2020 Prize giving Assembly

A big thank you to all our parents, whānau and caregivers who joined us for the final assembly of 2020, followed by a shared lunch. We'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday with family and friends.

The following students were acknowledged at assembly. While we choose to acknowledge only some students at this ceremony we recognise all those others who had a successful year:

Room 1:
Action taker - Jasper and Tia
Outstanding Effort - Te Ramaroa  and Emily
Learning Excellence - Nicolas and Kora

Room 2:
Action taker - Boston and Louie
Outstanding Effort - Liam and Cameron
Learning Excellence - Anaia and Ned

Room 3:
Action taker - Phoenix RT, Kihon
Outstanding Effort - Lani, Evan
Learning Excellence - Avalon, Addie

Room 4:

Action taker - Kora-Lee, Mikaera
Outstanding Effort - Ella, Tio
Learning Excellence - Olive, Thalessia

Room 5:
Action taker -Rukuwai and Kahurangi
Outstanding Effort - Nate and Doreen
Learning Excellence - Vinnie and Eva

Donald Paterson Cup for Best all-around sports boy or girl - Vinnie

Kapa Haka Trophies - Girls - Evangeline

Kapa Haka Trophies - Boys - Stacy

Junior kapa haka - Kora, Cameron

Overall Excellence at the Bay Academy 2020 - Three Baskets of Knowledge - 

Hana

Fun in the Sun

This year we had a change of plans with our normal annual beach day and decided to have a fun water day in school. Apart from some unexpected and untimely complications with the water infrastructure at school, the day went off without a hitch. Lots of happy faces.

Student farewell - Eva

This year we farewell Eva Whyman from our school and send her on with our very best wishes to the next stage in her education. Eva has been with us since year one, the first seven years of her education, spent at the Bay Academy. This is a special time for her as she reflects on her time here and looks forward to her next steps.

Eva has written a letter to her principal Mr Bell, which we have included. 

Eva was lucky enough to win this beautiful BBQ during 2020. Generously she wanted to donate it to the Bay Academy School as a sign of her thanks for the support she received during the seven years she attended. Thank you Eva, very best wishes, and please keep in touch.

Fun water day at school Monday 14 Dec

 

Monday is a fun water day at school. The children will be doing some fun water based activities with their teachers and friends.

Children will need:

• long sleeve rash or long sleeve t-shirt
• shorts/ togs
• towel
• hat
• change of clothes and bag to put wet clothes in
• apply sunblock on children before they come to school 
• water gun / water shooter if you have one

We have school sunblock, which we will apply on children after morning tea. If your child requires a special sunblock, please send it to school named. 

Thanks

Student Volunteer Army

Rooms 3,4 and 5 signed up for a Student Volunteer Army project supplied by the School Kit programme in schools. The students came up with great ideas how to make a difference to the world around us. The students in Room 3 went down to Te Tii and helped gardening around the marae, Room 4 got involved in Marine Reserve activities, and Room 5 painted drains to raise awareness about pollution. Each class selected a student who stood out with ideas and taking action. Congratulations to Winter, Mika and Eva. 

Year 8 Graduation

 A new event in our school calendar was held for the first time last evening. We wanted to make a special effort to acknowledge and congratulate those students who had graduated the IB primary years programme and completed their intermediate schooling with us through to year 8. Sarah Ross was proud to hand out certificates and a small gift to each of the students as she bid them farewell.

Sarah spoke to the students, parents and whānau who had come together for the evening, sharing how well prepared each of the children were, academically, physically and socially. She was certain each of the graduates was well prepared to take on their next steps with confidence and courage.

Experiencing Marine Reserves - Maitai Bay

 

Amazing day at Experiencing Marine Reserves Maitai Bay for Rooms 4 and 5 https://photos.app.goo.gl/zhXBf1in2UEz9jmG7

Posted by Bay of Islands International Academy on Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Community Notice - Free Snorkelling Day in the holidays

 

Homes Reflect Lifestyle Influences

Room 3 Action takers: Phoenix RT, Patrick, Arran, Oakley, Titan, Elijah

As part of their current unit of inquiry into Where we are in place and time with the Central Idea of: Homes reflect lifestyle influences and change over time, these students have initiated a project: Building a teepee at school.

Action: The boys watched a video about making a simple teepee with plants growing up on the side. They discussed where they could find a good spot for this at school and went to find the site. They also brainstormed which plants would work best at this time of the year. After that they made a list of materials they needed. They asked Matua Chris for permission to build it.

Phoenix then asked his mum Liz for help and sent her an email with the list. Liz came in and built the teepee with the boys.

Success: The team built a great teepee with peas and beans which will grow up on the side over the summer! It is fenced off at the moment to protect the plants in the growing stage.

