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Victoria Avenue School
Board of Trustees Newsletter
December 2011

Welcome to the eighth and final newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met again on 12 December and considered a broad range of matters including the search for a new Principal, student achievement results for 2011, the proposed 2012 budget, initial feedback from the parent survey and updates from both the PTS and Property Sub-Committee.

Review of 2011
The 2011 school year has now come to an end and, as outlined at the School Prizegiving, 2011 has been another very good year for Victoria Avenue School. Together we have made excellent progress towards achieving our vision of providing an optimal educational and learning environment for our children.

There have been many highlights at school this year, including the 2nd School Gala, completion of various property projects, the ripper rugby tournament, the inaugural music concert, the Marvellous Makeover Project, the school carol service, our student achievement results and the outstanding ERO report.

These and many other highlights are the direct result of the enthusiasm and dedication of our very talented staff, and also the commitment and generous contributions from parents and friends of our school. The Board wishes to extend a BIG THANK YOU to the numerous people that helped make 2011 a very good year.

Search for New Principal
As previously outlined, the Board has already started a search process for a new Principal and hopes to have a new Principal appointed to commence from the beginning of Term 2. The position has already been advertised in the Education Gazette and applications close on 10 February.

The Board has engaged Ron Scott to assist us in the appointment process. Ron already knows Victoria Avenue School very well, having been our “friend of the school” for the recent ERO review, and is very experienced in the appointment of new Principals. Given the many existing strengths of our school, we are confident that we will be able to attract another top quality Principal to lead our school.

We will provide further updates to the school community as we progress through the appointment process over the next few months.

Student Achievement
The Board received an initial summary from the senior management team on overall student achievement up to the end of Term 4. This update was based on the data gathered from all the individual student reports sent to parents.

Key conclusions from the student achievement update were as follows:

• Reading – 93% of all students are achieving at or above National Standards;
• Writing – 90% of all students are achieving at or above National Standards;
  
• Maths – 94% of all students are achieving at or above National Standards; and
  
• Overall, both Maori and Pacifika students are performing at a level consistent with all other students at school.
  

The Board is very pleased with these results and believe they reflect the very high teaching quality we have at our school. The Board will be examining the 2011 student achievement results in more detail at its next meeting and developing various targets for student achievement in 2012.

2012 Budget
Andrew Cleland presented the proposed 2012 operating and capital budget which had been developed by the Finance Sub-Committee.

The Board approved the operating budget as proposed, an overall limit for the capital budget and various items included in the capital budget. Other items included in the capital budget will need to be considered further by the Board once further details are available next year.

Key points to note from the 2012 budget include:

• The school is budgeting to generate a small operating surplus;
• The Board has decided to increase the level of school contributions to $480 per child for 2012 – there was no increase in 2011 and this increase is in line with inflation over the past two years;
  
• The Board has committed to increasing its spending on staff professional development as this was identified by the senior management team as having the greatest impact on student achievement;
  
• The school will continue to employ three additional teachers above its entitlement from the Ministry of Education staff; and
  
• Key areas of capital investment for 2012 include commencing upgrades of the senior classrooms, further investment in ICT equipment, contributing to the Marvellous Makeover Project and upgrading school furniture.
  

Property Update
Allan Short updated the Board on current property initiatives:

• The new shade canopy outside Rooms 11-14 is nearly complete and looking fantastic;
• The Marvellous Makeover Project developed by our Year 6 students is underway and due to be completed over the summer holidays;
  
• Roofing projects for the hall and Rooms 1-6 have been approved by the Ministry of Education and will be completed over the summer holidays; and
  
• We are continuing to investigate options for upgrading Rooms 1-7 which will be considered further during Term 1 next year.
  

Going forward, our newest Board member Bob Weston will join Helen Evans and Allan Short on the Property Sub-Committee.

PTS Update
Kim Grenfell updated the Board on the recent PTS meetings and activities.

The Board welcomes Simone Middleton to the role of PTS Chair for 2012 and understands she and her wonderful team have another busy schedule for 2012. Key PTS events to look out for in 2012 include:

• The “Family Fun Night” at the start of Term 1;
• The “Ceilidh Scottish Night” on 23 March; and
  
• London Olympics breakfasts in Term 3.
  

Parent Survey
Alana de Bruyn presented the initial results of the parent survey undertaken during Term 4.
We received feedback from a total of 181 families, a 48% response rate which is well up on the previous survey. Many thanks to those parents who took the time to complete the survey – we greatly appreciate your input.

Some key themes to emerge from the survey included:

• The vast majority of parents are very happy with the school and its current performance;
• Capital spending going forward should focus on a combination of the upgrade of older classrooms and further investment in ICT;
  
• The school should continue to focus on employing and retaining high quality teachers and continue the use of specialist teachers;
  
• The high level of parent involvement and strong school community are major strengths of our school;
  
• While most parents are very happy with the curriculum offered at school, some parents wish to be better informed about the curriculum;
  
• Student well-being should remain a key area of focus going forward; and
  
• Various other weaknesses and areas for development were noted, although most of these received only a few mentions from survey respondents.
  

The Board will be considering the survey results in more detail at its next meeting and, based on these results, developing various recommendations to be progressed in 2012.

Looking Ahead to 2012
As we look ahead to 2012, we believe that our school is in very good heart. While 2012 will bring some changes, ongoing change is inevitable in most aspects of school life; and as our school changes, new people will have the opportunity to contribute by bringing their own expertise and experience, and hence our school will continue to improve in all aspects.
Our school has a brilliant staff team and receives extraordinary support from so many generous parents and friends of the school. As a result, we are very confident that Victoria Avenue School will continue to make further progress in 2012 towards providing an optimal educational environment for our children.

