Week 10, Term 4

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends,

Well, after a pretty amazing year, we can peak 'over the horizon' (dare I say it?!) and see a holiday in sight!

This week the children have the Life Education bus giving fun health lessons, and school will close on Wednesday at 1.30pm.

The staff wish you a very happy Christmas and new year.

Please, for those of you who were not at the Prizegiving, find notes from my End of Year Address to conclude:

“No one cares what you do. They care why you do it.”

That’s the premise of a great book called Start With Why, by Simon Sinek.

Martin Luther King had a strong sense of why he did what he did when he said, “I believe in a world…” He shared his driving belief, the reason he got out of bed, and the change he wished to see in the world.

Apple didn’t say “we make great computers.” They said, “we challenge the status quo and believe in thinking differently.” Dell, on the other hand, talked about making great computers. Now which brand has built a cult following?

No one cares what you do. They care why you do it.

So how does this apply to your child, our school?
Why: Why is a belief that drives you. The reason you get out of bed in the morning.

For example: one of my whys is to equip and facilitate teachers to unleash their full potential for the benefit of your children so that together, we can provide the best possible, most holistic education.

I believe with a passion that a spiritual education, strongly rooted in our Christian faith, community, traditions and writings is most powerfully able to transform education and to transform us as individuals, old and young in our community.

For example: one of our whys as a school is to equip and facilitate your children to unleash their full potential so that now and in the future they are increasingly able to positively change the world.

For example: one of the whys for your children’s very clear understanding of what their own goals are and how they can achieve them is because we know that in learning and progressing and achieving well - whether that is socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually or academically - we keep alive in them a gift they were given at birth - the gift of knowing the joy of being a learner and a growing contributor to the world.

At times, children lose the spark for learning and growing. It is a tragedy.

A very big why for us at Horizon is to keep that spark alive.  The Why, Simon Sinek says, is what underlies the How and the What.

The Whys I have mentioned are the reasons our teachers were heard planning for 2016 with the question Why? Why is this important for these children to know now? Those Whys are what is underneath our teachers’ constant inquiring and reflecting on what will work with your individual child. In large schools with single age-band classes that are focused on What the children must do instead of Why, it is easy for  teacher to consider she has taught if she has simply delivered information for children to learn.  But at Horizon, we believe that each individual should be considered as an individual and served in as unique way as possible, within the context of a busy classroom.  This means helping the children understand the why - the end in mind.  It means helping them to act as adults-in-training to whatever degree they are able - whether that is making a an e-book to share or doing a dance to an excellent standard, or showing compassion and understanding for someone who has an emotional or physical problem, or designing and creating merchandise for sale - the DVDs are now available today!  It also means giving children some age and stage appropriate choice.

The term ‘student led learning’ can give the impression that learners do their own thing in their own time in their own way, if they choose. If that was the case, we would quickly sink to the lowest common denominator.

However, when we think of student-led learning differently, we see that we start with the child and not the programme, we inquire about what gifts God has given them, what brings them success, what their family wants for them. We start with the end in mind we see for that child. The contributions you made to that discussion on the graduate profile and curriculum was significant and we will report back to you on this process early next year.

Because of these things, we adapt our teaching and give children guided choice, reflecting all the time on what is working and what is not.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that our National Standards are, once again, well above National averages, and that for the first time we have over 90% achieving At and Above in a learning area.

Reading: 86% At and Above  Writing: 83% At and Above  Maths: 91% At and Above

What is the most pleasing about these results is that half of our new learners in have achieved below National Standards on arrival, and these results represent great ownership of learning by these children, a great sense of achievement, a wonderful culture among our teaching staff, and great shared commitment of you, the parents, to work with your children at home.

Many of the other rich learning experiences were mentioned in my annual report, which you have in your hands. It has been a wonderful year.

We are sad to lose Mrs Hendrina Hancock who has served as a teacher aide this last term, Mrs Alice Lund who has been absolutely wonderful to work with and done a stirling job in a time of added administration with the change of the school name and ownership, and Miss Louise Pryde, who has significantly helped our school to become more student-focused and more able to engage our learners with real life learning opportunities and the use of technology. We are so grateful for the way they have each become bound into the fabric of our school community, and even though they leave their employment, we welcome continued contact and friendship.

