Parents - Middleton Grange School

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m i ddlet ongr a ngescho ol Newsletter No. 2 30 Acacia Ave, Chch 8041

Parents,

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t: 348 9826

f: 348 8317

e: [email protected]

what is your hope for your child? That they be Counter-cultural or Conforming-cultural?

question to answer as our response will shape the way we raise our children, the conversations we will have with them, the ‘line we draw in the sand’ and how we will encourage them to be critical thinkers in this day and age. The most comfortable option is to ‘go with the flow’ and not stand out as different. I raise this question because over the past month, three EVENTS have occurred that made me realise how important the roles of parents, church and school are in shaping the hearts and minds of our pupils. The first EVENT I came across was a front page article in the Sunday Times (28 February 2016), ‘How To Get Off Driving Charges’. The article records how a defence lawyer will instruct his clients to never admit they were the driver of a vehicle, even if the incident involved death or injury to others in the car. He says, ‘In court, I’ll never concede my client was the driver because one, they’re entitled to remain silent and the onus is on Police to prove everything and two, if the Police can’t prove they’re the driver, my client deserves the benefit of that.’ Really! Whatever happened to speaking the truth? ‘Were you the driver?’ is a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ question. For sure, the consequences of answering ‘Yes’ may be severe but when did we start believing no-one should accept the consequences of either accidental or deliberate behaviour? As Christians, indeed all members of society, we need to show integrity to be truthful. This in many areas of life is becoming more and more counter-cultural. Not many of us would want our child to deny being the driver in a tragic situation, but the training for that, the shaping of a heart that has integrity, begins in owning up to the small misbehaviours and speaking the truth at home. What saddened me also in that article was the Police Prosecutor from Masterton who said, ‘The value of life isn’t what it used to be.’ Maybe that sentiment is a national outcome from society’s attitude towards abortion, euthanasia and recently ‘assistedsuicide’. Our desire at Middleton Grange School is that the pupils are ‘counter-cultural’ to this sentiment. his is such an important

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Character

Excellence

for the Glory of God

Service 1

20 16 4 April www.middleton.school.nz

Coming Up These dates are subject to change. Regularly check the calendar on the school website for amendments. Abbreviations: PS-Primary School SC-Senior College ppd-postponement

MS-Middle School IC-Intl College LC-Learning Centre



April Tue, 5 - Wed, 6 Y13 Solo Performances Japanese Language Days NASDA For A Day, CPIT Wed, 6 9LI Water Pumping Station 9-12.30 Defence Careers, ibrary- Lunchtime Year 7-13 Parent Pupil Teacher Thu, 7 Conferences NASDA For A Day, CPIT Fri, 8 Mon, 11 - Wed, 13 Y11 Solo Performances Year 7-13 Parent Pupil Teacher Tue, 12 Conferences Year 12 UC Discovery Day at UC Tue, 12 Wed, 13 Victoria University, library at lunch Term 1 Ends Fri, 15 Thu, 21 - Sun, 24 IC Queenstown Trip

May Mon, 2 Term 2 Begins 2017 Enrolment Season 2017 2017 Enrolment Season begins Y7-13 Enrolments close Friday 17 June Y1-6 Enrolments close Friday 26 August Wed, 4 Otago Junior Maths Competition Sat, 7 Crescendos Practice 4-6pm Mon, 9 - Fri, 13 OPC Hillary Challenge Mon, 9 Otago University Open Day Mon, 9 Early finish for extra Staff Meeting Tue, 10 Y13 Christian Focus Day Pasifika Speech Competition Contemporary Group Performance Mon, 11 Y12 Biology Linclon University (1) Mon, 12 Y12 Biology Linclon University (2) Thu, 12 - Fri, 13 International Festival Fri, 13 Careers Expo, Horncastle Arena Sat, 14 Crescendos Practice 4-6pm Mon, 16 Otago University, Library lunchtime Tue, 17 Y9-13 Cross Country Launchpad BizChallenge Tue, 17 Short & Sweet Concert choirs, Orchestra, Chamber

