Wearable Arts 2009
Well done to all of the students who participated in this years Wearable Arts competition. You once again amazed the crowd with your creativeness and hard work that went into your costumes. Special thanks to the judges and also to Mrs Shea and all of the other staff who made the night such a success. Well done to all prize winners and a special congratulations goes to Kalin Geisritter and Will Kindley for winning best in show!
Girls Cricket
Unfortunately the grils cricket team went down in the final of the South Island Championship but it was a great effort to make the final and be one of the top two teams in the South Island. A special well done to Polly Inglis who was the stand out performer and a big thank you to Miss Roney for all her hard work.
Otago Athletics
Once again we had some great results in the Otago Athletics Championship. Well done to Chris McNoe for his results in discuss (3rd) , shot put (2nd), 100m (3rd) and 800m (1st). Andrew Kennedy for the 70m Hurdles (1st), Zac Watt in the long jump (1st). Bailey Brandham in the high jump (3rd), Ross Campbell and Josh Vou for second and third respectively in the 75m. Well done also to the boys relay teams of Balmac Blue (2nd) and Balmac Red (2nd)
In the girls events we dominated with a 1,2,3 finish of Meg McKay, Aleisha Ruske and Sophie Russel. Meg also did well in the high jump in coming second. The girls relay team, Balmac Blue, finished 2nd.
Teacher Only Day
The Minister of Education has given schools the opportunity for staff to undertake professional development using the New Zealand Curriculum.
This note is to advise you that we will be taking this day on Friday 23 October and that school will be closed. Hopefully being the Friday before Labour Weekend it will give families the chance to make the most of the long weekend.
Andrew Hunter
GOOD LUCK!
Good luck to the Milo girls cricket team who are competing in Christchurch this weekend to see who represents the South Island at this years Milo Cricket Cup final. The girls team have beaten all of the Dunedin and lower South Island teams and we wish them all the best!
Highgate Win Again
The School Athletics Champs was a huge success again despite some inclement weather. It was great to see all of the students trying their very best and supporting their houses not only vocally but also in their house colours. Some outstanding results came from Chris McNoe, Zac Watt and Ruby Hayward and a full list of results will appear shortly and in the school newsletter. Red Top TV will have all of the highlights for viewing this Friday. Highgate house won with 983 points, Chapman 968 points, Lynn 853 points and Shetland 785 points.
Fundraiser! - Sorry the email link was not working for orders but has now been fixed.
We are selling NZ Made Alpaca Socks as part of a fundraising venture to raise money for Balmacewen Intermediate. A proportion of the profit will also go to a small group of talented young Dunedin swimmers who will be attending the Brisbane State Swim Meet in Australia in December.
Alpaca fibre is softer, lighter and warmer than most natural fibres, including merino wool (it is 30% warmer than wool for the weight, with 3 times the tensile strength). It is also ideal for people with skin sensitivities who find other natural fibres irritate their skin. The socks are made from 72% alpaca & 28% nylon. The toes and heels are reinforced with nylon, making them hard wearing. They can be worn as dress or work socks, and are particularly comfortable to wear with boots (including ski boots). Socks can be machine washed in COLD water. These are a quality, hardwearing product and would make an excellent Christmas gift for family and friends.
We are not only able to sell these socks below RRP at $19 a pair, but we are currently the only outlet for these socks in Dunedin. Please help support Balmacewen and our young swimmers by placing an Order.
Yellow Snow Rocks
The Balmacewen Rock Band “Yellow Snow Rocks” has done extremely well and placed 2nd in the Dunedin Battle of the Bands. It was an especially impressive performance as they were competing against all of the other top high school bands. Well done to Kalin Geisreiter, Marco Taiaroa, Nick Alexander, Matt Watts and Will Kindley.
Mathletics groups win 1st and 2nd!
By ELLIE CONSTANTINE
MATHS is not always about number crunching and angst-filled silence. Sometimes, it is about sprinting hard out and cheering at the top of your voice.
This was proved yesterday as about 1000 Otago pupils took part in the NumberWorks mathletics competition in the Dunedin Town Hall.
For years 6-10, teams of four were given problems to solve, the answers to which were run to a marker who either accepted it or gave it back.
