Last Week of Term 4 2011

Term 4 of any year is usually very busy and with this term being only eight weeks it has proven to be a hectic term. Assessment and school camps coupled with organising for 2012 have left very little time to reflect. I hope that this week we will all have the time to look back on what has been an eventful year for all of Canterbury.

Teachers are still finishing the final details of National Standards and Portfolio Reporting. Students are also preparing for the final assembly as well as doing such things as writing thank you letters for camp helpers and finishing other work.

This week we do take time with our school picnic to have some extra fun and then we have our end-of-year assembly which will be held in the Jack Mann Auditorium. It will be a fitting finale to 2011.

School Camps

With just two weeks of school left for 2012 we are feeling the pinch of this being an eight week term. Teachers are very busy with camp activities. Room 6 have just returned from a very successful camp in Wellington and Room 3 had a great overnight camp at school on Friday evening. Rooms 4 and 5 are gearing up to head off to camp on Monday and staff and children alike are very excited.

Camps take a great deal of preparation. For anyone who has been camping with their family you will know how much preparation is involved in camping. If you keep this in mind you soon realise how much organisation is involved with a school camp. All of the school staff work tirelessly before and during camps to make them the best learning experience possible.

As always our camps would not be a success if it were not for the support of our school families who help the children prepare for camp and offer to assist in camps when needed.

The Swimming Pool

There is a temptation to change our swimming pool name to the Yaldhurst Model School Aquatic Centre. The reason for this is that it is looking better than ever before. The pool has now been cleaned and filled for the upcoming swimming season. This week we will add and balance the chemicals and start the pool pump running.

The existing hand rails have been repaired and a new ladder and hand rail has been installed. There has also been some repairs to the asphalt.

We have a new toilet block and pump shed that has just been given consent and the new concrete path should be poured this week.

Our swimming pool is very important to us as it gives us the opportunity to provide swimming lessons every day. We also open the pool at lunchtime for fun swims and the pool is open to the wider community outside of school hours.

Now we have fingers crossed for warm weather.

Superb Book Fair

Once again our superb PTA has surpassed itself. Books galore have found their way to new loving owners and in the process money has been raised for our school. Stunning organization and a great deal of hands-on help turned the book fair into a great enterprise. Thanks to the PTA and to everyone who supported the book fair.

Welcome to Term 4

It is great to start the term so optimistically. Congratulations to the All Blacks for their win and for exemplifying great sportsmanship and determination. Students are welcome to attend tomorrow's parade so please inform school in the morning. It is going to be a great term with the culmination of a year's learning. Camps are a feature of this term along with a range of learning programmes. As always we will have great fun.

One Week To Go

This term has flown. Just as the production is over we have moved into athletics. Next week sees our school athletics on Wednesday and we look forward to the great spectator support we always have. The children have been practising the various disciplines and can now jump further and higher than ever before.

Even though it is not compulsory until next term it is great to see many of our students wearing sun hats. This keeps us safe from the UV rays on these Spring afternoons.

In the blink of an eye we will be starting swimming.

Check out the beautiful blossoms!

Tonights The Night!

Uncle Crumble's Mad Machine is live today!

11 o'clock Matinee and Evening performance at 7pm!

Days, weeks and months of hard work are about to come to fruition. Yesterday the whole school spent the day at the Jack Mann Auditorium running through the production. The microphones squealed and children found where to come on and off stage. This is why we have rehearsals. It is great fun!

The children look and sound wonderful and the overall production looks great. Please grab the last few tickets today and come and have a great time tonight. Thank you again for your support.

Showtime is 7pm tonight!

Uncle Crumble's Mad Machine

Tickets are now on sale for our upcoming production of Uncle Crumble's Mad Machine. Everyone at school has been learning lines, singing songs and preparing in so many ways for the production. We are looking forward to a sell-out crowd at the Jack Mann Auditorium on Thursday 22 September at 7pm.

Tickets are now on sale: Adult $12 and Children $8. It will be a great night. Thank you to everyone who has been helping us prepare costumes, dance routines and the music. What a great team effort!

What a great week!

This week the whole school has seen the New Zealand Army Band, Years 5-8 have competed in netball and rugby competitions at Lincoln Domain, as well as sending two teams to Cantamaths. Now today is our Winter Fun Day with students, teachers and family members skating, skiing and snowboarding. We have also been busy practicing for our school production. We have not forgotten literacy and numeracy.