Finally, we are thankful to God, the author and finisher of our faith, the giver of all good things.

Blessings

Helen Pearson

School News                                                                           

Last Day

School finishes  Wednesday 16^th December at 1.30pm.

NZCPT

The NZCPT will be the new Proprietors from January 2016.  Information packs have been sent out to all current families, with new Automatic Payment Forms.  It is important that those forms are returned ASAP, so that the payments can be set up for next year.  Please contact the office if you need another form emailed to you.

Lost Property

We have a large amount of lost property at school at the moment.  Could you please check the lost property in the office before the end of term.  All unclaimed items will be taken to the hospice shop at the end of term.

  

Baby Bunnies for Christmas

We have four baby bunnies that will be ready to go to new homes by 15 December.

They are extremely cute

If you are interested please call Isabelle on 021 985508

Community Notices                                                                

Ray White – A little Ray of Giving

Ray White is partnering with the Rotary Club of Warworth to collect gifts in December to distribute to less fortunate families in the region through the Home Builders Family Centre in Warkworth.  If you would like to support this initiative, please drop off wrapped gifts at the Ray White offices in Warkworth and Snells Beach.

Warkworth Agricultural Show

The Warkworth A & P show is on Saturday 23^rd January 2016.  The Bubble Muffin Kids Cooking Club will be there providing a free practical hands on cooking programs for the children.  Contact cooking@bubblemuffin.com for further information.

Learn to Surf

Get the kids off the X-box and down to the beach this summer with our Learn to Surf week at Tawharanui&Orewa Beach

·                     Open to Kids aged between 7 – 17 years old

·                     Surf sessions 9.30am-12.30pm or 1.30pm-4.30pm

·                     Orewa16-18 Dec/4-8 Jan/11-15 Jan/18-20 Jan

·                     Tawharanui4-8 Jan/11-15 Jan

·                     Cost $99 for 3 day $150for 5 days

ONEILL SURF ACADEMY

Please emailsurf@oneillsurfacademy.co.nz

Hooked on Hockey Holiday Programme

Open to new or existing players. Groups streamed by age.

 Tuesday 26^th & Wednesday 27^th January, 9.00am - 3.00pm, North Harbour Hockey Stadium (Attend one day or both)  

Drop off from 8.30am. 9.00am start. 3.00pm pick up.

Cost:

$50 per child/day - normal rate

$45 per child/day- family rate (when registering 2 or more children from same family).

$80 per child - both days

Register via www.harbourhockey.org.nz

 Any questions, please contact Briar participation@harbourhockey.org.nz

Aquakidz Swimming Programme

Monday 18th to 22nd January 2016

$75 - 5 days

Ages 4 years and up!

Mahurangi College Pool

Contact Cindy 4259924 / 0211635050

aquakidz@hotmail.com

  

Kip McGrath

Kip McGrath Warkworth - English and maths tuition aligned to the NZ curriculum. Programmes designed to suit individual learning styles for Years 1- 12.

Phone Ann Cook on 422 2305 for a free assessment.

Week 9, Term 4

Dear Parents, Friends and Caregivers,

It has been an amazing year. Such a lot has happened.

We started the year with our school camp, which was a wonderful community building time in which our learners developed self confidence through climbing the high ropes, kayaking, archery, swimming, team games requiring leadership and problem solving, cooking their own dinner over a fire, camping outside, caving, and being part of a talent quest. What a great start to the year, with most of the school families attending for some or all of the time.

In terms of developing strong thinking skills, we have seen considerable progress. In the first half of the year we did a lot of science investigations, developing questioning skills, observational skills, labeling skills and helping the children to think like scientists and to say why they think something happens rather than only to regurgitate facts.

We have also done a lot of work with Feuerstein this year. This has given the children specific activities to work on together or as individuals which have developed increasing confidence in strategies to solve problems, and the ability to control impulsivity, create mental pictures, develop spatial awareness, and a whole host of other skills. These cognitive skills set the children up well to be lifelong learners.