We hope everyone has a fantastic summer holiday and look forward to seeing most of you back in 2012.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 13 February during the third week of Term 1.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson

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Victoria Avenue School
Board of Trustees Newsletter
November 2011

Welcome to the seventh newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met again on 7 November and considered a broad range of matters including changes to the composition of the Board, the ERO report, concerns regarding the use of wifi, the parent survey, our financial position at the end of Term 3 and various property initiatives.

Term 4 is now underway and the Rugby World Cup is safely in the trophy cabinet for the next four years. Phew! Halloween has also been celebrated for another year, with a record turn-out from children and parents at the Halloween fun-night organised by the PTS. There is plenty still to look forward to towards the end of Term 4, including the annual carol service, various events for our Year 6 leavers and prizegiving.

New Board Member
We are delighted to welcome Bob Weston as a new member of the Board. Bob has been selected to fill a casual vacancy for a parent-elected trustee following Garry Scarborough’s recent resignation.
Bob owns and manages his own engineering business, Entec Services, and has significant experience in management and general commercial fields. Bob was previously on the Board at Monte Cecilia School where his wife Anna was also a teacher. Bob and Anna have three sons – Toby in Year 5, Zac in Year 1 and Nick starting school in 2013.

Resignation of Staff-Elected Board Member
Sharon Reynolds has announced her resignation from the Board with effect from the end of the current school year. Sharon has made a strong contribution to the Board in many areas over the past four years, and we have been very fortunate to have had the benefit of her services and expertise. We extend our sincere thanks to Sharon for her contribution.
To replace Sharon as the staff-elected trustee, the Board will be conducting a by-election open to all school staff immediately prior to the start of Term 1 next year. Further details will provided following the next Board meeting.

ERO Visit
The Board has now received the “unconfirmed” report from Education Review Office (ERO) following its visit at the end of Term 3. The Board has reviewed this report and made some minor comments to ERO.
Of particular note is that ERO has indicated that it expects to undertake its next review of our school in four-to-five years rather than the standard three years. This reflects ERO’s findings that our school's curriculum is consistently effective in promoting student learning and all of the following are evident:

• Learners are actively engaged in their learning and are progressing very well;
• Māori learners are actively engaged in their learning and are progressing very well and succeeding as Māori;
  
• There is a culture of high expectations for students and staff;
  
• There is a school-wide culture of rigorous critical reflection and ongoing self review which supports improvement;
  
• Leadership and management are highly reflective, strategic and effective;
  
• Teaching is highly effective and makes very good use of student achievement information;
  
• The school has taken all reasonable steps to provide a safe and inclusive environment;
  
• Governance is highly effective; and
  
• The school is highly effective in engaging the community in the life of the school.
  

Less than 10% of schools achieve this extended review period – so well done again to our senior management, teachers and support staff for achieving this excellent result.
The final ERO report will be confirmed later in Term 4 and will be made available on the school’s website at that time.

Student Achievement
The Board reviewed the results of the school-wide descriptive writing analysis for Terms 1 and 3. The results showed significant improvement between Term 1 and Term 3 across all year groups. However, the Senior Management Team has highlighted its desire to raise the overall standard of descriptive writing for all students. To achieve this goal, and to help sustain ongoing improvement, writing will be a key curriculum focus and staff professional development area across the school in 2012.

Wifi in Our School
As previously advised, the Board received a letter in August from a parent concerned about the possible health risks associated with the use of wifi in the school. The Board subsequently wrote to the Minster of Education and the Minister of Health to seek their guidance on this matter.
The Board has now received a response from the Minister of Education which includes specific advice from the Ministry of Health. The response notes the following:

• “Wi-Fi does not pose a risk to staff or students in areas where it is used”
• “the Ministry is satisfied that Wi-Fi equipment is safe in schools”
  

Click here to view the full response from the Minister of Education. The advice from the Ministry of Health has also been highlighted to all New Zealand schools in the latest edition of the Education Gazette.
Based on this response, the Board is satisfied that the use of wifi in our school is safe for all students and staff. The Board will continue to monitor any new developments in this area and to promote the safe use of wifi in our school in accordance with guidance from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.

Financial Update
Andrew Cleland updated the Board on the School’s financial performance up to the end of September 2011.
This update indicated that the School was ahead of our budgeted surplus for the first nine months, but is expecting to be slightly behind our budget for the full year. Our cash and investments balance improved to be slightly over $300,000 and remains at a level consistent with the Board’s minimum target level of reserves.

We still have almost $10,000 of overdue expenses outstanding from parents, mainly relating to stationery, school camps, and other trips and activities. Consistent with our debt collection procedure, long-term debtors have been passed to a debt collection agency.

School contributions continued to be ahead of those achieved at the same time in the previous two years. However, contributions for approximately 26% of the children at school have not yet been paid in full, and no contributions have been paid for approximately 12% of the children at school. We encourage all parents to pay the school contribution if you are able to do so before the end of the school year.

Property Update
Allan Short updated the Board on current property initiatives. Key points to note are:

• The new shade canopy outside Rooms 11-14 is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of November;
• We are seeking quotes for the “Marvellous Makeover Project” developed by our Year 6 students (as outlined in the previous newsletter);
  
• We are also seeking quotes for two roofing projects (the hall and Rooms 1-6) which we plan to complete over the summer holidays; and
  
• We are investigating various options for upgrading Rooms 1-7 which will be considered further at our next Board meeting.
  

The Board is also delighted that Helen Evans will be joining the property sub-committee going forward. Helen is a civil engineer and has made significant contributions to numerous property projects in our community, including at St Aidan’s church and the “Marvellous Makeover Project”.

