We had a great time at the cross country this week at Doherty’s paddocks.  Well done to all the runners and a big thanks to all the parents who came along to support the children as well.

Click on the photo to see a whole lot more!

Our Rippa Rugby teams did VERY well in the recent Taieri competitions.  We had two firsts and a second.  The Y3/4 and Y5/6 teams will even get to play on Carisbrook in a few weeks!  How cool is that!

Here they all are:

Mrs Hunter has been discussing with a group of chidlren today the Science Badges that they can earn by doing series of tasks related to different areas of science.

On the same day Nicholas McA emailed in a photo of the first task he has done -  “I designed and created a bridge that can hold over 1kg of butter”

As you can see he is thinking like a scientist already as he has included a ruler to show the scale and that he has followed the instructions to the letter.

A big WELL DONE Nicholas!!

On Tuesday our Yr 7/8 touch teams played in the Otago Schools touch tournament held at the Kensinston Oval. The Outram Blues ended up winning the tournament beating Balmacewen Intermediate 6-1 in the grand final. What made this amazing was the fact the team only had one girl and boy sub and the team played total of 180 minutes of touch! The team now has played four seasons without losing a game.
The results were as follows:
vs Kaikorai Valley Gold 16-0 win
vs Arthur St 15-2 win
vs Kaikorai Red 7-4 win
vs Balmacewen Black 5-3 win
Semi vs Balmacewen Black 6-3 win
Final vs Balmacewen Silver 6-1 win

News
It has been wonderful to welcome the senior children back to school this week. We all seem refreshed and have settled back into routines very quickly.

Our syndicate looks similar to last year, the main difference being that we have larger numbers of younger children and slightly more children overall. Staff wise, we have had no changes.

Maths:
In order to accommodate needs in Maths as best we can, we are going to be operating five maths classes. Mrs Hunter and Mr Carroll will share a fifth group in Room 1 each morning. As a result your child may well not have their class teacher as their maths teacher. Please ask if you would like to discuss your child’s maths programme.

Swimming:
This operates over the next month. Most Room 3 / 4 children swim in Mosgiel while most Room 5/6 children swim at school. If you are keen to help out, please let us know. Please also note that the usual charge of $15 per child will apply for children swimming in Mosgiel  – this covers pool entry and transport costs and will be on your school account.

We have a swimming carnival for the syndicate coming up on 26 February (morning).

Events to expect later in the year:
Term 2 – Stars on Stage (22 – 24 June)
Term 3 – Choral Festival, Science Fair
Term 4 – Camps. Details are still being finalised but children will camp in these groups.
•    Year 4 – short camp – likely to be Tirohanga
•    Year 5/6 – Pounawea, November.
•    Year 7/8 – under discussion.
We look forward to an interesting  and exciting year.
- Janferie, Kerry, Megan, Sarah and Ryan.