PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
This week I am at the annual New Zealand Principals Conference and today I had the pleasure of listening to Pasi Sahlberg from Finland. Pasi is a leading thinker and advisor in the world of education. The main focus of his talk was on the ‘Big Picture’ of schools and education in general.
I always enjoy these talks as they often focus on thinking about changes that could make our education system more relevant, engaging and successful for all young people. This is the thinking we at Remuera Intermediate are always undertaking and, as I have recently shared, we are doing again in this current round of community consultation.
Part of Pasi’s presentation focused on the challenges that are persisting in the world of education. There are a number of interesting and challenging observations in the global achievement data of our 15 year olds.
- There has been a slight decline in all areas over the past 20 years
- The gap between our highest achievers and lowest achievers has remained unchanged over this time
- The typical gap globally by the age of 15 is approximately 3 years
- Students with educated families consistently outperform those from less educated families
To address these facts most countries have increased education spending significantly yet very little has changed. Positively, when I look at the achievements of our young people here at Remuera Intermediate I am again proud of their successes supported by the passion and dedication of our teaching team.
As we head into this election, it is easy to be concerned by what is being shared on the campaign trail. Rest assured, despite what you hear, your young people are thriving and growing into fine young people who we hope will one day go out and lead the way. There is a great deal to be hopeful for.
Kyle Brewerton
Principal/APPA President
SCHOOL BOARD PARENT MID-TERM ELECTION 2023
Nomination Round
Our school will be undertaking a mid-term parent election for 3 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 22 September 2023.
We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database.
Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates.
Nominations close on Wednesday 11 October at 12 noon. Election day is Wednesday 15th November 2023.
We look forward to your participation in this process.
Wayne Jamieson
Returning Officer
CES
HAVING FUN WITH THE ART EXTENSION GROUP
A group of 21, Year 8 students are in the middle of completing an abstract artwork on a canvas using acrylic paint.
There is a wide range of subject matter and some great ideas underway.
Nearly finished! Jessica and Myka.
First to finish. Rafel with his abstract garden. He is gifting this to his mum for her birthday.
CENTRAL ZONES GIRLS RUGBY LEAGUE
On Thursday 17 August, 13 young wāhine toa travelled to Fowlds Park, Mount Albert, for the Central Zones Rugby League competition. The team was blessed with a rare sunny and calm day in Auckland City, so their spirits were high from the moment they stepped on the bus.
We had a very successful day: first winning by default to Balmoral, by 28 points against Ponsonby Intermediate, 12 points against (our besties) Waikowhai Intermediate and then a loss by a last minute tie-breaker to Mount Roskill Intermediate in the pool games.
The girls were ecstatic to learn they had made it into the final play-offs for first and second place to Royal Oak Intermediate. Unfortunately, Royal Oak (a seasoned and experienced, well-oiled Rugby League machine) outplayed the RI team to take home first place, leaving our tough, kind, hardworking and resilient girls with a well-deserved second place win. Yeah the girls!
CHESS TOURNAMENT
On 23 August 8 students travelled to the Michael Avenue Community Centre in Ellerslie to participate in the Central Auckland Intermediate Interschool Chess Championship. It took the form of a 6 round Swiss tournament with 27 teams from 13 different schools participating.
RI Team A consisted of Eric, Ranbir, Austin and Daniel; and Team B consisted of Leo, Max, Yaray and Aikantika. Team B was placed 12th and Team A 15th.
Unfortunately, Minh was unable to attend due to illness so Aikantika valiantly took his place. We are grateful to Jasmine and Shivali for helping with transport to and from the venue.
MATHEX 2023
Early in Term 2, it was wonderful to see such a large number of enthusiastic mathematicians trying out to be in the school Mathex teams for 2023. There were some wonderful results and it was certainly a real challenge getting it down to two Year 7 teams and two Year 8 teams. Every Wednesday, the teams gave up their lunch times to work on their problem-solving skills, in preparation for the Auckland Mathex Competition, held in August.
The competition between the teams was always fierce but fair. On the night of the competition, 24 August, our teams competed fiercely against 120 other teams from around the Auckland region. They performed very well, and although they did not place in the top 3, represented the school with pride and determination.
Year 7 team members:
Olivia, Rebecca, Ryan, Sawyer, Shrihan, Steven and Leo
Year 8 team members:
Audrey, Charles, Guangnian, Mia, Samuel, Timothy, Tiger and Vishak
GIRLS SOCCER
The RI girls’ soccer team has played in a league on Mondays for the last 2 terms. They had a tough competition against top-level teams and played a total of 12 games. They have shown huge determination and commitment and as a result, have experienced huge improvement.
The team is made up of all Year 7s except 2 so they have great potential. After 10 tough games, they came 2nd in pool play and got a spot in the final against a very experienced St. Kents team. They played very well however unfortunately lost 2-0.
They should be very proud of the season they have had and the team they have become.
YEAR 7 SPEECH FINALS
This term, Year 7 students have been presenting speeches to their classmates and we recently held our Year 7 speech finals. There were two contestants from each syndicate that talked about a whole variety of topics. From the Power of Words through to Tigers and Siblings. The students who represented their syndicates kept the audience engaged throughout the morning.
The winners were:
1st: Zariah - "The Effects of Social Media"
2nd: Leo - "Why you Should Learn a Second Language"
3rd Equal: Elysha - "Siblings"
3rd Equal: Summer - "There is no Planet B"
Zariah will have the opportunity to represent Remuera Intermediate at the Central Zone Speech competition and we wish her all the best.
YEAR 8 STUDENTS IN THE FOOD ROOM
Year 8 Garden to Table students spend time in the food room developing their culinary skills as well as choosing vegetables from the school garden to complement their cooking.