Evangeline - Healthy Food Initiative

Evangeline in Room 5 is currently involved with her IB Exhibition project, the culmination of her learning in the IB primary years programme. Students in their final year of the PYP conduct an Exhibition project as part of their graduation.

As part of her project she is running a healthy food week at school, promoting increased awareness of healthy food options and acknowledging students who are making an effort with their lunchbox contents.

We are impressed with her planning and delivery.

2021 - 2023 Strategic Plan

 We are reviewing and updating the plan. This is what we are about for the children in our care. Educating for their future.

Year 8 Graduation Dinner

We are celebrating with the year 8's and their parents and whānau, as the students look forward to heading off to their next adventure in 2021. We welcome parents and whānau to join with us.

School Camp 2020

 

Attendance update

The Ministry of Education states that "A student is considered to be attending regularly if they were present at school for more than 90% of all half days"

The following charts show recent information for the Bay Academy. In term 3 almost 2/3rds of the student group attended school less than 90%. In term 4 to date this is down to approximately a quarter.

We understand this has been an unusual year, with lots of reasons why attendance has been down. We share this information with you as part of ongoing updates about key statistics from school.

We also share it as a reminder that regular attendance is encouraged and beneficial for your children.

I am excited to say that year to date we have one student who is running at 100% attendance.

Rooms 1 and 2 re-opening

Tēnā koutou katoa. 

We conducted a brief karakia and waiata Wednesday morning at 9am to re-open the renovated classrooms. 

We are proud to have retained the bones of this whare that travelled up to the school site in 1958. It is rewarding to have been able to breath new life into this very special building. 

In a short time, from this ...

To this ...

The original building was cut into two pieces and transported up from Te Tii village during 1958 for a 1959 opening. During the renovation this year, when the building interior cladding was stripped back, most of the original timber framing was in such good condition we were able to reuse it.

Kerikeri Primary Monster Mash

 

Surf Holiday Programme

 

Important Dates - Term 4

        Term 4 important dates for parents, caregivers and whānau,

• Tuesday 27th October - Rooms 4 - 5, trip to Kororipo Pā

• Wednesday 28th October, 8.45am - Official re-opening of  junior block (all welcome) - TO BE CONFIRMED
  
  
• Friday 30th October - Rooms 1 -3 Camp at school
  
  
• Monday 2nd November - TEACHER ONLY DAY (closed for students)
  
  
• Monday 2nd November - Board of Trustees meeting 4.30 - 6.30pm
  
  
• Tuesday 10th November - Whole school ATHLETICS DAY (parents welcome)
  
  
• Tuesday 24th November - Rooms 4-5, Marine Reserves trip
  
  
• Friday 27th November - School Leaders day camp
  
  
• Thursday 3rd December - Ki-o-Rahi festival at BOIIA (parents welcome)
  
  
• Monday 7th December - Year 8 Exhibition (parents welcome)
  
  
• Tuesday 8th December - Rooms 4-5 trip to Maitai Bay, Marine Environments
  
  
• Wednesday 9th December - Year 8 Graduation Dinner (students and parents)
  
  
• Friday 11th December - END OF YEAR celebration assembly (whole school community)
  
  
• Monday 14th December - Whole School BEACH DAY (parents and families welcome)

• Monday 14th December - Board of Trustees meeting 4.30 - 6.30pm
  
  
• Tuesday 15th December - SCHOOL CLOSES for 2020, 12pm

New Sun-hats for Terms 1 and 4

We have ordered new sun hats for the school, that will be arriving soon. We are seeking to have all students wearing the school sun hat as soon as possible this term. They will be available at a price of $10 each.

The orange version is for students in Rooms 1-3. The black version is for students in Rooms 4-5. Some flexibility will be offered as students transition between rooms 3-4.

Until they arrive we are still requiring students to be wearing hats while exposed to the sun, either at play times OR for any other outside class activities, including after school. All staff will be consistent in requiring students to follow this rule.

Year 8 students are welcome to purchase the new hats but this will not be compulsory due to them leaving at the end of the term. They must though have their own alternative hat.

Taupo Bay Summer Surf Academy

 The surf academy is taking enrolments for the summer break over December/January. You can use the following link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOBAA74VH0vpryMxH4sQncQUNrSMetbuQk2-4TElGzYgebsQ/viewform?gxids=7628

Mental Health Awareness Week

Kia ora parents, whānau and caregivers,

It's well worth considering that this is mental health awareness week in Aotearoa New Zealand. We know that emotional wellbeing is essential to a healthy and happy life. We also know that our children are not immune to mental health issues and concerns.

We at school are vigilant with all the children, monitoring their outward appearance and seeking to be aware of changes or signs that may reveal underlying worries or concerns. We will always talk to parents and/or whānau where we detect anything that may be a concern.

The attachment here lists a number of support services available should we or you wish to take advantage of them.

