Wednesday 9 December Silverdale School Newsletter

SILVERDALE SCHOOL

School Newsletter

Learn to Journey – Journey to Learn

Ako ki te Haere – Haere ki te Ako

Congratulations

Congratulations to Rebeccah Bassett-Smith who has been appointed as the Deputy Principal at Sunnynook Primary School beginning Term 1 next year. This is amazing news for Rebeccah and well deserved. Rebeccah started at Silverdale School in 2005. She is an amazing person and fantastic teacher and leader. Sunnynook Primary School will be very lucky to have her.

We will be having a special farewell assembly for Rebeccah on Wednesday 16 December at 10.30am in the school hall and everyone is welcome to attend.

Welcome

Welcome to Anisa Shafiei who started with us this week. Our current roll is 863.

Kapa haka group

Absolutely amazing performance last night by our Kapa haka group. They performed with passion and strength to an audience of 300+, it was fantastic to be a part of it. To see 140 children perform as one was spine tingling.

Thanks to:

Whaea Giorgia for poi
Whaea Davina and the many parents/caregivers who helped with costumes
Kendall, Nicole, Jackie for the kai
Mon for the decorations
Whaea Leeanne for her awesome support of Matua Mark and our school
Our whole staff for the support of our Kapa haka group
Matua William and Whaea Cerys for their outstanding support of our Kapa haka group and of Matua Mark

Matua Mark has done an outstanding job with our Kapa haka group to the point that they are the best group not only on the coast but in North Auckland. Matua Mark’s drive and passion is second to none and our kura is so lucky to have a special person like Matua Mark leading all things Maori.

Last night I was so proud of the children’s performance, the passion, the enthusiasm, the commitment was outstanding and we couldn’t ask more of them.

Our Kapa haka group is going from strength to strength and having our community support this group and our school will see this continue for many, many years.

Thank you to everyone who attended last night.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Ryan Goodall, Chase Dalzell, Lorelei Peat, Milla Tuohy, Ji Won Ahn, Felicity Whitaker, Cameron Ma, Camryn De Lange, Angelina Naufahu, Maddison Chen, Rhys Renton and Isabella Shaw.

Lost Property

We have a lot of lost property if your child has lost something please come into school and have a look through lost property. At the end of the year all unnamed items will be sent to The Kowhai Tree in Silverdale. All named items will be returned by Thursday 17 December.

Parent Survey

Thank you to the 80 parents who completed our school survey. Over the holidays I will analysis the responses and report back to our community a summary of the survey.

Year 6 Children Leaving

If you have a child leaving the school at the end of the year and the uniform is in good condition please send it to The Kowhai Tree in Silverdale, thanks.

Dates

– Friday 11 December Reports emailed to parents/caregivers

– Wednesday 16 December 10.30am. Rebeccah Bassett-Smith Farewell Assembly, parents welcome.

– Wednesday 16 December 2pm. Year 6 Leavers Assembly Year 6 Parents welcome.

– Friday 18 December 11.20am. Farewell Assembly Parents welcome.

– Friday 18 December 12.00 pm School finishes

Term 1 2021

Term 1 2020 starts on Tuesday 9 February. Children will go straight to their classrooms. We will have a powhiri in the hall at 11.30am for all new children and staff. All are welcome.

Principal Awards

Well done to the children who received Principal Awards at last week’s assembly.

KERI Awards

Well done to the following children who received Caught by KERI awards at Monday’s assembly.

	Team Te Ohanga	Team Kiwi	Team Pukeko	Team Tui
Kindness	Ivy	Arliah	Savith	Sofiya
Excellence	Ben	Shuyang	Jared	Lexton
Respect	Erin	Annabelle	Anja	Jake
Integrity	Kyle	Beckett	Jared	Zahra
Sushi Winners: Ezra Room 35 and Chloe C Room 40

Cameron Lockie

Tumuāki/Principal

Stillwater Bus

Friday 18 December- Last day of Term

The Stillwater bus will be leaving school at 12pm then going to Stella Maris, which finishes at 12.20pm. Please be aware the bus may arrive a little late.

