Fiona. 15th March 2018

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Lucy Fisher
5 years ago
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15th March 2018 Dear Parents and Caregivers Greetings to you all. Another busy and lively week at Woodlands School has zoomed by! A warm Woodlands welcome to Elouise Keay who has just turned 5.

Xy is such an enthusiastic and hard working learner who treats others in his class very kindly. Excitement is building for the honey factory visit tomorrow.

Tonight the PTA is holding the school picnic which should be a lot of fun. The weather predictions are that it won t rain until later tonight so fingers crossed, the picnic won t be interrupted.

1 15th March 2018 Dear Parents and Caregivers Greetings to you all. Another busy and lively week at Woodlands School has zoomed by! A warm Woodlands welcome to Elouise Keay who has just turned 5. She is very happy to be at school with her big sister Abrieanna. Congratulations to last week s winner of the Principal s award for Caring, Xy Ediza. Xy is such an enthusiastic and hard working learner who treats others in his class very kindly. Excitement is building for the honey factory visit tomorrow. We were thrilled to have so many parents offering to come along and are very sorry that we had to say no to some of you due to space availability. Tonight the PTA is holding the school picnic which should be a lot of fun. The weather predictions are that it won t rain until later tonight so fingers crossed, the picnic won t be interrupted. Look out for the produce being sold by the Garden Gurus at the picnic. Thank you to the many parents who were able to take part in the learning conferences. We were very pleased with the attendance, with 88% of families having taken part. I hope you found this opportunity as helpful as our teachers did. Thank you to the parents who helped out at the native planting site on Sunday. It s looking much tidier. Things are moving along nicely with our focus on the environment. Pat Hoffman from Environment Southland shared her many good ideas with teachers at our most recent staff meeting. Just a reminder about our uniform policy requirements. Lately I have noticed a very small number of children wearing things that are not part of the uniform. We appreciate it when parents tell us why this might be the case, rather than me having to ask children. A copy of the uniform policy has been sent home and is also available to view on our website. Some happenings next week: PTA Headlice Checks will be held on Wednesday, we have athletics at Surrey Park on Friday (notice attached) and voting for the BOT by-election is underway. There are also union meetings for teachers on Wednesday but we will be managing this by juggling some classes around for part of the day so that we don t have to close the school. Have a happy week and we look forward to seeing many of you this evening at the family picnic night. Ngā mihi Fiona

15 Mar School Picnic/Family Night from 5.

PLEASE COMPLETE AND SEND YOUR PAPER TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE BY NOON 22 MARCH.

Swimming Champs 30 Mar Good Friday (school closed) 2 Apr Easter Monday (school closed) 3 Apr Easter Tuesday (school closed) 7 Apr Southland Athletics 9-12 Apr Room Whio Camp to Te Anau 13 Apr Pita

2 15 Mar School Picnic/Family Night from 5.30pm 16 Mar Honey Factory visit for Kea, Tui & Pukeko 19 Mar Fruit orders due 12 noon 21 Mar Headlice Checks 22 Mar Board of Trustees By-Election VOTING PAPERS HAVE BEEN POSTED TO YOU. PLEASE COMPLETE AND SEND YOUR PAPER TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE BY NOON 22 MARCH. Fruit orders delivered 23 Mar Zone Athletics (whole school) 26 Mar Easter Raffle closes Board of Trustees meeting 7pm 27 Mar Zone Athletics postponement 28 Mar Easter Raffle drawn 29 Mar Zone Swimming Champs 30 Mar Good Friday (school closed) 2 Apr Easter Monday (school closed) 3 Apr Easter Tuesday (school closed) 7 Apr Southland Athletics 9-12 Apr Room Whio Camp to Te Anau 13 Apr Pita Pit lunches End of Term 1 30 Apr Start of Term 2 18 May Zone Cross Country (Woodlands) Awards presented at assembly last Friday: Curriculum: Whio Room Cassandra Tolentino Kakapo Room Hamish McIntyre Pukeko Room Ben Topp Tui Room Joella Ocho Kea Room Nina McIntyre Student of the Week: Whio Room Peter McIntyre Kakapo Room Elly Baird Pukeko Room Zoe Knight Tui Room Patrick Nadi Kea Room Saskia Batey Principal s Award for Caring: Xy Ediza Spirit of a Nation Quinn Davey Summer Football Results for Monday 12 th March: U6 Woodlands Blue won 6 1 against Windsor Navy. Player of the Day was Harrison Milne. U8 Woodlands Red won 2 0 against Salford Tigers. Player of the Day was Joseph Crengle. U10 Woodlands White won 7 0 against QP Yellow. Player of the Day was Hapai Winiata. U12 Woodlands Black won 7 0 against SACS Strikers. Touch Results for Wednesday 14 th March: Woodlands Y3/4 Wasps won 4 1 against New River Sharks. Player of the Day was Ocean Ranui. Waterpolo Results for Friday 9th March: Yr 1-3: Woodlands Smash lost 3 6 to St Theresa s Hammerheads. Player of the Day was Alex Chamberlain. Tomorrow they will play Rimu Dogfish at 5:00pm in the Learners Pool. Yr 4-6: Woodlands Sharks lost 2 8 to St John s Fins. Player of the Day was Michael Crean. Tomorrow they will play St Theresa s Silver at 3:30pm in the north end of the main pool. Please be on the side of the pool 10 minutes before your game begins. FOR SALE Pullet (Pekin cross) $15 Also a hand reared, friendly rooster to give away Ph FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Kia Ora Just a note from the Board of Trustees to let you know what we have been involved with so far this year. The board helps govern the school, leaving the day to day management to our very capable principal and staff. There is a large number of policies and procedures that the board reviews to let the management team operate smoothly. We have been reviewing these lately and making sure they match up with all the legal guidelines while keeping our special Woodlands character alive. Student achievement making sure every kid does as well as they can is the focus of the board. We have been receiving some excellent reports from the staff around how our kids did in 2017 compared to the National Standards and it is very pleasing to see their progress. Our updated Charter (the framework for the school for the next three years) has been forwarded to the Ministry of Education. Once this has been approved, it will be available for the community to read it. From myself and all the other trustees, we hope that your children are enjoying their time at Woodlands School and are looking forward to the rest of the year. Lisa Stuart CHAIRPERSON

