11 December 2020

Kia ora whānau,

Second last bulletin for the year. In seven days we will say goodbye to half of our whanau when they leave us to go on their next journey. Being part of an intermediate school is a unique experience. You do not have much time to form relationships. But one thing is certain: it is a place where long standing relationships are formed. How many of us still have friends we met when we were at intermediate school?

Next week will all be about sending the Year 8’s off on their new journey. We start off with some glitz and glamour on Tuesday evening at the Leavers Dinner. Then we celebrate the success of 2020 at the Prizegiving on Thursday evening. Our final goodbye will be on Friday at the final assembly.

But we first need to look back at this week. This is the time when schools are thinking of all kinds of things to keep kids busy. We did the same. But for us it was not just about being busy; we still want authentic learning to continue while students have fun. The Give Back to Community Day and the Market Day last week are perfect examples. To compliment that we had two amazing fun filled days of Passion Projects. This was STEAM teaching on steroids. STEAM teaching has been one of the buzz words in Education for the last few years. And it is STEAM learning that will determine if schools are keeping up with the 21 Century expectations. Basically STEAM applies meaningful maths, science, and technology content to solve real-world problems through hands-on learning activities and creative design. See the article and photos of the different activities that happened during the two days.

Reports and ETap App

This morning our End of Year reports go live. My major concern is still that the Parent Portal is not a user-friendly tool. The good news is that with the sending out of the reports we are also officially launching the new ETAP app. In the future this app will be your one-stop shop for all communication with the school. Communication with the community is always a dilemma. What will be too much communication for one family will be not enough for another family. In the future we want to send fewer emails and create a culture of parents and students looking at the ETAP app as a first point of call.

Congratulations to all parents on your child's report. A few months ago we thought there would not be much teaching and learning going on this year. Well, we proved that despite a difficult year we have bounced back and made learning a priority. Please contact your child’s teacher if there are any questions.

Fundraising and toilets

Usually, these two words don’t go together. However, our success with the fundraising means that many people ask: “And why do you not do anything about the toilets?” So, here is a short summary of where we are at. The toilets are part of a 5YA ministry project. The ministry has allocated money for upgrading of facilities. In our case, this week we have looked at the last architect drawings of the building renovations that should start (if all goes well) in April 2021. We were hoping the money allocated to us will be enough to renovate the whole building. However, it will only include the rebuilding of the toilets in the I and S blocks. The toilets in the other blocks might have to wait for another 5 - 10 years. Therefore the BoT has started to look at what we can do to make them more child friendly. During the year I have met with students to look at their wishlist for the toilets. We will now follow up on this.

The fundraising for 2020 was for the Driveway Project. It was to make the entrance of the school look more appealing but also safer for the students. The original plan involved a large sum of money. As with many other things COVID happened and it has made a huge difference at how we look at things. Therefore I have decided that we will put the Driveway Project on hold for now. We first need the voice of the community on what we spend the money on. More information about this at the start of the new year.

Year 8 Uniforms

For the last few years we have had a project where we ask Year 8 students to come to school in mufti on the last day. In return we ask them to donate their school uniform to the school. This will then be sold at reasonable prices to the families of the new Year 7 students.

We will appreciate it if all Year 8 students can bring their washed uniforms to school next Friday.

Coffee with Year 8 parents

I want to invite Year 8 parents to come and have coffee with the Senior Management on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am. We would like to hear your reflections of the two years at EBIS. Please let me know if you will be able to come for a chat and coffee - wswanepoel@ebis.school.nz . It will only be an informal chat. We would still like to hear from you even if you cannot attend. Please just email me with your experience. This can include positive things but also things you would like us to focus on. We really appreciate any comments.

Important things for the last weeks

Monday - Team Day Celebration - On Monday we will have a fun filled morning of activities/games that encourage healthy competition between the teams. Students are asked to wear team colours (no paint please), hats, sunscreen and to bring water bottles.

Tuesday - Leavers Dinner - 6:00 pm

Thursday - Prizegiving - 6:00 pm

Friday - Final assembly (Year 8 parents are invited to attend - please email your classroom teacher)

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

ESOL mini golf

On Wednesday, our ESOL class went to play minigolf at Carlucci Land with our teachers. We had not ever played minigolf before and it was lots of fun. The aim was to get the ball in the hole with the least hits. JR won the competition, and I came second. Afterwards we ate morning tea and then we went back to school for the last block of study. We had a great time.

By Cristian Poveda

Passion Projects

On Wednesday and Thursday students had a fantastic opportunity to take part in a variety of activities offered by the teachers. They could choose between physical activities like boxing and la crosse and lots of arts and crafts ranging from beadwork, pop pom making, origami, cookies and calligraphy, to name but a few! There were also fun challenges like constructing the tallest tower, building tinfoil bridges and doing egg drops. Everyone had a lovely time and it was a great way to spend these final days of the year.

