Kerikeri and Districts Junior Cross Country

On Wednesday 30th June the Bay Academy once again hosted this annual event for our local schools and early childhood centres. It was a pleasure to see the event so well supported by parents and whānau from across the rohe/region.

With the help of our Room 5 school leaders group we put on a successful event for the community to enjoy. The day also dawned beautiful adding to the enjoyment of all.

Phoebe from Room 1 led the way for the Bay of Islands International Academy, dominating the 4 year old girls race.

Whaea Sharon Day

On Monday, the 5th of July, we celebrated our first Whaea Sharon Day.

As part of learning in the current Unit of Inquiry some children from Room 3 (Boston, Zane and Laychn) came up with the idea of celebrating Whaea Sharon’s birthday as a way for us as a school to remember her. They planned the ceremony as part of their inquiry into traditions around the world.

Together, they found out everything that was special about Whaea Sharon and created a poster to tell others about their idea and the event planned on her birthday.

On Monday 5th July the whole school assembled around the Pohutukawa tree in front of the office.

Our school’s enviro-team worked hard to prepare a new garden bed to be filled with beautiful flowers and decorations. Parents and whānau bought in flowering plants to be added to the garden. We sang Sharon’s favourite waiata and the Happy Birthday song and shared stories about her.

We ended the celebration with a sweet treat (Sharon loved chocolate!) that the Room 5 school leaders had prepared the day before. This special day and celebration will be marked in our calendar each year!

Kerikeri and Districts Cross Country Results - 8 - 12 y/o

We want to congratulate all the students who took part in the cross country held yesterday at Takou Bay Road Landcorp Farm. Great to see all the Kerikeri Schools in attendance and they were joined by a couple of schools from Whangarei.

What a challenging course it was. 

2.4 km's of hill climbs, downhill sprints and wading through knee deep mud. All this and the usual blustery and cold westerly conditions which seem to grace the event every year. Not for the faint hearted.

In saying that there was no sign of any hesitation on the part of the children and young people competing. 

We want to congratulate all those who participated with lots of gutsy performances and perseverance. A special mention to the place getters from all attending schools.

From the Bay Academy the following students participated:

Avalon - 8 y/o girls

Louie, Ethan, Patrick, Logan, Mahi and Flynn - 8 y/o boys 

Eleanor - 9 y/o girls FIRST PLACE, also running, Lani and Leslie

Arran and Oakley - 9 y/o boys

Amalfi - 10 y/o girls THIRD PLACE, also running, Rita

Dejan and Julien - 11 y/o boys

Whitiora - 12 y/o girls

Bosco - 12 y/o boys FIRST PLACE

A big thank you to the parents and whānau who supported with transport and were there on the sidelines to cheer on the competitors. Mauri Ora!

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.

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.

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.

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! 

RIP Auntie Bloss

This week our school, like many others, has been affected by the passing of Te Puawaitanga, Blossom Silich. Bloss was nan to two of our current students, mum in law to one of our teachers and an ex student and friend of our school. She is also tangata rongonui, a very special Kuia, to the people of the Ngati Rehia hapu. We share the grief of all those mourning the loss of Auntie Bloss. Moe mai rā e te whaea.

The whole school formed a guard of honour as Te Puawaitanga returned to her marae on Monday.

Our school gardens

 The children were very keen to help Matua Danny today in the school marae, Te Wao Nui a Tane. As we approach spring time we are looking to beautify the school grounds, and a working bee is on the cards. We will send out information soon about how you might be able to help.

Internet Safety at home

If you have any concerns about what children may be exposed to online, at home then https://switchonsafety.co.nz/ are offering support. They have made understandable instructions available to allow you to make adjustments to your child's device settings, effectively adding an extra layer of filtering and protection on that device.

I am sharing the instructions for Chromebooks below. Go to the website https://switchonsafety.co.nz/ for instructions relevant to other device manufacturers.