Parent Survey
As indicated in the previous newsletter, the Board is conducting an online parent survey again this term. You should have received an email about this already.
The survey is intended to provide all parents with the opportunity to provide feedback on our school and how we can make it even better for our children. The survey results will be used to review school performance and establish objectives for 2012 and beyond. We look forward to your feedback.

Board Dinner
Finally, the Board held a dinner on 11 November to acknowledge the significant contributions made to the school by:

• Garry Scarborough (Board member for six years and significant contributor to all our property projects over this period);
• Sharon Reynolds (Staff representative on the Board for the past four years); and
  
• Kim Hamilton (PTS Chairperson and Gala Committee Chairperson for the past three years).
  

Our sincere thanks again to Garry, Sharon and Kim for the significant time, effort and resources they have contributed to our school to make it a better place for all our children.

We hope everyone has an enjoyable Term 4 and is making the most of the increased daylight hours as we head into summer.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 12 December during the final week of Term 4.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson

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Oct

Victoria Avenue School
Board of Trustees Newsletter
October 2011

Welcome to the sixth newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met again on 3 October and considered a broad range of matters including the ERO visit, a progress update on our strategic plan, results from recent reading assessments, a proposal from Year 6 students and the annual Health and Safety Report.

Term 3 is now at an end and the holidays are upon us. Reaching the end of Term 3 has been longer than normal (due to the Rugby World Cup timing extending Terms 1 and 2) and our students have certainly used this to make great progress in the classroom and get involved in a broad range of activities. A big thank you to our fantastic teachers for making the term so enjoyable and diverse for our students, and also to all the parents who got involved to help make our school the best it can be.

ERO Visit
As many of you will know, the Education Review Office (ERO) visited our school last week. On Friday last week and Monday this week, the Board of Trustees received formal feedback from ERO on their review of our school.

The feedback we received was outstanding and quite overwhelming. The reviewers indicated that this was a very impressive review, that morale throughout the school was excellent and that the teaching quality was of a very high standard. As a result, students are well engaged in learning and student achievement is consistently well above expectations.

Our school is very fortunate to have a great team of very talented senior management, teachers and support staff who have all contributed to this wonderful result. The feedback from ERO is a direct result of the passion, expertise and dedication they all bring to our school.

We expect that ERO’s final report will be available for public release in early November once it has been through the confirmation processes.

Year 6 “Marvellous Makeover” Proposal
The Board was delighted to consider a proposal from the Year 6 students in Rooms 4 and 6 regarding the “Marvellous Makeover” of the outdoor area behind Rooms 7-10.

This proposal emerged from an inquiry learning project that the students have undertaken over the past few weeks. It involves:

• Revitalising the “forest” area below the new decks outside Rooms 7-10
• Building a new stairway connecting the decks and the boardwalk
  
• Extensive new planting throughout the “forest” area
  

The Board was hugely impressed with the careful thought and effort that went into the proposal and has agreed to support it. We look forward to assisting the students of Rooms 4 and 6 bring this proposal “to life” during Term 4. If you are interested in finding out more about the project please look at the presenation in the main corridor outside Room 6.

Student Achievement
As part of our review of the Annual Targets adopted by the Board for 2011, the Board reviewed the results of the STAR reading assessment for Year 3 students. The results showed a significant improvement from Term 1 to Term 3 with 78% of Year 3 students now achieving at an “above average” level and no students “below average”. Particularly good progress was made in the areas of comprehension and vocabulary, reflecting the teaching focus implemented following the review of the assessment results in Term 1.

Progress with Strategic Plan
Allan Short also updated the Board on progress towards our six strategic goals at the meeting. Overall, the school is making very good progress during the year-to-date. Some key points to highlight are:

• A full programme of staff professional development in “Thinking Skills” has been undertaken, and our school has been accredited as a “Thinking School” by the Cognitive Education Centre at Exeter University
• Excellent progress has been made regarding the introduction of National Standards, particularly in the use of assessment data and the moderation of achievement results across and between year groups
  
• The trial programme in Te Reo Maori commenced in Term 2 with the Middle Syndicate has been very successful and, as a result, has been extended to the Senior Syndicate in Term 3
  
• Development of the Ultranet is nearing completion – it is already being used by staff and students, and a trial of the Parent Portal is now planned for Term 4
  

Financial Update
Andrew Cleland updated the Board on various financial matters. We are making very good progress in relation to school contributions, having received $195,000 in contributions as at the end of last week. However, we still require further contributions to achieve our budget for this year. The Board followed up with parents regarding non-payment of contributions earlier in Term 3 and has also sent reminders this week to parents who are paying contributions on an instalment basis.

The Finance Sub-Committee has also drafted a debt management procedure to ensure that all parents are clear about how overdue expenses will be managed by the school. Consistent with this procedure, amounts that are overdue by more than four months will be referred to a debt collection agency.

PTS – Change of Chairperson
Kim Grenfell updated the Board on the PTS’s activities. In particular, she advised that Kim Hamilton has “retired” as Chairperson of the PTS after giving over three years to this role. Kim has made an enormous contribution during her time as Chairperson – she has been instrumental in setting up systems and documenting procedures for PTS events, adopted a “think big” approach in the annual planning of the PTS calendar and worked tirelessly to ensure all the PTS’s fundraising and friend-raising goals have been achieved.

We extend our sincere thanks to Kim for her immense contribution to our school. We have been very fortunate to have had the benefit of her energy, organisation and innovation in the Chairperson role. Under her leadership the PTS has contributed over $300,000 to our school and also made a tremendous contribution to our school community and spirit.

A new Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson are expected to be confirmed by the PTS at its next meeting.