Thinking skills have been further developed by our Author Think process which all senior children use to help them reflect on their own and others' work, provide and receive constructive feedback and revise their work in response. The junior classes are developing a beginning understanding of this approach.

We have had Gifted education for a day each week, and Japanese lessons, courtesy of Lynn Williams.

We have had a focus on developing self management skills, helping children to set and understand their own learning goals and to achieve goals within an expected time period.

In those first six months, we started our MCSTV and had our learners understand the various roles in a TV production and participate in making news clips about our school, we had a wonderful study on ANZAC, with each child in Years 4-8 researching a real life soldier who died in the war, and recording the information to share with others. This study was culminated in a moving service in which we showed respect for those who died for our people and country. Younger children did research projects and created e-books on animals of their choice.

The second six months has included work on understanding the various components of a musical production, and working hard so that all children in the school were participating to a very high standard in a dance and in group singing, and many children also had singing and acting parts. The senior class designed (and made most of) our costumes, designed and made the sets, tickets and programme.

Children have been sailing, surfing, visiting Chipmunks, skateboarding, swimming lessons at the beach and at the Mahurangi College pool, done metal work and cooking, and in several cases had specialist leadership training.

We have participated in almost all interschool sports, coming second in interschool hockey. On Saturdays our junior team won the Illingworth Family Trophy for the entire junior division and our seniors won the second division competition. Volaki has been selected for the North Harbour Hockey Representative Development Team and Tiraha has been selected for the 2016 Under-13 squad for Maori Netball.

We participated in the Interschool Speech competitions,  and Sam Lund got first in his Year 3-4 age group and Volaki came third in the Year 5-6 group.

All of our learners have had one to one and small group teaching in areas of weakness.

To conclude, we are delighted to see that we have had significant progress in Reading, Writing and Maths.

In all cases, we have National Standards results that are well above the National Average (which is in all cases between 71-78% At or Above National Standards). 

Our results are 

Reading: 86% At and Above 

Writing: 83% At and Above

Maths: 91% At and Above

Considering the fact that half of our learners new to the school were achieving Below National Standards when they arrived, this is a great testament to our teachers' diligence and student-focused teaching, and to the way they work to help the children own and celebrate their own learning results.

All of these things are testament to the extremely committed and hard work of your children's teachers and the commitment of the Board to fund additional staffing, and the help of volunteers like Amy Rabey who taught dance several times per week for four months, and Lynn Williams who donates a day each week to share her wealth of experience in gifted education, each as a volunteer. The Ministry of Education only funds our school for 2.8 teachers plus me. In actual fact, we have 4 classes each with their own teacher, 1 fulltime teacher aide, 1 nearly-full-time teacher aide, a Reading Recovery teacher who works five mornings a week with children who are struggling, and a host of volunteers who come in to listen to reading, teach in areas of specialty like cricket, dance, basketball, health and first aid education and financial literacy.

Our children have lacked for nothing this year in terms of variety and excellence of opportunity, and this is because our teachers and friends go above and beyond the call of duty to invest in what is best for each child.

I am both grateful and proud of the way our school is growing from strength to strength. Size is not a weakness here, but a strength we embrace.

Thanks for sharing with us in the journey. Next year promises to be even better!

Helen Pearson

School News                                                                           

Prize giving

This Friday morning at 9.15am we will be having our end of year prize giving for all of the students.  Parents, caregivers and friends are all welcome to attend and celebrate the achievements the children have made this year.

Last Day

School finishes next Wednesday 16^th December at 1.30pm.

NZCPT

The NZCPT will be the new Proprietors from January 2016.  Information packs have been sent out to all current families, with new Automatic Payment Forms.  It is important that those forms are returned ASAP, so that the payments can be set up for next year.  Please contact the office if you need another form emailed to you.

Lost Property

We have a large amount of lost property at school at the moment.  Could you please check the lost property in the office before the end of term.  All unclaimed items will be taken to the hospice shop at the end of term.

$4 School Lunch this Friday

Friday lunches have now finished for the year.   

Bracelet

A bracelet was found after the Snoops Production last week.  If you are missing a bracelet please contact the office.

