As we draw closer to the end of the term I find myself reflecting on the whirlwind this term has been and I am sure the students and teachers feel the same. Not only has the term been exciting, it has also been a time for personal growth. As I visited classes and attended various events, I became more and more excited about what Baradene offers our girls. Not only are the classrooms buzzing places of learning, with activities that make me wish I was a student again, the extracurricular activities keep our girls busy and ensure they have the opportunity to embrace all that Baradene has to offer.

As I work on the Term 3 calendar I am mindful of keeping the focus on Teaching and Learning and as such as a school we have tried to minimize the disruption to the teaching day. Please find below some information about events that we would love to see you at.

Father and Daughter Breakfast – Wednesday, July 21

The PTA is holding a Father Daughter Breakfast in the first week of next Term. This is a great opportunity for your daughter to do something a bit different with her dad/granddad/uncle and hear some great stories from the special guest – Temepara George.

Date: Wednesday 21 July 2010, Time: 7am (sharp) - 8.30am

Venue: Baradene Auditorium, Cost: $20 per person

Due to seating requirements tickets will be limited! The booking form is on the school website under PTA or phone Mel: (021) 918 278 or email: dadandme@xtra.co.nz

Multicultural Night – Thursday, July 22

This annual event is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see all our fabulous cultural groups perform. 7pm in the Auditorium.

Parent /Teacher / Student Interviews in Term 3

Thursday, August 5 from 2.15pm for Year 7/8 and Years 11 – 13. The school will close at 1.30pm.

Wednesday, August 11 from 3pm for Year 7/8 and Years 9 and 10. The school will close at 2pm.

Parents can book their interviews times from July 19 by going to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Please enter the school code below and follow the steps.

School Code: JWD3T (for Years 9 – 13)

5ZPKV (for Year 7/8)

Bookings close at 12noon on the day of the interviews. If you do not have access to the internet please contact the school office on 524 6019 so that interviews can be made for you.

Grandparents’ Day – Thursday, August 12

All students are invited to bring their grandparents along to our Feast of the Assumption Mass at 12.30pm on Thursday, August 12 which will be followed by a fingerfood lunch in the Atrium. Please let your daughter’s Homeroom teacher know by Friday, August 6 if your daughter is bringing along her grandparents and how many, for catering purposes.

House Masses in Term 3

Barat - Sunday, August 8, 10am in the Baradene Chapel

Stuart- Sunday, August 22, 10am in the Baradene Chapel

Amiens - Sunday, September 5, 10am in the Baradene Chapel

Holiday leave during Term time

We are receiving notification from a large number of students requiring time off during the term to go on holiday or travel overseas for family functions. Whilst we fully support family time together and the beneficial experience of overseas travel, we would ask parents to consider the timing of such leave, particularly if your daughter is in Years 11 – 13. Interruptions to NCEA course work and internal assessments at critical times during the year could have an extremely detrimental effect on the outcomes of their final NCEA results. If you are planning holidays during the year, talk to your daughter’s Dean in advance as some dates may have less impact on her studies than others.

In a similar vein, can we also ask that out-of-school appointments are not made during school time as it is crucial that students are in class as much as possible for the remainder of the year.

Parking and dropoffs

Gate 2. Can we remind parents not to come in through Gate 2 to park as this is all reserved parking for staff.

Gate 1 and 2. Please do not use either driveway to drop off or pick up students. This causes congestion and risks the safety of students.

Changes to Victoria Avenue parking

We have received notification from Auckland City Council that over the school holidays contractors will be making changes to the parking outside Baradene College and Victoria Avenue School.

The changes to Victoria Avenue are:

On the eastern side (Baradene School side)
1) From the school main entrance to the pedestrian crossing is now all bus stop.
2) From the pedestrian crossing to Sonia Avenue is P15 between the hours of 8am and 9am, and 2pm to 4pm, school days only. At other times this space is unrestricted.

On the western side (Victoria Avenue Primary School side)

1) Three zones of P15 operating between the hours of 8.30am to 9am, and 2.30pm to 3.30pm, school days only. At other times these zones are unrestricted.

Litter

The rubbish left in the College buildings and around the grounds after morning interval and lunch time is getting extremely bad. Please remind your daughters to be ‘a tidy Kiwi’ and not leave anything on the ground behind them after these food breaks. There are rubbish bins provided, or ideally please ask them to take their rubbish home with them. You may like to work towards providing a ‘litterless lunch’ which is one in which nothing needs to be thrown away. Here are some tips for packing a litterless lunch:

Get excited about the containers in your cupboard. The best way to reduce lunch garbage is to pack with reusable containers. Save plastic containers from the grocery store or make a one-time purchase of assorted sizes and shapes of plastic containers. Put muffins, carrot sticks, sandwiches, yoghurt and so on in your reusable plastic containers. Instead of using 20 to 40 plastic sandwich bags or sheets of plastic food wrap in the average month, one container can do the job.
Don't be taken in by single servings. There's no denying modern packaging is convenient. Just stuff a single-serving yoghurt, a pre-packaged cereal bar and a disposable juice box into a bag and you're out the door. Unfortunately, such convenience comes at an environmental price. Some experts say that 33% of the garbage going to our landfills and incinerators is packaging - packaging waste that can be all but eliminated.
Share your peelings. Wondering what to do with the inevitable apple cores or orange peels? Compost them! Take your fruit and vegetable scraps home to your backyard compost bin.

The Gem Inside

The Rotary Club of Ellerslie Sunrise has generously donated two copies of this new initiative aimed at parents with 10 – 14 year olds (works well with older ages too). It is designed to strengthen childrens’ decision making ability. The kit is not designed for parents to treat kids with behaviour problems, quite the contrary, it is designed for families who are already parenting well and want something extra to help prepare their kids for the plethora of challenges, choices and temptations that are put in front of them from childhood to adulthood.

The two Baradene kits are available for loan to Baradene families from Trish Tutty - the guidance counsellor, or a personal copy can be purchased for $175 by visiting www.tsi.co.nz.

My prayer for you this holiday is that you all have a wonderful time with your daughters as they don’t have to focus on homework and that there may be special times that you can share as a family. I trust that the girls will have a wonderful time of rest and begin Term 3 replenished and refreshed.

God Bless,

(Mrs) Theresa Bosch

Acting Principal