Junior School Shade Canopy
Allan Short updated the Board on progress with the new shade canopy outside Rooms 11-14. A contractor has been appointed and we expect construction to commence during the holiday break.

Wifi in Our School
As indicated in our previous newsletter, the Board has written to the Minster of Education and the Minister of Health to seek their guidance on the safety of using wifi in our school.
The Board had not received a response prior to our meeting and hence deferred any further discussion on this matter until our next meeting.

Health and Safety Report
Alana De Bruyn presented a comprehensive annual Health and Safety Report to the Board. This report considered all aspects of health and safety in our school including sickness and injury, crisis management, environmental hazards, water safety and arrangements for non-custodial and shared custodial parents.

While the report did not identify any significant issues that needed to be addressed, it did make a range of recommendations for the Board to consider. The Board accepted these recommendations and delegated responsibility to Allan Short to implement them.

The report also highlighted the following important “reminders” for parents and students:

• The Cyber Safety Use Agreement sent to all families in Term 3 needs to be signed and returned – students are unable to use the internet at school until this is done
• All visitors to the school (including parents, volunteers and contractors) must sign-in upon entry to the school and be made aware of any potential hazards pertaining to their visit
  

Parent Survey
The Board intends to conduct an online parent survey again early in Term 4. This will provide all parents with the opportunity to provide feedback on our school and how we can make it even better for our children. The survey results will be used to review school performance and establish objectives for 2012 and beyond. We look forward to your feedback.
We hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday break and continues to enjoy the excitement of the Rugby World Cup. Go the mighty All Blacks!

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 7 November during the 3rd week of Term 4.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson

September

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Victoria Avenue School
Board of Trustees Newsletter
September 2011

Welcome to the fifth newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met again on 29 August and considered a broad range of matters including progress on student achievement, the upcoming ERO visit, our financial position at mid-year and the use of wifi in our school.

Term 3 has kicked off with lots of activities within the school (e.g. speech competitions, cross country races, the Arts Extravaganza and the Rippa Rugby competition). It has been great to see how much effort from our children goes into these events, and the pleasure they obviously get from them. Our fantastic teachers have certainly been busy in making all these extra activities so successful. It is also wonderful to see lots of parents getting involved in these activities and helping to make our school the best it can be.

Board Member Resignation
Garry Scarborough announced his resignation from the Board in August after six years of wonderful service to our school. Garry made a strong contribution to the Board in many areas, and we have been very fortunate to have had the benefit of his services and expertise. In particular, Garry has made an immense contribution to all the property developments during over the past six years through his leadership of the Property Sub-Committee. We extend our sincere thanks to Garry for his contribution, and wish him and his family all the best for the future.

Casual Vacancy for Parent-Elected Trustee
As a result of Garry’s resignation, the Board has a casual vacancy for a parent-elected trustee that it needs to fill. The Board has determined to fill this vacancy by selection, rather than hold another election. Accordingly, we are keen to hear from any parents or other candidates that may have an interest in joining the Board. If you have an interest in this role please contact Rob Hamilton on 021 955 944 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Alternatively, if 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the Board to hold a by-election to fill the vacancy, then a by-election will be held. Any eligible voter who wishes to ask the Board to hold a by-election should email Rob Hamilton by Friday 30 September.

Student Achievement
The Board received an excellent update from the senior management team on overall mid-year student achievement in relation to National Standards. This information was based on the formal and informal assessment data gathered by staff over the first two terms and summarised for parents in their children’s individual student reports sent home at the end of Term 2.

Key conclusions from the student achievement update were as follows:

• Reading – 93% of all students are already achieving at or above expectation for National Standards
• Writing – 91% of all students are achieving at or above expectation for National Standards;
  
• Maths – 94% of all students are achieving at or above expectation for National Standards;
  
• All students who are below the National Standards are being closely monitored and provided with tailored additional support;
  
• Overall, both Maori and Pacifika students are performing at a level consistent with all other students at school; and
  
• Overall, girls are performing slightly better than boys in reading and writing, while the opposite is observed in maths (this is consistent with both national and international trends).
  

ERO Visit
As previously indicated, the Education Review Office (ERO) will be visiting our school in the second half of September. For schools being reviewed in Term 3, ERO will be focusing on the following “national evaluation topics”:

• Use of student assessment information to promote student progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics;
• Success for Maori and Pacifika students;
  
• Support for students with special education needs; and
  
• The quality of education for international students.
  

The Board and the senior management team are well prepared for the ERO visit. Since our last meeting, the Board has completed the Self-Audit Checklist and Board Assurance Statement. These cover the full range of legal responsibilities that the Board has for governing the school and reporting to the Ministry of Education. Both the Self-Audit Checklist and Board Assurance Statement were approved at our meeting and have now been submitted to ERO along with documentation prepared by the senior management team.

Financial Update
The Board received an update on the School’s financial performance for the first half of 2011. This update indicated that the School was slightly behind our budgeted surplus for the half-year but still on target to achieve the budget for the full year. Our cash and investments balance remained slightly under $300,000 following ongoing capital investment by the Board. This level of cash and investments is also consistent with the Board’s minimum target level of reserves for financial risk management purposes.

We still have almost $20,000 of overdue expenses outstanding from parents, mainly relating to stationery, school camps, after-school care, and other trips and activities. The Board has written to all parents with overdue expenses seeking immediate payment and indicating that their children will not be able to participate in school trips and activities until the outstanding expenses are paid in full.

School Contributions
On the positive side, school contributions received by 30 June were higher than at the same time in both 2009 and 2010. So a big “thank you” to all those parents that have paid their school contributions for 2011, especially those parents that have generously made an “extra” contribution to support our school. Early payment really does make a big difference to the financial management of our school.

