Centennial Principal

Strategic Planning

2011-08-31T10:18:00.016+12:00

I never thought that I would ever say this, but I'm excited about Strategic Planning! The BoT are working on up-dating our current plan, and I see this as a really good time to re-visit our priorities & re-establish what it is that we all believe is important for the successful & effective education of students at Centennial School.

The "Centennial Centurion" is a visual representation of what we stand for, the attributes that we want our children to have, and our Curriculum Plan (that is also being reviewed) documents what specificially we will be doing to make this happen.

Members of the "Centennial Community" will shortly receive a survey that can be used to give us feedback on how we are doing, and to set future priorities - I would strongly advise you to take this opportunity, and if you are interested, get involved in the Strategic Planning process.

Active School #2

2011-06-20T11:55:00.002+12:00

Our commitment to physical activity has continued through Term 2 - regular training has seen Centennial children performing well at cross country events. Our school's cross country saw an extremely high standard of running, and the team that was chosen to represent us at the Waimate District event was particularly successful, dominating the day with five "Firsts", five "Seconds", four "Thirds" and eight other children in the first six home!

This week a team of nine Year 5 & 6 children go to the South Canterbury Cross Country, another step up but we are sure that they will do us proud!

Active School

2011-03-31T14:27:00.003+13:00

The children at Waimate Centennial School get many opportunities to try different sporting activities. Currently we have children about to compete in the South Canterbury Swimming Sports, others involved in "Jump Jam" lunchtime sessions with a view to entering a contest in Timaru later in the year, and senior children having a "taste" of golf, both in our grounds and down at the Waimate Goilf Club. The photo shows some children with obvious potential - future "Tigers"?

Welcome to 2011 - at last!

2011-02-28T14:12:00.003+13:00

There have been several "prompts" that have got me finally up-dating my blog:-
* it has been a long time since I have placed
anything on it and much has happened
* our Year 6 children headed away today for
their week-long camp at Arthur's Pass (see the
photo) and
* 6 days ago Christchurch was rocked by another
earthquake.

The 2011 school year is well and truly underway - we are into Week 5 and all is well in our world. As a result of the earthquake we have enrolled (temporarily) 7 extra children from Christchurch. It is good to be able to do something to help these people after what they have been through over recent months. At least the children can come to school each day and get back to something like a "normal" routine. There are benefits for our school too - our children get to meet some new people, and they are all great kids!

The whole school is also looking forward to Outdoor Education Week in Week 7 during which the Outdoor Rec students from Aoraki do also sorts of outdoor teaching with our children.

2010-08-05T15:37:00.003+12:00

It's a long way from Waimate to Venice, but in April we were there, and now in August we are back here. We had a wonderful time in Europe and are very grateful that we were given the opportunity to go.
Back to school now, perhaps a little wiser, but certainly with a greater "world view". I used to listen to people talk about their time overseas & couldn't really relate to it - now I can.
I think our school is still in really good heart. Being its Principal is, I believe, a relatively simple job, certainly when you compare it to some others. Never a dull moment but I really can't think of a better place to be!

Overseas

2010-04-05T04:21:00.002+12:00

Kia ora
I'm not sure if anyone is going to read this, but I'll write it anyway.
I'm sitting in the lobby of a hotel in London, having arrived here yesterday after spending 4 days in San Francisco. It is an amzing experience, this overseas travelling! We really enjoyed exploring SFO, spending a lot of time walking, cycling, bussing & travelling by cable car around the city. Today we started looking around London with 5 hours of walking, looking at places we had previously only read about or seen on tv. The history here is amzing, looking at buildings that date back to the 10th & 11th century. It makes you realise how young NZ is as a country.
Tomorrow we have an 11 hour bus trip looking at Warwickshire castle, Oxford, & Shakespeare's birthplace, Startford on Avon.
If I get a chance, I will up-date our travels as we move on through Europe.

Back to School 2010

2010-02-04T14:47:00.003+13:00

I don't like beginning a new school year on a negative note, but recent comments by the Prime Minister, John Keys about school teachers being only concerned about themselves to the detriment of our children has really riled me!
Mr Keys is adamant we must introduce "National Standards" into our schools, claiming that if we set standards, test children against them, and report on them to parents, this will somehow mysteriously improve their skills in reading writing and maths.
Now I'm not a farmer, but I know that if you keep on weighing the pig without feeding it, it will not get any fatter.
I will always support an initiative that will increase standards of achievement in our schools. Mr Keys & the Minister of Education are flying against opinions and advice from NZ & around the world (given by people who have already forgotten much more about education than they will ever know) that this is not a good system. Unfortunately, they are hell-bent on implementing it. It is my intention to look again at how we report to our parents. It is not my intention to blindly follow the edicts of people who don't know wha they are talking about!

2009-09-09T15:39:00.003+12:00

The photo above shows Centennial children ice skating at Tekapo. The whole school hopped on buses at the end of August and spent the day ice skating and soaking in the hot pools at Tekapo. We were joined by quite a number of parents and everyone had a real fun day, one of the highlights of 2009 so far.

