Each week at 2:30 on a Friday we have an assembly that celebrates the things that have been happening that week in our school.

You can see in this photo the children who received class certificates this week.  All families and supporters are most welcome to come and join us!

Tania Bellamy and the Robots group presented four workshops at the Kidz@Conference ICT conference today.  Mark Beaton also helped out with the sessions and the feedback the group had was very good.  Well done to all 6 children involved.

We also had 4 Y5/6 children who were delegates at the conference and went to a number of different workshops and found out about using all sorts of different software and technology.  Janferie Tansley and Kerry MacKenzie also attended a day of the conference each to learn about the kinds of things that the children were learning about as well.  They will then be able to share the ideas with other teachers back at school.

Channel 9 news also had an item that included interviews and shots of our children.

A big thanks to the team that put the conference together and well done to all the people from Outram School who attended over the two days.

We had our biannual pet day today.  What a day it was!

Heaps of parents and children everywhere.  Most of the school bought along some kind of pet to share and the photograph above shows Tayne with his trophy for the Best in Show with his pet calf.  There were a huge number of categories that you could enter into.

A massive thankyou to Lynda Bayne and all her team of helpers who bought all the day together and made it the wonderful success it was for us all.  The rain stayed away until we were all ready to head home.

Pet Days are a special part of Outram School.  They are a big part of what it means to be in a rural community.  So very different from schools in town.  The children from Pine Hill School who shared the day with us had a wonderful time as well.

Once again a BIG thankyou to all involved!

Here are the Certificate winners from this weeks assembly.

Well done to you all!!

Last weekend the school organised a trip to Cadrona Ski Field …. check out the photos below

Last night we had a great eveing looking at the programmes we run in Y7 and Y8 at our school.  You can see a copy of the powerpoint I shared by following this link.
The marketing for high schools and intermediate aged children is particularly intense this year and it is important that people are aware of the unique things that Outram School offers your children.
All schools have to follow the same curriculum, it is the differences in the ways we ‘do it’ and the elements we focus on that is the key to what makes schools different. The learning culture at Outram School is very strong and things like the Allen Centre/Vision Programme are quite unique. We have a big commitment to offering a range of opportunities and experiences to our children and lighting the sparks of curiosity about as many different things as we can.

Teachers from other schools come to see the things we do and to learn from our experiences. Later this term we have a group from Queenstown Primary coming for example, and throughout this year teachers have been coming to visit our school and find out about our programmes.
Peggy Steadman from the Allen Centre has even been invited to contribute to a university programme in the US as a guest presenter describing the programmes she coordinates for us. This is how good it is!

This Wednesday night there is an INFORMATION EVENING for all those interested in finding out about the Y7/8 programme we offer at Outram School.

Where: Allen Centre

When: 7pm

Sarah Gilbert and Ryan Martin will share the programmes that are in place for children in their classrooms. This will include:

• Literacy – reading and writing
• Numeracy – maths
• Topic and Inquiry – social studies, science, aspects of health, technology
• Arts – visual, drama, music and dance
• PE and Sports programmes
• Manual and Technology
• Languages – second language options

This is the time of year when secondary schools are marketing heavily the things they offer in Y7 and Y8. Outram School is in a unique position to continue building on the skills your child already has in Y7 and Y8. We can do this in ways no other school has the ability to do.

Come along to this evening and find out how. Please feel free to bring your child along if you would like to. There will be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have for any of us at the end of the evening.

See you on Wednesday!

Our parent interviews are coming up next week – on Monday and Tuesday for most teachers. Bookings for these are open from TODAY and are on a first come first served basis.

They will form the basis of the interview and are intended to give you a clear idea of your child’s work and achievement during the first half of 2009.

There are two ways you can book interviews this year:

EITHER

1. Online

· go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

· enter the school code of QGRGU

· enter your name and email details, number of children to book for and child/rens names

· choose the teacher/s you wish to see

· check the boxes of the times you want

· the site will send you a confirmation email when you save and you can go back in later and change times and other details if you need to using your unique code. It pays to keep this email!

OR

1. Fill in the slip that came home today and return to school.

We were in the finals of the Full Primary 10-a-side rugby tournament yesterday.  We came second in the competition overall and the team played really well in all the games.

Earlier tonight the Outram School group performed at the Stars on Stage in Dunedin.  What a great job they did!!!!!!!  The costumes were incredible and the children all did a great job of their part in the total performance.

A massive thankyou to all the parents who have helped with costumes, props, and so on over the past term as we have prepared for the performance.  There are children for whom this sort of activity is the highlight of their school year and it is great to be able to offer them the opportunity.

A huge thankyou as well to Janferie Tansley, Megan Bremner, Kerry MacKenzie,  Sarah Gilbert, Alex Morton and the rest of the team.  A job very well done by everyone.

Photos to follow ….