Monday 12 January 2015

2015 Term One Preview


I would like to welcome back all members of the Stanley Avenue Learning Community for what will be another successful year  at Stanley Avenue School. I trust you have had a great Christmas and are enjoying the stunning weather at the moment.

For the first half of the year I will be Acting Principal, a challenge and opportunity  that I am hugely excited about. I look forward to seeing students continue to succeed  in all aspects of school life. I will be well supported by Nicola Wilson as  Acting Deputy Principal,  Michael Harrop as Acting Assistant Principal and Chris Finucane as Senior Teacher.

At Stanley Avenue School we are very privileged to have such a strong group of teachers and support staff that encourage students to be their best. In 2015, we are joined by Miss Angela Valencia in Room 11 and Mrs Sandie Haddock in Room 10. Mrs Rachel Barker will join us as a classroom release teacher in the middle and senior school and we welcome back Mrs Judy Patterson, who will carry out Miss Wilson's, Acting Deputy Principal release. We are extremely excited to have  Angela, Sandie, Rachel and Judy  as part of the Stanley Avenue staff  for 2015.  I know they will all  do an outstanding job.

Many  exciting events await us in  Term One. A snapshot of these events include a 'Meet the Teacher evening', Year 7/8 Leadership Camp, PaCT conferences,  Swimming Sports, School Gala, Soccer Fun Day, Hockey Big Day Out, Te Aroha Ripper Rugby Tournament and  Volleyball with Sport Waikato.

In class a big emphasis will be based around Reading, Writing, Maths which are our foundations ( building blocks)  and specific inquiry based learning. Incorporated throughout  these key learning areas will be relevant and meaningful learning tasks which aim to extend the Stanley Avenue Learner.

I wish you and your families every success for 2015.

Feel free to come in and see us at any stage to see our Stanley Avenue School Learners in action!

' Whaia kia u.' Strive to succeed!

Kind regards

John Byers
Acting Principal


Sunday 26 October 2014

Associate Education Minister visits Stanley Avenue School!



Last week we were lucky enough to have the Associate Education Minister, Nikki Kaye, visit our school to celebrate Stanley Avenue School being the 1000th school to be connected to the Network for Learning. The Network for Learning is a government funded initiative and is designed to assist 21st Century Learners by providing a fast, efficient and secure internet access. This will allow our learners to utilise the expanding range of digital devices we have to their full potential.

The Minister had a great time mingling with our students and discussing their learning. It also provided an opportunity for Stanley Ave to showcase how we use digital devices to enhance learning opportunities.

The Network for Learning also provides an excellent education site called the Pond. This is an education sharing site where educators and learners share resources to assist learning opportunities. As a school we will be exploring this more over the coming weeks and look at how it can enhance the Stanley Avenue Learner.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/10662319/Students-now-well-connected


Sunday 5 October 2014

Term 4 Preview

As Deputy Principal of Stanley Avenue School, I am extremely excited about what Term 4 has to offer our amazing learners.

Term 4 provides learners with a chance to showcase their academic progress they have made during the year. Week 3, will be our official testing week for a range of standardised tests and during the first four weeks students will be undertaking reading and maths assessments with their classroom teacher. From here teachers will take into account students class learning work, discussions and conversations and form Overall Teacher Judgements ( OTJ's) in Reading, Writing and Maths.  This information will then be presented to parents later in the term in the form of a written report. I look forward to seeing the progress students have made during the last two terms.

As always Athletics will be a huge focus for Stanley Avenue School. We will start Athletics training in Week 1, leading up to our School Athletics in Week 4. Again this year we will host the Districts Athletics. For the first time we will host the Thames Valley Athletics Day along with the other Te Aroha schools. This is really exciting for the school and the Te Aroha Cluster.

Students will also be involved in a ' Maths- a-thon' during Term 4. This will help the students with their basic fact skills and it will also act as a fundraiser for the school.

Our annual Te Rapa Pools trip will be held in Week 9 and if last year was anything to go by it will be great fun for the entire school.

The Rainbow's End day will provide us with a chance to thank our wonderful leaders and senior students who have taken up various leadership roles around the school. With new rides at Rainbows End this promises to be a great day.

Lastly, our School Prize-giving and Senior Graduation round out our festivities on what will be a busy and productive term.

Best wishes for a great term and continue to always, ' Strive to Succeed!'


Sunday 7 September 2014

Stanley Ave host a successful 2014 WFP Cross Country!


Boyd Park was the place to be on Wednesday 3rd  September, as Te Aroha turned on a balmy day for the Waikato Full Primary Cross Country. 54 schools were represented (357 runners in total), show casing the best Year 7/8 runners across the Waikato. We are hugely proud of our group of Year 7/8 students who represented the school and the school community for hosting such a successful event.
The Year 8 Girls race was extremely special for our school with Brooke Sweeney gaining a second place finish.
The rest of our team competed admirably, in each race; there were fields of up to 120 runners in some age groups so competition was fierce.
Congratulations to the entire group of runners, you did Stanley Avenue School really proud.
The 2014 WFP team was Brooke Sweeney, Katie-Lee Roper, Leah Russell, Hannah Palo, James McGregor, Cruz McNeill-Hemi, Matthew Eagle, Hayden Crawford- Williams, Kimutahi Lee- Allen, Joshua Conroy, Joshua Martin, Dylan Lawton, Thomas Pearson, Ethan Wenn, Sophie Nickel, Te Ana Barrett, Shana Curtin, Angela Harris, Yolanda Mortimer and Hayley Thorn.
A special mention must be made to our wonderful PTA who ran a successful Sausage Sizzle. A large group of helpers assisted Mr Armistead and I in various roles to make the day a success, your contribution was invaluable.
Well done.


Mr Byers

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Term 2 Review

It’s hard to believe that we have come to the end of another term at Stanley Avenue School. I thank all members of the school community for their support in making sure our learners continue to  ‘Strive to succeed’. The term has concluded with PaCT interviews, these have provided a really good chance to strengthen the home and school partnership in order to give students their best opportunity for success. I encourage you if you missed the interviews, that you make an appointment with your child’s classroom teacher to see exactly where they are at with their learning and discuss what you can do to assist their learning at home.
Whilst Term 2 has been a short term it has been action packed, some of the highlights are included below:
·        ‘Minstrel visit’
·        Rugby/ Netball Fun Day
·        Thames Valley Ripper Rugby Finals
·        Book Week
·        Young Leaders Day
·        Rosehill Chess
·        Ranfurly Shield Visit
·        Te Aroha Bowls
·        Thames Valley Tackle Rugby Tournament
·        BP Technology Challenge
A big thank you must go to all students for displaying focused work habits, accepting and taking on challenges and aiming to be the best that they can be. I thank the entire teaching staff for the wonderful efforts they put into all facets of school life.
Have a wonderful time with your students over the break and we look forward with anticipation to Term 3.
Kind regards
John Byers


Sunday 25 May 2014

Term 2 Happenings

Wow!
It's hard to believe that we are already in Week 4 of Term 2. It has been pleasing to see the amount of quality learning that is taking place around our school. As well as focused learners on show, SAS students have been involved in a wide variety of events already this term. We have had the Minstrel entertain us, Te Aroha Problem Solving Challenge, Ngatea Chess Tournament and the Morrinsville Rugby and Netball Fun Day. This week the juniors are taking part in a Dog Saftey Day and the whole school gets to take part in all the wonderful Book Fair Activities. Keep ' Striving to succeed' in everything you do Stanley Ave.