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Dorie School
Newsletter
Issue 5 – 8 May 2015
103 Dorie School Road R D 11 Rakaia 7781
Phone: (03) 3020862
Fax: (03) 3020845
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dorie.school.nz Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorieschool1
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S PEN
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Welcome to the first newsletter of Term 2. It has certainly been an action packed
first three weeks, with more action on the way!
During the first week we held a highly successful ANZAC Memorial service at the
local church. Thank you to all the parents and members of the community, who
came along, and a special thank you to Kersha Veix and the DSSG for organising
the morning tea. Cross country the next day was another big success, with Dorie
students showing their strong cross country running skills. Thanks again to: the
DSSG for organising the BBQ, Pete and Vanessa Wilcox and Tom and Leanne
Heneghan for the use of their electric fence gear to mark the course, and Sacha
Maher for her assistance in setting out the course. A great effort everyone!
This week we welcomed Rob Falconer and Marge Wong from the Education Review
Office (ERO). ERO is a government agency charged with reviewing a school’s
performance in: curriculum, teaching and learning, leadership and governance. The
verbal Emerging Findings Report has highlighted the very good position the school
is in, and given us some next steps in development to become even better. We wait
now to see the confirmed report in 6 – 8 weeks. I am certainly very proud of the
students, staff, Board and parents of our great school, and to have all the
wonderful things we do here recognised by ERO undoubtedly makes all our hard
work worthwhile!
CALENDAR
May
6th
11th
12th
15th
19th
20th
27th
June
1st
3rd
Years 7 & 8 at manual
Scholastic book orders due
National young leaders day
Assembly in Kereru
BOT meeting
Years 7 & 8 at manual
County Cross Country
Queens Birthday Weekend
Years 7 & 8 at manual
Welcome to Dorie School Ivan and
Joey
Next week our four House Leaders, will spend a day in Christchurch at the
National Young Leaders Conference, where they will hear inspirational speakers,
take part in team building activities and learn how to become better leaders.
Many parents will have seen the concept plans for our new classrooms on the
noticeboard outside the library. These plans have gone to a Quantity Surveyor to
be assessed and we should receive a report in the next couple of weeks, which will indicate the
approximate cost of the project.
Well, that is enough from me. Have a great weekend everyone and look after your
Mum’s
Kind regards, Anthony.
ASSEMBLY AWARDS
Toroa


Michael Munro was awarded an Ourselves Certificate for effort in making his writing
more interesting and using action verbs.
Sarah Wilcox was awarded an Our Thinking Certificate for checking her writing makes
sense, editing and proof reading.
Dorie School Assembly Award
winners
Kereru


Rebecca Kingsbury was awarded an Ourselves Certificate for practicing her spelling and
getting all her words correct this week.
Dianna Peters was awarded an Ourselves Certificate for reading every night and
completing her reading log.
Piwakawaka


Logan Allen was awarded an Ourselves Certificate for being focused and learning some
sight words and sounds.
Michael Jones was awarded an Our Teamwork Certificate for following instructions, and
showing consideration to others.
Principals Award

Grace Bakewell was awarded a principals award for a fantastic effort in cross country
Sarah, Michael, Grace, Dianna, Michael, Rebecca
and Logan
Toroa has been writing some scary
narratives. We have also been
working on punctuation. Check
these stories out!
Curious
I tiptoed into the attic, to investigate the crime scene, the crime scene everyone knew about. Fear took
over my body as I shivered continuously. I clutched my torch as hard as I could. While I stared at the
mirrors piled in the corner of the room, I was prepared to run. I heard a crumbling noise. Looking right
back at me was: a lighter, a box of matches and a rusty knife.
“This house will be an ash pit soon,” a man whispered in my ear. I turned around. Nothing was there.
Several thoughts rushed through my head. Was he actually telling the truth? Was it just in my head?
Who is he? I tremble. I kept hearing whispers saying, “You’re next.”
