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Western Heights School
Our Vision We are … Caring, Creative, Confident, Cognisant, Connecting, Contributing, Collaborative. Our Mission Our children love to learn to lead as they dream, grow, shine and reflect. Love - ourselves - others - our world Learn about - ourselves - others - our world Lead - ourselves - others - in our world |
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Calendar of Events
Whanau Time is every second Friday in our hall, starting at 9:45 am sharp. Everyone is warmly welcomed to join us for these special WHS family occasions. Next Whanau Time - Friday 18 November. Rooms 10 and 22 hosting.
WHS Calendar
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Friday 11/11
Book Character Dress Up Parade to celebrate end of book week - 9am onwards
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Tuesday 15/11
Junior Athletics Day 9 - 10:30. Middle - Senior Athletics 11 - 3pm. All welcome
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Wednesday 16/11
Middle - Senior Athletics - part two - 1:30 - 3pm.Yr 6 visit Glen Eden Intermediate.
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Friday 18/11
Last day for Calendar Orders. Whanau Time - rooms 10 and 22 hosting, 9:45 in hall.
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WOW - Just WOW!!!!
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Our Jump Jam team are Champions in the Advanced Open Division, AND the first ever team to gain Distinction in Presentation. In total our girls gained three Distinctions - for Costuming, Creativity and Presentation. Also an Excellence in Technical Execution. Congratulations to: Kaitlyn MacPherson, Ria Singh, Nadija Turk, Zahra Ramadan, Samantha Hepi, Sariah Leato, Tatiana Katoa-Hansen, Kalani Matthes, Emma Jensen. HUGE thanks to Jenna Aalbers for her amazing work coaching this team. Jenna set exceptionally high expectations and standards for this team and THEY STEPPED UP. This was achieved through hard work, dedication, GRIT in the Pit, and self-belief. I cannot express how proud I am of these amazing, wonderful, awesome girls, their coach, and their support crew. WOW - just wow. Huge thanks to teacher aide Sandy for her hard work adjusting the costumes and making the wings - she is also awesome. Sandy readily acknowledges it was only possible this year to get all the costumes completed thanks to the sterling work of Justine Hepi and Kerry MacPherson. Thank you to both! Also a huge thanks to Melinda Laus for all her support. Thanks to all the many Western Heights staff and parents who went down to Tauranga to support our team - your support was much appreciated too. The judges said, after watching the performances of 80 teams, our performance was one of the most memorable of all time. Team score shown below.
Check out the photos below and join me in saying WOW - just WOW! Reflecting On Their Success... |
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Book Week News
This week is Book Week at Western Heights School. Everywhere you look, books are being 
shared, celebrated and enjoyed - even written. Leo brought in three books he has written for Book Week and shared them with me. Good stories, and Leo has plenty more titles planned. On Monday we had a visit from local author Janett Martin. She shared her stories via song and puppets, and our children really enjoyed her sessions. 
On Tuesday we featured another local author - our very own Eleanor Hughes, who works in our school office.
