Dear Parents
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything." – Plato
Most children enjoy music, in fact it is rare to find a child who doesn’t gain pleasure from it. As individuals I am sure we have all experienced the strength of emotion that music can bring to us.
From Plato, through Shakespeare (“If music be the food of love, play on: give me excess of it...”) right up to the Twenty First century there is no shortage of evidence and opinion or quotes on the power of music.
One of the great joys of being a parent is seeing your child, even at very young age, respond to music in the most amazing ways. A baby can be soothed to sleep by the playing of a musical toy at bedtime or be animated at the sound of stimulating music. A toddler will rock, bounce, jig or dance to music and invariably will do so without experiencing the slightest hint of self-consciousness that, perhaps unfortunately, comes with age!
It is fascinating to hear from children themselves just how powerful they feel music education can be. Through the ‘student voices’ some consistent and common themes emerge. These include:
- Well-being eg. emotional, relaxation, enjoyment, escapism, stress reduction
- Personal development eg. perseverance, confidence, self-expression, goal setting
- Social interactions eg. new friendships and people, negotiating relationships
- Skill development eg. ability to concentrate, physical reflexes, aural training, public performance
- Communicating through music eg. creativity, self-expression, mastery of a new language, interacting musically.
Education is presently under the media spotlight, particularly so in an election year. There is a political emphasis on the National Standards, and in particular Numeracy and Literacy. I believe that it is important we do not lose sight of the values and skills other areas of our curriculum can offer our children too.
The performing arts offer something unique, which is summed up beautifully by the children in their thoughts above. If you ever needed convincing of this then you only had to attend our recent musical evening. There was, quite literally, standing room only as a quarter of the school participated in a fabulous evening featuring the Choir, Ukulele Group, Guitar Group and other instrumentalists.
From the nervous beginner to the most accomplished performer each child left the stage to huge applause. The beaming smiles told of the individual’s pleasure and personal sense of achievement at being able to entertain us all in this way.
It was a fantastic celebration of the power of music to unite, to inspire and to bring joy. I felt honoured to be there and humbled by the talents and courage displayed by our young people. They sang, played, collaborated and shared a stage together. Long may music and the performing arts have a place at the top table of education in our schools; it is well-deserved.
Education Review Office
Next week we welcome the team from the Education Review Office (ERO) to Victoria Avenue School. They will be with us throughout the week and will have an opportunity to see each of our classrooms and meet all of our wonderful children. The visit is part of the normal cycle of reviews by ERO of schools in New Zealand and we look forward to sharing with them just what makes VAS such a special place to be.
The meeting room will be used as a base for our guests so if you are part of the resource-making team please note that it will move to the staffroom next week, all other activities and clubs will take place as normal.
Boot Camp
Well done to the parents who turned up on Wednesday morning to support their children in the running club Boot Camp. The team from Genesis Gym (College Rifles) are working with us to trial the Boot Camp idea. I know the children loved having their parents join them on Wednesday, as many do on the weekly run, and we are looking forward to watching fitness levels rise, as the perspiration flows, over the coming weeks!
Carol Service
Although it may seem a long way away the question of the date of this year's Carol Service was raised at our recent PTS meeting. To confirm this year the service is on Friday 2nd December. It is unusual for us to have the Carol Service so early and on a Friday but it was the only availability when the date was secured a year ago. To avoid such a repeat Miss Laxon has already booked dates for 2012-2014, it may surprise you to note that even that far ahead we couldn't get our first choice dates each year!
Kind regards
Allan Short
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SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES ETC
Community based groups have approached us to inform parents of various activities available locally.
- we also have a range of options offered by local providers in the foyer of the administration area of the school.
These are available to view :
http://victoriaave.com/our-people/our-community
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The Week Ahead:
Sunday 25 Sept @ 2am - Daylight Saving starts
Friday 30 Sept - Sausage Sizzle
School calendar is on:
http://victoriaave.com/school-calendar
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IMPORTANT DATES AND TIMES
School Times
School starts: 8.50am
Interval: 10.40-11.00am
Lunch: 12.30-1.30pm
School finishes: 3.00pm
Stationery Sales
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 8.30-8.45am
Uniform Shop
Fridays only: 8.30-9.00am
Orders and payments for uniform can be made online on our website http://victoriaave.com/school-shop
Lunch Orders
French Lunches: Tues only
Subway: Wed and Fri
Sushi: Thurs only
Order forms/Instructions
http://victoriaave.com/our-school/lunch-orders
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School Banking Wednesdays before school in Room 4
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Term Dates 2011
Term 3 Mon 1 Aug to Fri 7 Oct 2011
Term 4 Tues 25 Oct to Fri 16 Dec 2011
Term Dates 2012
Term 1 Thur 2 Feb to Thur 5 Apr 2012
Term 2 Mon 23 Apr to Fri 29 Jun 2012
Term 3 Mon 16 Jul to Fri 28 Sept 2012
Term 4 Mon 15 Oct to Tues 18 Dec 2012
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Mums and Dads Wanted
~ for a brief positive parenting programme.
The Triple P Research Group at the University of Auckland is seeking families with a 5- to 8-year-old child to participate in a research project. Participation will include attendance at parenting groups that teach about positive parenting and discipline strategies to constructively manage their child’s behaviour, free of charge.
We are looking for parents to participate in the project who:
• have a child between the ages of 5 and 8 who is showing some difficulties with his or her behaviour
• and are interested in attending a brief discussion group based parenting programme.
Please contact Melanie Palmer on 09 623 8899 ext. 83042 or via email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
for more information.
APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND HUMAN PARTICIPANTS ETHICS COMMITTEE on 29/07/2011 for 3 years. Reference 2011/360.
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SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Thank you to all the parents and children who supported the Scholastic Book Fair last week. The library benefits from the purchases you make at the book sale, and with the commission earned we are able to buy lots of exciting new books for our Library. The commission earned this year is $1,944.00.
Thank you to the fantastic volunteers who helped run the Book Fair every day. Your help is really appreciated. The Book Fair would not have been the success is was without your support.
Jane Clark
Librarian
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