What the students had to say:

Chloe Hammond: I did calligraphy cards because we got to practise our writing which I really enjoyed.

Ella Douglas: Making festival cookies was my favourite because I did not do Foods Spec and I got to make up for that.

Pippa Smith: My favourite passion project was the Egg Drop because everyone was having a great time and it involved maths.

7 December 2020

We apologise for not sending out the Bulletin on Friday. There are a few important things that are part of this bulletin and we had to wait for some of the information.

Principal retirement

It is with sadness that we have to announce that our principal, Louise Bray-Burns, has decided to retire. She will surely be missed by staff and the community.

Here is Louise’s message to the EBIS community:

Kia ora koutou

After a long career in education I have made the decision to retire. In Term 2 I enjoyed my time on sabbatical, and during that period my daughter gave birth to my first grandchild. I made the decision to take a second term off to spend with them and help her, which has given me a great deal of joy.

During this time I have also had space to think about my life and my options going forward. I considered coming back to a full time career or slowing down a little and having time to enjoy the things that I have not had the space to do. Talking it over with my family was hugely helpful and as a result I made the decision to stop work and retire.

I have thoroughly loved my time at EBIS. The five and a half years have gone by very fast. I have been fortunate to work with a staff who are dedicated, hard working and also loads of fun. I have also had so many opportunities to interact with a huge range of amazing students.

I have been able to affect changes in the school with the support of the Board and staff that have brought the school and the education we provide into the 21st century as well as ensuring the school is well maintained and the grounds developed for the benefit of the community. I have been blessed with an amazing, supportive and dedicated deputy in Wikus Swanepoel, who has been my replacement while I have been on leave. He is both competent and a fast learner, willing to to go the extra mile for the school and the children.

As I write this I feel very sad to be going, but know that this is the right decision for both the school and I. The Board is putting actions in place to find my replacement and under their competent leadership and our strong staff they will find and employ the right person.

Thank you to all of you who have shown me your support in the time I have known you, most especially the Boards that I have been lucky enough to work alongside. Thank you also to those who have supported the staff, in whatever capacity they work, as they need your backing. It is critical we all work together, helping each other for our children's sake, to navigate the turbulent waters as they move through adolescence.

Nga mihi nui

Louise Bray-Burns

Principal

Message from the Board of Trustees

The Board would like to offer their congratulations to Lou for her retirement. We wish her well for her new journey and thank her for her services to the EBIS community.

Message from Wikus and the staff

Although this is sad as we know how much Lou has done for EBIS, we wish her all the best. We know lots of exciting things will be part of this new journey for her.

To the EBIS community we want to say that for us it is BUSINESS AS USUAL. We are already full of plans for 2021. So all we can say at the moment is: WATCH THIS SPACE.

Other staff news

We are happy to announce that Elize Maritz will be taking over the role of SENCo next year, and that Mary Sagato will be taking on the role of teacher release next year. This means that both of these teachers will be leaving their classroom teaching positions to support other areas in the school. Furthermore, Chris Cole will be returning to the South Island with his family.

Due to these changes, we would like to welcome three new teachers to EBIS next year: Jacob Poole, Emma Thomson and Shannon Dunn. They all bring unique skills with them to our school and we feel fortunate to have them joining us next year.

Give Back to the Community

Our students have shown again why we can be so proud of them. We have received lots of positive feedback.

What makes this day so remarkable is the fact that:

• 40% of the school were involved in giving back to the community. That means almost 200 students were out in the community busy with their own projects.

• 42 groups of students were working on this project.

We thank every parent involved in this project. We know that behind every successful group is a tired parent who has helped to make this an authentic learning experience for the students.

The learning that happened during this project is more important than anything else. However, we also acknowledge the ambassadorial role students play when they're out in the community.

School group photos

Please see the article in the bulletin regarding the photos. Wednesday 9 December is the last day to order the photos.

Year 8 Leavers Dinner

The last day for payment is Friday 11 December.

FRIENDS of EBIS report back

We want to thank each family who sold chocolates or had to divide the samosas between the family members. It is your generosity, support and enthusiasm that made it possible for us to announce that the total raised so far is $33 120.04. That is amazing considering that due to COVID we had to cancel many of the bigger projects.

We have two small projects left in the last two weeks and the hope is that they will take us to the magic $35 000.

The money raised this year will be used for the driveway project. The driveway needs attention from a functional and an aesthetic point. It is currently not safe for students and as the entry point to the school it is important that it reflects and shows what we as a school stand for. The hope is that we will finish this project in 2021.

