Update 7 October: The end of term 3

Kia ora koutou

We have finally reached the end of what has been a very long term. I am sure that everyone - children, teachers, support staff and parents have earned a break and a rest. I hope that you have the opportunity to have one.

The last couple of weeks have been very positive at Freeville School.

School Roll - Our roll continues to rise and we now have 304 students at school. We are opening another Year 1 class next term in one of the relocatables by the field. Helena Ballard will be teaching the class. She has been relieving for Anne Westwood while she has been away so the children know her very well. We should have around 320 students by the end of the year, and expect to start 2012 with about 300.

Van Fundraising - We have recently had confirmed that Pub Charity via the Wave Bar in New Brighton have donated just over $45 000 so that we can purchase the second of our new vans. We are just waiting on our LTSA number to arrive then we will be able to take possession of our two new vans, organise the sign writing and get them on the road. Exciting stuff!

Learning Celebrations - I have enjoyed getting to some of the Learning Celebrations that have been held over the past few days. I particularly enjoyed our senior students"$5 Gourmet" where they prepared and served staff with a fantastic meal for $5 (see photo above). Should be a weekly occurrence!

Property - Rooms 3 & 4 are finally out of the school hall and have moved into their relocatable classrooms. I know that there was great excitement this week as they took over their rooms. We will be setting up the library at the back of the hall so that our children will at last be able to have class library times again. We are also looking forward to having assemblies again next term as we have really missed being able to gather together as a whole school.

Farewell - Yesterday we farewelled Isabel Nisbet who has retired from her role as Teacher Aide Librarian after 23 years at Freeville School. We wish Isabel and Peter all the best for a long and enjoyable retirement. Jude Bell will be taking over Isabel's role until the end of the year.

Zumba - Please remember that next term there will be Zumba in the hall every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. There will be a session for students from 1pm to 1.45pm and then a session for parents from 2 pm to 3pm. This is FREE thanks to the Salvation Army. Please come along and get those endorphins going.

Looking ahead - Next term is very short, will go very fast and will have lots of events. Please ask if you are not sure about anything. Good communication between home and school is really important and is a two way street. Fingers crossed for a smooth and steady term 4.

Ngā mihi

John

Update 22 September

Mōrena koutou mā

We had a great start to the day this morning with LT 1's Pyjama Breakfast. It was great to see such a good turn out of families who were able to join us.

Property

The builders have finished in the new re-locatables. The carpet layer has been in and the painters have done what they were going to do. The landscaper is in today tidying up around the buildings. We expect the Council to be in next Tuesday to inspect so that they can issue the Code of Compliance and once that is received we will be able to occupy the buildings.

Survey Regarding Intentions for 2012

Thanks to all the families who have responded to our survey regarding 2012. This information will enable us to get an accurate picture of the numbers that we will have at each year level in 2012 and will be used to figure out how many classes we will have next year and at what levels. Isabel will be contacting any families that we don't have a response from today as we need a 100% response to have accurate information.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa

John

Update 14 September

Kia ora koutou

I hope you are all well. It is great to finally get some good weather and the children are enjoying being able to get out onto the grass and have a good run around. There is quite a bit of good news to report:

Salvation Army Support

Tania Anderson has been employed by the Salvation Army to be a Community Support Worker for our school. She is based here four hours each day and is supporting children and staff. She has helped us to access resources and funding for various events. More about that later. Please make contact with Tania if she can help you in any way.

Funding

Year 3 & 4 Swimming Lessons: We have been able to access funding through the Salvation Army to pay for the buses and swimming lessons for our Year 3 & 4 students. This equates to about $65 per child so is a significant support for parents. Our thanks to Tania for arranging this funding for us.

Year 5 & 6 Camp: We have accessed funding through a variety of sources to be able to fund this camp so that there is no cost to parents. Primarily this has been funded by monies dispersed by the Ministry of Education and the School Trustees Association from their Earthquake Appeals.

Year 7 & 8 Wellington Camp: Once again funding from a variety of Earthquake Appeals means that we are able to fully fund this year's Wellington Camp for all our Year 8 students.

Zumba: Next term Zumba instructor Linda Thomas will be offering Zumba lessons in the school hall on a Wednesday and a Thursday. There will be two sessions each day. From 1pm to 1.45pm there will be a session for Year 5 -8 students. From 2-3pm there will be a session for parents. It's a good chance to get those endorphins going, have a workout and then take the kids home from school. The sessions are FREE (thanks to a great rate from Linda and funding from the Salvation Army). That's every Wednesday and Thursday next term.