During each 30-minute competition, the hall was filled with noise as teams discussed their answers, feet stomped on the floor and parents cheered from the sidelines.
For the senior pupils in years 11 and 12, the competition was run in rounds. A written and oral questions produced a top eight, which competed in a buzzer round.
Organiser Ainslie Anderson said about an extra 250 people were involved in marking and score keeping for the event, which has been held since 1977.
Results were. —
Year 7: John McGlashan College B 1, Balmacewen Intermediate A 2, John McGlashan A 3.
Year 8: Balmacewen Intermediate School A 1, Tahuna Normal Intermediate School B 2, Balmacewen Intermediate School B 3.
Courtesy ODT
Chess Club Win the Otago Intermediate Championship
Well done to William, Chris, Joel and Joseph for an outstanding effort and winning the Otago Intermediate Chess Cup from the Otago Chess Society!
School Ski Trip to Treble Cone
The Year 7 classes are all heading down to Long Beach over the next three weeks to improve their communication skills in preperation for their puberty unit! To find out when your class is going please check the calendar or the letter that went home recently.
Rock Climbing
The Year 7 classes are all heading down to Long Beach over the next three weeks to improve their communication skills in preperation for their puberty unit! To find out when your class is going please check the calendar or the letter that went home recently.
Open Evening and Enrolments
Over the last week we have been visiting all of our contributing primary schools and giving out our enrolment booklets. If your child missed out on one or if we didn't visit your child's school then please do not hesitate to contact the school and we will send one out to you.
Fairplay Cup
Well done to Aleisha Ruske for winning the Term Two Fairplay Cup. Aleisha has represented the school and Otago in a vast number of sports while always maintaining the highest standard of fairplay. Aleisha was away when the cup was awarded so she made this "live" acceptance speech from Auckland!
Mega Math Month Update
A huge congratulations to students for a massive improvement in their knowledge of their timestables. Many thanks goes to the staff and parents who helped them achieve this result. The school average went from 68% to 87% but the important part will now be in retaining this high standard! A little each week will help the students consolidate this new knowledge. The whole school will now be rewarded with a swim on Friday the 31st of July 9.30-11.30.
Swimming
Science Fair Results
Last week Balmacewen held its annual Science and Technology Fair. The hall looked amazing with the final inquiry presentations all on display for the three days. Congratulations go not only to those who received prizes, but to everyone who completed their investigations or inventions over this term.
Thank you to our chief judge, Mr Tim Ashdown, a science teacher from Otago Boys’ High School who made the final assessments to determine our prize-winners. From these we will select those who will go on in Term Three to represent the school in the Otago Science Fair in August. A big thank you must also go to the families, friends and teachers who supported the students throughout their inquiry. I’m sure those who visited last week were impressed with the standard of the work on display.
Lisa Shea, Science Co-ordinator
Stars on Stage
On Monday 23rd of June Balmacewen Intermediate School participated in Stars on Stage 2009, which was held at the Regent Theatre. We did an item called ‘Battle of the Mountains’ which was based on a Maori legend. There were 5 dance groups which comprised our act: the Female Mountain (other groups were battling for her love), Stomp (The Warrior Mountain), Kung Fu (The Karate/Fun Mountain), Jazz, and Hip Hop.
Hip Hop won The Love of the Female Mountain and invited the females to come and participate in their Celebration Dance (which was a line dance).
It was a sensational evening with our act running according to script and all the students hitting their mark.
The students involved would like to thank Mrs McKergow, Mrs Shea, Miss Roney, and Mr Waititi and also all the other parents and teachers that helped with hair, makeup and assisted on the night.
By Olivia Kerley and Hannah Christie (Stars on Stage participants)
Mega Math Month Update
The baseline results for our Mega Math Month showed that on average our students were scoring 68% in their times tables test. If you take the math extension children out it drops to 65%. Half way through our Mega Math Month we could see the concentrated effort at school and at home had raised the students achievement to 82%.
With one week to go we have found our progress a little slower which is to be expected as we edge closer to the 90s on average. The final test is on Thursday so make sure you do plenty of practice and improve your speed especially on those hard 7 and 8 timestables.