Praying for the school

Every Monday morning from 8.45 – 9.15 we have prayer time for the school. All parents, caregivers and friends of the school are welcome to attend.

Baby Bunnies for Christmas

We have four baby bunnies that will be ready to go to new homes by 15 December.

They are extremely cute

If you are interested please call Isabelle on 021 985508

Community Notices                                                                

Ray White – A little Ray of Giving

Ray White is partnering with the Rotary Club of Warworth to collect gifts in December to distribute to less fortunate families in the region through the Home Builders Family Centre in Warkworth.  If you would like to support this initiative, please drop off wrapped gifts at the Ray White offices in Warkworth and Snells Beach.

Learn to Surf

Get the kids off the X-box and down to the beach this summer with our Learn to Surf week at Tawharanui&Orewa Beach

·                     Open to Kids aged between 7 – 17 years old

·                     Surf sessions 9.30am-12.30pm or 1.30pm-4.30pm

·                     Orewa16-18 Dec/4-8 Jan/11-15 Jan/18-20 Jan

·                     Tawharanui4-8 Jan/11-15 Jan

·                     Cost $99 for 3 day $150for 5 days

ONEILL SURF ACADEMY

Please emailsurf@oneillsurfacademy.co.nz

Hooked on Hockey Holiday Programme

 Our popular Hooked on Hockey Holiday programme is back in the New Year on January 26^th & 27^th catering for children aged 5 – 12 (school years 1 – 8).  

Open to new or existing players. Groups streamed by age.

 Tuesday 26^th & Wednesday 27^th January, 9.00am - 3.00pm, North Harbour Hockey Stadium (Attend one day or both)  

Drop off from 8.30am. 9.00am start. 3.00pm pick up.

Cost:

$50 per child/day - normal rate

$45 per child/day- family rate (when registering 2 or more children from same family).

$80 per child - both days

Register via www.harbourhockey.org.nz

 Any questions, please contact Briar – participation@harbourhockey.org.nz

Aquakidz Swimming Programme

Monday 18th to 22nd January 2016

$75 - 5 days

Ages 4 years and up!

Mahurangi College Pool

Contact Cindy 4259924 / 0211635050

aquakidz@hotmail.com

Kip McGrath

Kip McGrath Warkworth - English and maths tuition aligned to the NZ curriculum. Programmes designed to suit individual learning styles for Years 1- 12.

Phone Ann Cook on 422 2305 for a free assessment.

Week 8, Term 4

Dear Parents, Friends and Caregivers,

As you are aware, we use iPads at school, integrated across the learning areas in much the same way as other communication tools like pencils have been used in the past.

At Horizon School we are “preparing our children for their futures rather than our pasts”. This means that we integrate the tools of the present and future into learning and presentation of what we have learnt.

As we have integrated mobile devices into our school, we have seen increased engagement at school, ongoing learning at home, and a significant improvement in our achievement of National Standards.

A video made about Mahurangi Christian School's use of iPads about the value of iPads in our classrooms for learning 18 months ago. You may like to take a look at some of the many ways we use iPads by looking at this video clip here: https://vimeo.com/85292197 The Password is BeL. 

Which Devices?

Our school is set up for Bring Your Own Device. Therefore any device can be brought from home by the children and connected to the internet. However, it is easier as a school if we work on the same platform, and we have chosen to have iPads throughout the school as a priority.

Not all school work is on the iPad. There are so many subjects that still need a hands on approach such as the arts, sports, hand-writing and mathematical working out. Our learners still write some stories by hand.

Children in Room 1 have the use of devices kept at school as a class set.

It is our definite preference that children in Years 4-8 can take their iPads home in order to work on their homework and learning opportunities at home.  Our Year 6-8 learners in 2016 will use iPads significantly more at home.

Learners in Rooms 2, 3 and 4 have several options to enable learners to work at home and school with their iPads:

1.     Purchase an iPad for your child - FOR SOME OF YOU THIS COULD BE A GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  IDEA. (We prefer juniors to have iPads, while older children can have mini iPads).

