice during the week and a game on Fridays.  Note: there are no games this coming Friday.

Other key dates this term:

Week 5

Samoan Language week

e-asTTle testing (reading and maths) begins

Wednesday 29 May - school is closed due to the Strike

Thursday 30 May - National Young Leaders Day (Student Council and House Captains)

School performance of Aotearoa, no te katoa for NZ Music Month

Week 6

Monday 3 June - Queen's Birthday (public holiday, school is closed)

Wednesday 5 June - NW Festival rehearsal (TBC) - rescheduled due to the strike

Week 8

Thursday 20 June - Otago Problem Solving #3; Music Soiree 6pm

Week 9

Thursday 27 June - Sausage Sizzle, NW Festival rehearsal (9-12), performance (6pm)

Week 10

Wednesday 3 July - Avonhead Art Adventure

Thursday 4 July - Avonhead Cultural Concert

Reports come home

High School Open Nights

Open Nights 2019

ANZAC Events Day 1!

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Senior HQ for Week 1 of Term 2!

Today we had a great day, even if it was VERY wet, hearing all about everyone's holiday period.  So many people have seen "End Game" at the movies.  This was certainly a popular holiday activity.  All the new hair cuts look great too!  We are sorting out new monitor & duty people tomorrow (Tuesday) so listen out for what you may have been allocated.  If you want to add your name to a duty or responsibility then see Mrs Moore ASAP so your name can be added to her doc.  We kicked off cross country training today - well done to the people that pushed themselves.  We will be running daily to improve fitness for the upcoming school cross country event as well as for winter sport.  Parents need to provide a note if there is a medical reason for a student not to run.  It is really good for our wellbeing to be active and as best prepared for sporting events as we can be!

Today we talked about ANZAC day celebrations and the events and themes surrounding this special day for New Zealand.  We made some delicious ANZAC biscuits (with the sneaky addition of some chocolate chippies) and started some poppies.  Some students learnt some more about ANZAC day by listening to stories and watching youtube clips.  Give your child a pop quiz! 

Here are some snaps from our first day back together:

Week 10 - Hot Cross Bun Reminder!!!

Just a quick reminder that if you ordered hot cross buns, these are available for collection on Wednesday 10 April from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm. If you have ordered less than 10 bags, please bring along a bag to collect. Bags will be provided for those who ordered 10 or more.

Week 9, Term 1

Wow, one week to go!

As I write this, looking out the window at the pouring rain, there are clearly signs we are moving into winter. It is a good time to remind students that we need to think about warm uniform tops - jerseys, polar fleeces - not just senior jackets. Bringing some inside footwear such as slippers on a rainy day is a good idea too. Wearing jackets and gumboots is also a great idea to avoid getting a chill.

Week 10 reminders:

• Monday - all the teachers will be out of the classroom on a planning day. The relievers for that day are:
• Room 23 - Mr Wayne Matthews
• Room 24 - Mrs Angela Whitley
• Room 25 - Mrs Hayley Ellison
• Room 26 - Mrs Jayne Gidden
• Room 27 - Mrs Rosanna Baxter

• Wednesday - hot cross collection between 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

• Thursday - the last day of Term 4 as we have a Teacher Only Day on Friday.

Christchurch Schools' Music Festival

If you wish to audition for any of the Christchurch Schools Music Festival representative groups (representative Choir, Orchestra or Concert Band), please follow this link. - https://musicfestival.school.nz/representative-group-information/the-representative-groups/  Read all the relevant information with your parents and very carefully consider if you can make the rehearsal commitments before completing the registration form.  Further information is available on the letter Mr Levings and Mr Oswin handed out in chorale and orchestra on Monday.  If you were at korfball and in those groups, please make sure you collect a letter if you are interested.

Weekly Sport and Cross Country

The cross country is on Wednesday 15 May from 1:30 - 3:00. If your child is keen to do well, we encourage training at home and during the holidays. They need to run 3 km for the competitive event.

Weekly sport starts in Week 3 of next term. We are desperately seeking coaches for netball, rugby, basketball and football. If you are able to help, please email Bruce Rodger - brodger@avonhead.school.nz

Have a great weekend and enjoy the last week of Term 1.

Bruce Rodger

HUXSTER BIKE CHECK INFO

Hi everyone (sorry if this doesn't apply to you),

If you are taking part in the Huxster mountain biking relay event next Friday, you MUST bring your bike and helmet to school THIS THURSDAY THE 28TH OF MARCH for your bike and helmet check.  Constable Brunton is coming in to help me assess and check the bikes, helmets and biking ability of the students taking part.  This gives me and the Board of Trustees assurance that all students have safe gear and are competent riders, suitable to take part in this event.

