Year 8 Rafting
Year 8 classes are starting rafting trips this week. We appreciate the risks that are attached with outdoor activities and we make every effort to minimise the risk. We have attached the risk management forms which you can view here. Thanks to all the parents who are helping drive and supervise the students. Please check back for photos from Room 9s trip today. Risk Management form
Sheik, Rattle 'n' Roll
Months of hard work has come to fruition with this years production ready to dazzle, enthral and entertain! Their are limited door sales left so you had better get in quick if you want to see the show. Doors open at 6.30pm with the show starting at 7pm sharp. The entire show should take 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Norm Hewitt SPCA Assembly
By JOHN LEWIS
A CHILD who regularly abuses family pets is more likely to grow up to be a violent offender. The SPCA’s annual List of Shame has 11,000 examples of New Zealanders torturing and abusing animals each year — many of them young people. But ex-All Black and Dancing with the Stars winner Norm Hewitt was in Dunedin yesterday visiting Balmacewen and Dunedin North Intermediate pupils with the aim of turning those statistics on their heads. ‘‘It’s the Norm: to treat your pets like one of the family,’’ was his message to pupils. The programme of video clips and personal stories emphasised the link between animal cruelty and human violence, and enforced the message that cruelty in any form was unacceptable. SPCA education development manager Shelley Ryan said 25,000 pupils across New Zealand had heard the campaign, which encouraged pupils to explore the emotions and needs of animals and the bond which existed between them and people. It was important for pets to have freedom from hunger, thirst, cruelty and harm, discomfort, pain, injury and disease. It was also important for pets to have freedom to express normal behaviour (exercise). The benefits of empathy education reached beyond the school and into the home, helping to address negative behaviour towards animals and humans, she said. To keep the mood light, Mr Hewitt did what he does best and shared a moment dancing and doing a haka with pupils at the end of the presentations. Courtesy of the ODT
World Vision
The students of Balmacewen Intermediate raised a massive $4000 for World Vision in this years famine. Alice for World Vision made a special visit to Balmacewen to personally present a silver World Vision award. Alice told the year seven students that children in a school in Tanzania benefitted greatly from simply being provided with some shoes. Children at this school were continually being bitten by bugs which would then get infected, for the cost of $140 New Zealand dollars that one person donated this problem was quickly solved. Well done to all who raised money for the famine!
Class Councillor Amy Wright receives the Silver World Vision Award
Demo Day!
12/11/08 Mr Hunters new office and the hall way to the new staff room.
Office Area
Demolition has started on our new administrator area! As part of our modernisation of the schools facilities the offices and staff room is having a major refit. It is expected that it will be completed by the start of the new school year The school office will now be temporarily housed in the library, we are sorry for any inconvenience. We will bring more photos to show our the job is going.
School Athletics
It was a very busy but exciting day at our school athletics. A full list of results and the announcement of the all important house winner will be announced shortly. Some stand out performances were from Sophie Russell and Chris McNoe in Year 7 and in Year 8, Mary Smith and Troy Gill. Well done to all who particated.
Room 11 Inspired into Civic Action
By MARY HOLMES
Room 11 organised a food drop on Thursday to help the fight Dunedin poverty. The year 7 class delivered 12 boxes of goods to the food bank, which was at its lowest level in
nine years. When the class read an Otago Daily Times article highlighting
problems at the food bank, they
organised a collection within
their school as part of a study of
community health. They advertised on YouTube to encourage donations from fellow pupils. Salvation Army manager of community ministries Susan McGregor said she was overwhelmed by the amount of thought and effort the pupils had put in.. CourtesyODT
Balmacewen Wins Intermediate Cross Country Third Year in a Row
The Otago Primary and Intermediate Schools Cross Country is held annually at the beginning of spring. The event is sponsored by Cadbury Moro and is in its 14th year. Students from a number of Otago schools competed for both team and individual honours.The event is organised by Sport Otago in conjunction with the Hill City Athletics Club and Balmacewen Intermediate School.
The course utilises Balmacewen Intermediate's grounds and adjacent Bishopscourt Separate races are held for Yr 5 Girls, Yr 6 Girls, Yr 5 Boys, Yr 6 Boys, Yr 7 Girls, Yr 7 Boys, Yr 8 Girls and Yr 8 Boys. 630 children from primary and intermediate schools throughout Otago took part in this year’s Primary and Intermediate Schools Cross Country at Balmacewen Intermediate School.
The weather was mild and calm for the young athletes but the track was a little heavy. The races were contested over 2km for the Year 5 & 6 students and 2.4km for those in Years 7 and 8. The Year 7 and 8 races were held over a two lap course covering 2.4km.