We also have a recommendation for counselling services available here in Kerikeri, although there will be others. Please be in touch if you have any questions of concern.

Room 5 - Project Island Song

Room 5 and I went on a trip to Urupukapuka Island which is a part of Ipipiri ( A group of islands, Ipipiri means shelter). We went there on the 22 of September on an Explore boat. I enjoyed the ride and loved going to the bow of the boat where the wind flew into my face. We went there to learn more about a project progressing on that group of islands, Project Island Song. When we got to the bay we listened to the birdsong that they worked on daily, it was so relaxing. The water was beautifully blue and the trees swayed with the wind.

When we arrived at the dock Ria and Debs, volunteers to the project, told us about the island and then we exited the boat. It was a sunny hot day and as my friends and I walked down the dock we arrived at the base, somewhere I had been before 2 years ago. They told us about how they wanted the birdsong to be so loud that you couldn't even hear yourself think and how they would achieve this by trapping all of the pests, planting trees and translocating birds.

After we settled we ate our morning tea and split into groups. I was in group 1 and started my activity of making traps. Bosco, Nate, Vinnie and me got all of the supplies and brought them to the tables. I had made traps before and I was excited to make them again. We screwed all of the screws in (extra tight) and decorated our perfect trap with names, patterns and colourful designs. Then we went for a walk on a track and fed the birds. There were so many pretty birds flying over our heads and landing on the tall trees like rosellas that are from Australia and Tuis that are endemic to New Zealand.

As we sat down to eat our lunch group 2 came from another path and walked slowly towards the eating tables. After eating we all listened to the instructions of Ria as we got our shovels, trees and gloves. We took turns with the GPS marking spots on the island. We came up a hill and as we looked down Ria started talking about how we couldn't run down because of how steep it was and how we had to walk down. We slowly made our way down the hill and we finally reached our destination. We listened intently as Ria taught us how to plant the trees and what they were. As Mia, Shanae and I said our karakia to thank our tree everyone started finishing, putting their gloves away and started to climb back over the fence. None of us wanted to go back up the hill so we took the cliffside track. Ria started talking about how dangerous this track was and everything went eerily silent. We finally started walking and talking about the black scale, a disease brought by the European settlers to kill the trees but it backfired when the Manuka and Kanuka trees were too strong to die of the disease.

As we walked through the flower filled paddock towards the base Shanae, Mia and I chatted happily and made our way to our bags, slouching on the deck. I pulled a green apple out of my lunchbox and bit into it, the juice seeped into my mouth before the flavour hit my taste buds and lit up my face. We pulled our bags onto our back and made our way to the docks but before we could go the teachers wanted a photo. We all bunched up and smiled as the camera took the photo. We all got up and headed to the dock again where we brushed off our feet. We were all getting ready to go when Debs started handing out bread so we could feed the fish. Everyone started chucking bread in but the snapper went to the other side of the dock and me and my friends were getting a bit disappointed when I threw a piece of bread in and a snapper dove up and caught it. My face lit up with a humongous smile, as I tossed small bits of bread in even bigger snappers huddled around it before two of them dove up fighting for it, they flicked water up my legs as my friends and I laughed. I got up and entered the boat as I felt water trickling down my legs, I couldn't hold back my smile.

The ride back was short and calm. Whilst Ria and Debs were talking everyone did their crosswords. When I finished I walked to the bow and let the wind blow in my face. Shanae joined me and a little bit later Mia did. We all talked and laughed when we decided to go to the stern with the boys. The motor was so loud we had to shout to be able to hear people. We were making our way to the bow when we were called back inside, we were coming close to the Paihia wharf. Once we were all seated Ria started giving credit to everyone who helped with the trip before saying goodbye and excusing us. As I stepped off the boat a sudden sadness washed over me like a wave, I was sad we were leaving, I was sad it was all over.

Molly Para

Student Led Conferences

 We look forward to seeing you in week 2 of term 4 for student led conferences.

Student Achievement updates (YTD)

We are really pleased to let you know about achievement at school in the area of literacy (reading and writing) and numeracy (mathematics), year to date (YTD) 2020.

While our IB inquiry style of learning is rich with engaging content covering all aspects of a diverse and future focussed curriculum, we are dedicated to building the levels of literacy and numeracy that will set every child up with the ability and confidence to access all the learning available to them in their world.

Our 2020 published goals for the Bay Academy state that we target 90% of students performing at or above the expected curriculum levels in all of reading, writing and math. This is a challenging yet, we believe, realistic target. It goes without saying that we would want 100%.

I hope you agree with me that the results below are cause for us to be very satisfied that children are progressing extremely well at the Bay Academy. In the year we have had this is massive credit to our teaching team, including teacher aides. Their dedication and commitment to continuous improvement is amazing.

