ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16 2016
Dear Parents Thank you for the amazing start to Term 3 2016! After a restful break and a staff day on 29 July, we were all excited to see the boys return to Wellesley smiling and ready to learn. During recent discussions we revisited our vision to allow every boy to have every opportunity to excel. We continue to analyse and refine our personalised approach to learning along with blending the wonderful culture of our school with new thinking and refinement of some areas. We are embracing and embodying our refreshed values by taking a risk ourselves, in consultation with staff and parents, in reference to our strategic goals. We now have our first iteration of values posters reflecting pictorially –
Empathy and Respect
Perseverance for Personal Bests;
These will soon be on display in our reception area for staff to comment on and if you’re around please have a look and give your feedback. Once a final copy has been decided on, I will have these published on the website.
Strategic Plan Developments Personalised Learning. It was heartening recently to discuss the great work teachers undertake every day. Not only have we explored how we can better undertake induction of new families and students, we have also discussed what it is for us as a staff to personalise our approach. Some information we looked at in relation to students has included:
and
Risk taking in Learning.
Respect and Empathy
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Perseverance for personal bests
Pumping up their tyres - Role playing, movement, competition, props that are a little off-centre. Finding opportunities for boys to find their voice every day - Talking stick, ball or pairshare. Framing experiences – Our teaching has a clear start and finish point, each lesson, week or topic. Boy-centred engagement - "Revolving around the son". Knowing each boy and focussing on his interests.
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Risk taking in learning ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16th 2016
Feedback - Honest and timely, give feedback then the grade, always shows an avenue of improvement and is goal orientated.
My philosophy has always been that we need our education process to be relevant and engaging, using teachers’ passions and ensuring our relationships with boys are of the highest quality. We need to ignite and fan the flame of curiosity and allow boys to construct knowledge and processes that will enhance student outcomes in mind, body and spirit. Learning is not all about the academics, it is holistic and about bringing out the best in our boys, empowering their student voice and giving opportunity to develop leadership skills, resilience and confidence. We need to use a variety of data sources and be iterative in the approach to planning for student achievement. We use data to inform our teaching practice to personalise the approach for each boy, such as PAT scaled scores to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Teacher notes and observations to align curriculum to the interests of each learner and provide salient and timely feedback on goal progression, along with formative and summative assessments to demonstrate each boys’ progress. This all has to be in collaboration with other staff and parents to ensure the boy is known, belongs and is engaged in his development as well.
acquisition of a language from a young age is as easy as learning to walk, in comparison to adult brains that have been through a rote process of first-language learning to understand rules, grammar and alike. The cognitive benefits are also well documented with author Roberta Michnick Golinkoff Ph.D., of How Babies Talk saying “Learning another language actually enhances a child's overall verbal development," in reference to the concept that learning another language inhibiting the learning of English. At Wellesley, we often espouse our view to be creative and develop thinking skills. Children that study a foreign language show better problemsolving skills, enhanced spatial relations, and heightened creativity. It also allows for development of better perspective and flexible thinking. So as we embark on this journey, I would encourage you to be part of the discussion. Your views during the consultation phase will be most valued. Capital Works After further work has been done on the pool area, it has been identified that the shed housing the
Languages I will be sending out a survey soon to discuss the incorporation of a second language into the Wellesley curriculum. Not only is this part of our strategic plan, linked to enhancements in the Arts, Science and Languages, it has been demonstrated through research to have added benefits for our young people. Young learners have quite flexible brains that are uniquely suited to learning a second language. With research demonstrating that the
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filtration and heating units is made of asbestos. During the next school break this will be removed using a company that is certified and qualified to undertake this work. Currently, notification has gone to the staff and students with the placement of warning signage and access has been restricted.
and get applications in early. Due to a high demand at Years 5 and 6 for 2017, we will once again be running three smaller classes at each level next year (instead of the usual two). There are a couple of places still available in Year 4, 2017.
Any Departing Students Over the recent break work was undertaken on the new room for the extra Year 5 class ready for 2017. Work was also conducted on the Junior School roof and the Year 1 classroom.
