Address: 282 Victoria Avenue, Remuera, Auckland | Telephone: (09) 520 0602
E-mail: [email protected] | web: www.victoriaave.com
Dear Parents
It was great to see so many of you at the Meet the Teachers’ evening last night. It is nice for you to be able to put a face to the name when your child comes home and tells you about something their teacher did or said.
At my presentation, I talked about the in depth spelling review which was undertaken by Anne Maree Miller and her great team. At the end of 2014 it was apparent that the spelling results were not at a level which was acceptable to me. If our children are doing so well in reading and writing, why was our spelling achievement so low by comparison?
This is the very reason we undertake schoolwide assessments. Yes, it is to find the strengths and weaknesses of individual children, but it is also for senior management to see where gaps are across the school. In this instance, it was spelling.
Anne Maree and her team were tasked with investigating spelling programmes, resources and teaching across the school. She delved deeply into achievement, student and teacher attitudes to spelling and surveyed teachers about the way they taught spelling and the resources they used.
Anne Maree and team also undertook research and professional reading around spelling which has provided a very strong research base to the recommendations.
The recommendations from the review are:
• Boost teacher effectiveness and confidence in teaching spelling
• Develop effective spelling programmes
• Increase the explicit teaching of spelling (ie rules and patterns)
• Facilitating the integration of spelling into other learning areas ie greater transference of spelling skills to student’s writing
We intend implementing all the recommendations during 2016 through:
• Professional development for teachers
• Investigation and trial of spelling programmes (action research / teaching as inquiry process)
• Purchase resources, both hard copies and on line resources (apps etc)
• Implement recommended spelling programmes following the outcomes of the action research undertaken
This year, spelling may look different to how it has looked in the past. Please bear with us and understand if your child doesn’t bring home 10 words to learn and have tested each week. We may still do that, but only after we have researched the effectiveness of this in retaining long term knowledge of how to spell those words. The achievement results suggest that learning spelling this way has not transferred to great assessment results. It is important for us to find the most effective ways to ensure spelling knowledge is retained, which is our goal for the year.
So, lots of spelling teaching still happening in 2016! Just more effective spelling teaching!
Kind regards
Janice Adamson
Road Safety
It is great to see children coming to school on their scooters and bikes but they must wear a helmet. The children all know they are supposed to wear one, so please ensure they wear it (not carry it on the handle bars!)
Last Friday I was on road patrol. It was an absolute nightmare! The poor girls who were trying to see whether it was clear so they could put their signs out. And why couldn’t they see? Because some of our parents thought that it was perfectly acceptable to park on the broken yellow lines each side of the pedestrian crossing, thereby completely blocking the children’s view of the road. I’m not going to name and shame, but I recognised most of you! Please be mindful of all children’s safety and think about your driving and parking outside the school.
I strongly suggest that you arrange a place somewhere further up Victoria Ave where you can actually find a park and your children can walk the very short distance from the school to meet you there. The short walk will do them good and you won’t be stressed trying to find a park right outside the gate!
Stationery
This year we trialled a different way for parents to purchase stationery. We wanted to give parents more choice. If you ordered your stationery on line, we would really appreciate feedback about the process from parents’ perspectives. Please email me [email protected] the good, bad and ugly please, I need to know.
Uniform – Named Uniform
The children have come back looking very smart. Relaxed as we are about the colour of trainers, please remember that socks need to be black, white or navy. I smiled when I saw the knee high black and white striped socks this week – just plain colours please, stripes are not acceptable. Hats are mandatory this term.
Please name every single piece of uniform. Children get changed into PE gear, or take fleeces off and leave them lying around. It is sad to see so many un-named fleeces languish in lost property then get thrown out at the end of the year.
Click Here to view our BLOG PAGE.
DRAMA/SPEECH LESSONS: Click here for information
MUSIC LESSONS: Click here for information on Musiqhub music lessons
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES:
FOR TERM 1 2016
Click here for details on these activities.
Also:
Click here for After School and Holiday Community Based Programmes and Activities for 2016
What’s Ahead?
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR ONLINE CALENDAR
IMPORTANT DATES AND TIMES
School Times
School starts: 8.50am
Interval: 10.30-10.50am
Lunch: 12.30-1.25pm
School finishes: 3.00pm
Term Dates for 2016
Term 1: Wednesday 3 Feb to Friday 15 April ’16
~ Waitangi Day Mon 8 Feb and Easter Holiday Friday 25 March – Tuesday 29 March’16 (During school term)
Term 2: Monday 2 May to Friday 8 July ’16
~ Anzac Day Mon 25 April and Queen’s Birthday Monday 6 June ’16
Term 3: Monday 25 July to Friday 23 Sept ’16
Term 4: Monday 10 October to Friday 16 December ’16
~ Labour Day Mon 24 October ’16
Stationery Sales
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 8.30-8.45am
Uniform Shop
– half way up dragon drive in the old dental clinic
OPEN FRIDAYS only: 8.15-8.45am
Orders and payments for uniform can be made online on our website ~ Click here
Lunch Orders
1. ezLUNCH: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Join ezlunch today to take advantage of this promotion. and Place an order
2. Subway: Wed and Fri
Register to order online at www.subwayrialto.co.nz
3. Sushi on Thursdays
Click Here for order forms/instructions
School Dental Service
8b Ngaio St Orakei Ph5200603.
The dental team will be posting letters to all new entrants to our school as required.
Remember to ‘like’ Victoria Avenue School on Facebook.
NIT NIGHT TONIGHT!!
PLEASE, PLEASE CHECK FOR NITS – a number of classes have reported nits and if your infected child is not treated then many others will be!
Here is a link from NZ Health for info and treatment.
http://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/conditions-and-treatments/diseases-and-illnesses/head-lice
Reminder school Banking is on every Wednesday
To join go to the ASB display/banking box in the foyer.
ICE BLOCK SALES COMMENCE TOMORROW
To download the app for free on iPhone or Android click this link.
SCHOOL DIRECTORY – LAST CHANCE TO GIVE ANY CHANGED CONTACT DETAILS TO THE DIRECTORY COMMITTEE
School Directory – please check your 2015 entry is correct for this year.
We are about to complete the 2016 directory so could all families in the 2015 Directory please check their contact details and let Shelley Cunningham know by email: [email protected] Thank you.
Please note: The school does not pass information re contact details onto the Directory for privacy reasons.
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR TERM 1 2016
Click here for details on these activities.
Please note that the after school programmes are starting on different weeks. If in doubt please check you are registered to join and ask when these programmes commence.

Music at VAS 2016
Ukulele Club.
Choir
Musiqhub Lessons
Skateboard Club
25 February: Family Fun Night – More information to follow
1st to 4 March: Year 6 Camp please note camp forms and information can be accessed on:
https://sites.google.com/a/victoria-avenue.school.nz/year-camp-2016/home
8 March: Years 5 and 6 Swimming Sports.
25 to 29 March: Easter Break – No School for Friday through to Tuesday – return to school on Wednesday 30 March
5 April – Senior Summer Field Day – Years 5/6
15 April: Last day of Term 1 – School finishes at 3:00pm
Triple P Parent Group course – starts March 17
Comprehensive programme over 4 x weekly sessions covering positive parenting strategies for handling challenging behaviour, building parenting skills, and raising children with more confidence.
Small group sessions facilitated by our psychologists and individual followup by telephone.
Makes raising children easier, less stressful and more fun!
Triple P : 579 1794