On Tuesday 8 December we have our last Sausage Sizzle. In this bulletin you will also see an article about office furniture that we will sell on TRADE ME. The furniture was donated to us. Please share this information with anybody you know who might be interested in making an offer on any of the furniture.

Important things for the last two weeks

Friday 11 December - End of Year Reports go live. More information to follow

Friday 11 December - Mufti Day

Tuesday 15 December (6:00 - 9:00) - Leavers Dinner

Thursday 17 December (6:00 - 9:00) - Prizegiving

Friday 18 December (1:00) school closes for summer break

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

EBIS Fundraising - Furniture Sale

The FRIENDS of EBIS has two more projects before the end of the year. The hope is that with the sausage sizzle in Week 9 and the furniture sale on TRADE ME we might get to the magic $35 000.

Have a look at the furniture we will put on TRADE ME on Wednesday 9 December. There might be something you like. If so, please email Wikus at wswanepoel@ebis.school.nz to make an offer on an item.

27 November 2020

Kia ora whanau,

There are fewer and fewer days before the end of the year. It feels as though it was only a couple of weeks ago that we were handing out chromebooks before lockdown.

As I am writing this, we have the Brain Busters Roadshow Tour entertaining our Year 7 students in the hall. What an amazing place to be! It really is a great opportunity to come to school in the morning, and see the smiles on the students’ faces. As many teachers will tell you, those are the things that make us go the extra mile for our akonga. And we do have a few exciting surprises planned for them for the next three weeks.

Photos

In this bulletin there is a letter from the photographers about the school photos that were taken yesterday. We only have a short time to order photos so that it could be delivered before the school closes on 18 December.

Give Back to the Community Day

This is a reminder that this event is happening on Thursday 3 December. It is great to see how enthusiastically the students are participating and getting ready for it. I ask your support with the following:

• Make sure that you know where your child is on Thursday and which adult will be with them.

• Help your child - we want them to feel proud of their projects.

• Know the contact details of the adult who is in charge of the group your child is in.

Problems in education

It is important that everybody in our whanau is aware of the current challenges we face in education. This week I came across a podcast providing information about challenges all schools in NZ are currently facing. Please have a listen when you have time. Principals struggle with meeting needs, despite teacher aides pay deal

Post-COVID anxiety

We were fortunate to have Zosia Pardela from Parenthelp at our last Korero/Whanau meeting. We have a video of the presentation for those who were not able to make it: Post-COVID anxiety

Teacher Only Day

Just a reminder that there is a Teacher Only Day on Friday 4 December. School will be closed for instruction that day, so please make other arrangements for your children that day.

Enjoy your weekend!

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

20 November 2020

Kia ora whānau,

I want to start reporting back on the Korero/ Whanau evening and the disco last night. Although we only had a small number of parents who have attended the presentation on Post-Covid anxiety we feel we have made a start to get the community involved in the process of how we are going to address the negative post-covid behaviours and habits. One of major focuses for 2021 is the well-being of staff and students. As a school we cannot ignore that the world is changing at the speed of light at the moment and that has an affect on our akonga. Teaching and learning has to change and address the real needs of the learners. We are fortunate that we are in the process of making connections with various organisations and experts who can accompany us on this journey.

The disco was a huge success with teachers reporting how they loved seeing the students dancing and socialising in groups. That is just another indication that there is still a place for innocent fun at this age. Perhaps a good time to explain the letter that was sent to parents on Thursday evening regarding the potential danger of having intoxicated students at the disco. We have the option to keep these facts secret and pretend to the outside world that they do not exist. I do not feel comfortable with such a viewpoint. I believe in transparency as for me that forms the basis of trust. We are working with your most precious item and therefore we need your trust that we would protect your child as much as we can do.

This week I have received an email from Netsafe regarding a report on the latest digital parenting research. Three aspects stood out:

• Many parents did not grow up with the internet so it can be hard to imagine how their children may use it. These findings suggest parents are in tune with their children’s online lives despite barriers such as different technological knowledge.

• Kids in New Zealand are largely following the trends we see overseas in terms of their confidence in digital skills and preferred online activities.

• The results reinforce that parents are trusted sources of support and that the pre-teen age bracket is an important intervention period to teach children online safety skills.

Netsafe has assembled in one easy to use Online Safety Parent Toolkit all the things parents consistently say they want to know about. Please have a look as it covers a variety of topics from online bullying to grooming to social media to sexting and screen time.

Important dates

Thursday 26/11 Sport and other activities photos (please make sure your child is ready. We will

share more information before the event.