Staffing With a heavy heart I have accepted the resignation of Murray Blandford. Murray has been teaching for 38 years of which he has spent the last 32 with Wellesley. Murray has decided to retire from teaching. His career and achievements have been significant, notwithstanding his passion for igniting boys in reading has been significant. Later in this edition, a student makes an appropriate tribute to his legacy. After many years as a valued specialist teacher, Ruth Hooke has decided to resign as from the end of the July school holidays. We wish her all the best and will let you know once a replacement teacher is found.
I would like to remind our current families that if you are intending to depart the School, I would appreciate you writing to me (email is fine Brendan@wellesley.school.nz) to notify me of your intentions to leave. I do require this in writing please. We need to have one term’s notice, so that no cost is incurred (one term’s fees). If you are in this position and know that your son will not be with us next year, please send me an email by the end of this term notifying me of your withdrawal. I look forward to this term’s exciting events and seeing you all soon. Kind regards
Brendan
I have also accepted Jackie Gray’s resignation from the College. Jackie was assisting us as a Teacher Aide and has decided to spend more time with her family. We will be appointing someone as a replacement in the coming weeks.
Enrolments Once again, our roll has filled very quickly for all year groups and we are close to capacity for 2017. To that end, if you have friends who wish to enrol boys for 2018 and beyond, please encourage them to contact my E.A. Karen Reid at the school office
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Reporting to Parents Last term, you received your child's mid-year report outlining the progress he was making in relation to the National Standard for his year level. As part of our internal review process, we are now seeking feedback about our school reporting process, including the parent interviews, so that we can make it even more worthwhile in the future. Over the coming weeks, an online survey will be emailed to our parents of boys in Year 4 – 8. We invite you to take a few minutes to share your views on our reporting process via this survey. Please rest assured that we will not identify any parent, guardian or child when we use the information gathered from this survey as part of our internal self-review. Thanks in advance for your participation in this process. Andrew Herrick Deputy Principal – Teaching and Learning
From the Development Office Our Old Boy Olympian Rowers Former silver medallist in the lightweight doubles at London 2012, Old Boy Peter Taylor (1989-1996) is again competing at the Olympics, but this time in the lightweight fours. As we go to print, Peter’s team have qualified for the final, having performed strongly in the heats and semi-final. We look forward to cheering him on as his team progresses.
Moreover, George Bridgewater (1992) former world champion and bronze medallist in the pairs at the Beijing Olympics, is competing in the quadruple skulls at Rio. At time of print his team are competing in the B final. Margie Beattie Director of Development/Foundation
Artbourne 2016 Held in early November with a ticketed opening night on November 3rd, this is a great community event not only for the school’s family and friends, but especially for the boys to learn more about art and its importance in our lives. It is also a fundraiser for the Wellesley College Foundation’s scholarship campaign- promising futures for boys. The boys will have the opportunity to experience the exhibition, during the day on Friday 4th led by one of the exhibition’s curators and our Head of Art Glen Jorna, who will be telling the stories of many of the artworks and their techniques. The boys can also vote during their tour for the Peoples’ Prizethe artwork they most relate to. We’ll be in touch soon regarding purchasing of tickets for the Opening night. The exhibition will continue during the weekend from 11-4 pm each day. We will be needing support for running this event and will be back in touch soon on how you may help. The ARTBOURNE team
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became his passion, inspiring him to pursue a career in Outdoor Education. In 2002, whilst undertaking kayaking training, Tim tragically died, at only 21.