Please be in touch if there are any questions you have about keeping your children safe online. 

Audio Reports

Kia ora koutou, parents, whānau and caregivers,

By now you should have received your child's audio report from the Bay Academy in your email. This is a significant change to the usual written style of reporting you may have become used to. 

We have trialled this innovative initiative as a way to provide more personalised feedback to you and your child. We think that the combination of the usual report style information combined with the intonation of the teachers voice communicates more overall.

Already we have received much more positive feedback from you than at any time in the past for written reports. We hope this reflects a positive change. I wanted to share one particular piece of feedback as an example (names removed):

Wow Sarah,

Miharo!! Amazing!

We love this new way of reporting!

We are so grateful for this amazing heart felt, personal and detailed report you have created for us.

It was so comforting for us all to hear how well you know and support our girl to grow both academically and socially.
We appreciate the time and effort you have put into this report.

We all sat as a whanau and listened, praising Quilyn with all the pride we have when hearing all your positive and constructive encouraging feeding back, so we can also check in on her progress and encourage at home.

Nga mihi aroha Nui!

Please feel free to continue to send feedback, either positive or otherwise to my email principal@boi.ac.nz or to the classroom teacher. We will evaluate this initiative in a few weeks once we have gathered views and opinions from as many as possible.

Ngā manaakitanga

Chris Bell, Principal.

Advice of Chickenpox

In our bubble

FAQ's from the Bay Academy community

Health and safety under Level 3.

Term 2, 2020. Covid-19 Level 3 Welcome letter

Upgrade of Linc-Ed to Hero

Raffle update and final notice

Hi to all who are still holding raffle tickets. Please put any raffle ticket money you are holding directly into the school bank account. 12-3091-0078850-01. Also let me know the numbers of the tickets that you have sold, principal@boi.ac.nz.

At this stage we have sold more than 200 of the 250 tickets available. Any unsold ticket numbers will be withdrawn from the draw, increasing everyones odds. If the money is not in the bank by Tuesday 31st (or you have called me and guaranteed you are holding money for tickets), those tickets will be withdrawn.

I will conduct the draw on April 1 as planned. It will not be able to be witnessed by a police officer as I will be in isolation. I will record myself doing it, and it will be witnessed by my family, who have no tickets in the draw. I bought one book of 5 tickets myself, but should my numbers come up, I plan to redraw.

Good luck for the draw next week.

All you need to know - latest update

Wow, even a few short weeks ago who would have guessed we would end up here? Firstly I just want to extend our best wishes to all parents, caregivers and whānau for what will be a challenging few weeks ahead. Please stay safe and close to your loved ones. And in an unprecedented time, we hope you find unexpected yet positive opportunities for connection and reconnection.

As I have mentioned in previous messages today on Facebook and Skoolloop our school is closed from today. Except for children of parents providing essential services, we are closed. Staff will be on site for these children. As of midnight Wednesday night, we are fully closed. No staff will be on site. This will be in place for 4 weeks, at least.

We are offering parents, caregivers and whānau the opportunity to drop by in the next couple of days and collect Chromebooks and other resources to support learning at home. Many have already done this. If you are coming onto school grounds please be mindful of physical separation around others, and feel free to wait if teachers are busy with other parents.

While I need to seek further clarification, I understand the government has decided to bring school holidays forward. The suggestion is that with the children at home, on holiday, teachers have more time to prepare for better quality learning support online. At the Bay Academy we have been preparing for this eventuality and are ready to provide online support immediately. We will be maintaining contact with all students as appropriate and will be offering lots of learning resources and supports. We encourage parents, caregivers and whānau to become involved. 

If you have any questions or concerns or feed back, please email teachers or myself, principal@boi.ac.nz.

In the meantime Mā te ngākau aroha koe e ārahi, Let a loving heart guide your decisions.

Ngā manaakitanga

Chris Bell, Tumuaki/Principal