Contributions for approximately 30% of the children at school have not yet been paid in full, and no contributions have been paid for approximately 15% of the children at school. We encourage all parents to pay the school contribution if you are able to do so. The Board has already followed up on outstanding school contributions earlier in Term 3.

PTS Contribution
In August the PTS gave the school a cheque for $110,000 representing the money raised from the School Gala and numerous other PTS fundraising events (e.g. sausage sizzles, school directory, spellathon).

This amazing achievement reflects a huge amount of hard work and commitment by the whole PTS team. They make a tremendous contribution to our school community and spirit, through their “fundraising and friend-raising” activities, and we are extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated and passionate team.

The next PTS “friend-raising” event is the annual quiz night on 17 September. We hope to see you there.

Property Update
Allan Short updated the Board on current property initiatives. The main development is that we have received final quotes for the new shade canopy outside Rooms 11-14 and selected a preferred contractor. As a result, we are working hard to have everything in place to enable us to undertake this project during the October holidays, so that the new shade cloth will be ready for use going into summer.

Wifi in Our School
The Board recently received a letter from a parent concerned about the possible health risks associated with the use of wifi in the school. Our school currently uses wifi in all classrooms, the office area and staff room, and the Board considers the use of wifi to be both practical and safe.

However, the Board has a legal responsibility to provide a safe physical environment for students and to comply with any legislation currently in force to ensure the safety of students and employees. Hence we take seriously any concerns about possible health risks to our students and employees.

Our initial review of the latest independent international research on the matter suggests that, while selected studies have suggested possible concerns, there is no consistent evidence of health issues arising from the use of wifi. This is a view endorsed by the World Health Organisation. However, this is clearly a very technical area and no Board member is an expert in the science behind wifi and whether there are possible health risks.

Following a lengthy discussion on this matter, the Board resolved to write to the Minster of Education and the Minister of Health to seek their guidance. The Board also noted that this matter is universal and not specific to our school.

We are now well into Term 3 and the Rugby World Cup is about to kick-off. I hope everyone gets the opportunity to experience part of this amazing event for New Zealand. Go the All Blacks!

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday 3 October during the last week of Term 3.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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June 2011

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Victoria Avenue School
Board of Trustees Newsletter

Welcome to the fourth newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met again on 13 June and considered a broad range of matters from the upcoming ERO visit to student attendance guidelines.

The relatively brief period between this meeting and our previous meeting was due to Allan Short departing last weekend to attend the 15th “International Conference on Thinking” in Belfast and to visit leading “thinking schools” in the United Kingdom. We wish Allan a very successful trip and a well deserved break with his family in the United Kingdom following this professional development.

New Board Member
We are delighted to welcome Andrew Cleland as a new member of the Board. Andrew has been co-opted to the Board to assume responsibility for the Treasurer role from Rob Hamilton. Andrew is well qualified for this role, being a qualified Chartered Accountant and having undertaken a range of financial, audit and commercial roles, most recently with Fonterra.

Andrew is married to Jenny Hayward who was the previous School Accountant and now manages the uniform shop. They have a daughter Cate who is currently in Year 2, and a son Angus who completed Year 6 last year.

ERO Visit
ERO has confirmed that it will be visiting our school in Term 3, most likely in the second half of September. The Board and the senior management team are already well underway in preparing for the ERO visit.

A key task for the Board is the completion of the Self-Audit Checklist and Board Assurance Statement. This covers the full range of legal responsibilities that the Board has for governing the school and reporting to the Ministry of Education. We plan to have this completed prior to our next meeting so this can be approved at that meeting and then submitted to ERO by the end of August.

Charter Feedback
The Ministry of Education has acknowledged the receipt of our School Charter and provided favourable feedback. The Ministry noted that the “Victoria Avenue School clearly articulates its commitment to student engagement, achievement and excellence with the emphasis on improvement in pedagogical knowledge and classroom practice.”
Naturally we are pleased with this positive feedback. We also are committed to fulfilling the vision and strategic goals outlined in the Charter.

Progress Towards Strategic Goals
Allan Short updated the Board on progress towards our six strategic goals at the meeting. Overall, the school is making very good progress during the year-to-date. Key points to highlight are:

• Mid-year reports will be going home at the end of Term 2. Based on these reports, the Board will receive an update on overall progress against National Standards for discussion at its next meeting.
• Virtually all of our ICT goals for 2011 have already been achieved. As discussed at the recent Parent Workshop, Ultranet (whilst still being developed) is now being successfully used by staff and students. The Parent Portal will become available in due course once the developers have released it to us.
• Most of our targets regarding strong partnerships with the wider school family and our local community have been achieved already, largely due to the efforts of the PTS and the extensive range of after-school clubs and activities.
• We are making excellent progress on our various property goals – see below for further details.
• Maori and Pacifika Student Update

Allan Short reported to the Board on achievement by Maori and Pacifika students. The results indicated that both Maori and Pacifika students are achieving at a level consistent with all other students at Victoria Avenue School.
Allan, Jane Cameron and Anne Bridgman met with parents of Maori and Pacifika students earlier this term. These meetings were extremely positive and the discussions provided good feedback about our school.

Property Update
Garry Scarborough updated the Board on current property initiatives. These include:

• Obtaining quotes for the refurbishment of Room 7;
• Reviewing quotes for the shade canopy outside Rooms 11-14;
• Updating our five-year property plan with the Ministry of Education; and
•  Reviewing the geotech report on subsidence behind Rooms 19-21.

We plan to spend time during Term 4 looking ahead to further potential property projects for 2012 and 2013. These are likely to include refurbishment of the senior classrooms – namely Rooms 1-6.