Dear Friends of Wellesley, Most of you will be aware that the Wellesley College Foundation are amidst a Scholarship Campaign – promising futures for boys- most of which has been conducted quietly in conversations with our wider community. Although the goal of reaching a $1.75 million scholarship endowment fund was always ambitious, the incredible generosity of our donors and supporters to date, means that we are nearly halfway there with pledges and donations in excess of $850,000. We have updated our scholarship video featuring several former scholars https://youtu.be/1bGS0u8--HY and encourage you to view it when you have a moment. We also wish to share with you news on two specific scholarships. Former Dux of 1943, Sir John Todd’s patronage has been recognised in a scholarship in his name to be awarded this year, for 2017. Moreover, we are delighted to announce – The Tim Jamieson Memorial Scholarship. Tim attended Wellesley for Years 7 and 8 in 19911992, years his parents felt were the most important in his schooling. He flourished in Wellesley’s positive, encouraging atmosphere, and developed a love for the outdoors which later
In remembrance of Tim, and due to his great love for Wellesley, his mother has donated a scholarship to be awarded for the first time in 2017. This opportunity, like all scholarships offered at Wellesley, has the potential to be transformational to boys and their families, and brings wonderful diversity to our school. We are extremely grateful for the recognition by these donors, that a Wellesley education through scholarship is deeply valued. THANK YOU. With the Campaign still underway, several fundraising activities are planned for our Wellesley community, the biggest of which will be ARTBOURNE 2016,(3-6 November) when the Centennial Hall will be transformed into a contemporary art gallery and the inner quad into a sculpture yard, with partial proceeds of any artworks sold going to the Promising Futures for Boys’ fund. The ARTBOURNE team will be messaging you in the next two months on how you can be part of this. We look forward to seeing you there.
Mr Blandford by William Chandler Mr Blandford doesn't waste words. As a result, the words he does say have a huge impact, and for the last 32 years, the man we call Mr B, the man with the wry smile, clever sense of humour and passion for teaching has graced a certain room in Days Bay House, changing boys lives, one by one. He is the catalyst for success, the ultimate driver towards personal bests, the man behind our lots of our achievement. Motivated and very passionate he firmly believes that if you aren't going to commit
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to something 100% then you might as well not commit at all. A talented rugby player, he played first five, and represented Petone in over a hundred games, as well as a handful for Wellington. In the words of Steve Girvan, “he was a very vocal player, always in the ear of the referee. He’d never shut up.” He brought the same passion to the rugby field as he did to the classroom, and retired at his selfprofessed peak. He coached the Wellesley 1st XV for over thirty years, and is confident that in the future, as long as there is a talented group of players, the 1st XV shall succeed. Mr B is hugely passionate about reading. As a child, he wasn’t the biggest reader around, and in his opinion, it greatly affected his ability to write, and speak as fluently as he would have liked to. Then he turned seventeen and somewhere, somehow, a switch flicked. He was away. Reading has had an enormous effect on his life, but later than it should have, so now he instills in boys the importance of reading. Preached by Murray Blandford himself, “Kids who read, succeed.”
changed the school. Witnessed and influenced the “full 180 in regard to what kind of education Wellesley offers”. For him, his time at Wellesley “has been a fantastic ride”, and he is looking forward to the next chapter in life, working part time, potentially at a book shop, maybe relieving here and there. His passion and influence will have a lasting impact on Wellesley, long after he has left. He has left behind an unchangeable legacy, one that shall live on forever. He is so much more than just a teacher for all of us boys. He’s a mentor, a role model, the epitome of hard work and passion. An integral part of Wellesley, he will be missed. We are truly grateful for 32 years of peerless dedication. Thank You Mr B.
Mr Blandford loves maths. He can't pinpoint exactly what it is about it but he just loves the problem solving, the mental arithmetic. “With those skills, it sets you up for life. Gives you options,” he says. It isn't really that hard to see the passion and devotion when it comes to Maths. Anyone who has ever seen Mr Blandford getting hyped up over some good meaty problem solving, seen the trademark vein bulging on the side of his head, noticed the look of sheer passion and excitement dancing in his eyes, the quest for knowledge he brings to the classroom in all areas. It just shows how much he loves what he does. The one word people can't stop associating with this man is passion. Everything he does, he does with utter passion and devotion. He has built a school wide philosophy that Maths and Literature should be held in the highest regard, and as a result of this, these two subjects are going to be held at the forefront going forward. He has
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Wellesley in the Arts Performing Arts Ruth Hooke Wellesley and the Arts team recently said goodbye to one of its most valued staff members - Ruth Hooke. Ruth’s contribution to the arts has been invaluable. She has been instrumental in providing a vibrant and exciting performing arts programme to our boys for nearly 30 years. Her dedication, professionalism, positivity and collegiality will be sorely missed by us all. She is a well-respected colleague and friend and we wish her lots of happiness in the future. Murray Blandford, who has worked alongside Ruth for many years, has acknowledged her in a fitting tribute below: “Ruth Hooke joined Wellesley in 1988, one of many young teachers who were part of the resurgence of Wellesley under Principal Graeme Dreadon. Her enthusiasm, love of kids, and passion for teaching were all obvious from the outset, qualities that would remain with her during her time at Wellesley. Two of Ruth’s main strengths and passions were Children’s Literature and the Performing Arts. Boys who were fortunate to have Ruth as a classroom teacher enjoyed not only her book recommendations, but also her ability to bring to life the books she chose to read aloud.