Next Week is Going To Be Busy

Due to the snow the Year 5 and 6 plus the Year 7 and 8 Rugby and Netball Tournaments have been rescheduled to Tuesday and Thursday respectively. Add to that The NZ Army Band on Monday afternoon, Cantamaths on Wednesday and our Winter Fun Day on Friday and we have a super busy week ahead.

Thank you to everyone who understood about us not wanting to reschedule our Parent Interviews/ Student Learning Conferences. It would prove very difficult to find a space to have them given that so many other activities are being moved around.

The children settled back into school routines seamlessly today. It was great to be

able to move back into teaching and learning so quickly. My thanks to the teachers who were here ready and willing so early this morning.

School Open Wednesday 17 August 2011

Please dress warmly and bring change of footwear, slippers and a plastic bag for wet shoes and socks. We will be staying inside and warm. Tempting as the snow will be to play in I need everyone warm and cozy.

I can't wait to hear about everyone's snow adventures.

School Closed Tuesday 16 August 2011

Due to weather conditions, including snow on the ground and the forecast YMS is CLOSED today Tuesday 16 August. Decisions will be made about Wednesday at 6.30am on Wednesday morning. We are scheduled to being parent interviews/student learning conferences on Wednesday. These may need to be rescheduled. Please stay safe and warm.

School Closed Monday 15 August

Due to the weather conditions and the Police advice to stay off the roads, Yaldhurst Model School is closed today. Please keep an eye on our website for updates as to when we will reopen.

Term 3 off to a great start!

The mornings are frosty but then we have lovely sunny days. All of the children are so happy to be back and their smiles are infectious. We have a wonderfully busy and varied term including Winter Fun Day, the NZ Army Band, Zone Sports, Weedons / Yaldhurst Cup Challenge, Chess Competitions and our production of Uncle Crumble's Mad Machine. And of course while all of this is happening we will be continuing to delivery quality literacy and numeracy lessons.

The look of the school continues to change with our new fence slowly snaking its way around the grounds. We hope to see our new pool building soon. Thank you as always for your support. We are going to have an awesome term.

Term 2 2011

Term 2 2011 ended with smiles all around. National Standards Interim Reports were handed out giving clear informatio
n about our students' achievement. We pride ourselves on the fact thatwe keep our parents/caregivers fully informed of our students' achievements and needs.

We had two fun events to finish the term. The first was last Friday

night's school disco. Our PTA did a superb job finding a new venue and kitting it out for everyone to strut

and boogie. This was a fun event and the only shaking was on the dance floor.

On Wednesday 13 July we had "Wheels Day". The day started with the siren of a police car followed by a timely message from Constable Brett about keeping safe on wheels over the upcoming holidays. This was followed by a range of competitions and fun activities. As well as the usual array of bikes and scooters etc.. we had a horse sulky! - No horse attached.

Term 2 2011 is one we will always remember. Safe holidays!

Our New Fence

Over the next 3-4 months we will be having a new fence built around the whole school. Basically wherever there is a fence now there will be a new fence. Our wooden fence at the front of the school will not be changed. There will be some hedge and tree removal but this is being kept to a minimum.

The pieces of fence you see at the moment are not the new fence, just some protective screens while construction is happening.

Please be assured that the fence is being paid for directly by the Ministry of Education and the funds are not from our school's operation grant. More and more schools are being fenced to ensure that children are in a safe environment. Thank you for your patience while the fence is being constructed.

Monday's Earthquakes

It is a bit of a worry to think that we are getting used to earthquakes and aftershocks. Having said that, the quakes on Monday gave us all a fright. Well done to teachers and students who followed the earthquake drills. Thank you also to the parents/caregivers who picked up the children calmly.

We were back to business as usual by Wednesday morning. We are very luck at Yaldhurst Model School and our thoughts go out to others in the Christchurch Community who are presently suffering hardship.

Great Cross Country for 2011

First and Second down to the wire.

Fitness training really paid off for many of our students today as they ran hard in the annual cross country. If we ca presume that there has been a cross country race every year since the school opened then this was the 135th race. Sounds good.