The last day for Ezy lunch is 11 December 2020. Sushi4U will still be operating, their last day will be Thursday 17 December.

Their selection will be a little deifferent. From Monday 14 December-Thursday 17 December they will be doing xmas sushi only. There will be 9 varities with a gluten free opition. There will be limited amount and you can start ordering these on Thursday 3 December.

Cookie Time Christmas Cookie Buckets

Cookie Time Christmas buckets are the perfect Christmas gift or treat this time of year! If you would like to order any buckets, please fill out the attached order form and email to annelise.lockie@christmascookies.co.nz.

Cookies can then be collected from the field opposite the school .

Signing Off

Firstly, thanks to all those who took the time to glance over the Flippa Ball game write up each week. I hope that in some way it inspired someone to want to have a go at playing a great sport, one I firmly believe is suitable for all kids, of all abilities. Accompanying these words are photographs of the last three years of the Silver Fins, past and present. I say three years as opposed to seasons, because Flippa Ball is a loooong 3 term season, and while the games are quick at a mere 10 minutes aside, the admirable commitment each week of the kids and their families to the Silverdale Silver Fins has enabled the team to grow together, bringing them to now, the conclusion of their Primary years. When we first started out, no-one in the team had ever played Flippa Ball, in fact some hadn’t even heard of it before. There were no Silverdale teams, crazy now when you think about it – so at the time our eldest son Aidan, who was in Year 4 at Silverdale, was playing for a Wentworth team, but ultimately we wanted him to have the opportunity to play for his school. So Duncan and myself took on the role of coaching and managing teams, and at one stage we took care of three Silverdale teams at once. If anything, our legacy to the school is that now there are many Silverdale kids taking part in this fun, exciting sport. As predicted, in this, our final season, the Silver Fins have finally seen all their hard work pay off. They are well and truly a successful, cohesive team. Just short of 4 years ago, Alice Bauld, Alissa Hurter, Blake Thow, Conor McCleery, India Beven, Julian Beall, Milla Tuohy, Morgan Lusher, and Zack Gibbins were the first class of 2018 to make up the Silver Fins. Today 7 players of this original team, Alice, Alissa, Blake, Julian, Morgan, and Zack remain part of the Fins, playing for a full three seasons together, representing Silverdale. Wow. Since then, they were joined by Michelle Catterall and Jamie Welch in 2019, and finally with Michelles departure, Jack Wooller became part of the team for the 2020 season. Some time ago a great man,Gareth Jones, worked for Silverdale School for many years, initially as a teacher, and then as Deputy Principal. I recall an article he wrote years ago referring to this time as The Incredible Years. ‘It has been said that we all learn 90% of our total learning in the first 7 years of our lives, which actually sounds unbelievable, until you start to break down the amount of growth and development children go through in those early years. From birth their memory and hard drive are virtually wiped clean. They form bonds with others, firstly their parents then their siblings, then with family. They learn to communicate, talk, make sense of what they see and hear, crawl, walk, get their own way with a smile or a cry. This rapid rate of development continues at an amazing pace when they progress through pre-school and into Primary. They learn basic language skills of letter identification and associated sounds. They learn to construct words which form sentences and the foundation of reading and writing. They learn that numbers have a sequence and a value, and when combined increase or decrease. We often think that children are born with imagination, but creativity is learnt through interaction with others and the experiences presented. These interactions and experiences also trigger the full range of emotions which children learn to share or control, such as affection, trust, selfishness, and anger. We are certainly not suggesting that development stops after the age of 7 years, merely that it changes pace and direction. Children develop into students who develop a depth and level of sophistication to their learning. What its important to remember is that everyone develops at their own rate. Children’s physical growth, emotional development and academic progress is not constant, but stutters, plateaus and accelerates at different stages of their lives. In truth every stage of your children’s development is incredible, so enjoy and celebrate their achievements and successes’. For the past few seasons, Flippa Ball has been a huge part of these kids development, all came into the team with varying skill levels that ebbed and flowed and over time became stronger – but what is important was the participation and effort, the rewards such as a boost in confidence or a new skill, being the icing on the cake. On the 13th of December the Fins hang up their caps for the last time as a team. I am grateful to each and every one of the Silver Fins for allowing us to celebrate all the highs and lows and life lessons that being part of a team gifts them, and us. The discipline, the confidence, the perseverance, the belief, the commitment, the growth, and development of new skills, the fun. On behalf of Coach Duncan, I say a huge thank you to all the kids and their families, past and present, who have played for the many teams we have coached over the past 7 years. And for our current wonderful and truly amazing Silver Fins, we sincerely hope your time being part of our Flippa Ball family has been a wonderful experience that becomes something you will fondly look back on over the years to come. Thank you for allowing Duncan and myself the privilege of being part of your story; your Incredible Years. I hope to see you all, and many more, poolside in the future. Arlene & Duncan.