Tuesday 1/12 Market Day (3:00 - 5:00)

Thursday 3/12 Give Back to the Community Day

Friday 4/12 Teacher Only Day

Student Success

Congratulations to the following students:

Surf Swimming Competition Khendall Maxwell came 3rd place

Ballet Lydia Fagan passed her Grade 5 ballet exam

Athletics - WRISSA tournament Aston Burwell-Garratt - 1st High Jump, 2nd discuss

2nd Vortex

Itzia Sinclair - 2nd High jump

Cate Garlick - 2nd Long jump, Relay team

Maggie Ulberg - 2nd Vortex

Joseph Barry - 2nd 800 meters

A peaceful weekend to you all!

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

Athletics

On Monday 16 November, 44 EBIS students Participated in a variety of sports at the WRISSA Athletics Tournament. One of our students set a new WRISSA year 8 boys high jump record, with Aston Burwell-Garratt jumping 150 cm. Even though we were all extremely tired, we still sang songs on the bus ride home. It was a great day and we are all very excited for the regional tournament.

By Leo and Amelia

13 November 2020

Kia ora whānau,

Or maybe I should say: “Namaste” - in recognition of this week’s Diwali celebrations. We received some funding from the Asia Foundation for Diwali, and thanks to Ms Trye and Room 10 the hall was turned into a little Bollywood studio. I am sure this was one of those times when your child could not stop talking about all the fun they had.

It is with great pride that I write in the bulletin. I have just returned from the Wellington International Students Excellence Awards Ceremony. We “stood tall” amongst all the schools in Wellington who have international students. The ceremony in the Michael Fowler Centre was opened by our Kapa Haka group and later in the evening Lingxi Zhang, one of our students, received academic excellence. Six weeks before lockdown she arrived at EBIS with almost no English. She then used the lockdown period to improve her English from beginner to intermediate level.

On Wednesday during the assembly we celebrated the success of two of our teams in the Epro8 Challenge competition (an engineering and problem solving race). We are looking forward to hearing how they do in the next round which takes place next week.

I was also very proud this week:

• walking around the playground during lunchtime listening to the chatter of happy students;

• seeing students prepare for the athletic competition thanks to the initiative of Campbell, our sports coordinator;

• to support Alan, our caretaker, to work outside with a group of boys who find learning challenging;

• of our students’ enthusiasm when asked to help;

• and working with a group of parents to organise the Leavers Dinner.

But life is not always easy sailing and I am very sad to announce that we will shortly be losing a key member of the team. I am sure everybody who has crossed paths with Melissa Watt, our Assistant Principal, will agree with me she is a remarkable person. Melissa has decided to accept a position closer to her home so she can be there for her own little ones when they need her. Although we understand, it does not make it easier, and Melissa will surely be missed by all. The only light point is that she has set the standard for the SENCo position and we all know now what can be done. We wish Melissa and her family all the best.

Korero Whānau evening

I really want to emphasise the importance of this evening. On Thursday 19 November you can drop the students off at the disco from 6:00 - 8:00. And although a quiet dinner by candlelight might look like an attractive option, I want to invite you to join us for some meaningful discussions.

From 6:00 - 7:00 we will have a hui in the staffroom focusing on the role of Te Reo in our school curriculum and culture.

We have invited a psychologist from Parent Help to come and talk to us about post-COVID anxiety. This will be in the library meeting room between 7:00 and 8:00. Part of this will also be a Q&A with me about any information you want about your child and EBIS. This will be your opportunity to come and talk to us about things that might still concern you.

Please email to register for the event - wswanepoel@ebis.school.nz

Give Back to the Community Day

On Thursday 3rd of December we will have the second EBIS Give Back to the Community Day. Part of the puberty phase our akonga are going through is the focus on themselves. For one day we want them to forget the social media, peer pressure and other “issues” and just think about how they can be of help in society. Paul Chalk is in charge of the project. Taking part in this project is a privilege and teachers will have to sign off the group projects before they will be given the green light. From the school’s side there will be lots of learning and assistance. However, we need parents involved to ensure the safety of the students. Please start talking to your child about this project.

Parent help needed

We need the help of parents with the following:

Book covering in the library

On 20 November in the library we will have a working bee and aim to cover as many of the books covered for the new year. Please email Mary Sagato - msagato@ebis.school.nz if you are able to help. She will be able to provide more information.

Year 8 Leavers Dinner

Here we need a few groups of people

Group 1

People who can help with food preparation during the day on Tuesday 15 December

Please email Marion at marionpicken@hotmail.com

Group 2

People who can help with the serving on 15 December from 5:00 - 10:00

Please email Marion at marionpicken@hotmail.com

Group 3

People who can help with decorating and preparing the hall on 15 December (during the

day)

Please email Lynley at jamlynt@outlook.com

Student Success

Congratulations to the following students:

Lewis Brown - 1st place 100m Freestyle Wellington Swim Clubs. 4th place 50m Freestyle

Important dates next week

Monday 16/11 - WRISSA ATHLETICS EVENT

Thursday 19/11 - Disco and Korero Whanau evening

I wish you all a relaxing weekend!