Community Events
Kim Grenfell updated the Board on recent community events and other PTS initiatives. These include the Disco, the Kindy Kids Morning Tea and Grandparents Day. These “friend-raising” events were aimed at three different segments of the school community and were all hugely successful.

PTS fundraising events in Term 2 have deliberately been kept low-key following the very successful School Gala at the end of Term 1. However, the PTS has still made good progress with the Spellathon, recycling telephone books, and selling daffodil bulbs and the Entertainment Book.

The Board is very grateful for the significant role the PTS undertakes in bringing our school and its community together, and in raising much-needed funding to support key projects (e.g. the new wooden decks outside Rooms 8-10 and our new hall sound system). Hardly a week goes by without the PTS being active somewhere within the school community – they are a very committed and hard-working team to whom we continually owe a big “thank you”.

Student Attendance Guidelines
Vlad Kozak and the senior management team have recently completed a review of the student attendance guidelines to ensure they meet Ministry of Education expectations. When an absence occurs, the school is required to report whether the absence is “justified” or “unjustified”. The Ministry has issued schools with guidelines in these areas.
Examples of a “justified” absence include: family bereavement, force majeure event, dance or music exams, and cultural or sporting representation.

Examples of an “unjustified” absence include: out-of-town travel (both domestic and overseas), recovering from a busy weekend, birthday celebration and moving house.

Consistent attendance at school is obviously a major contributor to student achievement, so we aim to take all reasonable steps to ensure students attend school when it is open.

We are now over half way through Term 2 and approaching the shortest day. We hope everyone is coping with the winter coughs and colds going around, and those darker mornings for the pre-school sports practices.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 29 August during the fifth week of Term 3.

Rob Hamilton

Chairperson

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May 2011

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Victoria Avenue School
Board of Trustees Newsletter

Welcome to the third newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met on 23 May and spent much of the meeting focused on two contrasting but important topics – student achievement and financial performance.

Student Achievement
As noted in the first newsletter of 2011, a key role of the Board is to monitor student achievement throughout the school. To ensure all Board members are up-to-date with how student achievement is monitored and assessed in the classroom, we invited Jane Cameron (Deputy Principal) and Anne Bridgman (Assistant Principal) to present to us on student achievement in literacy and numeracy (also known as Reading, Writing and Mathematics).

These presentations were very stimulating and reinforced that the School does adopt a thorough and rigorous approach to student assessment throughout the year. They also confirmed that the student achievement requires a continuous focus and that, despite our already high levels of student achievement at VAS, there are always areas in which our teaching staff and children can potentially improve.

The presentations highlighted further ways in which the Board can support student achievement in our School, particularly through focused professional development of our teaching staff and greater access to teaching and learning resources. The Board intends to consider how further funding can be allocated to these areas in the future in order to achieve ongoing advances in student achievement by all our children.

2010 Annual Report
An important role of the Board at this time of the year is to review and approve the School’s annual report for the previous year. The annual report comprises:

• the “Analysis of Variance” – an analysis of how the School performed relative to its educational targets in literacy and numeracy for the year; and
• the financial statements for the year.

The Board has discussed the progress made against the 2010 educational targets and we are pleased with the results. As noted in our first newsletter, for 2010 our assessment is that over 90% of our children were at or above the National Standards for Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

The School also achieved a surplus ahead of budget in 2010. This was largely due to a higher Operating Grant (due to a higher student roll), one-off donations to the School and higher numbers of foreign fee-paying students. The School had a cash and investments balance of approximately $400,000 at the end of 2010, some of which has already been spent on the upgrade of Rooms 8-10 and the new decking outside these classrooms.
The School’s 2010 annual report is available in the office upon request.

2011 Financial Update
The Board received an update on the School’s financial performance for the first three months of 2011. This update indicated that the School is slightly ahead of our budgeted surplus for the year-to-date and hence on target to achieve the budget for the full year. As expected, our cash and investments balance had declined to slightly under $300,000 following approximately $100,000 of capital investment by the Board on classroom upgrades, new IT equipment, new library books and a new alarm and smoke detector system.

Of some concern, however, is the approximately $60,000 of outstanding expenses owing by parents. These expenses relate primarily to stationery, School camps and other trips and activities. Reminder notices were sent out in the first week of Term 2 and the Board asks all parents with overdue expenses to pay them as soon as possible.

Policies
The Board has a regular programme for reviewing all our School policies. This programme is implemented by the Policy Sub-Committee comprising Alana de Bruyn, Kim Grenfell and Allan Short.

Over the past few months the Policy Sub-Committee has reviewed and updated approximately 25 policies which have subsequently been approved by the Board. These policies cover a broad range of matters such as road safety, cyber safety, access by non-custodial parents, student enrolment, Maori and Pacifika student achievement, and theft and fraud prevention.

All of our School’s policies are available for review in the office.

Principal’s Professional Development
A critical part of maintaining the best possible educational and learning environment at our School is professional development for the senior management and teaching staff. The School invests every year in the professional development of our staff to ensure that they can improve their educational knowledge and skills and stay abreast of the latest developments in education.

As part of our professional development plans for 2011, Allan Short will be attending the 15th “International Conference on Thinking” in Belfast in late June. This is a leading international conference held every two years and brings together leading thinkers, researchers and practitioners to debate and discuss the nature of high quality thinking - how it can be cultivated and valued in education, in business, for healthy living, for sport and leisure, for sustainability, and for working and living in a democratic and just society.

Following this conference, Allan will spend a week visiting leading “thinking schools” in the United Kingdom. This part of his trip has been arranged by Kestrel Education and Exeter University’s Cognitive Education Centre, both leading organisations in the United Kingdom in the whole-school approach to the teaching of thinking.

