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Newsletter T2W4
19 May 2023
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Please note the increase in Covid numbers in our community. It is hard to know what type of winter we will have. I think it is important to get a good balance between being vigilant by encouraging students to thoroughly wash hands and to cough and sneeze into their elbows etc, and remember that once upon a time we had winters where colds and flus were prevalent taking down everyone at some point and that this is normal.
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The 2023 Quiz Night was a great night out. I would say “a night to remember” but that would only be true for around half of those who attended.
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A huge thanks goes out to Sandy Hayer who proudly supported the evening. If you list and sell with Sandy in the Bays she will give $1000 to Glendowie School. It is great to have parents using their business to be so supportive of the school.
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Also a special mention to the teachers who came a credible 2nd out of 17 teams (1st placed looked like a very professional quizzing outfit). Thanks to our hard-working PA for organising such a great event.
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We are all really excited by the new park and walk initiative that we have going at school. If you haven’t seen the amazing work that Rose from the Montessori Unit has been doing with our travelwise students you can check out the sign at the front of school.
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Hot off the press!!! Our Year 5 and 6 Girls Football team won the Bay Suburbs tournament yesterday. Well done girls.
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School Vision - Compassion
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Part of our school vision is that we would support our students to be “compassionate” citizens. Compassion means having genuine concern for the needs, sufferings and misfortunes of others. I think we can all agree that in a community as privileged as ours, it is our responsibility as adults to model genuine compassion and to see our children share in this compassion in their daily lives.
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In the 1960s there was a considerable shift in thinking in human psychology. Up until that point psychologists had focused primarily on changing behaviour using various stimuli in the form of rewards and punishment. Humanistic Psychology, as it came to be known, emerged changing this focus and emphasised certain elements of the human experience previously neglected, such as the importance of interpersonal experiences in development. For humanistic psychologists there was one trait that was of great importance to those wanting to help others – empathy. Empathy is the ability to have an accurate understanding of another person’s world. Genuine empathy gives rise to compassion as a person seeks to respond to the suffering they see in those around them.
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Growing genuine compassion in others is trickier than it used to be because of the faux-compassion that we see today, mainly directed toward large groups. All it takes is to like or share the occasional social media post in solidarity with certain causes and one can consider themselves certifiably virtuous. In reality there are people in the world that have everyday struggles that require support from those in the communities around them, and this type of support takes effort and a conscious choice.
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Here at Glendowie we hope to provide through our PYP curriculum a window into the lives of other people, who have experiences much different to our own here in East Auckland. Each of our units of inquiry has a component where students take action. It is here that our students can see how desperate some people are to receive genuine expressions of compassion and how their actions impact others. I accept that growing empathy in young people is much more than just studying the lives of others, but it is a start. Holding conversations with your children about some of the learning that they are doing at school about people from different times and places is a great way to support them to grow in their appreciation of their own place in the world, as well as the importance of being aware of those less fortunate.
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I’d like to leave you with the words of Sue James (not her real name), a woman who received a card from one of our Year 7 students last year when she was in hospital. The student – Felicity – wrote to Ms James as part of a project the class was doing at the end of last year. Felicity’s teacher had arranged for her class to partner with Voices for Hope, a charity that supports people struggling with loneliness. Ms James was in hospital receiving treatment when she was given the card. Here is her response, which I believe captures the value of helping our young people to practice taking action by reaching out to those less fortunate than themselves:
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In December last year while I was in Ward 42 of Auckland City Hospital, I received a Christmas card from Felicity, a student at your school. It was a beautiful card with a well written and thoughtful message.
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I would be grateful if you could forward my thanks to Felicity. I had a lovely Christmas with my family and I am recovering well from surgery.
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I still have her card as a reminder to keep love and hope in my life each day.
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I hope she also had a good Christmas, surrounded by love of family and friends. I hope also that she has a good school year and continues to write, as she clearly has a talent for it.
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Paul Crowhurst | Principal
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Board Meeting
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The next Board meeting will be Tuesday 20 June at 7pm in the Boardroom. Anyone is welcome to attend and a copy of the agenda is available from the school office after 3pm on the Friday before.
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Tuckshop
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Due to staff illness, the tuckshop will be CLOSED Monday to Thursday next week. It will reopen on Friday 25 May. Apologies for any inconvenience.
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Travelwise: Park and Walk
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This is Road Safety Week and on Wednesday we celebrated all our Road Patrollers who commit weekly to keeping our students safe when crossing the road before and after school. This is a huge responsibility for these Year 6 students who put into practise safety skills and tips. A heartfelt thank you is always appreciated as you go by!!!