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

Diwali is an Indian festival, celebrating the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. On Thursday as a school, we celebrated Diwali. All the classes in the school rotated through different activities related to Indian Culture and Diwali. Room 10 was split into groups where we went around the classes leading the different activities. Before the activities started, we had an assembly, which included a Hindu dance, a Sari competition, and information about Diwali.

Later in the day, we started going around the classes doing different activities. I helped to lead the Mehndi. Mehndi is a paste that is applied to the skin. When it dries you are able to wash it off and it will leave a tattoo-like stain behind. My group and I went to five different classes and did Mehndi on all the females who wanted to get it done.

Another of the activities was dance. Classes were taught Dandiya (a stick dance), and a Sanedo dance.

There was also gift making, which was making origami roses, and Diya making. Diya is a little bowl made out of clay with a wic inside of it. Although, we just made paper lanterns.

The final activity was rangoli art, traditionally rangoli is a pattern made with a special powder, so we drew patterns on the concrete with chalk.

I enjoyed Diwali Day, as it was a fun experience and it was fun to have a whole day of celebrating another culture.

ERPo8 South and East Wellington Challenge Results 2020

Well done to the following students who entered the 2020 EPRo8 challenge:

Ben Young Luke Barrow Sam Collier

Seb Chow Orla Dalziel Violeta Duvnjak

Sammy Scott Toby Steiner Amina Farooq

Vivienne P Michael McCarthy Ben Trugly

Tom Collier Leo Stein Vinnie Coup

Toby GreenBank Edward Holben Pattana Krusang

Hunter Rolinson Otis Galloway

A huge congratulations to 3 of our teams that made it to the top 20 - BIEC, The Dream Team and the Diabolical Little Rats.

And a further congratulations to 2 of our teams who made it to the Semi-Finals - BIEC came in first place and The Dream Team came in second equal.

If you would like to view the amazing projects created by B.I.E.C and the Dream Team please follow the link below and enter the code. Videos can be found in the filing cabinet.

https://epro8challenge.co.nz/EPro8WorkshopPortal_v27/index.html

Code:KHZHTSM

Pasifika Festival

The Pasifika Festival was an event held a couple of weeks ago at Levin intermediate, the event went on throughout the day. The EBIS performance group did a wide variety of items, including Tongan, Samoan, Fijian and Maori. The day was full of energy and passion for the love of pasifika, we were provided kai for the day, the performances were amazing including the audience, who kept the respect as well as cheering for the performing group. The day ended on a particularly high thanks to the hosts Levin Intermediate themselves. The students were giddy with joy talking about the event, we are so glad as this is a good way to show the aroha we have towards all cultures.

6 November 2020

Kia ora to all our whanau,

There are times that you can feel the love of the community, and this week was such a time. I think we speak on behalf of all the staff when we say: It is great to be part of the EBIS whanau.

You would have noticed during the last few weeks that we made an extra effort to make our students aware of the EBIS expectations. This might feel to some that we have moved away from the PB4L and restorative practice. The answer is no we have not, as our current behavior management plan includes consequences for behaviour. This time of the year is a perfect time to reflect on what is happening, and we can already see how the plan is working. Apart from less incidents, the last few days we have also received positive feedback from members from the public about the behaviour of our students on public busses. Yesterday the Year 8 students were given their leavers hoodies and it is so great to see them proudly wearing them. Walking on the playground is a pleasant experience with friendly smiles and students socialising in a positive way.

The other amazing experience was the EBIS PUB QUIZ we had on Tuesday at Parrotdog. At this stage we do not know how much we have raised, but the money is not all that counts. The laughter and banter is what makes communities great. And the message to all should be: EBIS IS A GREAT COMMUNITY.

This leads to a few thank yous:

First of all we have to thank every parent who is on our side with the fight against social media. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Thank you to every EBIS staff member (and that includes everyone) who is helping us with all our actions and plans to ensure the safety of every EBIS student.

Thank you to Ailsa Chrisholm. Ailsa is the director of RETIREMENT TAYLORMADE. That means one thing: She is the one you need to speak to if you have a Kiwisaver. But she is also an EBIS mum who so far has done an amazing job with the Samosa Project and the Pub Quiz.

Thank you to Ruka Rarere from Parrotdog who has gone out of his way to help us with the Pub Quiz.

Korero Whanau meeting

Please make a note of this evening: Thursday 19 November 2020

We have arranged a disco for the students from 6:00 - 8:00pm.

For the parents we have two hui:

The first one (6:00 - 7:00) is for anybody who wants to be part of a reflection on Te Reo as part of the EBIS culture. Please join us for a brainstorming session.