Sophie Russell of Balmacewen Intermediate won the Year 7 girls event by the huge margin of 41 seconds from Grace Carruthers of Clinton with third place going to Charlotte Cahill of Central Otago. Chris McNoe of Balmacewen convincingly won the Year 7 boys with Josh Browne of John McGlashan College coming in second and Port Chalmers’ Sean Bellamy in third place. In the Intermediate teams section, there was a close battle between Balmacewen and Tahuna with Balmacewen coming out just ahead and Taieri College were third. Courtesy Sport Otago Web Site
Year 7 students in Room 1 study the anatomy
Cross Country!
The houses each line up with their posters
Well done to everyone who competed in the recent cross country! A special congratulations goes to the place getters below. The 14 top runners will train for the next two weeks at lunchtimes with our own triathlete, Mr Sloan. They will then compete in the Otago Intermediate Schools Cross Country on Friday September 12. The winning house will be named shortly!
Riding on air at science fair - by ANDREA JONES
Cushion of air . . . Chief judge Kaye Wilson talks to Sam Kerr (12) at the Otago science fair. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON
FANCY riding on air? If you speak nicely to Balmacewen Intermediate School pupil Sam Kerr, he may share his secret.
This Dunedin 12-year-old has built a homemade hovercraft for this year’s Aurora Otago Science and Technology Fair. His exhibit was one of about 320 from Otago schools being judged at the Otago Museum yesterday. Sam was on the computer looking for ideas for this year’s entry when a friend put the hovercraft challenge to him. ‘‘He said, ‘No way you can make that’, and I decided to do it to prove him wrong,’’
Sam said yesterday. It seems hard to believe that with a plywood circle, some plastic sheeting and a leaf blower it was mission accomplished. Sam can balance on this homemade pocket of air several centimetres above the ground and says it does feel like ‘‘you’re standing on air‘‘.
He believes you could stay that way for as long as the leaf blower was blowing in air. But balance is the tricky part. You have to stand right in the centre of the circle and a word of advice from Sam — trying chairs or bean bags is a bit optimistic. The main drawback? It is loud so your ears may give up before your legs do.
More than 400 young scientists from about 20 schools are taking part in the science fair. Under topics ranging from energy and the environment to health and technology, colourful and clever entries abound. Whether it is bubbles or compost, ceiling insulation or decomposing fruit there will be plenty for people to learn about while the event is open to the public from tomorrow until Sunday.
Another Balmacewen pupil, Georgia Russell (11), tested the reflexes of girls and boys to see which group was faster. With some help from her electrician dad Mark she designed a machine to time how quickly classmates could press a button when a light went on. Girls were quicker with an average reaction time of 0.333sec compared with 0.352sec for the boys.
The museum’s 1877 gallery was abuzz with excited chatter yesterday morning as students were interviewed by judges. Specialist judges then award prizes on specific topics before the event opens to the public. About $10,000 worth of prizes will be given out at a ceremony at the University of Otago on Sunday.
The fair is open to pupils from years 7 to 13 (11 to 18-yearolds), who seek to impress the judges with their scientific and technological skills. Many pupils have already had to battle it out at their own school fairs to gain entry to this regional competition. Chief judge Kaye Wilson said the standard improved every year and more original ideas were on display. The science fair instilled in pupils ‘‘curiosity and passion about the everyday things around them’’. The premier award winners will compete in the national event in November. - Courtesy ODT
Here is the list of our prize winners -A huge congratulations to you all!