Sometimes the food each team produces is shared. In Cycle Two students created a cultural meal of their choice and in their last lesson they were challenged with a Mystery Box cook-off MasterChef-style.
These lessons gave students the opportunity to plan and cook together and tested their ability to work as a team as well as their cooking skills.
These lessons were definitely a highlight of the programme!
CHIP PACKET PROJECT
Last week one Year 8 ESOL class collected empty chip packets from students in their syndicate to create a blanket for 'the chip packet project'. This is a worldwide volunteer organisation that recycles chip packets into blankets and pillows for homeless people.
Brian, Chloe, Amore, Jacky and Tvisha coordinated the collection, including the advertising they designed. They then prepared the chip packets which were finally ironed together to make the blanket. We look forward to completing it this week so we can donate them to the Charity
This is the process we followed:
1. Collect the chip packets
2. Cut
3. Wash.
4. Hang on the line to dry.
5. Wipe dry.
6. Iron together.
One of the photos shows a student wearing a completed blanket from last year.
Congratulations to all who participated. Great work and an awesome attitude!
Gillian Waters
IZ CROSS COUNTRY
It was a beautiful day on the 29 August, out at the Pukekohe Showgrounds for the Interzone competition. We were up against some tough competitors but our Remuera Intermediate runners were happy to face the challenge head-on.
Our year 7 Girls' team came 2nd overall, with Emilia (Rm 28) coming in 2nd and Sienna (Rm 28) coming 4th. Our 7 boys team came 1st overall, with Charlie (Rm 1) coming 2nd and Bob (Rm 9) coming in 7th place.
Well done to everyone who ran. It was a tough course and they all did a fantastic job.
CZ BOYS BASKETBALL
The boys had a great day at Central Zones last week although there were some very tired-looking boys that turned up at training the next day. The team won their pool matches with ease, beating teams 36-10, 28-10, 44-6.
The quarter finals against Pasadena was their most challenging match of the day and they had a narrower margin of winning 21-14. The semi-finals were against Balmoral winning 43-4. They met Kowhai in the final. Kowhai had drawn in their semi-final match and made it to the finals by playing a tight match in extra time.
We were expecting a harder game. After a nervous start (for me) we stretched a clear lead and the final score was 32-16. It was great to see their sportsmanship throughout the day and their comradery and games with the other teams at lunch.
A well-deserved win and great practice for AIMS. The team will attend inter zones in term 4.
PREPARING FOR RI KIDS VOTE 2023
The RI KIDSVOTE planning team has been working hard this term alongside Mrs Miller, who has helped us with everything. KIDSVOTE gives every student an opportunity to experience how voting works in New Zealand. This prepares us for the future when we vote and also teaches us how to vote and how important it is.
The RI KIDSVOTE team has put a lot of effort into planning this school-wide event. When we had our first meeting we thought hard about what we needed to do to make the voting day as efficient as possible. Planning an event for approximately 900 students has been a big project.
We split into 4 teams to manage the workload.
Electoral Officers: Melaini, Lila, Mayly-May, Mercedes and Gyanvi.
Polling Booth Officers: Carol, Anne, Jiu, William and Anishverr.
Publicity Crew: Riaan, Norah, Thenu, Maelee, Sawyer, Ashley, Chakshani and Bella
Project Managers: Sameer & Luca.
Voting will take place on Thursday, 21 September in The LOWER HUB.
By Norah Room 27 and Thenu Room 25
IMPORTANT DATES
| September | |
| September 12 | PTA Meeting Year 7 Maritime Museum Trip - Rooms 10 & 27 |
| September 15 | International Day |
| September 18 | Year 8 Cornwall Park Visit - Rooms 2, 3, 4 & 5 |
| September 19 | BOT Meeting CZ Volleyball Girls |
| September 20 | Year 8 Cornwall Park Visit - Rooms 6, 7, 29 & 30 |
| September 21 | RI Kids Vote 2023 CZ Volleyball Boys |
| September 22 | Term 3 Ends |
| October | |
| October 9 | Term 4 Begins |
| October 12 | Year 8 Cornwall Park Visit - Rooms 23, 24 & 25 |
| October 16 | Year 8 Cornwall Park Visit - Rooms 19, 20, 21 & 22 |
| October 18 | CZ Badminton |
| October 25 | IZ Basketball Boys & Girls |
ABSENCE
All absences need to be reported by 8:45 a.m. at the latest. To report an absence please:
Use the 'Report an Absence' link in the top right corner on the school website homepage http://www.remint.school.nz
Use the school app or phone the office on 09 522 9890 Option 1
Please do not email absence notifications to classroom teachers
ABSENCE TEXT NOTIFICATION
Your children’s safety is of paramount importance to us. In order to ensure the safety of all our students, at 9:45 am if your child has not been marked as Present we will send out a text notification to alert you of his/her absence. We are aware many parents are very busy people and forget to notify the school so please respond with a Y and a reason for the absence/lateness. Respond with an N if you have dropped your child at school or know that he/she was coming to school and we can investigate this promptly. Should your mobile number change, please notify the school immediately so that we can update our records accordingly.
PARENT PORTAL
Parents are able to use our portal to pay for their child’s donations and fees. We encourage anyone who has not already signed up to do so. The address is https://parent.edgelearning.co.nz/
REMUERA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL APP
You can download the free SchoolAppsNZ from the App Store or Google Play. It works on both android and Apple phones. It sends important school messages and forms a big part of our school communications
Features of the App:
- You can subscribe to alert groups of interest to you and your child
- You can complete the absentee form directly from the App
- You can access the school calendar, news and events directly through the App
- We can send out targeted alerts to everyone with the App or to specific groups