Contact us:
Ph 342 7783
November 5th
www.russley.school.nz
2014
Text student
absences to
0279 16 17 18
Monday 10 Nov


Pizza orders close 9am
BoT meeting 7.30pm
Tues 11 Nov

Thurs 13 Nov

Fri 14 Nov
Show Day holiday
Wed 19 Nov
Pita Pit orders close 9am
Fri 21 Nov
Pita Pit lunch 12.30pm
Wed 26 Nov
Market Day
Fri 28 Nov
School accounts to be paid
Wed 3 Dec
Centrals athletic champs,
Ashburton
Wed 10 Dec
Junior Folk Dance 6.00pm
1-12 December
Swimming lessons for
Teams 1 & 2
Fri 12 December
Prizegiving assembly, 9am
NOTE THIS NEW DATE for
Zone Athletics, Burnside
(previously Wed 12 Nov)
 PTA meeting 7.30pm
NOTE THIS NEW DATE for
Pizza lunch (previously
advertised as 11 Nov)
Tue 16 December Year 8 semi-formal 6.30pm
Thu 18 December  Year 8 graduation 11am
 School closes 1.00pm
More photos available at http://1drv.ms/1zmthci
Dear Parents and Caregivers
We value the positive partnership we have between our school and parent community. It is important to us that we regularly gather and use information about the needs, wishes and aspirations of parents and whānau, to enhance children’s
learning.

Parent Survey
We appreciate the information we have recently received from the Parent Survey on Uniform and Christian Educa
tion. The Board of Trustees will analyse the results and report back to the community shortly.

Parent Information
Thank you also for the information we received about children’s class placements for 2015. Teaching staff are
working through the process of class organisation at present. It is a complex process — a bit like a jigsaw puzzle.

Strategic Planning
Each NZ school has a charter that identifies the strategic goals and direction for the school. It is a key planning
document that sets out a school's objectives and targets, and identifies how the school aims to achieve these.
The Russley School Board of Trustees is currently undertaking a strategic planning process. The aim is to develop
strategic goals that will guide the school’s direction for the next 5 years. An important part of the process is to
consult widely. We will shortly be inviting you to contribute ideas.
Faye Le Cren
[email protected]
The following children have earned awards this fortnight. Parents and grandparents are
welcome to attend the awards ceremony in the hall on Friday 7th November at 9.00am.
 Room 1
 Room 2
 Room 3
 Room 4
 Room 5
 Room 6
Room 7
 Room 8
 Room 9
Yasmin Weenink, Grace Rutledge
Siobhan Mehrtens, Zoe Burgess
Rei Miyamoto, Olivia Cadenhead
Joshua O’Halloran, Emily Mullally
Sakura Ward, Izak Koster
Baylee Law-Mitchell, Tamati Te Aho
Bridget Egan, Farren Stewart
Timothy Viljoen, Jessica Balloch
Hunter Harwood, Sophia Tan
 Room 10
 Room 11
 Room 12
 Room 13
 Room 14
 Room 15
 Room 16
 Room 17
 Room 18
Noah Dierckx, Ella Spyve
Xavier Simmons, Hamish McEwen
Hamish Wilkin, Abigail Viljoen
Riley Te Ao, Lana Chapman
Ruby Jones-Johnston, Ayaan Verma
Samantha Reed, Toby Orr
Fiona Xu, Madisyn Cranstoun
Shikaya Martin, Madeleine Hicks
Noel Ham, Kelvin Zhen
Russley’s ‘Star Student’ is Timothy Viljoen (Room 8)
whose portrait will be exhibited in the office.
Give your parents a break from making school
lunches next Thursday (the day before Show Day)
by ordering a student pizza for lunch! PLEASE NOTE THE DATE
HAS CHANGED FROM THAT PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED DUE TO
ZONE ATHLETICS NOW BEING ON TUESDAY (we didn’t want our
athletes to miss out on pizza!) Orders must be in by Monday
9.00am!