You will bring home the checklist of bike components checked, giving you a week to repair or alter anything that needs changing if need be.  The obstacle course tests your ability to start and stop on command, weave, ride in a straight line and navigate corners etc.

If you have any queries, feel free to email me otherwise I'll see you all with your bikes and helmets THIS Thursday thanks.  

Mrs Moore

Week 5 Term 1 2019

Wow, half way through term 1 already - where has that time gone?!!

The last two weeks have been extremely busy (and slightly messy!!) with our swimming lessons down at Kings Swim School.  The children have been doing really well with their lessons and speaking for my group - huge improvements have been made.  It was fabulous to see so many of Team 7/8 taking part in the school swimming sports on Thursday, and really challenging themselves to swim a 25m or 50m race.  Congratulations to all the winners - Kirsten will let you know soon if you have been selected to compete at Zones.  What impressed me the most at the swimming sports though, was not the amazing swimming, but the support from the students of their classmates, in particular one race stood out to me, where one of our Year 8s was pushing himself so hard to complete a 50m breaststroke race - I could see the determination in his face as he made his way back for the second length.  The crowd was SO LOUD cheering his name and encouraging him to finish, and when he did the stands erupted and there was a huge fist pump from the swimmer! This is what Avonhead School is all about - I love it!! 
Monday is our last lesson at Kings, so please remember your togs!

The other exciting thing we've being doing is learning to play Korfball with Torsten.  Everyone picked up the game really quickly and really enjoyed playing.  I even overheard one girl saying to her friends "I've been waiting all week for this!"  We have selected a large group of students to form a training squad from which we will select three teams to play in a tournament on April 1st.  We will keep you posted :)

Other happenings this week:
Monday:  Orchestra and Chorale, Kings Swimming
Tuesday:  Technology
Wednesday:  Kapa Haka
Thursday: Choir (8am), KORE Team Building day at the Groynes (half of the HQ)
Friday: KORE Team Building day at the Groynes (other half of the HQ)

Please remember to send back KORE Team Building permission slips so we can allocate groups.  Thank you to the parents who have said they can come - we will endeavour to let you know on Monday - whatever day you go, your child will go too!

Have a great week :)

Week 4 Term 1 2019

HI everyone, just a few reminders for the week...

* Swimming continues - please remember togs, towel, cap and goggles everyday. 

* Thursday is swimming sports - to be held at Wharenui Pool from 10am - 2pm.  You should have entered your events - if not please see your teacher on Monday morning.

* Chorale begins tomorrow (Monday)

* Orchestra begins tomorrow (Monday) - please remember your instruments.  You must go to orchestra up until your scheduled swimming time.  Mr Oswin has a list of who can't make it at all (squad swimmers) and those who need to leave part way through the session.

* Thursday is our first Mix and Mingle for the year - a notice came home about this recently.

* We are still looking for cutlery to help to be more sustainable during our mMix and Mingle evenings.  If you have any odds and ends ling around, we would love them!!  Please send any cutlery in to the HQ or the office.  Many thanks :)

Have a great week!

CRUSADERS DRESS UP DAY THIS FRIDAY THE 22ND OF FEBRUARY!

As advertised in our School newsletter, this Friday will be a Crusader mufti day where the students can wear either their school uniform, red and black mufti or rugby supporters gear. This is to show support for the Crusaders first home game of the season . Avonhead School has been chosen as the fundraising school for this game. Any ticket purchased on ticketrocket using the promo code 'AVONHEAD' means our school will get a percentage back.  Please support us if possible!  We have been given free car park passes for the game which will be available at the office for those who have purchased tickets.

Go the Crusaders!

Welcome to 2019!

Kia Ora Whanau and students!

Welcome back to the Senior HQ for 2019.  We are busy planning this week, attending our 'Teacher Only Days' and preparing for learning conferences on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Make sure you have booked a learning conference with your 2019 teacher - Mr Levings emailed out directions to parents last week or the information was also in your report envelope.  We welcome Mr Wall to our team of teachers this year as we expand to 5 Year 7/8 classes in the Senior HQ.  He is really looking forward to meeting you all.  We hope you had a great holiday break.  If you wish to unsubscribe to our blog (because your child has now left our school) you can find an 'unsubscribe' button at the end of the email update.

Many thanks,
The Senior HQ Teachers.