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You will have also noticed the new Park and Walk signs near the entry gates of the school. We know the weather hasn't really been suitable on a lot of days this term, but please consider where your child / children can walk from. Having students walk from the entrances to Glendowie Park will really help ease congestion at the school gate so join the movement to give it a go!
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Junior School Information Evening
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On Tuesday 23 May, from 5.30 - 6.30 pm, we will be holding a Junior School Information Evening in the school‘s mini hall for all parents of children about to start school in 2023, new to our school or in their first years at school (Years 0 -2).
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Our Year 1 teachers will share the school routines, our literacy programme for teaching reading and writing in the early years, and our numeracy programme. This is an opportunity for you to hear what school is like for your 5-6 year old and to ask questions about the learning programmes.
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Following on directly after will be a presentation on our Primary Years Programme (PYP). The PYP coordinators will give an introduction to our school wide learning programme to all interested parents. We expect this presentation will finish around 7.45pm
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Primary Years Programme (PYP) Information Evening
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You may know Glendowie School is part of The International Baccalaureate. You may have heard the school talk about the PYP, but do you know what the educational programme strives to achieve?
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On Tuesday 23rd May from 6.45 - 7.45pm, we will be holding an information evening on The Primary Years Programme (PYP) in the school’s mini hall.
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Our PYP Coordinators, Ms Sinclair and Mr Liu will explain the teaching and learning programmes from both a junior and senior perspective. We will clarify some of the terminology that your students use in the classroom and unpack the attributes of an ‘internationally minded’ student. We will explain how a unit of inquiry is planned with concepts and a central idea to guide us. We will also demonstrate how skills, e.g. research and social skills are incorporated as part of our teaching programme.
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We look forward to welcoming all of the parent community.
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Y8s Unit of Inquiry - History Museum
For the unit of inquiry 'Where we are in Place and Time', the year 8s have been discovering the rich and diverse history of Aotearoa, learning about our Glendowie community and exploring their personal histories. During this unit, the students have been deepening their understanding of the past and making meaningful connections to the present. Our Year 8 students have put in a tremendous amount of effort and dedication to create an engaging and informative museum to share the inquiry they have undertaken during this unit of inquiry.
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The students work went on display in the minihall this week for the rest of the school to view. They will be returning to the Year 8 classes and common room at the end of the week. A big thank you to Mrs Keyser, Ms Heard and Ms Park for the amazing effort you have put in to make this happen!
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KidsLitQuiz
Come and join the Year 7 & 8 KidsLitQuiz team next year! The KidsLitQuiz is a fun event where teams from all over the country answer questions about written works, like books, nursery rhymes and mythology. This year we sent two teams of four students and two reserves to the KidsLitQuiz, who came ninth equal and seventeenth out of twenty-nine teams! The quizmaster asks ten questions in a category, and all the teams write down their answers. In between questions, he asks bonus questions, which you can answer to win money.
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To train for this event we did Kahoots on books, which everyone enjoyed. After the KidsLitQuiz, we did another Kahoot as a celebration, except this time we could win chocolates by answering bonus questions. We all had a great day and look forward to doing the KidsLitQuiz again next year. Amelia F
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My experience with Kidslit was nerve-wracking and extremely exciting. My team had knowledge of all sorts of books and nursery rhymes. Overall I enjoyed it thoroughly and definitely recommend it for the Year 5 & 6s to try it out when they are in intermediate. Sarah G
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A lucky group of Year 7 and 8s from Glendowie School were chosen to participate in the KidsLitQuiz at St Cuthbert's College. After the teams were chosen we had practices most days for a few weeks and when the day came we answered a difficult lot of questions. My team Glendowie School 1 came joint ninth. Jacob G
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Year 4s in Rm 4/5
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The Year 4 students in Room 4 and 5 are exploring the central idea: The Earth has a limited amount of usable water which is reused in different ways. They were lucky enough to have an expert speaker from Watercare visit this week and teach them about our drinking water and to discuss ways that we can save and conserve our precious water. They also were able to create their own water filters to make water cleaner and learn about how our tap water arrives, fresh and clean, into our homes. We then wrote explanations to share this process. Take a look at our learning and writing!