Property

Our builders expect that they will be finished in the new relocatable classrooms at the end of this week. The painters will then do their bit and then, once the Completion Certificate is issued by the council, we will be able to occupy.

All other Ministry of Education spending on property in Christchurch has come to a halt. This is a decision from Wellington, not our local Ministry office. We continue to battle away trying to get paving, courts etc finished.

Vans

We have put a deposit down on a brand new Ford Transit 12 seater van. We have been pledged sufficient funds to pay for the van, we are just waiting on funds that were donated by the American New Zealand Association to be released to us by the appropriate government agencies that are managing the monies coming in from the USA.

In the meantime Matt and Carmel O'Regan have generously donated their own family van to our school. Matt is a dairy farmer from outside Reefton, the current Chairperson of Westland Dairy, and was the Board of Trustees Chairperson at Sacred Heart School in Reefton when I was principal there. He's also a great guy. I approached Matt to see if Westland Dairy could help with our fundraising but they had already made a significant contribution to Christchurch. Matt and his wife Carmel decided that they would donate their own vehicle to us. We are very grateful for their generosity. I am sure that their van will give us added flexibility when we are looking to transport our students.

Naumai, Haere mai.

A warm welcome to Kerrie-Anna Anderson who has been employed as a Kaiarahi i te Reo to support the development of te reo Māori in our bi-lingual class. It has taken a long time to find and employ a suitable person for this position so we are delighted to have Kerrie-Anna and her baby son Pumau at Freeville School.

Please remember that there are free Te Reo Māori lessons for parents at 6pm every Wednesday night in Room 14. These lessons are available for anyone who is interested.

Ngā mihi

John

Update 30 August

Mōrena e hoa mā

We had a great start to the day this morning with the arrival of the team from Classic Hits and their free coffees for staff and parents.

Re-locatables Underway

This continues from the news yesterday that our Building Consent for the new re-locatables had finally come through from the Council and that work could start lowering the classrooms and getting them ready for occupation. We are looking forward to moving Rooms 3 & 4 out of the hall and into the classrooms so that we will be able to use the hall and have assemblies again. We have really missed being able to gather together as a school community.

Freeville Family Garden

Yesterday a notice went home to all families regarding our plan to start a Freeville Family Garden. To quote the pānui (notice) that went home:

"With some of our Freeville families having to leave their homes and gardens the idea started that with gifted plants and trees from our families we could create a garden, built with love, that both current and future Freeville families could enjoy."

We are very thankful to Su Pratt who has come up with this initiative and Tony Milne, a Landscape Architect who has donated his time to give advice and come up with a plan. We look forward to your feedback and to the establishment of the Freeville Family Garden.

Please contact Su here at school if you would like to be involved or have any questions.

Ngā mihi

John

School still closed

Morena

School will remain closed today, Tuesday. We will reassess again tomorrow morning.

Stay safe and warm.

John

School Closed

Morena

School is closed today due to the snow. Stay safe and warm.

John

Update 3 August

Kia ora koutou

Term 3 has started with a hiss and a roar. We are very encouraged that three more relocatable classrooms have arrived on site over the last couple of nights. We are now waiting for consent to come through so that they can be put on their foundations and work can commence getting them ready for occupation.

There have been a couple of comments about their placement and why they are being put out behind the hall. There are a number of reasons for that:

1. That is the only entry point where the trucks can get because of the power lines around the rest of the school.
2. We can't move them any further because the grounds are too wet and the trucks would get stuck.
3. That area is close to services such as power and sewerage and it enables the rooms to be hooked up more quickly and at much less cost.
4. It retains our grassed areas for the children to play on.

The double classroom that has been moved on will be used by the classes currently in the hall. The library (currently stored in a container) will be set up at the back of the hall. We will still have enough space for assemblies etc.

The single room will be a teacher resource and work room. Our mobile shelving will be installed and our teachers will finally have a space to store resources and work in when not in their classrooms.

School Roll: Our school roll remains strong and steady. By Monday of next week will have 295 pupils. This is an increase from the end of last term. On Monday we started a new Year 1 class and welcomed Kate Stoneman, our new teacher in that room. We have good numbers of children starting throughout term 3, good numbers of children pre-enrolled for term 4, and expect that we will start another class at the beginning of that term.

Thank you: A special thank you to the Heretaunga Lions from Hastings who have donated $4000 to the school to help us cover the cost of items not covered by insurance. We are tremendously grateful to all the generous people who have been so good to our school.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa.

John