It has been great to see parents signing off their child's achievement sheet and more importantly hear that you have been helping them learn their times tables at home. One week to go lets all aim for a huge improvement.
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SHEET?? THIS SHEET SHOULD BE COMING HOME ON A THURSDAY TO LET YOU KNOW HOW YOUR CHILD HAS BEEN IMPROVING.
Southland Sports Exchange
200 very excited students went to the annual Southland Interchange to compete against teams in a variety of sports from Southland Boys and Girls. A very enjoyable day was had by all with some excellent sporting results. Check back on Monday for all of the results and pictures.
Miniball:
Year 7 Boys: 43 – 40 to Balmac
Year 8 Boys: 33 – 25 to Balmac
Year 7 Girls: 38 – 34 to SGHS
Year 8 Girls: 42 – 6 to SGHS
Netball:
Year 7 Girls: 20 – 5 to SGHS
Year 8 Girls: 37 – 25 to SGHS
Soccer:
Year 7 & 8 Boys: 6 – 3 to Balmac
Hockey:
Year 7 & 8 Boys: 9 – 0 to Balmac
Year 7 & 8 Girls: 3 - 2 to Balmac
Rugby:
Year 7 & 8 Boys: 66 – 7 to SBHS
Pandemic Advice from Ministry of Health to Schools
The Minister of Health announced this morning that New Zealand is transitioning to a “manage it” phase in its Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu strategy. The containment phase has helped restrict the number of cases and slowed the spread of the virus.
The slow spread has been due to the efforts of border control, public health services, schools and early childhood services in identifying and responding to cases as they emerged. The continuing aim is to reduce the impact of the virus on people, communities and the health system at a time when they are already managing the usual winter flu increases.
Public health authorities in Wellington and Christchurch have announced that they have moved into the new phase today. Auckland is also planning this shift by Monday and it is likely that most other areas of New Zealand will follow very shortly. You can read the Ministry of Health media release here www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/influenza-a-h1n1-update-eighty-190609.
It is unlikely that early childhood services or schools will be advised to close if they have suspected or confirmed cases, unless they are in an area still in the containment phase. The Ministry of Health advises that there is no need for any restrictions on people returning to work, school or their early childhood service after an overseas trip, unless they have symptoms.
Gatherings such as parent teacher evenings, sports tournaments can continue, with the usual precautions.
- Students or staff with symptoms should stay at home in line with normal practice.
- Hygiene measures should continue including hand washing before and after eating, keeping hands away from mouths, and covering mouths when coughing or sneezing.
- Care should be taken that students who have particular medical conditions or who are susceptible to infection avoid contact with people who have symptoms.
The Ministry of Health wishes to acknowledge the responsiveness of early childhood services and schools, and the measures they have taken to slow the spread of the virus. The Ministry appreciates the additional workload this has meant for everyone involved.
The Ministry of Education has been continually updating its website and will continue with daily updates on www.minedu.govt.nz/PandemicUpdates. Medical information is on the Ministry of Health website www.moh.govt.nz/influenza-a-h1n1. Travel information is available on www.safetravel.govt.nz
Children returning from overseas
The Ministry of Health suggests that children returning to New Zealand from affected areas overseas, but who are not showing symptoms of flu, should be kept at home for a week.
This was background information for families and not a directive. Schools and ECE services are not expected to act on this suggestion.
The primary measures remain of personal hygiene and parents keeping students home if they are sick with flu symptoms. The Ministry of Health advises that parents keep children with flu symptoms at home and call their doctor whether they have been overseas to affected areas or not. Schools and ECE services should follow their normal practices in the event of children displaying symptoms of illness at school or in the ECE service.
Staff should also stay at home if they exhibit flu symptoms.
The Ministry of Health advises that all people should of course be aware of and on the look out for flu symptoms especially if they or their families have travelled in affected areas.
MEGA MATH MONTH
For the month of June, we are having a major school wide push on times tables. Times tables are vital parts of mathematical knowledge. We use our times tables every day in all facets of life. When a child confidently knows their tables, other mathematical learning becomes easier and more rewarding. The instant recall of times tables, particularly at the maths levels expected at this age group is a necessity. Without sound times tables knowledge, maths may be something a child decides is “too hard” and therefore develop a negative attitude.