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How Water Filtrates: Have you ever wondered how your water arrives clean and clear in your home? First the dirty water goes to the machine where there are many holes. The water will go to the holes but the big stuff won’t come out. Next the machine separates the sand. The sand won’t get through but the other things will. There is another machine that gets all the smaller stuff together and it is called a coagulation machine. Then it goes to the clarification area which has a good kind of germ that eats all the bad things and it sinks to the ground. Next it goes to another machine and now it is nice and clean but not very clear. After that it goes to a tank to make it cleaner. At last it goes to a machine that can pop the bad germs apart so when you drink it you won’t be sick and it comes out and goes to everyone's house.
By Ai-shin H
How Water Gets Filtered: Have you ever wondered how water gets filtered? Well the first step to crystal clear water is to screen it. There are two metal barrels with tiny holes which do not let the big and medium branches and rocks through.
Then it goes through the sand separator and separates the sand from the water. After that it goes into a clarification machine where there are lots of tiny coagulants which suck all the particles and bacteria together. There are little micro bugs called Euplotes that are ciliated (covered in hair) and they eat the particles and bacteria up.
Next the water goes to the membrane filter with lots of spaghetti like tubes which have tiny microscopic holes that the water can travel through but the bacteria can’t.
Then it goes to the Granular Activated Carbon place. This is where they take away all the bad smells and tastes because who would drink smelly or bad tasting water? Certainly not me!
Next it goes to the Chlorine Tank where the water is treated in a chlorine tank to kill any remaining viruses and prevent bacteria growing when the water is stored.
Then it arrives at the dam and then it arrives at your house crystal clear!
By Emerson C
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Upcoming Events
- Tuesday 23 May - Junior Information Evening
- Tuesday 23 May - PYP Information Evening
- Wednesday 24 May - Y7/8 Eastern Zone Girls' Football
- Thursday 25 May - Y7 Immunisations
- Thursday 25 May - PA meeting
- Tuesday 30 May - Y7/8 Eastern Zone Boys' Football
- Wednesday 31 May - Y3 Assembly 1.30pm
- Thursday 1 June - Second Hand Uniform shop open
- Monday 5 June - King's Birthday - School closed
- Friday 9 June - Y7/8 Boys' Rugby
- Tuesday 13 June - Y5/6 Boys' Rugby
- Friday 16 June - School Disco
- Monday 19 June - Eastern Zone Hockey
- Tuesday 20 June - Board of Trustees meeting
- Thursday 22 June - Parent Teacher Interviews - School closes at 1.40pm
- Wednesday 28 June - Y5/6 Netball
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Glendowie PA
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Quiz Night: Our Back to the 80's Quiz Night was held last Friday. It was a huge success and we all had a great evening. The Glendowie Bowling Club was buzzing with excitement and there were some great costumes on display! A big thank you to all of the individuals and businesses who donated items for our Silent Auction. We raised a total of $3850 which will go towards kitting out our new technology block. A special thank you to Sandy Hayer from Sandy in The Bays who generously supported our 2023 Quiz Night.
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School Disco: Save the Date: Friday 16th June - "To the Galaxy and Beyond". We are looking for sponsorship for this event, if anyone would like to be involved, please email us at glendowiepirmarypa@gmail.com.
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Milo Friday: Enjoy a warm Milo & chocolate fish fortnightly on a Friday afternoon as we come into the winter months of Term 2 and 3. Glendowie School branded keep cups are available to purchase now via Kindo; once purchased, please collect these from the school office. The next Milo Friday for Term 2 is on Friday 26th May. Thank you to New World Stonefields for their generous donation and support.
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Second Hand Uniform Shop: We are operating out of the corner room to the right hand side of the main entrance to the office. We will be open on the first Monday morning of each month from 8:30 - 9am; the dates are as follows:- Thursday 1st June- Monday 17th July-Monday 7th August- Monday 4th September. We are looking for second hand uniform donations, please drop these to the office anytime or directly to the uniform shop during opening times.
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Next Meeting: Our next PA meeting is Thursday 25th May, 7:30pm in the school staffroom. All welcome, we'd love to see some new faces!
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Facebook Page: We are keeping our Facebook page up to date with events, follow us at
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Glendowie Primary School Parents' Association for updates.
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Community Notices
Taekwon-Do - Confidence, discipline, self-defence, fitness. Mondays and Wednesdays. Register at http://www.glendowie.com/beginners/ Contact Master Mark Banicevich at mbanicevich@itkd.co.nz or phone/test 021 314 503. See the flyer below.
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Mindful Parenting: Starting Thursday 25 May. This course will be online via zoom - see details in the flyer below.
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