Many of the features of our sporting events were present:

• the children came ready with a 'can do' attitude and the desire to push for a personal best
• parent/caregiver support was great with lots of cheering
• supportive atmosphere with students cheering schoolmates on
• superbly organised event with well marked out course and clear timetable
• medal ceremony to celebrate the winners coupled with acknowledgement of all students who participated and gave his/her best



Go from start to finish.

• great weather (doesn't always work out this way)

A special thanks to Helen for the hay bales which give the race a real cross country feel. 

Support all the way.

In these times when there are concerns about children's health and fitness we support and challenge our students to increase their fitness through a range of activities.

Thank you to everyone who supported the children today. 

Rugby Fun Day

Year 4, 5 and 6 YMS Rugby Team

Rugby Fun Day really lived up to its name. It wasn't really the fact that we won our three games; it was just so great to see all of the team giving their best. Everyone played hard but fair and the boys all played as a team.

The tricky part of rugby is having the courage to make tackles. Tackling is very important but also a little scary if someone is running towards you very fast. Our tackling efforts were superb.

Our passing was slick and our running was explosive. The fact that everyone in the team knew that they could count on each other meant that progress was made up the field towards the try line very quickly.

Tait with support close behind!

Another important aspect to the games was that we did not play the 'blame game'. When someone on our team made a mistake we fixed it up and carried on.


Thank you to the parents for their support on the day. It was very enjoyable to be part of such a well organised event.

Holidays are fun! Music and Rats.

Devonport

School is fun too but this holiday was great fun because I heard lots of live music in Auckland. I spent the first and last few days of the holidays at school dealing with paperwork.

In between my wife and I travelled to Auckland to see 6 concerts plus the Waiheke Jazz Festival. It was a real indulgence but I love music and there were some wonderful acts to see in Auckland last week. Every concert was a delight and it was great to hear live many performers that I have admired for years.

The Rat Catcher - Molly

As well as the music I will always remember this holiday because of a rat. It is no secret that Mr Tickles from Room 5 and I do not always see eye to eye so I hope he does not take offense at the following recount.

The night before leaving for Auckland I heard the most awful caterwauling and rushed downstairs to discover that our cat had brought a rat into the front room and could not (or was too scared) to catch it again. Try as we might we could not catch the rat so we left the windows open and instructed the cat to sort it out.

I awoke early the next morning and came down to discover that the rat was hiding behind the piano with the cat meowing instructions for the rat to come out. I left them to it and had a snooze on the couch in the living room. I awoke from my snooze to find the cat meowing proudly as it had deposited the stunned rat under my blanket. What a lovely surprise. Rat was quickly set free but cat had the last laugh. Nature in action is a sight to behold.

Another Busy Week

Last week was a great week with many exciting activities for our students. Room 4 were very busy with baking which doubled as a fundraiser. There is no doubt that our students are kind and caring with a strong sense of the need to contribute positively to the community.

Room 6 were busy with the Joshua Foundation that took them through a series of activities to develop leadership capabilities. These activities challenged our students as they needed to first step back and come up with a plan of how they were going to approach the activity. Part of the plan was making sure that everyone was given an opportunity to express his/her ideas.

Then to cap off another busy week the PTA kindly arranged for a fun get together on Sunday as a chance for the community to have a relaxing time post earthquake. A bouncy castle, pony rides and soccer (parents and children) all added to the happy atmosphere.

Electronic Whiteboards

Having been delayed by the earthquake it is great to see electronic whiteboards being installed in Rooms 3 and 4 today. The teachers are very excited with the possibilities that this technology will offer. Technology coupled with great teaching enhance the learning experience for all of our students.

Website Changes

Over the next few days the school website will be undergoing some changes. As a result the pages may be a little cluttered until the changes are made. Apologies if things are a little hard to find.

Another Great Week!

Maia diving in!

Albeit was only 4 days long we have had another great week at Yaldhurst Model School. It has been our pleasure to host some visiting children while they waited for their schools to reopen. I have really appreciated the sincere thanks we have received from parents.

Some of the highlights this week included listening to children reading, participating in touch rugby lessons and the excellent efforts of students at the Ellesmere Zone Swimming Sports.

Last night's board of trustees meeting was very positive as we discussed this years strategic plan and how we will keep moving the school forward.

First Week Back Nearly Over

It has been wonderful to see everyone settling back into routines. Our thoughts still go out to those who are living in hardship.