at local school Muritai. More recently, while teaching fulltime, her and another ex-Wellesley teacher, Mary Prichard, were the drivers of Artspash and Dancesplash, concerts that thousands of Wellington children have taken part in and enjoyed over the last fifteen years or so. Ruth suffered tragedy last year when her husband and soulmate, Steve, died of cancer. Together they shared a love of music and performance. Ruth has been an integral part of Wellesley for nearly 30 years, and the staff who have been fortunate to have taught with her, and the hundreds of boys she has taught, either as a classroom teacher or Performing Arts teacher, have been blessed. Her contribution to Wellesley cannot be underestimated. Her bubbly personality, love of life, welcoming smile and infectious laugh will be missed by us all and we wish her all the best for her future.” Murray Blandford
Ruth was instrumental in ensuring boys who attended Wellesley were exposed to the benefits of a balanced curriculum, especially in regards to the Performing Arts. A gifted musician and singer herself, she made sure all boys in the Senior Syndicate were introduced to drama, playing music, opera, live theatre and much more. After leaving Wellesley for a few years when she had her daughter Millie, she returned part-time as part of our talented Arts department, teaching two days a week. She continued to push the Arts, and as well as teaching at Wellesley, she played a similar role
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Dance Splash
Visual Arts
Year 6 are taking part in Artsplash Dance on Friday 2 September at the Michael Fowler Centre. This is a great opportunity for the boys to prepare and share their dance with other schools in the Wellington region. They had a workshop with Pump Dance earlier this term to get them started. The boys thoroughly enjoyed working with them and are excited about putting the final pieces of the dance together. Their dance will also be themed around the Middle School Production of Robin Hood.
The school is once again coming alive with some beautiful and vibrant art around the place. It was lovely for our Grandparents to view the fruits of all
Chevon O’Leary (Year 6 Teacher)
Syndicate Productions Term 3 is a busy term in the performing arts, with every syndicate busily preparing for their upcoming productions. The Juniors are basing their show on Zealandia and “Where the Wild Things Are”. We look forward to seeing their show in Term 4. The Middle syndicate are in the midst of Sherwood Forest at the moment, busily rehearsing for their “Robin Hood” production, which will be performed in Week 7 of this term. Our Senior boys turn their creativity up a notch and write their own scripts. This year, the Senior boys have been divided into 3 groups - each group providing a 20 minute performance surrounding the core Wellesley values, which will then be interwoven with the other performances to create the whole senior production. Each boy will take part, whether acting on stage or behind the scenes working on props, lights or sound, and we look forward to seeing what they come up with. At the moment, a few scriptwriters are focussing on getting their scripts written - once these are done, auditions will take place, then rehearsals will commence, leading up to their matinee and evening performances in the last week of this term.
the hard work that was put into art classes last term. The wonderful work our boys produce gets displayed in the clasrooms and in various locations around the school - in offices, hallways and in the
staffroom. It is lovely to view these works, admire them and appreciate them - and this is what making art is all about - making the world a better place to look at!
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A selection of the boys’ artworks will also be showcased at some upcoming exhibitions. Artsplash Visual Art Exhibition is an opportunity for our boys to display their work in a formal exhibition. This year it is planned for August 29th to September 2nd at the Wellington City Council. Artbourne is Wellesley’s bi-annual art exhibition, where well-known NZ artists, as well as emerging artists have an opportunity to showcase their work. Alongside this, a selection of the boys’ art will be available for purchase. All profits raised will go towards Wellesley scholarships. This term, art classes will be mainly devoted to sculptural and 3D art-making. The boys are being exposed to various sculptors and artists to get inspired. Appraising art is a fundamental aspect of the the classroom programme, and the boys enjoy giving constructive feedback on artworks they view. They are involved in a variety of activities at the moment - wheku mask-making, clay modelling, cardboard sculpture-making, Medieval maskmaking, and i look forward to updating you with their progress on the Wellesley Face-book page, or via this platform in the future.