Reading

Year to date we are on target at 90%. Initiatives in the school including Quick60 and StepsWeb are currently targeted at accelerating those in the 10%. A renewed focus on phonics in the early years is beginning to show excellent results for children.

Writing

Most schools will tell you that writing is their biggest challenge. We are tracking below our school goals in writing, but we are far from resting on these results. We understand that writing is about communication and includes a variety of expression, including oral and digital. Creating opportunities for children to communicate about what is of interest and relevance to them is constant learning for us as a teaching team.

Maths

Maths progress across the school has been very satisfying. 89% performing at or above expectation represents a strong result so far this year. 

Disco Reminder - This Thursday

 

Theme: Glow in the dark!!! So dress in your brightest coloured clothes or white and bring some glow sticks.

We have separate times for the different classes. 

Time: Rooms 1,2,3  at 5.00-6.00pm 

Time: Rooms 4,5,  at 6.15-7.30pm

There will also be a free sausage sizzle, ice cream and drinks provided.

Best of all, lots of dancing, fun, entertaining games to play and prizes to be won.

Kerikeri Cricket Club

 

Newsletter Updates

Student Led Conferences 

We will be holding student led conferences on Wednesday 21st October, which is week 2 of term 4. These will run from 1pm to 7pm, and will only run on this day.

Teacher Only Day

We are providing early notice of our intention to hold a Teacher Only day on Monday 2nd November. On this day our school will be closed for all students. More information will come out early in term 4.

School Disco

Maranga Mai are a local community group who have recently established to support healthy and fun opportunities for our tamariki/children to engage with each other. They are currently working with our school leadership group of students to organise a disco for all of our school children, to be held next Thursday evening 24th. Full details have been shared in your HERO app and a notice home.

We look forward to a fun way to farewell term 3 and to signal the upcoming term break.

Thank you

A big word of thanks to parents and whānau for your recent support of our school fund raising efforts, Daffodil Day and Wig Wednesday. Both great causes. We have been able to forward on significant donations to both of these causes.

Celebrating Cultural Diversity

We would like to let you know about our current policy on cultural diversity, specific to tikanga Māori, in relation to our school kapa haka group.

The group meets weekly to learn about and participate in cultural practices that are uniquely Te Reo and tikanga Māori, and often specifically Ngati Rehia and /or Ngā Puhi. This can include visits to either of the local Marae at Te Tii, and trips to other places. These trips may include from time to time visits to tangihanga to pay respects to people of significance to the hapu or iwi who have passed away. For those that are familiar with this cultural practice you will be aware that open caskets are the norm, and children may see this as part of the practice.

The knowledge gained in kapa haka weekly sessions in Te Reo and tikanga Māori is significant and fundamental to the educational development of our tamariki.

Kapa haka is also open to anyone at school who wishes to learn about Te Ao Māori, the Māori world. If your child is participating but there are cultural practices that you consider not suitable for them to participate in, please let us know. As a sign of respect we will keep them at school to avoid any discomfort.

All our school policies are available at http://boi.schooldocs.co.nz/. You can log in with the username boi and the password tetii.

Disturbing Tik Tok Clip

We have been advised of a Tik Tok clip circulating the internet in New Zealand. It contains content which is deemed highly inappropriate for children to watch. We want to make you aware of this and offer the following advice from Netsafe NZ.

For now, we recommend that students are being made aware not to share or view the footage as it can be highly distressing content. Our webpage has information about helping tamariki exposed to upsetting content that you may find useful. We have also provided some support lines for students and staff if they need to reach out for support below.

· Need to talk -. Free call or text on 1737 and there is support available 24 hours a day

· 0800 What's Up - Available Mon-Fri 12pm-11pm Sat/Sun 3pm-11pm on 0800 942 8787

· Lifeline - call on (0800 543 354) or text HELP (4357) for confidential support.

This content can have an impact beyond those immediately engaged with it. It is likely to have had a range of impacts on each person – some may be severely affected and others may not be affected at all. It is important to be aware of the need to talk with young people who have heard about it and to encourage them to express their feelings in response to the video. We recommend that having regular, open conversations at home around online safety is important to help young people navigate the myriad of digital challenges they will experience.

You can read more on our parental control advice page here. There is an option to switch to Safe Search when using Google search or alternatively, you can consider looking into this article to block Google images without blocking Google search.

This staying safe online guide and some of our printed resources may be useful.

Reminder to download the HERO app

 This flyer will come home with children today. Please be in touch if we can help.

Māori language moment 2020

Next week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Yes, we agree, every week should be Māori language week, and we are committed to keeping this beautiful, cultural treasure alive in our community.

The Māori language moment 2020 is a wonderful opportunity for each of us to use Te Reo, to the level of our confidence or even beyond, to support the journey. Mauri ora! 

Learn to sail - Adults and Children