BOT Treasurer
As noted in the previous newsletter, the Board is seeking to co-opt a new Board member to act as Treasurer. We have received a number of expressions of interest in this position and will be meeting with candidates over the next few weeks. The Board expects to make an appointment to this position by mid-June.

We hope everyone is now well settled into Term 2 and staying healthy as we head into winter.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson

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April 2011

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Welcome to the second newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board met on 11 April and reflected on what we consider has been a very busy and successful first term for Victoria Avenue School. From the “Meet the Teacher” evening in early February to the “Healthy Lifestyles” week in mid-March to the Year 4 and Year 6 camps, Term 1 has certainly been action-packed and stimulating for everyone involved with our school.

School Gala
The highlight of Term 1 for many was the second School Gala held at the start of April. This was a marvellous and hugely successful event which brought the whole school community together and was even bigger and better than our inaugural Gala two years ago. It was great to see so many smiling faces (both the kids and the adults!) and experience our awesome school spirit during the Gala weekend.

The financial success of the Gala was also exceptional. The latest estimate of $75,000 raised for our school is a great outcome and a 30% increase on the previous Gala.

The Board is very grateful to the Gala Committee for their huge commitment over the past nine months to making the Gala such a superb event. The Board also wishes to thank the numerous volunteers, sponsors, teachers and children who all helped make the Gala an amazing day.

Property Update
Supported by the funding from the Gala, we continue to make good progress on the school’s various property projects.

The new wooden decks outside Rooms 8-10 are nearly completed and will be available for use from the start of Term 2. We expect these decks will further enhance the teaching and learning environments in these classrooms, following on from the interior refurbishments that were undertaken over the summer holiday break.

The new sound system in the school hall has also been installed and is a huge improvement on our previous system.

The next projects on the Board’s agenda are:

• The extension of the shade cover through to Rooms 11-14 (targeted for completion during 2011)
• The refurbishment of Room 7 (expected to occur over the 2011/2 summer holiday break)

The Board has further property plans as part of its vision for the school over the next few years, with the next stage likely to be a refurbishment of the senior block (Rooms 1-6). We intend putting these on display soon – please have a look so you can see what will be happening in the future.

Charter
At its most recent meeting the Board reviewed and approved the School Charter for 2011. The School Charter comprises:

• Background information on the school
• The vision, values and strategic goals for our school (as determined by the Board at the end of 2009)
• The annual plans and targets for achieving our strategic goals
• Specific targets for student achievement during 2011
• An overview of our 2011 budget (as approved by the Board at the end of 2010)
• A summary of the school’s staffing and resources
• An outline of our annual and four-yearly review programme

The School Charter has now been submitted to the Ministry of Education and is also available on the school’s website – see http://www.victoria-avenue.school.nz/our-school/charter.

Principal Performance Agreement
The Board also reviewed and approved the Principal Performance Agreement for 2011 at its latest meeting. This agreement is a legal requirement for all school boards and covers:

• The Principal’s job description and professional standards
• The annual performance and development objectives for the Principal (which are closely linked to plans and targets in the School Charter)
• The process for annually reviewing the performance of the Principal

The Board enlisted the expert assistance of Ron Scott, a leading education consultant and a former school principal, to assist with the preparing the Principal Performance Agreement. Ron will also be involved once again in conducting Allan’s appraisal at the end of the year.

Te Reo Maori
Te Reo Maori is an important part of our school’s curriculum. Following a review led by Jane Cameron of how we approach Te Reo Maori, the school has decided to trial a new professional development programme for Te Reo Maori during Term 2. This trial will initially focus on Years 3 and 4 and will involve Paul Walker, who has had a long association with our school, assisting with the teaching of Te Reo Maori (language) and Tikanga Maori (customs, protocols and values) each week. If the trial is successful, then the intention is to repeat the programme for the junior and senior syndicates later in 2011.

BOT Treasurer
The Board has had an initial review of its composition and succession plans looking forward to the next elections in April 2013.

Following this review, the Board is seeking to co-opt a new Board member with relevant accounting, financial and governance skills to act as Treasurer for at least the next two years.

Please contact Rob Hamilton (ph. 021 955 944) or Vlad Kozak (ph. 021 473 368) if you have an interest in being considered for this role.

School Contributions
As at 31 March we had received total contributions of $140,000. This is higher than the same time in both 2009 and 2010, and includes $12,000 of “extra” contributions above the standard $460 per child.

Thank you to all the parents who have paid the school contribution already – early payment really does make a big difference to the financial management of our school. A special thank you also to those parents that have generously made an “extra” contribution to support our school.

However, no school contributions have been paid for 38% of the children at school. We encourage all parents to pay the school contribution if you are able to do so. By doing so you will ensure that all families are contributing to the funding gap (after receiving the Ministry of Education operations grant) of over $400,000 that our school community needs to bridge each year.
The Board will be following up on outstanding school contributions early in Term 2.

We hope everyone has an enjoyable April/Easter break and look forward to another successful term after the holidays.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson

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February 2011

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This is the first newsletter for 2011 from your Board of Trustees.

The Board has eight meetings scheduled this year (check the calendar on the VAS website for dates) and we will be sending out a newsletter following each meeting to update parents on key matters being considered by the Board.

Rob Hamilton has been elected as the new Chair for 2011, and takes over from Vlad Kozak who was Chair for the previous four years. The Board extends a big “thank you” to Vlad for his tremendous commitment and contribution to our school during this time.