As I crept into my bedroom, the light flickered suddenly. Glancing into my green eyes was a man, a very
old man. My heart was thumping as if there was someone in there with a jackhammer. Then I looked to
my left. Bright red blood dripped from the walls. I screamed. Before I knew it, I sprinted to my Mum and
Dad’s room.
“Mum, Dad! There’s a man in my bedroom!”
Mum and Dad look at each other as if they didn’t believe me.
“I’m serious!”
“What did he look like?” Mum whispered cautiously.
“Umm, I’ll try and explain.” I mumble. I suddenly let out a loud gasp.
“What?” Dad worried.
I then point to an old photo frame.
“That was the man that was in my bedroom!”
“But he died over a year ago…”
Matthew Hopkins
I was slowly creeping up the rugged old staircase to the vacant attic only to find a little unpleasant
white cloth draping over something rather mysterious. Narrowing the gap between the white silky
cloth and me, the floorboards creak. Everything darkens and the stars fall upon me. All I can see is
glowing like a light.
Reaching my arm out to full length, it feels silky and delicate, lifting the cloth ever so slightly. It’s all
over. All I can see is streaky hair hanging over one terrifying eye.
I slip my hand into my pocket hoping to find something useful only to find: my lucky charm, a ten-cent
piece and a piece of ripped up paper.
I look up and it is gone, gone. The mysterious revolting creature is gone!
By Felicity
Toroa produced some fantastic art in honour of ANZAC day. We had a visit from local artist Amanda
Van Vliet to give us some inspiration. We are very proud of our finished products. We enjoyed using
the mixed media.
OTHER NOTICES
IMPORTANT REMINDER FOR PARENTS AS WINTER APPROACHES
Parents MUST call the school to report a child/ren’s absence and give the reason. With the new Ministry Of Education protocols our
reporting standards are much stricter.
Swimming Caps and Mini ball tops
Can any outstanding swimming caps and miniball tops please be returned to the School office.
Winter School Uniform
As the season begins to change and the days are getting colder we are recommending that the children wear their winter uniform. We have a
small selection of Skorts (but no tunics) in the second hand uniform shop and plenty of jerseys. You can buy tights, long socks and other
winter pieces from The Warehouse Ashburton. Children can wear any beanie or jacket that is comfortable and warm. If you need to upsize
your bus vest to fit over the top of a jacket come to the office and Sarndy or Terri will do a swap.
New addition
Congratulations to the Munro-Balderson family on the new addition to their family. Grace Hannah Balderson was born last week weighing in
at 8.5 lb. Any donations of baking or frozen meals will be gratefully received on behalf of the Munro-Balderson family at the Dorie School
Office and then delivered by Kersha.
DWAG Nights are back! (Dorie Wine Appreciation Group)
Friday 15 May, 7.30pm at Catrina Dolans house, Corbetts Road North (if you need directions just ask)
"Goodbye to Nick Daly"
Please come along and say goodbye to Nick Daly as she heads up to North Canterbury on June 1st. Please bring something to drink, a wee
plate of nibbles, and any unloved clothing or books to share. Sober driver available.
Please RSVP to Kersha so we know how many to expect: Kersha 302 0033 or [email protected]
RESTORE ‘The green in between’
Riparian & wetland restoration, Contaminated site solutions, Plant sourcing, Project coordination, General farmscape improvement.
Richard Wisker, Millwood Nursery, 9 Barrhill/Methven Road, Rakaia. Cell 027 459 4948, Email [email protected]
Richard suppied the plants for the Dorie School native garden project in 2013.
Hit Play
In need of child care outside of school hours? Hit Play offers programmes running Before School, After School and during the Holidays. A
free transport service runs daily from urban Ashburton Schools. WINZ subsidies are available to eligible families. Visit us at
www.hitplay.co.nz or call 03 4232270 for more information.
Audition Call Act2 Drama Group
Act2 Drama Group is thrilled to invite persons of all ages to audition for our next production…. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
A musical written by Tim Kelly - Adapted and directed by Loretta Dean. This production will be performed as part of Kidsfest 2015 11–18
July 2015.