walked to a little room across from the big hall. Then we sat in our parts (the low part and the high part) and we did some fun and challenging warm ups. My absolute favourite was when one half of the choir sang 1,3,5,7,9 and the other half sang 2,4,6,8,10, then combined to make it into one sound. Then my sister who attends Queen Margaret gave me a tour of the school at morning tea. After that it was time for the big performance! I had 100 butterflies in my stomach! But the performance went great and our choir did some good singing. My favourite song was “Ave Maria” and I think we did an awesome job of “If I had a Hammer” because we put a lot of energy into the actions! Overall, it was a great experience! By Adam Raitt (Year 7)
St Alban’s Church – Wellesley Choir The choir have been invited to be part of the
At the end of the year, after classroom displays have been pulled down, and all exhibitions have finished, your son will bring home all of the art he has produced this year, so please look out for a package coming home at the end of the year. Glen Jorna
Queen Margaret College Exchange On the 1st of July the Wellesley choir went to Queen Margaret College over in Wellington. I was extremely excited but a little bit nervous to meet all the girls! Our goal was to make Mrs Currington and Wellesley proud. When we got there we were greeted by two Queen Margaret girls. We all
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church service at St Alban’s on the 28th August at 9.30am. This is a wonderful opportunity for the choir to share their gorgeous singing with our wider community. Please feel free to join them in this special service.
Anglican Schools’ Music Festival This is an event that all the local Anglican schools participate in if appropriate. The choir will sing two massed songs with all the other singers and then present three songs of their own. The concert is on Friday 9th September at 6pm at the Cathedral in Wellington. Carolyn Currington
Board Members’ Pofiles Included in the next Principal’s Pens will be profiles of our current Board Members. Wellesley Board Member Kit JacksonKit has been on the Board of Trustees since September 2013 and has Oscar (OJ) in 7/8S and Charlie (CJ) in 4C. Originally from England, he moved over to New Zealand in 2003 after serving in the British Army for 10 years. He now owns and operates Capital Advice, a mortgage and insurance broking business on Lambton Quay. A very keen sportsman (albeit now mainly an observer!), Kit is also on the committee of the Collegians Junior Cricket Club. As well as being on the board, he is the chair of the Wellesley College Foundation and is always open and available to discuss with parents about how they may be able to help with Foundation matters.
importance of financially future proofing our school to ensure that it is around for centuries to come and that is what the Foundation’s primary role is to do. Whilst the school is currently in very good shape culturally, financially and in respect to the majority of its infrastructure,that has not always been the case. There have been some tough financial times for the school in the past but due to good leadership; financial management and foresight a plan was put in place which our current community now benefits from. It is important that we look to the future to ensure that the school continues to move forward for the next generations of Wellesley boys. By our ongoing fundraising efforts, we are both ensuring the schools financial future and as a result, we are able to provide scholarships for deserving boys who would not otherwise be able to afford to attend this amazing school.”
Saint Kentigern Fixture after Match Report Following a refreshing school holiday break, Wellesley welcomed Saint Kentigern College (Auckland) on Tuesday 2nd August, for the first sports fixture of the term. Signs of gloom in the morning were quickly blown away and it turned out to be a fantastic day for Wellesley to host Rugby,
“Having been to a school in England that was founded in 1555, I am very conscious of the
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Football, and Hockey teams for the start of Saint Kentigern’s lower North Island tour. After their arrival, we said a temporary goodbye to our guests as they headed off for a visit to Te Papa Museum before returning in the afternoon for the highly anticipated matches. Rugby took place at the Wellesley College ground and was a hard fought contest which ended with a score of 19-26 in favour of Saint Kentigern. The encounter was physical, but the Wellesley boys were definitely up for it and showed great spirit throughout the match. Captain Archie Treadwell thought the boys were good at getting the ball out wide, but that a lack of good decision making caused too many errors at key moments. Overall it turned out to be a thrilling game and the Wellesley boys can be proud of their solidarity in defence through their strong tackling. Shifting to Fraser Park we moved on to the Hockey where Saint Kentigern proved to be tough competition. A steady breeze blew across the turf as the boys looked to make their mark on the match against a more experienced Saint Kentigern team. The boys were still feeling the effects of the school holidays and made a bit of a slow start before getting into the match and creating some opportunities on attack. Captain Judd Adamson thought both teams were particularly strong in defence to start, which lead to a low score line at halftime. Despite creating some good chances, Wellesley were unable to get past the Saint Kentigern defence. In the end Wellesley went down 0 – 8, however the boys still enjoyed themselves on the day.