Year 8 |
Year 7 |
Michael Fox Irrigation System – 2 – Otago Polytech School of Information Award and University of Otago College of Education Award |
Joel Smith – Sea or Sewage 2 – Department of Marine Science University of Otago |
Donovan Isted – Scale Bowl for Pets – Otago Polytech School of Information and Technology Award |
Kalin Geisreiter – Investigating electromagnetism – Aurora Award |
Zoe Armstrong – Left Handi – University of Otago College of Edcuation Technology Award |
Courtney Shea – Pav 2 – NZ Baking Industry Trust Award |
Jessica Taylor – Do drapes make a difference – Highly Commended |
Ben Wardhaugh – No excuses trolley – Universtiy College of Education Technology Award |
Jack Waddell – The Power of Wind – Highly Commended |
Nick Alexander – Perfect pitch 2 – NZ Institute of Physics Award and Discovery World Award |
Isaac Smith – Does your house need skin? – Institute of Professional Engineers NZ Ltd |
William Pelet – Skateboard stand – Aurora Award |
Tamati Parata – Water Testing |
Estelle Dippie – Snazzy Swimmers – Australasian Corrosion Association Award |
Sam Kerr – Hovercraft |
Will Kindley – 2 Sink your teeth into this Otago |
Lydia Bowers –Firey Bouncy Ball – Highly Commended |
Rebecca Wilson – IC vitamin c – Biochemistry University of Otago award |
Howie Hunter – Hotter and Faster – Aurora Award |
Eva Kjaergaard – Insulation Inspiration highly Commended |
Mitch Keenan – Dunedins Water Challenge – Otago Regional Council Award |
Will Davidson – No pain no gain |
Tim Chisholm – Drowning Droughts – Forest and Bird Award |
Sophie Russell – The power of recovery 2 Otago Medical Research Award and Aurora |
Georgia Thomas Milne – Truebeer – NZ Institute of Chemistry Award |
Saskia Turner – Which stroke makes my ticker – Otago Asthma Society Award |
Kate Divett – Vitamin C indicator |
Chris McNoe – Pick your apples carefully 2 – Horticulture Research and NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology Award |
Kierin Turner – Too much C02 – NIWA Award |
Chris Purbrick not going |
Taylor Johnston – Additves – Dept. of Biochemistry University of Otago |
Meg McKay – Does breakfast make a difference? 2 – Children and Young Persons Research Cluster Group Award and Aurora Award |
Serena Sangster – Biofuels and bread – NZ Baking Industry Trust Award |
Emily McConnachie – Glow in the dark pegs 2 – NZ Optometrists Award and College of Education Technology Award |
Maya Korth – Tooth brush – Aurora Award |
Owen Adams – Organic Stain remover NZ Institute of Chemistry Award |
Libby Ockwell – Judging the gap – 2 Aurora Award Child and Young Persons Research Cluster University of Otago Award |
Georgia Russell – Reaction times – girls vs Boys – Aurora Award |
Matt Parks – Best for your Buck – Aurora Excellence in Energy Research Award |
Polly Inglis – Otago Regional Council Award |
Sam Guest – The human body |
ROOM 5 ROX!
Despite the inclement weather lately we have managed to hold a few Rock Climbing Days for the Year 7 students. Room 5 went to Long Beach last Friday and had a wonderful day. All of the children attempted the challenge of the rock climbing with many surprising themselves with just how good and confident they were. A huge thank you to all of the parents who have been helping with these trips!
A Poem by Isobella Sowerby - Room 5
Along the beach stands so tall
Jagged rocks form a hard wall
Up so, so high
It climbs into the torquise sky
Waves crashing against the rocky terrain
Songs from the sea singing pain
Seagulls sitting up in their nest
Trying to get some peaceful rest
Write down below some people are there
Getting ready to conquer their fears
Click clack they are getting ready
Climbing up, watching steady
People cheering when they reach the top
Now it's time for the big drop
Leaning back heals on the rock
The salty air whips my face
I feel like a sea bird soaring with grace
My shoes hit the ground and I am all done
I can't wait to tell Dad and Mum
Open Evening!
We had an extremely successful Open Evening last week. We had record numbers of enrolments for this time of year so I urge parents to return their enrolment form as soon as possible, don;t forget that this can be done online. Thanks to all the students who really were the showcase of the school and a special well done to Kelly MacKay and Darryll King who won the Plato voucher for completing the enrolment form.
Mathletics
Well done to all students involved in the mathemetics at the Town Hall on Monday night. A special well done to the year 7 teams A and B who came third equal in their section.
Wearable Arts
The 2008 Wearable Arts show was a huge success yet again! Our students strutted their stuff with their wonderful creations on the cat walk. Children competed in different sections including "Superhero, Under the Sea, Wild and Wacky, glow in the dark and Recycled. Room 3, 14 and 9 also showed off their skills through designing jeans and hats. A special well done to the following for being selected as best in their section.
Recycled = Greer Hastie, Georgia Thomas Milne
Wild and Wacky = Sequoia Cunninghmam, Tegan Duncan
Under the Sea = Harriet George
Glow in the Dark = Courtney Shea
Superhero = Damon Lilly
Best in Show - Libby Ockwell
Well done to Mrs Shea and all of the other teachers who helped who organised such a wonderful night
Technology and Specialist Day
Year 6 students are more than welcome to attend the Balmacewen Intermediate's Technology and Specialist day on Wednesday the 30th of August. Please meet at 9.15 or 12.45 in the school hall if you have not already had information from your current school. The sessions last for two and a half hours and will have your child involved in art, cooking, sewing, hard materials and robotics classes.