Newsletter Term 1 No 2 - 9 February 2012

Term 1 No 2 - 9 February 2012
Dear Parents "The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are." John Pierpoint Morgan The start of every school year is always an exciting time. For our children they meet up with old friends and teachers but also have new classes to explore, new friends to find and new experiences ahead of them. I am pleased to say that 2012 has started really well at school. My thanks to the PTS for organising the Coffee Van to be on site last Thursday morning. Despite the weather it was a lovely start to the term with a large number of parents gathering to catch up and enjoy each other’s company. It was also an opportunity to help welcome some of our new families to VAS. On behalf of the PTS, the Board of Trustees and the staff I would at this point like to say to a large THANK YOU. Your support over the course of 2011 was simply amazing! It enabled us to continue to upgrade our facilities and create wider opportunities for all of our children. The help that is given by you all in the classroom, on trips, with sports teams, resource making, fundraising and in many other areas is invaluable. All of this contributes to making VAS the very special place it is. This is probably the busiest term for the PTS, and on Tuesday evening the team spent a couple of hours discussing the variety of events, which are organised for term one. Please offer them, and our school your support. The purpose of the PTS is two-fold, supporting the school and families with both fundraising and friend-raising activities. Tonight we look forward to our annual ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening at school and we encourage everyone to stay for a drink and refreshments following the formalities. If for some reason you are unable to attend and still want to make meet your child’s new teacher early in the term please don’t hesitate to contact them personally and make a time to catch up. Next week we have our school family fun night (aka The School Picnic), Thursday 16th at 5.00pm, and with this newsletter you will receive an information flyer about the event. It is a wonderful opportunity for all, new families and old, to get together socially at the start of the year. I am sure that many of us have started the New Year with a resolution or two. Keeping to our personal goals is all about commitment, self-control and willpower. I read a fascinating article at the end of the holiday about the science behind "self-control". The conclusion was this executive function skill turns out to have such an enormous impact on our lives that those that are higher in self-control tend to be sick less often, earn more money, have better quality relationships, get more schooling, earn higher degrees, are happier and even donate more money. In short the research showed that there's a very, very strong correlation with quality of life. All of this is well and good but the bigger question perhaps is…”Is it teachable?” If you want to know read Eric Jensen’s article Exploding the Myth of Self-Control in his February BrighterBrainBulleten. If you want to read more, a good book that ties in with this area of research is "Willpower" by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney. So my challenge to you all this year is to keep those resolutions and to make our 2012 (VAS 60th Year) an even more exciting one to experience and remember than last year. We have so much to look forward to; the Scottish Evening, camps, sports events, trips, the Senior Production, VAS Olympics Week and many more. We will doubtless all have our favourite moments and I hope that as parents we will all be there to enjoy them with our children. If I haven’t had an opportunity to catch up with you in person yet then “Happy New Year” and welcome back. Kind regards Allan Short Principal		LATEST SCHOOL VIDEOS on the SENIORVAS Channel Produced and directed by our senior students - please check it out!! 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 What's Ahead? •Thurs 9th Feb Meet the Teacher Evening, 7.00pm •Fri 10th Feb Principal’s Assembly 9.00am •Tue 14 Feb Summer Sports Exchange - seniors 2pm Korean Parents' Meeting Resource Making - Rooms 15 & 21 • Thur 16 Feb Family Fun Night @ 7pm School calendar is on: http://victoriaave.com/school-calendar 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 for 2012 ezLUNCH: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays Subway: Wed and Fri Sushi: Thurs only Order forms/Instructions http://victoriaave.com/our-school/lunch-orders School Banking Wednesdays before school in Room 4 at 8.30am 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 SCHOOL RUBBISH SKIPS IN TEACHERS' CAR PARK. Please be aware these skips are for school use only - a few people have been consistently using them for household rubbish. We appreciate your consideration in this matter. Thank you.
Reminder: Meet the Teacher Evening Tonight - remember parking will be difficult so please walk if you can! Please notice that this event is at 7.00pm on Thursday 9th February. It will start with a brief meeting in the school hall for all parents followed by an opportunity for everyone to meet with their child’s teacher in their classrooms. We hope that every child will have a least one parent at this event. In previous years the evening has finished in relaxed style with drinks and nibbles outside courtesy of the PTS – hopefully the weather will be fine and this can be repeated. WALKING SCHOOL BUS - CHECK OUT A ROUTE NEAR YOU - IT'S FUN TO WALK TO SCHOOL! VAS has 6 walking school bus (WSB) routes established to alleviate traffic and parking problems with parents dropping off children at the school gate. They are a fun and positive experience for everyone who takes part. Children get an opportunity to make friends with other VAS students who aren't in their class, they get a little exercise on their way to school, and parents get to be involved with other families who are in their street or community. It is a great way to start the day and to meet new families. The school and the council support the Walking School Buses but we rely on the participation of families for them to operate, we would love to see more families involved. The commitment from parents is to walk once a week with the bus. The Martyn Wilson Field park and walk route that goes from Orakei Rd up Sonia Ave is struggling for numbers and will not be able to continue unless more families become involved in supporting the route. If you think this route or any of our other routes might suit your family we would be delighted to hear from you. For more information on routes refer to the school website. AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR TERM 1, 2012 ARE UNDERWAY!!!! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Please note the venue for these activities is Victoria Avenue School. MONDAYS: Bringing French to Life commencing Week 3 Monday 13 February TUESDAYS: Bubbledome Course I: commencing Week 3 Tuesday 14 Feb at 3.30pm Course 2: commencing Week 3 Wednesday 15 Feb at 3.30pm Mini Titans Commencing Week 2 (commencing next Tuesday 7th February) WEDNESDAYS: Fine Young Artists Commencing Week 3, Wednesday 14 Feb THURSDAYS: Adventure Club Commencing Week TBA FRIDAY: Chess Club Commencing Week 2, Friday 10 February 2012, No chess on the 17 Feb recommencing 24 Feb for rest of term. Playball Commencing Week 1, Friday 2 Feb
SPORTS NEWS FOR YOUR INFORMATION: Fun Football Centre This is a Fun Programme from the Auckland Football Federation SPORTS PROGRAMME FOR 2012 Click Here for a Printer Friendly Copy which also includes Summer Field Day information for our senior students
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