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The second EVENT was reported in the BBC news (3 March 2016) under the heading ‘Cheating Watches – Warning for Exams’. The article described how watches were on sale that allowed pupils to store exam revision notes on them and then to access these during the exam. The watches were promoted through Amazon and other retailers as cheating watches that are ‘perfect for covertly viewing exam notes directly on your wrist’. Just as the Police Prosecutor lamented that the value of life isn’t what it used to be, here we see ‘the value of truth and integrity is not what it used to be’. Of course, cheating in various forms has been around for years, but now we begin to see there is no shame in the promotion of lying and deceit. Once again, the question has to be asked ‘Will we conform to this or be counter-cultural?’ This is a challenge for us today because even among our pupils we see the propensity to go with the flow. This leads me to the final EVENT which I witnessed. I saw one of our pupils act inappropriately towards a group of other pupils (abusive sign language) and when I chatted with him about this his response was ‘But everyone does that. All my mates. We do it to each other. It’s normal!’ This was a young Christian man who (initially!) could not see what was wrong with his behaviour. This was a good lead into talking about

being counter-cultural and being different for the right reasons. So easily we (myself included) conform to the culture around us when we are called to conform to the likeness of Christ (Romans 12:2). This is the challenge we face daily as Christians and it is a challenge we accept at Middleton Grange School as one of the reasons we exist as a Special Character school. Our prayer is that our pupils will be counter-cultural for Christ, non-conformists to the world but able to engage biblically with a servant heart in the contemporary issues of the day. Parents, join with us in this endeavour and pray for the work of the Holy Spirit within the school. In Christ Richard Vanderpyl Principal

Our Motto in Action!

Good tools for Parents

Charlotte Fenton and Ava White participate in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award. On a recent tramp they were spotted helping a special needs participant, without being asked. The adult in charge noted that they respected her needs and not only treated her as an equal, but like royalty. When he asked why they helped, their response was simply. “Because she needed it!” Well done, girls. You have exemplified out motto: ‘Character, Excellence, Service for the Glory of God.’

Wireless router technology is improving all the time. You can now buy routers (modems) that allow parents to set access times for all users on their home network. This means that you can specify days and hours that your kids can use any devices that are connected. The ASUS RT-AC68U dual band AC1900 Router is one that we can recommend. If you look for YouTube videos on this device, you’ll find several good overviews of what it can do, as well as independent reviews. It’s available from Dragon PC and other stores that sell computer products for about $300.

Remembering Shayden Year 13 pupil, Shayden Gibbons-Kingdom passed away just before Easter. We thank the Lord for his life and ask that you join with staff and pupils as we continue to pray for his family, friends and whanau in their loss. Memories of Shayden will feature in our next newsletter.

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Art Trip The Year 5 and 6 team had an interesting visit to the Art Gallery.

Worms

-see you there! 6 1 20 a t s e Fi

The last few weeks the Juniors have been looking at worms under the microscope! We’ve been getting up close with tiger worms and worm farms. During Week 4 and 5 we went on class visits to the Curator’s House, in the Botanic Gardens. While there the educators taught us about the different types of worms, where they live and what they like to eat. Best of all, we got to make our own worm farm!

Tiger Worms

Tiger worms eat vege scraps. They live under the ground in compost. Tiger worms are very stripy. Worms have hairs on them. They have no eyes, they just know where they’re going. When they move, they wriggle slowly.   

Samuel H

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Polyfest Held at Westminster Park on March 19, the 33 strong Pasifika Cultural Group performed Samoan and Tongan and dances to thousands of people. All thanks to our tutors Pana Soli and Lisa Akauola and the committed group

Property Improvements As usual the maintenance team worked hard over the holidays doing all the jobs that need to happen while the school was closed. Here are some of the highlights of work they and contractors were busy with: • F101 has been converted from a Pottery Room into a multi-purpose teaching space for Junior Science plus Technology (including Art and Clay work). • 70 Suva Street - the front house has been used by the Learning Centre for some time. The rear house is being converted into 2 seminar/classroom spaces that are predominantly to be used for International Short Term trips, and should be usable soon. We also replaced the roof on the front of the house and repainted the house in the school colour scheme. • D103 - due to an on-going issue with leaking copper pipes under the floor, the room had to be stripped out, new cabinetry made, the copper pipes replaced and a new floor laid! These projects have been carried out by the Trust and our thanks to them for that. • On top of that we have done a full external and internal repaint of the International College Admin building, repainted E Block (internal), given a touch up to paint in the Performing Arts Building, and exterior steel work on the stairs and balconies of G Block. We have sorted some other areas in F Block where we have also had some leaking copper pipes. Work has begun on add some much needed play space to the play area outside Room 15. This is using some funds that were raised through Fiesta..

A big thank you to Konica Minolta for printing our newsletter free of charge.

Easter Services were held on Wednesday 23 March 4

Year 9 Camps Each Year 9 class spent two and a half days at Mount White over the weeks of March The camp begins with a walk through Cave Stream in varied degrees of cold and water velocity, depending on the weather. Camp is a wonderful opportunity for developing friendships and unity within the classes. These photos are some of what 9WS got up to.