Russley School has selected a group of 28 of its 2015 senior students to attend a GRIP leadership conference later this
month. This one-day event for student leaders is being held throughout NZ for the first time and focuses on equipping
student leaders with practical ideas and skills which will allow them to make a significant contribution to their schools.
GRIP is a values driven organisation. The core values represent the heartbeat of all GRIP leadership staff and volunteers:
*GENEROSITY: Willingness to use what time and resources you have been given on behalf of those you seek to influence.
*RESPONSIBILITY: We all have a responsibility to develop what we have and help others to live well.
*INTEGRITY: A commitment to truth and honesty in dealings.
*PEOPLE: Every human being is of great significance, and has a purpose to fulfil.
Conference details are available at www.gripleadership.co.nz
School accounts to
be settled by
Nov 28th please!
Russley School Dates 2014
Show Day
Term 4
Fri 14 November (public holiday)
ends Thurs 18 Dec at 1.00pm
Russley School Dates 2015
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Term 4
All classes start Monday 2nd Feb
Mon 20 April to Fri 3 July
Mon 20 July to Fri 25 September
Mon 12 October to Thu 17 Dec
RUSSLEY ABSENCES
Txt 0279 16 17 18
Phone 342 7783
It is lovely to hear of the success of former Russley students who continue to live by the Russley mission statement of
‘promoting personal best’ years after they have graduated from Russley School.
Amy Ga Hee Lee (2004-2007) has been awarded the title of National Young Performer of the
year. At the recent Performing Arts Competition Association awards in Palmerston North, Amy
won first place in Pianoforte, winning herself a $5,000 tuition grant. These annual arts awards
are considered the pinnacle of achievement for many young artists. Amy is currently studying
in Year 13 at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School and is planning to go to medical school when she graduates at the end of this year.
Gendi Roberts (2003-2009) won the Cross Cup at the Burnside High
graduation ceremony last evening. This award recognises a Year 13
student who has succeeded in the face of adversity. Gendi plans to
study at Otago University next year.
Sam King (2011-2013) has won a sports scholarship to Christ’s College. The Somes Sports
Scholarship is usually awarded in Year 11 or 12, but in exceptional circumstances may be awarded in Year 9. The scholarship is recognition of Sam’s exceptional sporting talent, particularly in
athletics, cross country and soccer. Sam graduated from Russley last year and will start at
Christ’s College at the beginning of 2015.
Thank you to the Russley raffle winner who
RUSSLEY
HUG!
kindly donated back to the school a $500 prize
of petrol vouchers won in the PTA raffle!
We are blown away by your generosity!
Russley School seeks home-stays for Korean adult students visiting from Gongju University for five weeks in
Term 1 from January 23rd to February 28th.
Families will receive a homestay fee of $240/week.
Families keen to host student teachers should email
[email protected] to register their interest.
Russley Athletic Sports
Congratulations PINEHURST— your house earned the most points! Second by only
THREE points was Bentley, third place to Woodbury and fourth place to Cutts.
The score has pushed PINEHURST to the top of the 2015 leader board. There are
only a few more opportunities to gain house points before the winning HOUSE OF
2014 is announced at the prize giving assembly in December. Athletics results
are online at www.russley.school.nz and photos are at http://1drv.ms/1zmthci
More than 70 Russley students qualified for Zones to be held at Burnside on Tuesday.
Water Polo
The Russley squad did us proud when it competed at the South Island Water Polo Champs in Dunedin last weekend.
Russley competed strongly enough to make it to the final round, playing off for third and fourth in B-grade. The team
played valiantly, in fact one parent described the players’ effort in the final game as ’playing their hearts out’ but Russley
was narrowly beaten for bronze at the final whistle. Overall the team was thrilled with its performance. Congratulations to
Joel Nicholls who won MVP. Big thanks to coach Paul Abraas and manager Rochelle Morrison.
Gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnasts, Ananya Mandal (Year 6) and Emily Sidaway (Year 7) recently represented Canterbury in the NZ National Gymsports Championships in Auckland. Ananya finished 9th in NZ and Emily 16th in NZ in their individual levels.
Ananya also picked up a 2nd place group medal.
HOUSE POINTS
SUMMARY
Running
Congratulations to cross country runner, Monica Koster, who won the children’s 5km mountain run — part of the Hard
Labour series of events — held at Twizel during Labour Weekend.
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1123
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Congratulations to the Russley School Choir which sang in the Primary Schools’ Festival on Friday evening. It was the 75 th
Year that the Festival has been held in Christchurch and the theme was War and Peace. The choir not only sang well but
looked immaculate in their performance uniforms.
Congratulations to the members of the Special Groups who performed each night of the Festival.
Concert Band Daniel Chong
Junior Choir
Daisy Sellier, Kaylee Truong, Ramah Almazroui, Isaac Paul, Avalon Te Haara-Barr, Sylvie Yee, Kara Visser,
Arien Rassoul-Khomeini, Natasha Senior, Mya Te Aho
Senior Choir
Melanie Bryant, Hannah Smith, Emily Moon, Matilda Sellier, Karmen Truong, Ruadri Lonie
Congratulations to Melanie Bryant (photo at left) who was selected for the Junior Choir in 2011
& 2012 and the Senior Choir for 2013 &2014 and was presented with a 4 Year Medal.
Melanie’s photo was on the big screen at the Horncastle Arena for the three nights of the Festival and we were very proud of her.
It was also good to see that Amy Lee, an ex-pupil of Russley School was the Assistant Conductor of the Primary Schools’ Music Festival Orchestra.
Avalon Te Haara-Barr has been invited to be one of twelve Year 5/6 students who will form the
choir at the YMCA Carols By Candlelight Concert which is held on Christmas Eve and attracts a
crowd of about 45,000.
Sincere thanks to Elizabeth Muschamp and Chris Walker for coordinating many hours of choir
rehearsals over the past months. Thank you for generously sharing your talents and time.
Russley School recently hosted a poetry event promoting the
annual publication of A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children which
celebrates poetry for and by children.
More than 200 students from throughout Canterbury attended,
including former Russley student Caleb Stewart (Year 8, 2013)
whose poem entitled ‘The Poet’ was published in The Treasury
alongside work by Paula Green, Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley and
Katherine Mansfield.
Caleb presented his poem alongside Russley winners of recent
poetry competitions, Anthony Cooper, Jordyn Hasselberg, Jayda
Stryder, Emily Mullally, Thomas Gaynor, Yash Naicker, Bridget
Graham, Tyler Forster, Sacha Wilkin and Monica Koster.
Photos at http://1drv.ms/1sLLz0p
Many of Russley’s senior students who attend weekly technology classes at Kirkwood
Intermediate have been recognised for their good work.
The theme of the latest topic was ‘Dream and Discover’ with a student focus on learning
how to develop a plan to construct something they have designed. This involved making
decisions about managing time and how to review their progress.
Many of the Russley seniors were nominated by the Kirkwood teachers for quality work
and received Exceptional Effort Awards:
Bailey MacDonald, Grace Rutledge, Kathryn Shearing, Zoe Burgess, Ashley Collins,
Karmen Truong, Laura Hobbs, Riley Hunter, Raymond Lu, Ben Morris, Michaela James,
Trinity Peterson, Jackson Rossiter-Campbell, Angela Yu, Daniel Chong, Cameron Connor,
Ben Dierckx, Monica Koster, Courtney Law, Rei Miyamoto, Emily Moon, Joel Nicholls,
Alisha Sangster, Matilda Sellier, Jayda Stryder, Oscar Abraas, Mera Bebawy, Archie
Hann, Jordyn Hasselberg, Harriet Jermy, Lilly Forward, Rosie Goodman, Chelsea Gray,
Andrew Liu, Samantha Henshaw, Hannah Smith, Caleb Jordan, Ruadri Lonie, Hazel
Millar, Lily Renwick, Seth Simpson, Seven Te Haara-Barr, Jessica Yu.