Here’s what we are going to do!
Over the next 4 weeks we are going to set a whole school target for the improvement of our times table knowledge. Classroom teachers will make it a major focus of their teaching and hopefully you at home will also be able to help
There is no one best way to commit times tables to memory, so we have listed a variety of resources and methods below, from the “tried and true”, through to websites. Five to ten minutes daily at school and at home will hopefully see our whole school scores and times improve.
There are literally 100s of web sites you can find if you search for “multiplication times tables,” “Multiplication Flashcards ”or “times tables games.” Here are some of the best to get your started.
http://www.kidsnumbers.com/ - A great new website we have just found with a step by step method of practising your timestables.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/multiplication/timestables/ The BBC’s website has a huge amount of educational material including a great section on times tables
www.mathisfun.com – Some great tips on how to learn your times tables in the number and then multiplication section
www.multiplication.com – Lots of good times tables ideas and games
http://www.prongo.com/math/multiplication.html - A class favourite here at Balmacewen.
http://www.helpingwithmath.com/resources/online_flashcards/flashcard_multiplication03.htm - Simple online flash cards
Balmacewen Wins Police PCT Challenge
Well done to all of the year 8 students who competed in the Intermediate PCT Blue Light Challenge and especially to Sophie, Polly, Zac and Chris who won the event. The PCT challenge is a series of physical challenges such as climbing through windows, over walls and pushing trailors which police officers must complete throughout their careers.
Room 2 Camp
Year 8 camps have begun in earnest with Room 2 away last week, Room 9 away this week and Room 6 away next week. The weather has been very kind but the students have shown great character and perserverance and not let it bother them!
Moviemakers
The Balmacewen Movie Makers club started on Tuesday. The students had been given the challenge of writing a script which would last for 30 minutes of film and incoporate a cast of around 30-40 people. Not an easy challenge but six students did a wonderful effort and in their own time produced some outstanding work. Well done to Olivia Kerley, Jonathan Turner and Rory Jackson. A special well done to Isabella Sowerby, Jessie Malcolm, Amelia Walker and Kyra Gillies for being selected on having your scripts being turned into this years movie. Please feel free to read this years entries.
Otago Primary Swimming Championship
On Saturday the 28th March the Otago Primary Swimming Champs were held at Moana Pool. Balmacewen Intermediate had a team of 14 swimmers entered.
The day was a huge success, with the majority of swimmers recording personal bests and a number making finals.
Three new records were also set by Balmacewen swimmers, this is a huge achievement and the swimmers and the school can be very proud!
Some of the individual highlights were:
Aleisha Ruske: Aleisha won the 11 yr girls 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, and came third in the 50m breaststroke. Aleisha also set a new record in the freestyle event with a time of 31.02 seconds. The record had been held since 1988 so this was an awesome effort! Well done Aleisha!
Bailey Brandham: Third in the 11 yr boys 50m freestyle
Michael Gray: Second in the 11 yr boys 50m freestyle, third in the 50m backstroke, and third in the 50m breaststroke.
Esther Fogarty: First in the 12+ girls 50m breaststroke
Girls 12+ 200m Freestyle Relay: (Estelle Dippie, Eva Kjaegaard, Courtney Shea and Esther Fogarty) third in this event.
Boys 12+ 200m Freestyle Relay: (Benjamin Wardhaugh, Chris Dingley, Chris McNoe and Michael Gray) won their event.
Girls 11 200m Freestyle Relay: (Saskia Turner, Grace Perry, Emily Alloo, and Aleisha Ruske) won their event and were half a second off a record!
Boys 11 200m Freestyle Relay: (Jaime Harrison, Liam Trotter, Clayton Woods, and Bailey Brandham) second in their event.
Mixed 200m Medley Relay: (Benjamin Wardhaugh, Esther Fogarty, Aleisha Ruske and Michael Gray) won their event and set a new record with a time of 2.26.30. This record had been held since 1993!
Mixed 200m Freestyle Relay: (Benjamin Wardhaugh, Esther Fogarty, Aleisha Ruske and Michael Gray) won their event and set a new record with a time of 2.10.29. This record had been held since 1998!