International College News The International College started this year with our first ever Orientation camp for all new pupils. Camp was held at Living Springs with lots of fun and activities, including the orienteering course. We also held a couple of BBQs, celebrating Chinese New Year with a lunch time sausage sizzle and a very successful family BBQ at the beginning of March. At the conclusion of Principal’s Assembly on Leap Day the school celebrated the 4th Birthday of Year 11 pupil, Kate (Yi You) Pan. The cake was kindly provided by the members of Kate’s Vertical Group, SKIG We look forward to our upcoming day trip to Hanmer Springs and then our annual trip to Queenstown during the April school holidays.

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WELCOME TO OUR PARENT COFFEE MORNINGS We welcome all school parents to come and enjoy a chat over a quality cup of tea or coffee every Friday during the term in the Performing Arts Centre from 9.00 am onwards. A gold coin donation to cover costs would be appreciated.

Adrenalin Forest The hardest challenge for me at Adrenalin Forest was perseverance and keeping an optimistic attitude. Up high on the challenges, I looked down and started to think ‘I’m gonna die!’ and I wasn’t even saying it sarcastically, I was dead serious. Many times I told myself I couldn’t do it, or that I should just stop and get rescued, but with the words of encouragement from my friends and the verse ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ engraved into my mind, I realised that I could make it out alive. I also realised that I have a fear of heights I never knew I had before. Guess you learn a new thing every day! Overall, Adrenalin Forest was a great experience and I would love to do it again.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Is your home phone with Vodafone? Please visit www.intelligentrewards.co.nz, click Community Access and complete the online form or call 0508 011 737. Your paid account automatically generates credit for us, your school! Grandparents, older siblings living away from home and other relatives may also be willing to link their account to us so please, spread the word!

by Maia Williamson

Leap of Faith In front of me,      2 metres away, but it felt like 2 kilometres; A rope thick, and connected to me (like a lifeline)… it was too late to turn back. I started counting, 1, I take a deep breath, 2, I look down and realise how high in the air I am – suspendedand 3… I jump! In mid air I extend my arm out to the rope and grab it, I swing for a split second, then, my hand slips … I  fall. I panic! Then … I realise, I am safe, My  harness holds me fast… I feel a huge pull on my waist, and swing into the net, and the moment is over.

Do you have room for one more?

Open Home Foundation is a Christian agency which provides support to families and children in need. We urgently need to increase our pool of foster parents who provide respite care (0nce a month), short term, emergency and longer term care for a range of ages. The choice is yours! 24 hr support and a board allowance are provided. Please contact [email protected]. PH: 03 366 5977 We’d be delighted to provide you with more information. www. ohf.org.nz

by Maria Machado 6

Middle School Enters the Flag Debate

Year 8 Museum Trip Year 8 Pupils enjoyed the opportunity to learn about early Maori technology and stories of the first settlers in Canterbury. Along with recreating a timeline of settlement in New Zealand, they tried to start a fire with soft and hard native wood and experimented with using wiriwiri tools to drill holes for threading fish hooks.

In their Social Studies classes each Middle School form class group learned about the process and the meaning of the images and colours included in each flag and then voted on their preference between the current New Zealand flag and the proposed ‘Silver Fern flag. Many pupils in Year 10 did a research project on the flag referendum last year. The votes were cast and double counted for accuracy and the results:

MS pupils

Silver Fern flag

current NZ flag

185

219

Staff 14 20 It was interesting to note that the 21 undecided pupil votes could have made a difference in the final results had they “had their say” on such an important topic! Pupils continued to watch with interest to see the nationwide results.

Careers Pupils enjoyed getting to know all the career options in the Primary industries at Get Ahead Day (right)

Year 13s: Rebekah Fenton, Jamira-Grace Lucas and Livvy Zandbergen enjoyed a breakfast and speaker organised by ZONTA to mark International Women’s Day