At 7:00 we have two psychologists from PARENT HELP who will do a presentation on post-COVID anxiety. All schools have relayed experiences of students with high anxiety levels, which can lead to behaviour issues. We will need you to register for this hui as we need to know the numbers. Please send an email to wswanepoel@ebis.school.nz to let us know you can attend.

Student Success

Congratulations to the following students:

Toby Steiner, Orla Dalziel, Samuel Scott and Vee who went through to the semi finals in the EPRO-8 competition.

Vinnie Carver who has been selected as Represented U14 National Mountain Biking Comp.

Eva Collins who was in a Cosplay contest at a gaming convention at Wellington College.

Important date

Sport and other photos

This is the first year that we are doing these photos. Unfortunately, the photographer was not able to do as originally scheduled. We now have a new date: Thursday 26 November 2020. We will share with all the list of teams that will be photographed.

We wish you all a great summer weekend.

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

Educating Students On Social Media

During the last few weeks we have seen a rise in incidents involving Social Media platforms (Tik Tok, Instagram and Snapchat). The students involved sit at different levels, whether instigating the behaviour, sharing the behaviour with others or simply observing it online.

We as a school, have identified the need to now educate our students on how to appropriately use social media based on their rights and responsibilities within the accounts they own. We would also like to make sure that the families receive the right support as well. Finding the necessary information on the home sites of these platforms is not easy, so please feel free to look through the attached Google Slide and follow the links provided. This is designed to educate and highlight the positives and negatives behind social media.

30 October 2020

This week I want to start by saying “thank you” to all the Year 8 parents who have supported me with the letter I have written regarding behaviour of Year 8 students. The overall message I got is that the community is behind us in our action of ensuring EBIS is a safe learning environment for each student.

We all know it is not an easy battle, but we will not give up. In the interest of every EBIS student we will keep on finding creative ways to keep students engaged in their learning.

At the moment we find the biggest issues at school are:

Technology - phones, videos etc being constantly misused.

Swearing - lots of swearing in the playground.

Regarding phones, we are investigating what other schools are doing. Our current policy is that students can bring their phones to school, but they can only use it when the teacher gives them permission. Inappropriate use of the phone will mean that we will take the phone and contact parents to come and collect it. However, this might change in 2021 once we have done our investigation.

Important to know for this week

Tuesday 3/11

• ICAS tests

• New Wave Performance - small group from Akauwaiata

• Friends of EBIS - Pub Quiz

Wednesday 4/11

• Photos (of all cultural and sport groups) - more information to follow on Monday

• Rugby Touch Tournament

Thursday 5/11

• ICAS tests

Important events

Please have a look at the following events

Korero Whanau - This evening will be hosted at the school on Thursday 19th November 6-8pm. We have an expert from Parent Help that will share valuable advice regarding teenagers and COVID. Please email Wikus Swanepoel wswanepoel@ebis.school.nz if you would like to attend.

Online Safety Info Evening - Tuesday 27th October 2020 - 7pm - 8.30pm - with Rob & Zareen Cope - parents & filmmakers – hosted by St Johns in the City Church Willis and Dixon streets (170 Willis St)

Tickets $8, available from Eventfinda

An interactive information evening designed to help adults gain a better understanding of some of the harms children face in the online world. The evening will use clips from the documentary Our Kids Online: Porn, Predators & How to Keep Them Safe and other resources to enable adults to confidently approach these topics with children and gain practical solutions on how to make their online experiences safer.

This is for Kiwi parents/caregivers to learn more about the very real risks pornography presents to young people, and important ways these risks can be reduced.

WHY WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING - The stats in NZ …

67% of teens have seen porn

66% have not talked to a parent/caregiver about porn

71% say access should be restricted for children and teens

40% are engaging with strangers online

Nathan Wallis - Change your brain, change your life!

Nathan Wallis, New Zealand's favourite neuroscience educator (and host of the documentary “All in the Mind”, and co-host of the TV Series “The Secret Life of Girls”) is coming back to Wellington for another of his sell-out talks “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life”. Included in this talk is the topic of anxiety in children and how to mitigate the effects of stressful events such as COVID in their lives. He will be presenting at Island Bay School on Monday 16 November 2020 - 7.30-9.00pm.

EBIS Fundraising Pub Quiz Have you booked your table?

On Tuesday 3 November, we are hosting what we hope to be the start of an annual tradition, our first EBIS Pub Quiz. We promise an evening full of fun and lots of prizes. We have 20 tables, and each table (team) will have 6 people. You can buy a table for $180. People can also buy individual tickets ($30) and we will put them in a team.

The event will start at 6:30 at Parrot Dog. Please see if you can get a group of friends of colleagues together and book a table. All payments to be done either via KINDO or cash at the office.

