Tawhai School

Friday 7th October was a sad day indeed! It was the day that Tawhai School had to say farewell to their retiring Principal, Ron Wainwright. At 11.15am, the students proudly assembled in the playground, in their “posh” clothes to celebrate the end of Mr Wainwright’s working life, twenty four of those years as principal at Tawhai School. Mr Wainwright sat on his throne with his daughter Becky next to him to watch some very entertaining and well rehearsed items.
The Junior Syndicate went on a “Principal Hunt!” While the Middle Syndicate sang a song about a subject very dear to Mr Wainwright’s heart, his love of pies!
Jasmine C gave Mr Wainwright his final report, and the Senior Syndicate enacted a play called “Big Game Animals.” The Artsplash choir sang Individuality, Kiwi Kids &; Ma te Mahi ka Ora. Wendy Bartlett, Chairperson of the P.T.S.G & Kim Clough both spoke warmly of Mr Wainwright’s support over the years, both for the P.T.S.G, and students and their families.Mr Wainwright was presented with some wonderful gifts, namely, a framed cartoon, an Oscar for being the “Most Entertaining Principal”, a book of memories from the Senior Syndicate and several bouquets of flowers. Mr Wainwright, in turn, presented the School with some gifts for the library

Copy and paste the web address onto your web browser to view various movie clips taken during this special assembly…….

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos

A more formal celebration with the theme,” Welcome to Ron’s World” took place later on the day.  M.C & hardworking organiser,Lynley Poole took all those present at the function through a small journey of Ron’s life, with the help of a Power Point and some memories shared by Keynote speakers. Paul Barker, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, presented Ron with a gift of luggage for his exciting upcoming trip to China. A splendid well thought out meal was enjoyed by all, thanks to all the stirling efforts of Yvonne Olivecrona, and Patsy Roberts, with help from Sharon Gilmour on the day.

About 200 students attended the Camp Fundraising Disco on Friday 16th September. What a wonderful turn out!  We were treated to some pretty niffty dancing by both the Junior and Senior Students. DJ Daryl Gatward played music very much to everyone’s taste and even managed  a couple of heavy metal  tunes for those of us who still like to headbang, thanks to Daryl for giving up his  time to be our DJ at these events. Thanks to all those who helped on the night:  Wendy, Nancy, Chrissie, Julie, Sam, Ryan, Nikita, Lydia and we even had some ex Tawhai Students on hand to lend a hand, Tian, Tesh and Alia. Not forgetting the teachers who joined in for a boogie with their students. Also a big thank you to Howard Anderson and Vicki Foss who have provided us with sounds and lighting for many a disco. At time of reporting, we don’t know the exact figure, but the disco will have probably raised about 900 dollars. A great effort!

click on the link below to view the photos taken ………………..

Tawhai School Disco 16th September

      There are at present, 2 Mobile Examination Vehicles travelling to Schools across the Greater Wellington Region, so many children and adolescents will be able to have their teeth looked at without having to travel. By about July 2011, there will be a total of 11 vans.

This week, Tawhai School is the first primary school in Lower Hutt to receive a visit from one of these vehicles. AnneMarie Tagg and Debbie Foley will be here Monday-Thursday this week and Monday-Thursday at the beginning of the next term to examine a good portion of the students at Tawhai School. If a student needs follow-up treatment, it will be done at Koraunui Dental Hub. There is a free phone number to call if a parent has any queries or their child needs to be seen urgently. 0800 825 583

Today the staff came together at morning tea to celebrate the birthday of Graham Smith. A “young” 84 years of age, Graham has over the years been of immense help to the staff at Tawhai School. His grandaugter Kristle was a former student here, but when she moved onto Intermediate over a year ago, Graham  still continues to  make the trek to school several times a week.  Apart from his road patrol duties, Graham does parent tutor reading,  and also spends a good proportion of his time filing readers back in the bookroom for the teachers. He also organises cricket tournaments between Tawhai and Koraunui. He is also planning a swimathon later on the year to assist those children who are raising funds to pay their camp fees.  Graham’s efforts are greatly appreciated by all at Tawhai and we wish him a very happy birthday!