3 Room Whio (10-13 year olds) The Blue Morpho Butterfly The Blue Morpho butterfly is an insect. It is one of the most amazing in the tropical forests of Central America and South America, with its long black legs and amazing blue wings that reflect light. Description The wings of a Blue Morpho butterfly are a vibrant blue on top, while underneath they are a dull brown. It has four long black legs and two short ones. It has a short black body consisting of three parts; a head, a thorax and an abdomen. It also has two black antennae. Blue Morpho butterflies are one of the largest butterflies with a size of 5-6 inches wide. Habitat The Blue Morpho is normally found in the tropical forests of Latin America from Mexico to Columbia. Adults spend most of their time in lower parts of the forest with their wings folded. However when looking for a mate they will fly through all layers of the forest. How do they move? Butterflies have strong muscles in their thorax that forces their wings up and down to make them fly - they actually go in a slanted figure 8 motion that propels them forward in the same way as an aeroplane. However they can t move if their wing muscles are cold. They can also use their legs to crawl along plants. Diet Its diet changes throughout its life. As a caterpillar it munches through plants. When it becomes a butterfly it drinks its food using a mouthpart called a proboscis. Blue Morphos sip the juice of rotting fruit, the fluids of decomposing animals, tree sap, fungi and wet mud. The Blue Morpho tastes fruit with the sensors on their legs and they smell-taste the air with their antennae. Offspring Butterflies live for reproduction. Once the females eggs are fertilized they lay them in a safe place and fly off. The eggs are attached to the underside of a leaf with a glue by the butterfly. Butterflies die straight after laying their eggs. The eggs will hatch into baby caterpillars, also known as larvae. The eggs are attached to the underside of a leaf with a glue by the butterfly. Behaviour The Blue Morpho stays in lower parts of the forest, only flying when looking for a mate. The males show their bright blue colour to scare off predators. Males are highly territorial and will chase away other males. When threatened both male and female will let off a strong odour from in between their front legs. The plants that they eat when they are caterpillars is poisonous and that is what makes them taste so bad to predators. Unfortunately Blue Morpho butterflies face many predators and threats in their rainforest home. Conservation of the Blue Morpho is ongoing in North American butterfly houses but to see this stunning creature in its natural home, there s no place better than the Amazon. By Nell Johnston Monarch Butterflies Monarch butterflies are a type of insect that have six legs and four beautiful wings. They live on land in warm climates and they can also be found on tropical islands. Occasionally, they can be found in your garden in summer. What do they look like? The Monarch butterfly has a black circular head with white spots all around, two black antennas and two black eyes. They also have black bodies with white spots and six long black legs. Monarch butterflies have four wings that are orange and black. The average size of a Monarch butterfly is 10cm wide. Habitat In spring and summer the Monarch butterflies habitat is open fields and meadows with milkweed. In winter Monarch butterflies can be found on the coast of Southern California and at high altitudes in Central Mexico. At the end of winter/early spring Monarch butterflies in Mexico begin to make the journey north to the United States. Soon after they leave Mexico, pairs of Monarch butterflies mate. Monarch butterflies can also be found in New Zealand, Australia and parts of Europe. What do they eat? Monarch butterflies only eat one thing and that is milkweed. Monarchs can t survive without milkweed; their caterpillars only eat milkweed and Monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs. How do they move? Butterflies make their wings move by using the muscles in their thorax. They fly in a figure 8 movement that makes them go forward like aeroplanes They can t fly when they re cold so butterflies must use their surroundings to maintain their body heat. During the day, Monarch butterflies lie exposed to warmth and light with their wings open to absorb warmth from the sun. Behaviour The Monarch butterfly will always return to areas rich in milkweed to lay their eggs upon the plant. The milkweed they feed on as caterpillars is actually a poisonous toxin and is stored in their bodies. This is what makes Monarchs taste so terrible to predators. How do they breed? In February and March, the final generation of hibernating Monarch butterflies comes out of hibernation to find a mate. Then they go north and east in order to find a place to lay their eggs. In March and April the eggs are laid on milkweed, they then hatch into baby caterpillars, also called larvae. Monarch butterflies eat milkweed and with modern day land development (new towns and cities) Monarch butterflies are losing their habitat and their source of food. Without milkweed, Monarch butterflies will die out and become extinct. By Melissa Crean PLASTIC SUPERMARKET BAGS NEEDED To line our rubbish bins. An ongoing supply would be most welcome Volunteers needed to supervise high jump practices at lunchtimes for the next week. Please contact the school office if you can help. Many thanks to Michelle Lucas and Dallas Lucas at Southern Wide Real Estate for their recent generous donation to the school.

Welcome to our Insect Power Point Presentation

Welcome to our Insect Power Point Presentation by Mrs. McNamara, Mrs. Gerstlauer, and Mrs. Dougherty s Second Grade Students Goodnoe Elementary School June 10, 2011 About our Projects We found a strange