STUDENT SUCCESS

Congratulations to the following students:

Over the Labour Weekend Aston Burwell-Garratt (Rm 1) and Hunter Taylor (Rm 11) participated in the Hawkes Bay Labour Weekend Cricket Camp in the Y7/8b grade as part of an Eastern Suburbs Junior Cricket Club Y7/8 development team.

The team ended up top of its grade having won all three of its games played in hot testing temperatures. Individually both students set some very impressive personal batting records.

Aston - Batting: 52*, HS 194 & 36, Wickets:3 Catches: 5

Hunter - Batting: 12*, HS 63 & 5.

* = not out

HS= High Score

Micah Taouma (Rm 14) played in a baseball competition over Labour weekend in Nelson. Scored a home run that brought 3 others runners home as well. Team would have placed 2nd if not for travel requirements.

Have a wonderful weekend

Ngā mihi

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

Writing Extension

By Ben | Rm 14

Writing extension happens fortnightly on Monday mornings the other week to maths extension. Last term it focussed mainly on building up previous writing skills, like scene description, character building and dialogue. So far this term we have looked at a shakespearean sonnet. We looked at the rhyming lines and how he used iambic pentameter in all of his sonnets and in the entire Romeo and Juliet. We then had the chance to attempt some poetry of our own. Our theme was Monday mornings. Writing extension is run by Mr Chalk. We often start the lessons with a brainstorm in the group, to gather ideas towards the writing that we do. Although we don’t have to share our work with each other we often do. Writing a piece of poetry has been one of the hardest pieces of writing so far, especially with trying to include rhyming and ten syllable lines. I enjoy writing extension and I’m glad I got the opportunity to be in writing extension.

23 October 2020

Kia ora to all our whanau,

This week we have learnt that COVID will be with us for a long time. From an educational perspective we can comment, like all other schools, that COVID brought some serious challenges to schools in terms of behaviour management. Currently a major issue is the availability of counselling services in schools. This is mostly a problem for primary and intermediate schools as funding is very limited. At EBIS, we were fortunate that for the last few years we were able to manage our staffing in such a way that we could hire a counsellor for two days a week. Post COVID lockdown, extra funding from the ministry meant that we could add an extra day a week. Counsellors in schools is not a luxury any longer; it is a desperate need. We are not sure what the situation will be next year. What we do know is that we cannot afford to be without a counsellor and we are already thinking of creative ways we can make this work.

In last week’s bulletin we have mentioned the need for working together as a team. It is only when we as teachers, parents and students get together that we can move forward. That is why we want to promote the following three events. They are all important in terms of providing extra assistance for parents in these uncertain times. Please have a look and see if it is possible for you to attend.

Korero Whanau - This evening will be hosted at the school on Thursday 19th November 6-8pm. We have an expert from Parent Help that will share valuable advice regarding teenagers and COVID. Please email Wikus Swanepoel wswanepoel@ebis.school.nz if you would like to attend.

Online Safety Info Evening - Tuesday 27th October 2020 - 7pm - 8.30pm - with Rob & Zareen Cope - parents & filmmakers – hosted by St Johns in the City Church Willis and Dixon streets (170 Willis St)

Tickets $8, available from Eventfinda

An interactive information evening designed to help adults gain a better understanding of some of the harms children face in the online world. The evening will use clips from the documentary Our Kids Online: Porn, Predators & How to Keep Them Safe and other resources to enable adults to confidently approach these topics with children and gain practical solutions on how to make their online experiences safer.

This is for Kiwi parents/caregivers to learn more about the very real risks pornography presents to young people, and important ways these risks can be reduced.

WHY WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING - The stats in NZ …

67% of teens have seen porn

66% have not talked to a parent/caregiver about porn

71% say access should be restricted for children and teens

40% are engaging with strangers online

Nathan Wallis - Change your brain, change your life!

Nathan Wallis, New Zealand's favourite neuroscience educator (and host of the documentary “All in the Mind”, and co-host of the TV Series “The Secret Life of Girls”) is coming back to Wellington for another of his sell-out talks “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life”. Included in this talk is the topic of anxiety in children and how to mitigate the effects of stressful events such as COVID in their lives. He will be presenting at Island Bay School on Monday 16 November 2020 - 7.30-9.00pm.

EBIS Fundraising Pub Quiz Have you booked your table?

On Tuesday 3 November, we are hosting what we hope to be the start of an annual tradition, our first EBIS Pub Quiz. We promise an evening full of fun and lots of prizes. We have 20 tables, and each table (team) will have 6 people. You can buy a table for $180. People can also buy individual tickets ($30) and we will put them in a team.

The event will start at 6:30 at Parrot Dog. Please see if you can get a group of friends of colleagues together and book a table. All payments to be done either via KINDO or cash at the office.