The Board of Trustees
First, here is a quick reminder of who is on the Board of Trustees:
Parent Representatives:

• Rob Hamilton (Chair) – father of Josh (Yr6) and Emma (Yr5)
• Kim Grenfell (Deputy Chair) – mother of Sam (Yr6) and Sophie (Yr4)
• Vlad Kozak – father of Isabella (Yr4)
• Garry Scarborough – father of Nic (Yr5)
• Alana de Bruyn – mother of Jenna (Yr4)

Staff Representative: Sharon Reynolds (Room 12)

Principal: Allan Short – father of Owen (Yr4), Evie (Yr3) and Lachie (Yr1)

An important issue for the Board is succession planning to ensure continuity of experience and knowledge following the three-yearly elections. In the 2010 elections, three out of the five parent representatives continued on the Board, thereby providing a good level of continuity. The Board will be looking closely at succession planning this year to ensure we have appropriate continuity going forward over the next three to five years.

Strategic Plan
The Board updated the vision, values and strategic goals for our school at the end of 2009. Full details of our vision, values and goals can be found in the School Charter on the VAS website.
The Board will be considering at its next meeting how it will make progress towards achieving the six strategic goals during 2011. We will provide an update on these plans in the next Board of Trustees newsletter.

Student Achievement
A key role of the Board is to monitor student achievement throughout the school.

National Standards were introduced during 2010 and created lots of news in the media and the education sector. VAS deliberately didn’t join the public debate and instead focused on providing the best teaching and learning environment for our children.

As discussed at our parent forum in 2010, the staff team have worked extremely hard to integrate our already excellent range of standardised assessment tools with other formal and informal assessment methods to progress the implementation of National Standards in our school.

National Standards pose many issues, not least of which is ensuring high quality moderation within and between schools. As the MOE recognises there is still much work to do in this area. While it is still challenging at this early stage to benchmark our children against National Standards, our assessment for 2010 is that over 90% of our children were at or above the National Standards for Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

The Board is naturally delighted with these results and believe they reflect the excellent teaching and learning standards at our school.

As was highlighted in 2010, the Parent Portal will be introduced during the course of 2011 at our school. This will provide all parents with online access to a wide arrangement of student information, including all standardised student achievement results for their children, and school reports.

2011 Budget
The Board approved the financial budget for 2011 at its meeting in December 2010. In setting the 2011 budget, the Board has focused on ensuring we continue to have a high quality teaching and learning environment for all our children.
Key points for parents to note in relation to the 2011 budget are:

• VAS is budgeting to make a modest operating surplus of approximately $50,000, based on operating income of approximately $950,000 and operating expenses of approximately $900,000
• The Ministry of Education provides 52% of our operating income, with the remaining 48% coming from parents and the school community (reflecting our position as a decile 10 school)
• The Board is continuing to fund two additional teachers over and above the Ministry of Education entitlement

As part of the 2011 budget, the Board also approved a significant capital expenditure programme totalling approximately $325,000. The key items in this programme are:

• Refreshing the interiors of Rooms 8-10 (already completed)
• New junior school and library computers (already installed)
• Extension of junior school shade cover
• Room 7 upgrade
• Wooden deck outside Rooms 7-10
• Junior school furniture upgrade
• Upgrading alarm and smoke detector system (already installed)
• New school hall sound system
• New library books and class dictionary sets

The Board is committed to improving the physical environment of our school as reflected by this capital expenditure programme. However, funding this programme will use up a significant portion of our cash reserves.

This highlights the critical importance to our school of the income that is provided by parents and the school community. Without the level of support we receive from parents and the school community, many of our initiatives would need to be cut back significantly.

School Contributions
As you will be aware, the Board set the annual school contribution for 2011 at $460 per child, the same level as in 2010.

School contributions represent the largest single income source for our school other than the grant from the Ministry of Education. However, in 2010 school contributions were not paid for one in every six children at VAS. This represents a shortfall of approximately $40,000, a significant amount for our school.

Given the plans being progressed by the Board for 2011, it is very important that we raise as much as possible through school contributions. We also encourage all parents to pay in full during Term 1 if you are able to do so. There is even the opportunity for parents to contribute additional amounts if you wish.

The Board intends to follow-up with all families regarding school contributions at the end of Term 1.

Principal Appraisal
Another key role of the Board is to support and monitor Allan Short as our Principal. Part of this role involves an annual appraisal of our Principal.

The most recent appraisal was completed in December 2010 and reviewed by the Board at its December meeting. The Board enlisted the expert assistance of Ron Scott, a leading education consultant and a former school principal, to assist with the appraisal process.

We are delighted to report that Allan received a glowing appraisal report from Ron Scott. To quote directly from Ron’s report:

“He is an experienced and effective school leader. He demonstrates quite outstanding leadership traits and qualities that were affirmed by staff during interviews and from survey feedback.”

“He has a clear and appropriate vision shaped by his focus on children and his set of core values. He demonstrates high levels of professionalism, commitment and dedication to his role having a clear appreciation of his pivotal role within the school.”

“Allan is also student focused wanting the best for the students in all pursuits. He has kept himself well up to date with current trends in education and in pedagogy and this brings him high credibility with his colleagues.”

The Board wishes to publicly thank Allan for the outstanding contribution he makes to our school in his role as the Principal.

ERO Visit
Our school will be visited by the Education Review Office (ERO) this year as part of the three-yearly review cycle. The visit is expected to be in either Term 3 or Term 4.

The ERO visit is an important event for our school as it provides an independent external assessment of how we are performing. The report from the previous ERO visit in 2008 is available on the VAS website.

The Board is delighted that our school has started 2011 with such wonderful spirit and energy, and is looking forward to another very successful year ahead.

Best wishes for Term 1.

Rob Hamilton
Chairperson

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