Silverdale School Flippa Ball, Sunday December 6th

The winding up of the 2020 season has seemingly crept up on us this year, with the semi final match being played this afternoon between the Fins and the WGP Stingrays. Alissa Hurter was unable to join us for this match, so we were once again without subs and Julian Beall was a little worse for wear having recently contracted that chest infection that has been going around, but along with the rest of the team he was determined to play for the Fins in the semi finals. So with fingers crossed behind my back, I sat in my usual spot on the Score Table. First whistle and Jack Wooller got the ball, but the Stingrays, whom we beat last week, were on form and managed to reclaim the ball with one thing only on their mind – a win. Thankfully Jamie Welch, our ‘Goalie Extraordinaire’ was on form tonight and began his wonderful habit of not allowing any attempts at scoring to get past his watch. Love it. And just when they thought their luck was in, Morgan Lusher expertly and stealthily – as only Morgan can do – quietly caught her opponent off guard, tapping the ball out of the players hand who was about to fire it towards the goal. Alice Bauld managed to get a goal in very quickly, and although the Stingrays were able to match this, they were coming up against the mighty wall of force, known as Blake Thow and Zack Gibbins. Man those two were just so unbelievably GOOD tonight, I have never seen them so hungry for victory. You think you’ve seen it all… and then, nope, they take it up to next level. And although the first half was neck and neck, and we weren’t sure which way the game was going to go, the great Alice rounded off the first half with scoring yet another goal, taking the score to 2-1. Thanks Alice! Second half and Jack gets the ball again! BUT the Stingrays scored and we were now at 2 all. Then no matter how fast and hard Jack and Julian swam, they scored again! Jeepers this is beginning to not look so good for the Fins. And strangely enough for the first time ever, I could have sworn I was watching Rhythmic Gymnastics when I saw the ball slowly roll, yes roll from the front to the back of a players head. Go figure. But then snap back to reality and here is amazing Alice scoring again and we could all momentarily exhale. Our relief was short lived when the Stingrays managed to get one past Jamie as it bounced off the top of his fingertips and into the goal taking the score 4 -3 to them. But we weren’t about to take that laying down. No time to admit defeat yet. Morgan, like a Phoenix, rose from the ashes and scored a very stunning goal. Then Jack followed suit, and at 5-4, we finally had one up on the Stingrays. Alice once again aimed, fired and scored, and against huge defense by the opposition Morgan got two more in, taking the score to 8-4. Coach Duncan was getting very excited from his end yelling instructions, cheering on our amazing defense, clapping for Jamie, encouraging the team to all swim the ball up and shoot shoot shoot, which Alice did – not once, but twice, taking the score to 10-4 at final whistle. Now THAT is what you call a hard won game and definitely a win that we could not see coming. Congratulations Fins for doing so well in the Semis! I need a drink. Player of the Day went to the mighty Zack Gibbins. It was a tough call but once again Zack played with the ability and technique of a fierce opponent, his strong desire to win almost taking over his entire being. Comparable only to witnessing an out of body experience. How proud we were of the entire team, with special mention to Blake and Morgan, but Zack, this was your match buddy. Well done you. And well done Team Fins.