2.        Purchase an iPad through the school (we will buy it for you and you can make $20 payments per week to own   it)

        3.      “Borrow” an iPad from the school for $6 per week/$310 per year lump sum.

4.      Year 1-3 children can use school iPads if they do not have their own

5.       If your family is unable to afford an iPad, please let us know and we will work to make another option possible.

Please feel free to ask questions if there is any further need for clarity.

Helen Pearson

School News                                                                                       

NZCPT

The NZCPT will be the new Proprietors from January 2016.  Information packs have been sent out to all current families, with new Automatic Payment Forms.  It is important that those forms are returned ASAP, so that the payments can be set up for next year.  Please contact the office if you need another form emailed to you.

$4 School Lunch this Friday

Friday lunches have now finished for the year.   

Bracelet

A bracelet was found after the Snoops Production last week.  If you are missing a bracelet please contact the office.

Praying for the school

Every Monday morning from 8.45 – 9.15 we have prayer time for the school. All parents, caregivers and friends of the school are welcome to attend.

Scholastic Books School Essentials Sale

Scholastic is having an end of year sale. Over 500 books all at $3.00 – Sale ends 4 December. Go to www.schoolessentials.co.nz to have a look at the books in the sale.

If you would like to order please email isabelle@promosolutions.co.nz by 3pm Friday 4 December. Isabelle

will be able to collate all orders under Horizon School registration.

Baby Bunnies for Christmas

We have four baby bunnies that will be ready to go to new homes by 15 December. They are extremely cute. If

you are interested please call Isabelle on 021 985508

Community Notices                                                                 

Coastguard – Life Jacket Trade In

For a limited time trade in your old lifejacket for a latest generation Hutchwilco lifejacket at a fantastic discounted price! Visit the Old4New van at locations across Auckland, Waikato and Northland. For details visit www.coastguard.org.nz

Green with Envy

Green with Envy is located on the corner of Sharp and Matakana Road. They are having Santa photos on Sunday 6^th and 13^th December from 11am – 1pm.  There is a gold coin donation with proceeds going to local schools.  See www.greenwithenvy.co.nz         

Voices of Pain and Voice of Hope

Alexis Waterhouse has also recently published a book called Voices of Pain and the Voice of Hope. It is a visual, textural and emotional journey through pain to hope. It is designed to expose the lies (or patterns of negative thinking) that entrap people suffering through emotional pain or mental health issues.

It uses poetry, art, photography and reflection to encourage the reader to continue on their journey of healing; and to seek help and community.

The book also teaches mindfulness and grounding techniques which allow the reader to pause, breathe and reflect in the moment – regardless of whether the situation is positive or challenging.

Book retails at $25.95. All profits go to A Girl Called Hope (Residential Home).

Home Builder Courses this term

Festive Feasts

Ways to feed the family at your home this Christmas with interesting and delicious ideas. This course is designed with consideration to financial pressures of this time of year and budget restraints.
Friday 4th of December 9.30 - 12-30 Homebuilders Family Services

As usual child minding is available at no cost. Please enrol by phone or return email with your phone contact and child care needs. 0276226809 Brian

Rainbows End

Rainbows End is having a special Christmas Fun night on the 19^th and 26^th December from 5pm – 11pm, with live acts playing as well.  Through out January there will also be late nights every Saturday night.  Tickets are at reduced prices. See their website for further details: www.rainbowsend.co.nz

Aquakidz Swimming Programme

Monday 18th to 22nd January 2016

$75 - 5 days

Ages 4 years and up!

Mahurangi College Pool

Contact Cindy 4259924 / 0211635050

aquakidz@hotmail.com

Kip McGrath

Kip McGrath Warkworth - English and maths tuition aligned to the NZ curriculum. Programmes designed to suit individual learning styles for Years 1- 12.

Phone Ann Cook on 422 2305 for a free assessment.

Emmanuel Family Camp

Emmanuel Family Camp is being run on the 19 – 21^st February 2016 for families with children who have a disability.  For more information contact (09) 636 4763 or email kirsty@elevatecdt.org.nz.

Further information about Elevate Christian Disability Trust can be found on their web site www.elevatecdt.org.nz