Each day teachers read to classes, and in the library at lunch times. Huge thanks to Jessie Eyre for her hard work putting Book Week together - lots of planning, organisation and creative thought went into making this a very successful event. As a final note on that, Jessie took an awesome book called “Colour the Stars”. It’s about a boy who has a friend who is blind. He wants his friend to be able to “see” colours by experiencing them. Jessie set up a fan, a gas heater, a box of sand, boxes of dirt, coloured ooblik, and fern fronds so that our children could close their eyes and ‘experience colours’ they way it was done in the story. Very cool, very clever. Our Book Week culminates tomorrow - Friday - with a Book Character Parade at 9am. We are really looking forward to seeing our children come to school dressed as their favourite Book Character. Parents are most welcome to stay on after dropping their children off, to watch the parade. Our young friends from Sturges Road Kindy will also be joining us to watch. see you then and there. |
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Senior Athletics Days Timetable - 15 and 16 November
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Zero Hero Focus for 2017
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Our lives are so busy and so full that we can often lose sight of some of the big issues that should really be concerning us more than they probably do. For example, Global Warming may seem like an issue that is just too big for us to do anything about. But maybe not. Rubbish is a huge issue for our country and our world.Disposing of all the rubbish we generate is an issue that certainly can impact global warming. I recently visited Hawaii, and while there visited seven schools - two of them twice. The most impactful and influential school visit was to Lanikai Elementary in Kailua. Principal Ken Noh is a quiet and gentle man with a huge heart and a passion for achieving zero waste for his school. In fact Hawaii is aiming for zero waste by 2020 - an inspiring (and possibly epic) challenge. Lanikai has already won the state-wide enviro award for its eco-school achievements, and is currently putting together its application for the nation-wide award. Lanikai is incredibly fortunate to have the services of the Waikiki Worm Lady - Mindy - who is the driving force behind Lanikai’s programme. At 70, she still works like a trojan, but this will be her last year - see photo below. We will have mulch (get it - sorry) more to share with you going forward. For now though, we are alerting you to the fact that w want to incorporate litter-free lunches, hot composting of food waste, shredding of waste paper for worm factories, worm tea and worm cast sales, a chicken coop (plans already submitted by our senior students), aquaponics, grass-carp-ponics, organic garden, solar-power and pedal-powered batteries, and much more from 2017 on. Our planet needs caring concerned citizens to start making a difference right now - we are confident our children, staff and community can take up the challenge and be Zero Heroes.
Ora of course means wellness or health. |
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Personal Good News
As you all probably know, my father passed recently. That was obviously a very sad time. Life must go on though, and so during that week my wife had to put together and application for a principal’s position as the time-frame was very short. Last weekend - while the Jump Jam finals were on - we were going over last minute details and preparing for her interview on Saturday morning. It went well. I am very proud to share that Jacqualene is the new principal of Mangere Central School. It has a roll of just over 500 at present and is growing. It has awesome buildings and grounds, lovely staff, delightful children of many different nationalities, and is on a five year ERO Review cycle - the best a school can achieve. It will be a big step up , will present some big challenges and some awesome opportunities for her.  |
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Family Donation - It Makes Such A Difference
School donations are something we’d probably rather not think about. They may seem not cheap at $110 for a child, but at $220 for a family (no matter how big) they are really pretty reasonable. When you consider the resources we provide at WHS - such as ChromeBooks, iPads, skateboard ramps and rails, sports uniforms, Diwali Day,Seesaw free to all parents, and a pretty awesome music programme (more on that below), the value for money is pretty clearly there. Because there is a gap between Ministry of Education funding and staff, parent and community expectations, we need to find ways of bridging this funding gap. As with all schools in New Zealand, funding is always tight, so parental contributions are of great assistance to help cover expenses in areas such as Technology, music and resource materials. As an example, our parents, staff and children absolutely adore the music programme we now have operating at WHS. The cost for us is huge though - twenty to thirty thousand to get it up and running properly, and a considerable sum each year to maintain it. We encourage payments direct to our school bank account - 12-3039-0773733-00. Receipts will be issued once full payment has been received. Alternatively, cash, cheque and eftpos are also available. This is a donation so there is no requirement to pay, but we greatly appreciate it if you do. We fully understand how expensive schooling is. We do our best to help by keeping our school donation lower than many schools. School donations are tax deductible, so keep your receipts. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us - via 836 1213 or 021 779 009 or email macash@mac.com Otherwise, our sincere thanks for your support.  
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Holiday Season Calendars - Our Big WHS Fundraiser for 2016
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In previous years we have given the Christmas Calendar project to an outside company, this meant we made a small profit per calendar.
As we did last year, we are again offering you the opportunity to purchase Christmas Calendars for the very reasonable price of only $10 each. This is a savings on 2013 prices of $2 per calendar. Because we are producing these ourselves, we can sell them at a cheaper price but still make a better profit than previously.