We are contributing our mufti day and coin trail to the Earthquake Fund. We are working on the fact that every little bit helps.

A special thank you to all of the Yaldhurst Model School Staff who have worked tirelessly this week for the children. It has been great to be back at work as we feel this is the best contribution we can make.

The children started back to business as usual very quickly and we now hope we can buckle down for the rest of the term.

A Great First Day Back

It was confirmed to day that the best thing we could do for our school community was to open. No signs of trauma just a great group of children happy to be back at school.

We have nearly everyone back with a few children coming back next week. The children were happy and keen to start back into school routines.

Our teachers had work ready to go and we have just finished a very successful first day back. We have welcomed some extra students who will be staying for varying amounts of time.

Room 1 had a Welcome Back Party!

There has been a great deal of media interest in the school today from TV One, TV Three and The New Zealand Herald. We will place links to these as they appear.

It is worth reminding ourselves that we are very lucky as well as being very happy to be back.

Opening Monday 7 March

We are open for students on Monday 7 March. Please note this is relatively late notice from the Ministry of Education but we are all working to make a great start back.

Pauline Cleaver from the Ministry of Education has given permission for us to open.

Allan Robertson

We want to open but...

The board and myself are trying very hard to reach the Ministry of Education to confirm that we are absolutely ready to open. Everything in the school is safe including the drinking water.

The Ministry of Education are obviously swamped with work at the moment as they have not been able to return my calls. All we can do is wait and continue to ask for their permission to open. We will be opening as soon as we possibly can but at present our hands are tied.

Please keep checking the website for updates.

Thanks
Allan Robertson

Closure Continues

I cannot give a date for when we are opening. We are hoping for very early next week.

I attended a Canterbury Primary Principals' meeting this afternoon where we were briefed by members of the Ministry of Education. The job they have in front of them is mammoth. We have been very lucky at Yaldhurst and my thoughts go out to the schools who are in the midst of shattered communities.

At this point I cannot give a starting date for school. The staff are preparing for it being early next week. Civil Defence have stated that if schools pass the structural test - and we have - that they need to be able to assure them that they have safe water and sewerage. Our sewerage is fine. I have had one water test done and our well water is fine but the Canterbury District Health Board wants three tests. I will do these over the next two days. If the water testing lab is not open on Saturday I may have to wait until Monday to do the third test.

There is an outside possibility that children may need to bring bottled water for a day. If this is the case I will make sure we have an extra supply of bottled water on site.

School Still Closed

Our BoT chairperson has just been informed by the Ministry of Education that all schools in Christchurch will be subject to a more in-depth structural engineers report. We now hope to open on Monday 7 March but we cannot be sure until we have been inspected and given the ok to open.

Please note this is different to the first structural engineer's inspection. This is a Civil Defence requirement.

Allan Robertson

Civil Defence State of Emergency

These are very tough times for Christchurch and I know we have all been touched in some way by the tragedy. At this point the YMS Board of Trustees feel that the best way we can serve our community is to open the school. We are on the fringes of the city and there are other schools not too far from us (in Selwyn District) who have been allowed to open.

The Board of Trustees has to follow the Civil Defence rules and we will do so because we realise we are part of a bigger picture. We hope to open as soon as possible and we will be ready to welcome our students back with open arms.

When the Ministry of Education and Civil Defence confirm we can open, your child's teacher will ring the number we have for you on our file to check on your family and inform you of the reopening date.  Please ring our office as soon as possible if your contact number has changed.

Thanks
Allan Robertson

School Remains Closed

A structural engineer commissioned by the Ministry of Education has confirmed that the school buildings are structurally safe but we have to remain closed until Civil Defence allows us to reopen.

I have been in touch with the Ministry of Education to impress upon them that we are on the outskirts of town and that we are ready to reopen so now it is in their hands.

I am very aware that these are difficult times and when the school reopens we will do our very best to accommodate the varying needs of families. We will be contacting each family individually as soon as we have more details about when we are opening.

My thoughts go out to all who are feeling great sadness at this time.

Allan

Closed Until Safety Check

The Ministry of Education have informed schools that we are closed until safety inspections have been carried out.

The moment we have been given permission to open YMS staff will ring each of our families to inform them of when we are opening. We hope it will be Monday but we cannot confirm this at the moment.