All smiles at the Pasifika Careers Expo 7

Girls’ 1st XI Cricket The MGS Girls again entered the annual Canterbury Secondary Schools’ Cricket Tournament. This year they improved their placing from 7th in 2015 to 6th, which was an outstanding effort given the overall inexperience of the team. They started the tournament with a strong win against Rangiora. MGS scored 110 off their 20 overs, with Gemma Hickson scoring 48 and Olivia Anderson 14. This was followed by a strong bowling performance with Emma Wilson taking 3-2, Gemma Hickson 2-1 and Samantha Fairhall 2-19. A sharp run out by Sophia Kennedy sealed the victory with MGS winning by 42 runs. The following 2 games against Christchurch Girls’ and Lincoln were unfortunately rather comprehensive losses but we still finished 3rd in our pool, leaving us playing Villa Maria for 5th and 6th. We started this game well, with openers Lucy Campbell and Laura Meeker doing a good job to see off the Villa opening bowling attack, which included 2 Canterbury representatives. A good innings of 47 no by Gemma Hickson was well supported by Samantha Fairhall (14), Olivia Anderson (12) and Megan Ellis (5 n.o.) who all contributed to a score of 91 for 4 off our 20 overs. Despite a good catch by Samantha Fairhall from the bowling of Susie Ward, Villa Maria chased down this score comfortably, losing only 1 wicket in the process. For many of the players this was their first experience of cricket and it was great to see their skills developing. Hopefully some will want to give it a go again next year. Big thanks must also go to Josh Friend, who helped out with coaching and umpiring during the tournament. The full team was Gemma Hickson, Emma Wilson, Olivia Anderson, Samantha Fairhall, Lucy Campbell, Susie Ward, Laura Meeker, Megan Ellis, Sophia Kennedy, Olivia Neill, Katie –Jo van den Bogaert, Danielle van Garderen and Saskia Hoekendijk.

Y9-13 Swimming Swimming was held at Wharenui Pool on March 22nd. Results were fiercely contested, with Mitchell Campbell giving Satori Dobbie incentive to outdo his usual star performance. Several girls were vying for line honours in each race. Only three girls braved the 800m race, which saw a beautiful display of camaraderie as the first two finishers supported the remaining swimmer as she completed her 32 lengths of the pool.

Y9-13 Athletics Day House spirit was definitely alive and well with all the imaginative and colourful costumes on display in the fast walk around the track by each house to set the athletics day in motion. There was a high standard of athletic performance, notably from Gloria Agnew (Year 10), who broke the 200m record in her age group which had been held since 1975. Windy conditions made record breaking difficult in the afternoon. The day was a great success for combining a good fun atmosphere with quality athletic performance. Mrs A. McMillan

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Congratulations

Canty Athletics Champs

The Canterbury Athletics Championships were held over the weekend 19-20 March with some excellent results for Middleton Grange pupils. The following pupils received top 3 placings at the event: Junior Girls 4 x 100m Team – 1st Place Anna Malin, Fia Palamo, Gloria Agnew (all Y10), Paige Stolzenberger (Y11) Denver Stocks (Y9) 1st 800m U14 Girls Gloria Agnew (Y10) 1st 100m Junior Girls 1st 200m Junior Girls 1st Long Jump Zinan Bennett (Y10) 2nd 400m Junior Boys Fabian Hoekendijk (Y11) 1st High Jump – Junior Boys Anna Paige Fia Palamo (Y11) 3rd Shotput Junior Girls Theo Nankivell (Y12) 2nd High Jump Senior Boys Summer Rutherford (Y13) 1st 100m Senior Girls 1st 300m Hurdles 1st Long Jump Caitlin Troon (Y13) Gloria Zinan 2nd Javelin Senior Girls 3rd Discus Senior Girls Congratulations to all the athletes that competed and many thanks to Mr Steyn for managing this group of pupils.

Theo

Fia

Summer Fabian

Rosa

Wairepo

Caitlin

• Rosa Hibbert-Schooner (Y11) won the Regionals of the Race Unity Speech Contest. Her 7 minute speech entitled ‘Stand Up For Race Unity’ sends her through to Auckland for the Semi Finals in April. • Summer Rutherford (Y13) represented Canterbury in the U18 women’s category at the New Zealand Track & Field Champs held in Dunedin early in March. She had a fantastic weekend, achieving 3 Silver medals: 100m hurdles; 300m hurdles and Canterbury 4x100m relay; 4th place in long jump and she was also a finalist in the 100m Sprint! • Wairepo Te Hae (Y13) competed in the NZ Tag Football Nationals in Auckland in February as part of the Canterbury U21s Men’s Tag Team. 9

HARCOURTS GOLD

Winner

AUCTION EXCELLENCE

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2015

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A donation will be made to Middleton Grange School as a result of a sale and on mention of this ad. Contact Julie today on 03 352 6166 or 027 245 1350 [email protected] www.julieproctor.harcourts.co.nz

Join our Prayer Group When: Every Tuesday 9am Where: At the back of the staffroom, through the door on the left, Please feel free to join us at any time. We welcome new prayers. Contact Eugenia Yoon on 0275102102 if you have any queries

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HARCOURTS GOLD TOP 20 2008 - 2015 NO. 23 HARCOURTS CANTERBURY 2015

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