Calendars will feature an art work by your child, and you have the choice of a one page whole year calendar, or a 12 page calendar, one month per page. Examples shown from previous years.  You are welcome to order as many calendars as you wish. A sample calendar will be available to view in our office foyer and on our WHS web site under the News tab - http://goo.gl/JzC1r2Orders and money need to be in as early as possible, to allow children time to produce the art work, and allow us time to laminate, bind and collate all the calendars. We have sent a letter with order form home with each child. Orders and money to the office please. If you would like to pay online our bank account is 12-3039-0773733-00. Please write on your order form that you have paid online. As time is short - cut off date for all orders is Friday November 18. These calendars make ideal gifts for family members, particularly grandparents, family overseas and so on. As always, your support is much appreciated. |
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C of the Week - Creative:
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At Western Heights we currently focus on the Seven Cs - see poster picture at right. One of those Cs is Caring. Creative: Creativity means having the confidence that you will be able to find an answer, whatever the situation might be. Being creative can be fun, relaxing, and profitable, but being creative makes you a problem solver. Creative problem solving is so important because it is impossible to know what situations or opportunities will be presented to our children. We want them to be prepared to creatively handle anything that may come along. According to Sir Ken Robinson, who is an expert in learning and children’s education, ‘imagination is the source of all human achievement‘, thus one of the key components of creativity and innovation. “My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with same status” – Sir Ken Robinson Generally, creativity is the ability to think in unusual ways. It is a type of rational thought called divergent thinking. Divergent thinker branches off from a linear thought, offering multiple solutions or answers to a problem. There are four components of divergent thinking. A highly creative person has strong capacities in each of these four areas: Fluency: the ability to produce many ideas. Originality: the uniqueness of ideas. Originality is vital for creativity. All creative things, ideas, and solutions must be original. Flexibility: producing ideas that come from different categories of thought. When a person taps into different categories of thought, they are more flexible in their thinking. Elaboration: the continual exploration of a line of thought. Elaboration is when creative people often say they are “on fire” about a particular topic or project – they are unable to focus on or think of anything else. As part of the suite of higher order skills, creativity can help learners not only survive, but to thrive in our fast changing world. Creativity skills help learners to be: Motivated and ambitious for change Confident in their capabilities and the validity of their own viewpoint Able to transfer their creativity skills to other contexts Able to lead and work well with others
Crucially, creativity can be the hook which engages learners, influencing their perseverance and achievement. Creativity skills can help learners to shape their own life opportunities. Here are some ways you can encourage creativity in your children: 1. Encourage curiosity and seeking answers. One of the best ways parents can respond to a child’s questions is by saying, “I don’t know. How could we find the answer?” 2. Value varying ideas and opinions. Encourage brainstorming by saying: “Well, that sure is one way of looking at it,” or “What a GOOD idea, I’ve never thought of that before. Let’s try it!” 3. Offer support, “If that didn’t work, try something else; you’ll get it.” Encourage responsible risk taking that fuels creativity. 4. Stimulate imaginative, independent thought by posing questions. In projects, avoid telling children exactly what to do. 5. Resist perfectionism. Don’t take over a child’s project because you can do it better or faster. (Of course, you can!) Likewise, resist putting finishing touches on a child’s project to make it perfect. Respect the learning that takes place while a project is made. That process is more important than the final product. With practice, products improve. 6. Show respect for creative effort. Display children’s stories or artwork on refrigerators and bulletin boards. Kids love to see their labors of love at their parents’ workplaces, too. 7. Encourage ingenious humor. Humor helps kids take joy in their creative intelligence. Laugh together often. 8. Facilitate play; don’t dictate it. Kids get a big boost from parents getting on the floor and really playing with them. During play follow your child’s lead. Play should be a dance between you, not a concert with you as conductor. 9. Play games that could have different answers. Include “What if” questions in play. “What if we want to build a sand castle? How can me make the sand stick together better?” “What if we made designs on our castle, what could we use to make them?” 10. Play imaginative word games. For instance, devise ways to build a house if you landed on the moon. Or make lists of all the different and imaginative ways you could use a simple household item, like a leaf rake or a hand mixer. Enjoy crazy answers! 11. Play make-believe games. You know, pretend... 12. Provide a safe messable place where kids can explore a variety of art materials. Offer recyclables such as paper and cardboard with crayons, chalk, markers, glue, stickers, finger-paint, clay, etc. 13. Make homemade instruments and put on a concert. Be accepting of all compositions. Make room for movement so spirited kids can show off their moves. 14. Make up cumulative family stories. One person starts a storyline, and then the next has to add to it, then the next. The zanier the plot, the more fun! 15. Change the endings of well-known stories. “What’s another way ‘The Three Little Pigs’ could end?” 16. Play mental gymnastics games. These can be knock-knock jokes or puns. Making the brain stretch to establish analogies is also fun. For instance, creative thought develops when kids find ways a clock and an owl are alike. Or they list all the things a cat and a computer have in common.