Auditions - Saturday 16 May 2015, Parkview Community Lounge, 75 Queenspark Drive, Parklands. Please call, text or email Fay to book your
audition time 021 043 1108 or [email protected]
Aotearoa Region Girl Guiding
The Aotearoa region provides the Girl Guiding programme and activities in a different way, using a variety of methods i.e post, email, internet,
texting and other social media. For more information about Girl Guiding NZ’s Aotearoa region contact 0800 449 663 or
[email protected]
HPV vaccination survey – participants wanted
Parents and caregivers of children and young people aged 9 – 23 years are invited to participate in a survey investigating knowledge and
attitudes around HPV vaccination. The survey is anonymous and should take 5-10 minutes. Please access the online survey at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9K657Z7parentscaregivers or request a hard copy by calling 04 979 3106.
The researcher is a PhD candidate at the Centre of Public Health Research, Massey University. For further information please go to
http://publichealth.massey.ac.nz/home/research/recruiting-projects/hpv-human-papillomavirus-vaccination-study/ or contact
[email protected].
World Fair Trade Day 2015
Celebrated in New Zealand on the Saturday 9th May Trade Aid Store 184 Papanui Road, Merivale, Christchurch.
The Trade Aid Store in Merivale would love you to come and celebrate with us and share in the fun and activities. FOOD, MUSIC,
SINGING, DANCING AND ACTIVITIES
There will be sampling and tastings of food made from our wonderful fair trade product.
Lots of music and fun activities for the children. A special opportunity to learn how to use our wooden printing blocks, with Krithika from
Jambalaya Handcrafts. Lots of gifts and ideas for Mother’s Day. Come and join in the fun.
BOT NEWS TERM 2
ERO
I would like to begin, on behalf of the BOT, by thanking Mr D, staff and BOT for the fantastic effort they have put in to make our visit with
ERO this week a very successful one. ERO were most impressed with how well our school is working and we look forward to a very positive
report from them. Among comments from Rob and Marge (who were our reviewers) was how friendly, positive, respectful and caring our
students were of each other and of their teachers. While this is nothing new to us of course, it is nice to hear other people say it!
Lions Club Fundraiser
Michelle Kingsbury has secured for us a fabulous fundraising opportunity via the Lions Club of Rakaia and has already put many hours into
making this a success for our school. Dorie School is organising the sponsors for their Annual Golf Tournament which is held at Queen’s
Birthday weekend at the Rakaia Golf Club. A team of parents are busy contacting businesses in the area to drum up some prizes and any
money we raise will go to the furniture for our new building. We will need a few helpers on the day, please contact Michelle if you are able to
give a couple of hours.
Working Bee Thanks
Thank you to Pete Wilcox for organising this working bee and thank you to all the parents and helpers that turned out to spruce things up
before winter – it certainly looks great again and so many hands made very quick work of the jobs to be done.
New Building
We are at the exciting stage of having our final plan for the new build assessed to see what it is going to cost – fingers crossed it is within
budget! If it is, the final drawings will be completed and the plan will go to the consent stage and to building firms for tender.
Policy Review
Parents are invited to this term review our ‘reporting to parents’ policy. Our policy documents are all held on the School Docs website. To
access this policy: Open the Dorie School website and click ‘policy review’ from the drop down tabs. Click ‘school docs’ button, the passwords
are dorie and dorie. You will now be in our School Docs site. Click ‘What’s under review this term’ and choose the policy ‘reporting to parents’.
From there read the policy and you will be able to feedback from there. Feedback goes to Mr D and is discussed at our BOT meetings. If you
have any difficulties in reviewing, please see a BOT member for assistance.
BOT meetings
These are usually held on the third Tuesday of the month at 5pm in the staffroom. These are open meetings, which means that members of
the public may attend. All minutes are available in the office should you wish to read them. For those of you who are new to the school, your
BOT members are:
Deborah Sloper (Chair), Anthony Dorreen (Principal), Tanya Jackways, Michelle Kingsbury, Steve Veix, Pete Wilcox, Dean Pye and Pattie Ree
(staff rep). We are always open to and welcome suggestions to further improve our school.
Regards
Deborah Sloper
BOT Chair