STUDENT SUCCESS Congratulations to the following students:

Baseball Team

EBIS 5-1 WAINUIOMATA

EBIS 6-0 TAWA

We wish you a safe and enjoyable long weekend!

Ngā mihi

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

16 October 2020

Kia ora,

Welcome back to Evans Bay Intermediate for Term 4. Our hope is that you and your whānau will have a lovely term!

On Friday 16 October, New Zealand acknowledges Pink Shirt Day. For us, this is an important day because online bullying is a daily occurrence. We are only five days into the new term and we have had two serious incidents; both with consequences. However, we do find at times that we as teachers are fighting the battle on our own, which might just be our perception because we know you care about your child as much as we do. The issue is that we are still far away from working as a team together to fight this. From our side we promise that we will keep working on finding ways we as teachers, students and parents can work together to navigate our way through this minefield of challenges. As a start we would appreciate if you can read the following information:

Netsafe’s latest research uncovers important insights about New Zealand children’s experiences online and their skills in navigating these online experiences. Netsafe has released the first ever research into the online experiences and digital skills of New Zealand children aged nine to 17. Read the key findings here → NGĀ TAIOHI MATIHIKO O AOTEAROA – NEW ZEALAND KIDS ONLINE

Upsetting content online - Before young people start using technology, it’s crucial you talk to them about the type of things they might see online and develop strategies on how to deal with upsetting content. Your child may find things they never intended to look at so talking regularly about their online activities and encouraging them to come to you is one of the best conversations you can have. If your child has been exposed to upsetting content it can be hard to know how to help. Netsafe has developed the following advice to guide you through this difficult situation.

Uniform Policy - It has been wonderful to know that students have enjoyed expressing themselves over the school holidays, but please do keep in mind our uniform policy, which can be found in full on our website. The following items students are asked not to wear:

• Hoodies

• Makeup

• Nail polish

• Leggings, tights, or knee high socks

• Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings

• Extreme permanent hair colour i.e. red, yellow, blue, green, pink

At our discos and on mufti days, students have the opportunity to wear all the things that they love to wear.

Fundraising: SAVE THE DATE. Please save Tuesday 3 November 2020 (6:30 - 9:30). It is the official EBIS PUB QUIZ at Parrot Dog. We are hoping to get 20 tables ($180) with 6 people at a table to compete for wonderful prizes while having lots of fun. More information to follow soon. So we beg you: PLEASE GET 6 PEOPLE TOGETHER AND BUY A TABLE.

Walk or Wheel to School Week - 19 October to 23 October 2020 - WoW to School Week is a free, fun, week-long celebration for students similar to Movin'March! We had a fantastic turnout during Movin’ March and we hope to see even more students participate this time.

As a school, our participation in WoW to School Week supports the sustainability curriculum, builds community, and highlights the benefits of active transportation - like less congestion and healthy, energised students. There are also some fun prizes to be won for participating, and keeping track of how often you walk or wheel to school on your WoW Passport could also mean extra prizes.

Student success

Congratulations to the following students who received their Gold, Silver and Bronze badges:

GOLD

Michael McCarthy

SILVER

Toby Steiner

Brielle Morgan

Ben Trugly

BRONZE

Logan Domb

Poppy Bulman-Johnson

Malachy Blair

Meika Joyce

Mana Tiatoa-Moeahu

Aidan Relph

And a last note on Pink Shirt Day, we would like to take the opportunity to say to every parent that as a school we realise that online bullying is an issue faced by every school. We will always go the extra mile to help. What parents should not forget is that we are a restorative school and we do not operate in a punitive way. We appreciate any feedback and prefer open discussions with us. Whether you agree or disagree, please feel free to come and talk to us.

Ngā mihi

Wikus Swanepoel, Acting Principal

Melissa Watt, Acting Deputy Principal

EBIS Representing at NZ Secondary Schools Mountain Bike Champs

During the holidays, the NZ Schools Mountain Bike Champs were held in Wellington. As it was Alert Level 2, Auckland schools were unable to attend, NZ Cycling made the call to go ahead with the event, but to not award any national champion jerseys. There were 3 different types of races at the event. Downhill, Cross Country and Enduro. All the EBIS team competed in the Enduro.

The team consisted of :

U13 Girls - Annabel McKendry

U13 Boys - Alex Gray

U14 Girls - Cate Garlick

U14 Boys - Vinne Carver and Ben Young

Enduro is a bit like rally car racing. Racers start off in 30 second intervals and race the clock on mainly downhill timed stages. For the schools champs there were 3 timed stages using intermediate and advanced trails at the Wainuiomata Trail Park.

There were over 500 competitors in the Enduro across the various age grades. All the EBIS racers performed well, keeping it rubber side down on the challenging trails.

Congratulations to Annabel McKendry who grabbed a podium with 3rd place in the Under 13 girls.