I love being imaginative and a bit off the wall with children - often they don’t know if I’m serious or not, and often they play along. Lilly’s ostrich is still ‘going strong’ two years after I told her she had one. I remember reading a story about an imaginary Hippo on the classroom roof, to a class of little ones some years ago. At the end I asked if anyone had any imaginary friends. A little girl told us all about her imaginary friend Susan. I asked if anyone else had seen Susan, but no one had. Another little girl then shared about her imaginary cat, and described it in detail. I asked if anyone had seen her cat. For a while there was silence, then the first girl put her hand up - “I haven’t,” she said, “But I think my imaginary friend Susan has.” Sometimes kids are just too cool for words.
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Growth Mindset - How To Be Creative
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“A growth mindset is when students believe that their abilities can be developed,” says Carol Dweck, renowned Stanford University psychologist. Dweck coined the phrase growth mindset after decades of research on how children and teens become successful. When children develop growth mindsets, they see themselves as creative works in progress. On the other hand, those with fixed mindsets see their abilities as static, so they avoid challenge and failure. Growth Mindset #1: “I see connections.” This requires a shift from linear to non-linear thinking. Growth Mindset #2: “I am open to new ideas.” Innovation thrives with collaboration and flexibility. Einstein’s words, “We can’t solve the world’s problems by using the same type of thinking we used when we created them,” couldn’t ring more true today. Innovation thrives with collaboration and flexibility. Einstein’s words, “We can’t solve the world’s problems by using the same type of thinking we used when we created them,” couldn’t ring more true today. Innovation thrives with collaboration and flexibility. Einstein’s words, “We can’t solve the world’s problems by using the same type of thinking we used when we created them,” couldn’t ring more true today. They understood the importance of being open to new ideas and working collaboratively for the common good. Growth Mindset #3: “I welcome my mistakes.” Innovation only occurs when we have the courage to make mistakes and learn from them. We must teach them that mistakes are part of their growth as human beings. Growth Mindset #4: “I embrace diversity.” The world is made up of different cultures that collaborate and collide at lightning speeds. Key to the development of better products, services, and policies is a young person’s ability to understand people who are different from themselves. By teaching kids to be good citizens, we impart an important mindset that contributes to innovation in all parts of society. Growth Mindset #5: “I live in a human-virtual world.” The information and knowledge society that has evolved since the birth of the Internet, and that now includes social media, is a major driver of innovation. The next generation of leaders will know how to use the power of the Internet and its tools to connect with people and ideas across the globe. But the fact remains that face-to-face relationships young people nurture with friends, family, and people in their own communities will remain at the heart of what feeds their initiative and well-being. Today’s youth must learn to live in human and virtual spaces simultaneously, harnessing the benefits of both. When we foster these growth mindsets in young people, we help them become the innovators of the future. |
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Toby and Monika in Japan
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Toby and Monica attended school in Japan for five weeks. They had an awesome time while there. It is interesting to see that agriculture studies has a strong focus in their curriculum. Toby and Monica took part in rice harvesting and also sweet potato gathering. As you can see, Toby harvested a huge sweet potato - which had been planted by children earlier in the year. |
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Teachers Are... |
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Teachers Are... |
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Thoughtful Thursday
Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change.
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Dog Poetry |
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Welcome to our Newest Western Heights Whanau
The warmest of warm Western Heights welcome toRomulus Betham. We are delighted to have you join our Western Heights whanau and hope and trust you all feel right at home here, are happy, and Loving, Learning and Leading. |
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Western Heights School126 Sturges Road Henderson Auckland 0612 P - 09 8361213 M - 021 779 009
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