opposition. With Saint Kentigern hitting the post the two sides went into halftime all even at nil all. The second half became a lot more open as fatigue started to creep into the match, but the quality remained high. Some special skills resulted in Saint Kentigern emerging victorious by a score of 4-1. But a special mention must go out to Finley Kruger for his thirty metre long shot which found the top right corner and brought Wellesley right back into the match. After the game Finley mentioned that he was speechless and did not know how to react when it went in. Captain Finley awarded man of the match to Max Waiker for his resolute defending and thought the boys hustled well throughout the match. On a whole it was a great fixture for both schools and the Wellesley boys can be proud of their efforts on the day. Billeting our guests on Monday night was a great way for the boys to meet new people and create new friendships for the future. A special thank you goes out to those families who hosted billets for the event as we would not be able to run these fixtures without your support. We look
A recently constructed multipurpose turf at Fraser Park allowed us to have the football in the same location and provided an excellent surface for what was a high quality football match between the two sides. Saint Kentigern had a bit more physicality and proved it early on by dominating aerial trades in the match. However, Wellesley stayed in the match by playing intricate short passes and utilising triangular movements to play through the
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forward to having further competition with Saint Kentigern in the future and the Wellesley boys will now turn their attention to the upcoming Huntley Fixture. Mark Meo Sport and PE Assistant
places for children who have fled conflict, so they can start to heal from their trauma. Through arts, music, sports and play, and most importantly education, they can help prevent an entire generation on missing out on the opportunity to build a better future. These children have had their lives turned upside down by this conflict, through no fault of their own. What conflict has taken away, we can start to give back. So it is exciting to know that with the money we have raised, it will enable 100+ children to begin to experience some normality in their lives, by being able to experience school again and continue to progress with their learning. The students at Wellesley took on a range of endeavours to raise their funds, some not eating, others refraining from technology, living out of a backpack for 20 Hours and going on a 40km bike ride.
World Vision – 20 hour Famine Wellesley College students have carried out a mammoth effort with their support of the World Vision 20 Hour Famine this year. By demonstrating their strong commitment towards World Vision and the causes they support, we have been able to raise an incredible total of $10,218.00 Last term, Britney Marsh, from World Vision came to visit and clearly explained in tangible terms how exactly our money would be used to aid the people who have been caught up in the Syrian refugee crises.
One student managed to raise over $820, just on his own, whilst two brothers jointly raised $1310, which are remarkable efforts. We would like to particularly congratulate the following students who also did exceptionally well: Oscar Jackson, Charlie Jackson, Tommy Brow, Nikhil Cox, Marco Wessels, Barnaby Stevens, Cooper Cleland and Josh Harvey-Green. Our efforts have also meant that we have qualified for a number of students to represent Wellesley at the World Vision Reward Programme, by attending a scholarship day. This is an opportunity for the boys to build on their leadership potential and develop them further as international citizens. We would like to thank all the boys, families and friends that contributed to the World Vision 2016. Veronica Stevens
This year’s funds will specifically support World Vision’s child-friendly spaces. These are safe
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Wellesley College Parents’ Association
welcome more parents at any time. You don’t have to become an active member of the PA – you can chose to just attend the occasional meeting and have input.
Hard to believe that we are now well into Term 3 – the year is certainly flying by!
Have a great term 3 and hope to see more of you at our meeting on 12 September.
The Parents Association met last week on the first day back of the term. An engaged meeting as we prepare for the Quiz night which is happening this Friday – I do hope to see as many parents there as possible. Based on prior years, I am confident this will be a funfilled evening.