Year 8 Triathlon
On Friday the 27th of March the Year 8 triathlon was held at Mosgiel. There were plenty of nerves and excitement around as everyone prepared for their race, individual or team. After a lot of sweat and tears were shed, there were some very happy faces crossing the finish line! The course was made up of a 100m swim, 3 laps around Peter Johnstone Park and a lap of Memorial Park to finish.
The final house points were in the same order as the swimming sports - Highgate, Chapman, Shetland, and Lynn.
Well done to these people who were the top 5 place getters in the girls and boys individual section:
1st : Esther Fogarty |
1st : Michael Gray |
2nd: Sarah Whitmore |
2nd: Chris McNoe |
3rd: Estelle Dippie |
3rd: Benjamin Wardhaugh |
4th: Polly Inglis |
4th: Zac Watt |
5th: Courtney Shea |
5th: Rahan Ali |
A big thank you to Browns for Bikes who carried out a bike check the week before the triathlon at school, and free of charge!
Robocup
Mr Herden has a large group of very keen future robotic engineers. They are learning all about electronics and control through the use of lego robots. They plan to work towards the Otago Robocup and hopefully onto the nationals held later in the year.
Swimming Wrap Up!
It has been a busy term of swimming at Balmacewen Intermediate. Classes have completed their Swimsation lessons and have also taken part in the Swim for Life Challenge – swimming 200 metres continuously. Well done to all those who completed it!
On Friday 13th March our annual school swimming sports were held at Moana Pool. It was great to see the stands filled with colour and lots of cheering! The final house points were:
Highgate – 734
Chapman – 639
Shetland – 617
Lynn – 494
Good luck to the following people who have been selected to represent Balmacewen at the Otago Primary Swimming Champs on Saturday 28th March at Moana Pool:
Benjamin Wardhaugh, Michael Gray, Saskia Turner, Sarah Whitmore, Eva Kjaegaard, Esther Fogarty, Bailey Brandham, Clayton Woods, Liam Trotter, Aleisha Ruske and Grace Perry.
Otago Anniversary Day
The school will be closed on Monday the 23rd of March for Otago Anniversary Day
Southland Interchange
The Southland Summer Interchange is on Thursday. Unfortunately Southland Girls have cancelled their visit and therefore activities for the girls will now be postponed until term 4. Below is the updated letter.
Highlanders Invade!
Room 9 was buzzing with excitement today with the Highlanders squad visiting Balmac! Room 9 had Daniel Bowden, Clint Newlands, Jason Rutledge and Jayden Hayward. We asked some great questions such as, what is your opinion on the stadium? what nutrition programme do you follow? what injuries have you had? and some interesting ones such as what do you sing in the shower? and what is your worst fan experience? It was great to have the Highlanders in our school - let's hope they can beat the Crusaders on Friday night!!
From The Room 9 Blog - Most classes have their blogs up and running so check them out for all of the classroom news.
Year 7 Camps!
The Year 7 camps have been very successful with students really getting to know their class mates better and challenging themselves physically and mentally. The weather hasn't been kind but most classes have completed all of the camp activities including the tramp to Taieri Mouth on the Millenium track and learning the basics of sailing. Here are some pictures from Room 1s camp!
Swimming
Thanks also to all of the parents who have been walking up and down Pacific St making sure our students get to the pool safely! The lessons have been going very well and we are all looking forward to the school swimming sports on Friday March the 16th.
Swimming Notice 2009Welcome Back!
The school year for 2009 starts on Monday 2nd of February at 8.50. We welcome our new year seven intake and new staff members; Mr Henderson, Mr Waititi, Miss Keropa, Miss McKergow, Miss Instone and Mr Napier. We also welcome back all year 8 students and staff. We hope you have an enjoyable and relaxing summer holiday and that you are excited about starting the year at Balmacewen!
Administration Redevelopments Near Completion!
Office Area - Early November
12/11/08 Mr Hunters new office and the hall way to the new staff room.
The exterior could be as much as a month away from being finished but as you can see the new office area is nearing completion - January 2009
It might not look like it but the office area is nearing completion! We are moving in this week and hope to be fully operational for the first day of school. Please use the new front doors to access the office but please keep in mind that when visiting it is still a construction site and that care may need to be taken.