PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Resilience…A Skill for Life
It would be fair to say that the world we live in today is somewhat more complex, ambiguous and challenging than the world we grew up in as young adolescents. It is perhaps little wonder that the level of anxiety among our students and their families has been on the rise in more recent times. Whilst many families and their young people remain upbeat. positive and resilient, the number of those sharing increased challenges is rising.
In 2018 we entered into a partnership with the Resilience Institute to investigate ways to develop resilience in our young people. Research shared by the Resilience Institute has shown very strong evidence that resilience can be taught and through some simple changes, our outlook can be impacted greatly. Personally, I employed some of the strategies we learnt about during this work and continue to do so. In doing so I have noticed significant changes in my own ability to achieve greater balance, focus and productivity.
The two strategies I would like to share today are very simple and actually require very little time or effort. These are two of the strategies that our young people learn about as part of their first unit of study in year 7. The first is what is referred to as tactical calm, a technique synonymous with professional sport, possibly one of the more intense and high-pressure environments. The second is connectedness.
Tactical calm is really just a fancy name for what is basically slowing your thoughts and your breathing to bring you back to a calm state. Often in my day, I find there are many demands on my time, which is quite normal in today’s world. The challenge is trying to decide what task takes priority at any given time. The solution to this has been that magic word ‘multitasking’, which is actually just multi-switching in rapid succession. This rapid change of focus can be very demanding and actually have quite negative impacts on productivity. By raising my awareness of this and consciously stopping in moments when everything is happening at pace, I am able to calm myself quickly and move into a more focused state. This simple practice has enabled me to achieve much greater focus with much more considered responses to the issues at hand.
Connectedness is another area that has had a positive impact. The irony here is that humanity has never been as connected as we are today however our interactions are often online and often superficial. Neuroscience is now showing us that face-to-face contact is far more powerful than virtual communication and COVID certainly highlighted this even more. The various hormones that are associated with human contact are not released when connecting online. To this end, I have taken a conscious decision to avoid looking at my phone or my laptop once I arrive home as this is time to reconnect with my family. I have shared this with the staff and many have followed suit. The unintended consequence of this has been a reduction in work emails during weekends and late at night. This has led to more staff coming together in the staff room each morning to communicate in person which in turn is building greater working relationships.
So, by simply strategically slowing down at times and connecting face-to-face with people I have seen major changes in the way my day looks and feels. It is great to know that we can take control of our reality and that our mission to build resilience in our young people is not only a worthy goal, but it is also achievable.
Kyle Brewerton
Principal/APPA President
YEAR 8 CAMPS AT PORT WAIKATO
Last week we had two Y8 Camps at Port Waikato. The weather was fabulous and so were the students! Thank you so much to all the parents and family members who helped out at Camp.
Port Waikato was an amazing camp! It could not have happened without the teachers organising it and the parent support, Thank you!
On the first day of camp, we went on a tramp called the Bald Spur, the start was a vertical climb but once we got to the top the view and our lunch made us forget about our sore legs.
Day 2 was all go! My top 3 activities were #1 Rock climbing, #2 BMX, and #3 low ropes. Thanks again to all the parents, I hope you also enjoyed your time out at Port Waikato.
William Bason - Room 4
GARDEN TO TABLE
Year 8 Garden to Table students have been creating vegetable gardens beside the main block, behind the hub and in the Mara Kumara. The ground has been prepared for planting broccoli, lettuces, spinach, tomatoes and pak choi.
We have been learning how to grow a living soil, plant seedlings and protect them from the elements and pests. GTT students from Rms 19 - 22 have adopted a kumara plant in the Mara Kumara. These kumara are doing really well and will be lifted from the ground on the 5th May, a good day for harvesting according to the Maramataka, the traditional Māori calendar.
GIRLS CRICKET NEWS
Over the years, Remuera Intermediate has had a successful girl's cricket programme, competing in the Auckland Active Cup and winning the competition for the past three years before COVID. With the competition no longer existing, Parnell Cricket Club has taken it upon itself to continue growing girls' cricket and supporting the RI Girls cricket programme.
Over the last few weeks, we played two T20 Cricket matches against Baradene and DIO with our girls coming out winners in both. We are now on the hunt for some other schools to test our skills against in the coming weeks.
Our Central Zones Cricket (Boys and Girls) has been postponed until Term 4.
FLOOD APPEAL
In Weeks 5 and 6 Remuera Intermediate held an appeal to raise funds and food for victims of the recent floods. We asked for contributions of cash and cans of food to be brought to school.
On Monday 13th March the Auckland City Mission, which was a collection point for the floods, came to school and took delivery of over 400 food items. We have also deposited over $500 directly to the Flood Relief Appeal. We are very grateful for the generosity of all those who took part in this initiative to help in our own small way the flood victims.
YEAR 8 IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME 2023
Students in Year 8 are offered HPV vaccination to immunise against human papillomavirus. This vaccine is called GARDASIL and is provided in a series of 2 injections over 6 months. It can be administered at a school-based vaccination programme or by your family doctor.
The first date our school is scheduled to have GARDASIL on is: 10 May 2023
The students have watched a video about the HPV vaccination and will bring a form home for you to complete. This form will give the nurse information on whether:
- you wish your child to be vaccinated at school
- your child has already received these vaccinations from their GP
- you do not wish your child to be vaccinated
Please see the below link for the videos that will be presented at the school
http://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/immunisation/immuni...
For more information, please contact:
Starship Community Service – School-Based Immunisation Programme
Phone: 09 639 0200
Or
Your Family Doctor/ Practice Nurse
Visit the Ministry of Health website, www.moh.govt.nz
Contact the Immunisation Advisory Centre: 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466863) or visit their website: www.immune.org.nz
OPEN EVENING - SELWYN COLLEGE
IMPORTANT DATES
March
20th Waterwise Room 20
21st Waterwise Room 30
CZ Boys Cricket Trials
22nd Waterwise Room 22
23rd CZ Boys Cricket Trials
24th Waterwise Room 21
27-29th Year 7 GREEN Camp (Rooms 11 to 18) - Camp Adair
27-29th Year 8 Camp Hunua Falls - Rooms 3, 5 and 6
28th BOT Meeting
29-31st Year 7 BLUE Camp (Rooms 1, 8, 9, 10, 26 to 28) - Camp Adair
29-31st Year 8 Camp Hunua Falls - Rooms 23, 24 and 25
29th Waterwise Room 29
31st Waterwise Room 19
April
3-5th Year 8 camp Hunua Falls - Rooms 20, 21 and 22
3rd Waterwise Room 6
5th Waterwise Room 4
6th Waterwise Room 7
6th Term 1 Ends
ABSENCES
All absences need to be reported by 8:45 am 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