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/RussleySchoolPta
Russley Raffle Winners
Thank you for your support of the Russley PTA raffle. The $3,800 raised will be spent on purchasing classroom
furniture for students.
 1st Prize of $550 Petrol vouchers - Jo Rogers of Ray White Metro Real Estate
Won by an anonymous recipient who has kindly donated the prize to Russley School. Thank you so much!
 2nd Prize of $500 of tuition - NumberWorks ‘n’ Words Burnside
Won by K.Seawood, Christchurch
 3rd Prize of Hair Services and Products valued at over $300 - Xibit Hair Studio
Won by H.Falconer, Christchurch.
Pita Pit Lunch Envelopes will be issued shortly. Orders close Wednesday 19
November 9.00am for lunch delivery on Friday 21st November.
Christmas Gift Idea Children’s picture book and
“Hornsnoggle Ferret” soft toy for sale for just $20 per
set at the office.
Next Meeting is Tuesday 11th November 7.30pm in the Russley staff room. All welcome.
End of Year Picnic – Friday 5th December 5.00pm onwards.
Russley Rascals On-site
before-school and afterschool programme. Hourly
rate $8. Phone Yvonne on
021 101 4163 or email
[email protected]
Avonhead-Russley Scouts
Kea Club for girls and boys
in Years 1-3 at our scout
hall, Staveley St on Mondays, 4.30-5.30pm. For
info, ph Morgan 3434364.
5 – 8 year old art classes
with tutor Kate Morrison.
A block of four classes starting Monday 10 November
for four weeks. Maximum
of 5 spaces available. $70
incl. materials and tutoring.
To book, please phone
3517049 or 0221007644.
Christ the King School Fair
Come to our fair at 92
Greers Rd on Sunday 9 November 12pm-4pm. Homemade cakes and sweets,
preserves and produce,
plants and flowers. Plus
craft, books, toys and
clothes stalls, raffles, auctions, and a kids entertainment area. See you there!
Dental Care in Summer
Holidays
The Community Dental Service will operate an emergency service over the
school holidays to provide
pain relief; not ‘routine’
treatment. Available weekday mornings from 5th—30th
January. Phone for an appointment 0800 84 69 83.
Free Introduction to Tennis
Free session with leading
coach, Shane Tainui at
Avonhead Tennis Club,
Crosbie Park. We supply
racquets, kids just need
sports shoes. Shane has a
weekly group session over
summer terms for $95.
www.avonheadtennis.co.nz
Avonhead Playcentre
Every morning except
Wednesdays. 166 Waimairi
Rd. Phone 3587922.
Westburn Brownies For 7-9
year old girls. Mondays
4.00-5.30pm.
[email protected]
Karate At Russley
Thursday evenings. Phone
Hayden 021 412212 or
[email protected]
Opportunity for Gifted Kids
One Day School may be the
answer for your gifted child.
Open day is on Monday 10
November at Burnside Primary School, 96 Memorial
Ave, Ilam. Session 1, 6-8
year olds, 9.15—11.45am.
Session 2, 9-12 year olds,
12.30—2.45pm. $35 per
family. www.nzcge.co.nz
Egyptian Fiesta
Bring your family to this fun
food extravaganza. Enjoy
Egyptian and Mediterranean food such as kofta,
baked bread, meat sticks,
shawerma, baklava and
more. Venue: Coptic Orthodox Church, Nunweek Park,
November 22nd from
11.00am to 4pm. Cash
only; no Eftpos.
Disclaimer: Russley School does not necessarily endorse the public notices advertised here.