The power of words

I have been working on our Charter for 2009 and I was reflecting on how to gather the views of the community more effectively. In the past we have always sent out an annual survey to the parent community but the return rate has been fairly low. So I am trying a slightly different approach. Over the next few weeks and months I am going to post short questions on my blog for anyone to respond to. I am hoping that by breaking the survey into small sections which only take a few seconds to respond to, we may increase the number of responses that we get. I will be including this in a newsletter for people who do not have access to a computer.

So here is the first question - (the words entered here will go towards making a "wordle" image, like the one shown above, that clearly shows what the priorities are for our community)

Well done boys!

Three boys from Team 14 had an amazing success today. They went to Auckland to attend the awards ceremony for the TVNZ Netguide Schools Web Challenge and they were awarded third place in the Primary category. To read more go to the Netguide website.

The boys produced a website called teamdyslexia. It is a fabulous site which Julius, Jack and Angus spent many hours working on, with some help from Sue and Rob. Great work boys, you should be very proud, we certainly are!

ESOL Wiki

It has been a while since I explored the ESOL wiki that Glenys and June maintain, with the help of their children, so I thought I'd have a read and see what they are up to. It just goes to show the power of the Internet! The amazing progress being made by our children, for whom English is not their first language, is there for all to see.
Children's minds are truly remarkable. They are able to not only master the art of communicating in a new language but also distinguish between two, or sometimes more, languages. Reading through the children's pages on the wiki, you cannot fail to be impressed. The wiki's address is http://fendaltonesol.wetpaint.com/ and is well worth a visit.

A packed term ahead.

Two days in and already term 4 is shaping up to be a big one. Reports, class placements, interviewing for teaching positions and solving some of our property headaches just for starters. Should be good fun!

We are hoping to open the swimming pool in a few weeks time and, if the good weather continues, it should be nice and warm for the first few classes taking a dip.

We are working hard on plans for seating and shade areas in the playground and I am hoping that we will have something to display in the next couple of weeks. Then we can start to get feedback from the whole community on the ideas. The project is the focus of our Summer Carnival fundraising efforts so fingers crossed for plenty of sunshine on the 9th of November.