22 June 2024

Kia ora, EBIS Whānau

This edition of Te Whakanui o Ākautangi has five main features. A Ki o Rahi Festival, a Speech Showcase, a Cooking Exhibition, Maths Madness and the celebration of Global Refugee Day.

This got us thinking. A lot of the recent talk about education in the media has been about an hour a day of reading, writing and maths. A lot of talk has been about the declining standards of education, and a lot of talk has been about getting back to the basics and this could mean scaling back from all else we do.

This however misses the point in our opinion. These events that are taking place are not at the expense of learning, they are enriching learning. They are not taking time away from teaching, they are celebrations of what has been taught. They are not leading to more time away from school, they are engaging our students in school. This is what we focus on at Evans Bay Intermediate as we know that around the corner is high school, and whether it is external or internal, students feel additional pressure through their high school years. Intermediate offers a time to try and experience many new opportunities, and these opportunities may be the first flicker of a flame as they embark on a journey to achieve the greatness that we know exists in all of our students.

So please next time you hear or read another negative report about education reflect on what happens at Evans Bay Intermediate School, we know learning is important and we don’t hide from this, we just make sure we have a healthy amount of perspective about what we are working on and how we can celebrate the learning that has taken place.

Ngā mihi nui

EBIS Staff

WRISSA Speech Showcase

On Wednesday a group of five Evans Bay Intermediate School students participated in the initial Wellington Regional Intermediate School Speech Showcase held at Wainuiomata Intermediate School.

The theme of the showcase was identity and there was a wonderful range of speeches, spoken word and poetry shared. It was amazing just how wide the interpretation of identity was.

We were super proud of our students and their contribution. Speaking in front of an audience is daunting, presenting on such a personal topic, that they wrote themselves was hugely powerful.

Well done to you all

Maths Madness

What a great night of mathematics at the 2nd Annual EBIS Maths Madness.

This year it has grown so we had to move it into the hall, as we were joined by Kilbirnie School, Lyall Bay School, Worser Bay School, Seatoun School, Roseneath School, Miramar Christian School, Miramar Central School, Hataitai School and Maranatha Christian School. It’s so cool to be able to connect with our community, and some future EBIS students.

There was some epic problem solving with all teams doing well. We were hugely proud of all EBIS participants.

Final results

Year 5 & 6 Division

1st: Seatoun School (team 4) with 97 points

2nd: Worser Bay School Wonders 91 points

3rd: Miramar Central School 90 points

4th: Lyall Bay School Quins  88 points

5th:  Roseneath School (team 2)/ Seatoun School (team 1)  79 points.

Year 7 & 8 Division

1st: Roseneath School (team 1).     75 points

2nd:  EBIS Tonga  72 points

3rd:  Seatoun School (team 2).   63 points

4th: EBIS Ngā Hau E Whā.  60 points

5th: Seatoun School (team 4).  55 points

Thank you to all the participants and all of the family members who came and supported the kids.