Earthquake Closure Continues

My thoughts go out to all of those in our community who are dealing with the tragedies caused by the earthquake.

School is closed until at least Monday 28 February.

Earthquake Closure

Well done to all of the children today who acted so sensibly and calmly during the quake. Everyone was quickly accounted for and was safe. It was ok to be scared and brave at the same time.

School is closed tomorrow (Wednesday 23 February) as per instructions from the Ministry of Education.

We look forward to opening again as soon as possible.

My thoughts go out to all who are facing tragic news.

Superb Triathletes

What a great day we had on Thursday. More bikes than I have ever seen before at Yaldhurst Model School  were lined up for the junior and senior triathlons. Come race time and we had a wonderfully support audience of parents and caregivers.

The Senior Triathlon was divided into non-competitive and competitive events with children able to participate in teams or as individuals. All children entered into the spirit of the event and as a result there were some wonderfully athletic performances.

The Junior Triathlon gave all children the chance to experience race conditions while our emphasis was on participation. The beaming smiles of the children at the end of the race when they were all awarded a Participation Certificate was priceless.

Swimming, biking and running the children gave their all and with the support of parents and caregivers we had a great day. Roll on swimming sports next year.

Great Afternoon at Rutherford's Dan

It was my pleasure to accompany our Year 7 and 8 students to Rutherford's Den at the Christchurch Arts Centre. All of us entered into the spirit of the visit by donning academic dress. We then sat in a lecture theatre before dispersing to different rooms to undertake a series of activities.

The den and adjacent rooms are part of what once was the University of Canterbury and it is redolent with scientific memorabilia.

This visit did not concentrate on science but on Lord Ernest Rutherford's qualities as a leader. His qualities were many and our students felt a buzz when they realised they have many of his qualities and are capable of developing the others.

The great thing about a smaller school is that all of our senior students can assume meaningful leadership roles. We will be challenging, encouraging and supporting our students to be leaders and I know they are up to the challenge.

Back to School

Once school starts it heads away full steam. The paperwork comes along and the emails stream in. The phone rings. But more important than any of that is that the children come bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Steeper than it looks!

It was only a few days ago that I was being convinced to run down the side of a scree slope by Wayne Matthews. What an experience! Scared one minute and exhilarated the next. It was a learning experience - I had to draw on what I already knew and then be prepared to add to my experiences. Much like life really.

The hard work happened and then the fun begun. Steep going up and steep going down. And now I can't wait to do it again.


School is great. Children are happy and thriving. We have started the year with a new YMS HERO system  that sees our children acknowledged for being good citizens in the playground. Being good doesn't always need a reward but it is good to celebrate our students being good citizens.

We also are in the midst of the continual improvement of the playground. It seems that even though we try and have our contractors work in the holidays it does not always work out like that.

Our lunch area has just been asphalted to make it more serviceable. We have such a wonderful environment for a school and such a wonderful school environment.

Fantastic Start to Term 1 2011

Room 5 Beep Test Day One!

It was great to welcome back our wonderful students and families today. We started the day with a powhiri to welcome our ten new students. This was followed by a short assembly where we talked about the importance of being sun smart by wearing a sunhat and having sunscreen on.

Our theme for this year is Citizenship and we have begun by talking about how we can be YMS Heroes. This concept is going to be reinforced in the playground by the distribution of YMS Hero cards to children who are being good citizens. These cards will go in a draw at weekly assemblies and we will also keep track of which classes have amassed the most cards.

All the staff would love to see all of our families at our Meet The Teacher BBQ on Tuesday 8 February starting at 5.30pm.

Great Holidays

It is wonderful to see so many families using the school pool over the holidays. As I type this a family is having a birthday celebration with some friends. I have had a great holiday with family and friends. I have been to Sydney and climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and I have run down a scree slope with Mr Matthews. Running down the scree slope was the scariest!

Well the holidays are nearly over and the staff is working very hard to prepare for Tuesday. On Friday we have swimming teaching training so that all of the staff know how to teach you to be the best swimmer you can be.

You will see that our lunch area is being developed and that we have some new playground markings. We are also upgrading our student management systems which could give us a few teething problems on the first few days. We have a new photocopier so our notices will be crisper.

Most importantly we have some great learning activities coming up and the staff are looking forward to challenging and supporting you right from day one. 2011 will be great fun!