2009-07-01T13:48:00.002+12:00

It's been a while since my last "post" - which isn't very good. However we are just coming to the end of one of my favourite weeks in the school year, Book Week, and I thought that this would be a good time to up-date my blog.
The photo above shows one of our Book week visitors, Jacqui Dean, the Member of Parliament for Waitaki. Jacqui came to Centennial and both talked to the children and read a book to them. She was very relaxed and she read and spoke really well - it was a pleasure to have her in our school.

School Fair

2009-04-01T13:42:00.003+13:00

I had quite a scary experience at our School Fair. I was put in a car wreck & was then cut out of it by the fire brigade using the "jaws of life", before being carried away into the ambulance.
The good thing about it was the efficient way both services went about their work - I felt that if I was ever in a real accident, I would certainly have confidence in these people to look after me.

Duffy Role Model Assembly

2009-04-01T13:31:00.004+13:00

We are a "Duffy Books in Homes" school and one of the special events that happens because of that is we get to meet some really interesting people at our Role Model assemblies.
This term we were visited by Anna Richards, a member of the Black Ferns, the NZ Womens Rugby team. Anna talked to us about her life, especially her involvement in various sports and how she got to where she is today. She stressed the importance of books and reading, and of giving everything a try. The photo shows some children trying on rugby jerseys from around the world.

Camp Week Challenges

2009-03-12T10:47:00.004+13:00

Camp Week 2009 went really well. The abseiling photo epitomises what the week was all about - children gaining confidence in attempting new personal challenges, whether they be physical, social or emotional. The Year 6 children had a wonderful time at Arthur's Pass, while the rest of the school worked alongside Outdoor Rec students from Aoraki Polytech for the week. Children visited Kelcey's Bush, the White Horse, went abseiling at Arno and kayaking on the Waihao River, as well as undertaking a variety of activities run by Aoraki that encouraged team work, co-operation and creativity.
A big "WELL DONE" to children, teachers, students and parents for what they achieved!

Welcome to 2009

2009-02-03T15:26:00.002+13:00

We are all back at school for 2009. Staff and children are well rested and we are looking forward to another positive year of learning.
If the weather is kind to us we will get plenty of swimming during February. In March we have Camp Week - the Year 6 children go to Arthur's Pass for the week, while all other children work with the Outdoor Rec students from Aoraki Polytech on learning experiences outside the classroom. It is a fun time!
Near the end of March the school has it's major fundraiser for the year, the School Fair to be held on Saturday 21st March.

End of 2008

2009-01-19T12:13:00.003+13:00

We farewelled our 2008 Year 6 children with a formal dinner involving staff and pupils, followed by speeches and presentations, including parents.
They are a fine group and we are very confident that they will go on to greater things at their next level of schooling.

Athletics & Swimming

2008-12-05T16:56:00.002+13:00

Our Athletics Sports are over (thank goodness!) and for the last few weeks we are doing heaps of swimming. It is really good that we have our pool heating system working well now - the pool is lovely to swim in. Next week we have Swim Week when all children get to have 2 swims each day with Mrs Tumaru, a swimming coach. The start of the week will be exciting because we will be visited by the Olympic gold-medalist, Danyon Loader.

Our First Grandchild

2008-11-06T16:40:00.003+13:00

Moving away from school to family with this post - our first grandchild, Madeline Mary Stirling was born on 4th November. We think she is beautiful - just perfect! Suddenly you have other things in your life to think about - and the really good part is if she starts to squawk or do something nasty that I don't want to deal with, I can just give her back. It is really neat and exciting time and we are really looking forward to being part of her life.

Centennial Centurion

2008-10-17T16:31:00.003+13:00

We have had a really positive start to Term 4. At assembly
this afternoon we had many parents join us to acknowledge
and celebrate all the good things that are happening at
Centennial School.
The Centennial Centurion pictured here is a visual
representation of what we would like a Centennial Learner
to look like. At assembly we reward those children that have
been exhibiting some of these characteristics. Thye staff had
a difficult job to choose this week - there have been so many
wonderful children!

Duffy Assembly

2008-09-24T10:19:00.003+12:00

One of the things that makes Waimate Centennial School special is our participation in the "Books in Homes" programme. With the support of NZ Dairies, our sponsor, all children receive at least 5 free books each year. The key message of the programme is that "It is Cool to Read" and the role models that come along to our Duffy assemblies reinforce this message.

At September's assembly, our special guest was childrens author Elizabeth Pulford who spoke to the children about her life and her writing before presenting each class with their Duffy books.

"Keep Waimate Beautiful"

2008-09-12T16:24:00.003+12:00

A big "Thank you" to all those people who spent time having a clean-up around the school's neighbourhood - it certainly made a big difference!

2008-09-09T14:21:00.001+12:00

Our school had a fun day visiting Tekapo, ice skating and soaking in the hot pools.

2008-09-09T09:14:00.003+12:00

Not a pretty sight! This is my first attempt at blogging. I will get better!