Junior Neighbourhood Support is a programme that aims to promote a sense of pride, safety and community spirit in children and the wider school community, The programme awards and recognises primary and Intermediate students who have assisted others or have done something that demonstrates community spirit and pride, or supports community safety.The Programme which has sponsers such as Rotary and Service club, works in partnership with Police, the Fire Service, Civil Defence and Emergency management.  On Friday 1st July, two students were given these awards.

Blair, year 5 from Room 15, received his award for being able to assist his Grandmother when she  became  unwell.

Riley, Year 6, Room 14, received his award for his great support and mentoring of a child in one of the junior classes, with minimal guidance from teaching staff. Both the boys received a basket of goodies, a certificate and a voucher.  Well done, Blair and Riley!

On Friday 24th June, a good number of children who decided to walk to School, were rewarded with a lovely warm, milky milo with a couple of marshmallows on top, kindly provided by Sherie Wright, School Travel Planner with the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Priyanka Bhonsule from the Hutt News was on hand to photograph some of the children and Jenni Adams(The Liaison Officer for the walking school bus promotion) drinking their milos.

On 15th June, Tawhai School had a visit from Jane, who works in Animal Services at the Hutt City Council, and her dog, Lucy who is a beautiful Golden Retriever. The purpose of their visit was to teach the children how to be safe around dogs, learn to read their body language and what can the children do if they are approached by a strange dog. Lucy is a Pet Therapy Dog who  visits sick people in hospital. It is very beneficial to these people who may be missing their own pets and petting Lucy will give them enormous satisfaction and well being. The children watchecd a DVD as well to help them understand the importance of keeping safe with Dogs and afterwards, some of the children had a chance to pat Lucy.

10 Rules To Keeping Safe With Dogs

1. Never go up to a dog you do not know. If the owner is there, ask permission to pat the dog.
2. Do not stare at the dog. It may see this as a threat.
3. Do not tease dogs. It may make them angry.
4. Do not go near a dog when it is eating. It may think you’re trying to take it’s food away.
5. When going onto a strange property, do not go in if the dog is growling or barking. Dogs naturally want to protect their property.
6. When stroking a dog, rub it’s chest and do not place your hand on the back of it’s neck, because the dog may see this as a threat.
7. Mother dogs with puppies are very protective, so do not touch the puppies unless the owner is there.
8. Do not disturb a sleeping dog by touching it. Wake it up from a distance by making a noise.
9. If a strange dog approaches you, act like a tree- stand still. If a strange dog approaches you and you are lying down, or the dog knocks you down, act like a turtle-lie still. The dog will not see you as a threat, and it should go away after it smells you.
10. If you have any problems tell your teacher or parent, to report the problem to the Council’s Control Officers.

Click on the link below to view some photos taken when the  Junior Syndicate had their talk………….

https://picasaweb.google.com/113327258423854236133/BeingSafeAroundDogs#

Recently Tawhai School had a visit from Harold and the Life Education Trust. In their April newsletter,  it was lovely to see that Tawhai School got a big mention.There were photos of  Ms. Randell and Room 11(now Room 9) in the publication, and some feedback by the children after visiting Harold. There is also a mention of the Red and Black Day in the back page as Jo and Charlotte were at the School on this particular day and were impressed by the great effort made by the children in support of the Christchurch Earthquake appeal and their wonderful coin trail.

Click on the link below to view the newsletter……..

Life Education News April 2011

Our Students experienced a day of exciting interactions when they visited the Orongami Marae on Thursday 12th May. For many of the students it was their first ever visit to a marae so the welcome from the elders was the beginning of a wonderful day of singing, listening to stories, participating in action games and laughing with the elders about things they would enjoy experiencing.
Our students were fortunate that a team of french journalists happened to be visiting the Marae at the same time. The children thoroughly enjoyed performing their stick games for them and having their photographs taken as they sang. Maybe we will appear in a french magazine in a month or two?
The children were invited to hongi (press noses) as a form of greeting and then they headed off to enjoy morning tea.
After that we all sat and listened to stories about the carvings in the whare and what each one represented. The children were very interested in the many snippets of knowledge about the panels, posts and rafters that made up the whare and some drew beautiful patterns to remind them of what they had seen.
After lunch and some recreation on Maidstone Park, our day came to a tiring but happy end and we headed back to school on the bus.
So much was learnt today. What a great adventure for us all!

Thanks to Heather MacDonald, Rachel Tallon and Lydia Stewart for providing photos.