New Zealand Speech Board
The next key event on the Calendar that we are supporting for the School is ARTBOURNE running from 3-6 November. For those that have been to this in prior year’s, you will know that every two years, Wellesley College’s hall is transformed into a contemporary art gallery hosting Wellesley’s ARTBOURNE exhibition. During ARTBOURNE, established and emerging artists, some connected with the school, come together to showcase for sale, their artworks. Profits from ARTBOURNE are used to fund full financial scholarships for boys who would not otherwise be able to attend Wellesley College through the Promising futures for boys Campaign for the Wellesley College Foundation. The PA provide resources for the event to help with sales and catering for the event. We need all the assistance we can for this as it is an incredibly busy event from the Thursday opening night through to the close on Sunday afternoon. If you are love art, and would relish the thought of getting involved, then please do reach out to Margie Beattie at the School, or to me directly on email (healey.family@ihug.co.nz). Our next meeting of the PA will be Monday, 12 September, at 7.30pm the School. My thanks to the new PA members who have joined us over recent meetings – it’s great to have more parents getting engaged. And of course, we’d love to
Year 3 Distinctions 13 Highly commended 7 Commended 3 Pass 1 Year 4 Distinction 26 Highly commended 11 Commended 11
Year 5 Distinction 25 Highly commended 18 Commended 10 Year 6 Distinction 29 Highly commended 7 Commended 9
During the last 2 weeks of Term 2, Mrs Stephanie Caisley from the Speech New Zealand was at Wellesley evaluating the oral presentations of boys. Almost 170 boys prepared for this assessment. Areas of work included drama, speeches, poetry, demonstrations, discussions, reading and impromptu role-plays. All boys passed their assessments and the feedback from the assessor was extremely positive. She was full of praise for the boys’ preparation, confidence, cooperation and enthusiasm. Stephanie Caisley made special comment in her report, praising the boys for their performances of:
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poetry recitation, reading aloud and discussion skills. The talks were well structured and the visual aids were excellent and well used. Mrs. Caisley passes on her congratulations to all students for producing such enthusiastic and interesting work. Well done boys! Chevon O’Leary
Science & Technology
As part of the Junior Eureka pilot scheme, 5C have made some tracking tunnels. These have been placed around the school and will be left out for one week. They are white, made from old real estate signs and are folded into triangles. There is no poison, just sticky ink and peanut butter! I believe this is a fantastic opportunity for our students to be engaged in real science, be part of a local community and contribute to a nationwide programme. It’s a great way to get our kids caring about our environment and actually be able to do something real to improve it. Jo Hawthorne
I would love Wellesley to be Predator Free – with the goal of creating a Wellesley Sanctuary. We have been gifted a nesting box for Ruru, I’m in the process of ordering a weta motel and getting some more made and there are a number of other things I’d love our students to be engaged in. I am developing a local community group (all the schools and kindy plus Zealandia and local residents) to start tracking and trapping predators within their school grounds and possibly further if they so choose. The Enviroschools are supporting this and our Enviroschool group will be involved by supporting the younger students and other projects along the way. This means our school is part of a community group working towards a common goal, plus we are supporting the adult community groups that are currently working in Eastbourne and the East Harbour Regional Park. Our group has set up its own group on Nature Watch (online). You download an app and then students can photograph anything in nature and upload it. There are lots of great possibilities for this, it’s a great way for us to contribute to the nationwide program of pest eradication. We can use it to keep a record of what we catch and where, it can be used to identify plants, birds etc. It can grow to include families being able to contribute to it from home.
ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16th 2016
Kids’ Lit Quiz We wish our Literature Team, who won the NZ Final of the Kids’ Lit Quiz last Term, all the best as they head off this week to compete in the World Final in Auckland. The article below was written by Harry Hampton7/8T after the NZ Final. On the morning of the 11th of April, at Papakowhai School, two teams of the best readers at Wellesley College took part in the Regional Heat of the 2016 Kids’ Literature Quiz. All of the contestants had been training hard, desperate for victory, but in a short few hours a select few teams would rise to the top. Ten rounds of questions, ranging from Rivers to Myths and Legends, eventually decided the winner, with the Wellesley B Team finishing third, the Raroa Intermediate A Team coming second and Wellesley A , consisting of Tom Adams, Archie and William Chandler and myself, Harry Hampton, walking away with the title of Wellington Regional Kids’ Literature Quiz Champions! From then on, things became that bit more real. We increased our practices, adding a Friday afternoon session into our schedule in preparation for the big event, as well as expanding each of our reading frontiers and navigating into the uncharted regions of children’s writing. At first, we were a bit befuddled with the new topics, but we eventually gained a strong grip on the new categories of Book
Beginnings and Author Biographies that would feature in the New Zealand Final. A month’s training later, coordinated by our amazing coach Ms Jane Kent, the big day rolled around. We journeyed to the National Library on Saturday 21st May, sat ourselves down at a fourperson table with a large buzzer in the centre, and, like the fifteen other teams around us from all over the country, prepared for the questions. There were high stakes this time. If you answered a question correctly, your team got two points. If you hit the buzzer too soon, armed with an incorrect answer, your team lost a point and could not answer that question again. They came in in five batches of fifteen, with the topics being, in order, ‘Creatures’, ‘Book Beginnings’, ‘Authors’, ‘Plots’ and ‘Legendary Heroes’. They all began very vaguely, one notable moment being when Southwell School correctly guessed ‘Kate Sheppard’ from just the five words “This famous New Zealand woman”! The first round came and went, with Hawke's Bay’s Awakeri School leading the pack and Wellesley in fifth. We stayed in the same position for the second round as well, with last year’s World Champions, Auckland’s Southwell School coming first. In the third and fourth rounds, however, we really started to move up the leaderboard. In fact, by the end of round four, we were coming third!
ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16th 2016
Fast forward to the very last question. The round was ‘Legendary Heroes’, Southwell School had just got their Kate Sheppard victory and were tying with Wellesley College on 25 points. The deciding question began with a description of a children’s book about this person’s life. When Quizmaster Wayne Mills described how he rose up through the Illinois legislature and married Mary Todd, William Chandler slammed the buzzer and said “Abraham Lincoln,” the correct answer, winning us the National Kids’ Literature Quiz! It was unbelievable. We had won! The next stage for us: the World Final in Auckland. We’ve added yet another practice in, diversified our reading material and got ready for August 19. Look out, Singapore, Australia, Britain, America, Hong Kong, South Africa and Canada, here we come!
Our school orchestra also performed a beautiful rendition of “The Entertainer”. I’d like to acknowledge and thank the fantastic team of teachers - Carolyn Currington, Mary-Anne Morgan and Andre Paris, who were involved in preparing our boys for this event
2nd Hand Uniform Sales The Google form system for buying and selling 2 nd hand uniforms has been a success so far. If you sell items, please feel free to send them to the school office with the name and class of the recipient, and we will happily deliver to the boys. The link is: https://goo.gl/x7d2M3 and can also be found on the Parent Area of the Wellesley Net: https://goo.gl/udiFtS
Grandparents’ Day The Grandparents Day assembly last term was a wonderful event, and it was the perfect platform for some of our boys to display their creativity in the performing arts. Our Senior choir performed 2 songs “Ave Maria” and “If I Had a Hammer”. They were exceptional performances and we enjoyed listening to their beautiful voices.
ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16th 2016
Free Dental Checks Students at our school are due for their free annual dental check-ups. The Dental van is on the school site this term. Once seen your child will be given a letter that may include details of another appointment. Please contact us to change this appointment if required. Please search your child's school bag!
Our school canteen lunches can now be ordered using Lunchonline. This is an online service where parents/caregivers set up their own account, order lunch and pay online. The lunch is available to be picked up from the school canteen at the start of the lunch break. So to view the menu, set up an account and/or place an order,
If you have pre-school aged children please call us to arrange an appointment for their annual checkup. Family appointments are available so preschool siblings can be seen at the same time. To book or reschedule your appointment, or update your contact details, please call 0800 TALK TEETH (825 583). If treatment is needed an appointment will be made at Petone Central School Dental HUB. This differs from previous years where treatment was done at Muritai school in Eastbourne. It now means that parents will be required to take their son to the appointment. Appointments may be changed to suit by phoning the number on the sheet. Any inquiries please leave a message for me to return your call, I will gladly discuss any issues. Mandy McMaster Dental Therapist
ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16th 2016
ISSUE 5 Tuesday, August 16th 2016