Newsletter - 19 May 2023

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

CELEBRATING CONTINUED ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Throughout Term 1, we conducted Year 7 entry and Year 8 tracking assessments. These serve two main purposes. The first is to provide a broad look at the school student population to understand what the strengths and needs are of our students. The second is to give teachers an accurate picture of how individual students are tracking against the curriculum.

Whilst the Year 7 assessment information gives us a good picture of what our schoolwide focus should be, we are unable to measure their progress as their previous achievement information does not consistently move with them from school to school. This being said, our Term 3 assessments do start to give us a picture of whether or not they are tracking as we would expect.

Year 8 data on the other hand gives us a clear picture of schoolwide progress and achievement since arriving at Remuera Intermediate. Once again, our students have excelled. The following are some key highlights regarding our students' writing. Similar patterns are present in both Reading and Mathematics. Students at Intermediate School are expected to have achieved Level 3 and be entering Level 4 by the end of Year 8.

 

Achievement Highlights in Writing 2022 to 2023

Year 7 2022     36% working at Level 2 or below

Year 8 2023     Reduced to 15% working at Level 2 or below

21% improvement

 

Year 7 2022     77% working at Level 3 or below

Year 8 2023     Reduced to 41% working at Level 3 or below

36% improvement

 

Year 7 2022     18% working at Level 4

Year 8 2023     45% working at Level 4

27% Improvement

 

Year 7 2022     5% working at Level 5

Year 8 2023     17% now working at Level 5 or above

 

Many of our students have made 1 ½ years of progress in one year and a good number have made 2 or more years of progress.

 

Attendance to Support Achievement

As you have no doubt heard in the media attendance is a concern throughout New Zealand. Once again, our community has continued to outshine similar schools in similar communities across the country. In our latest data, we had far stronger attendance than other schools like ours and exceptionally higher attendance than national norms. During Term 1 this year we averaged 94.4% attendance with our best week reaching 96%. The average for regular attendance (over 90%) in Term 4 2022 for Intermediate aged students was slightly less than half. As you can see, we were nearly twice that in Term 1 this year.

With attendance being a positive contributor to achievement it is not surprising to see such positive achievement results when combined with the tireless efforts of our talented staff. Whilst there is always more that can be done, I am extremely proud of our young people and the commitment they have shown to their learning. I look forward to sharing further successes in the coming months.

 

Kyle Brewerton
Principal/APPA President

 

RI CYCLING CLUB UPDATE

On May 7th RI riders competed in the Auckland Secondary Schools Mountain Bike Race 2 in the rain soaked Hunua Ranges. It proved to be a very tough challenge with very muddy conditions testing the riders to the limits. There were excellent results for U13 Boys with Fletcher Symes (6th), Cade Agnew (7th) and Bob Triggs (8th).

The whole team represented the school with pride and conviction.

INTERZONES ORIENTEERING

The Inter-zones orienteering took place at Cornwall Park on the 15th of May.

Following on from their excellent performance at Central Zones in Term 1, the team once again competed with great determination. While our teams didn’t place, we still had some excellent results. Of particular note were our Year 7 Boys teams who finished 4th and 5th, our Year 8 Boys teams who finished 5th and 6th, our Year 7 Girls A team who finished 5th and our Year 8 Girls A team who finished 6th.

We also had some great individual results with Thea Barlow, Imogen Pitchers, Dylan Randall and Emma Thompson finishing 2nd on their courses and Will Ranger finishing 3rd on his course. The results, particularly of the Year 7 teams bode well for 2024.

UPDATE FROM THE LIBRARY

Welcome back into the library!

After having our library closed for all of term one, we are delighted to now be open again and operating.  To celebrate this, an 'I love my library colouring competition' was held in week two.

The talented winners won some fabulous book prizes.

YEAR 8 PERFORMANCE MEDIA

The students in this course over time make multiple video projects. They start off by creating an advertisement or an instructional video. For the second project, many of them choose to produce a music video.

Below are some screenshots from their videos.

WORLD VISION YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: World Vision Youth Leadership Conference

Three of our newly appointed head students recently participated in the World Vision Youth Leadership Conference. This event, held in a vibrant atmosphere teeming with youthful energy, was a catalyst for igniting change and fostering community empowerment.

Over the course of the conference, our students were introduced to innovative strategies to drive positive transformations within their communities. From immersive workshops to insightful panel discussions, they delved deep into the art of creating impactful change. Throughout the conference, our head students had the privilege of meeting remarkable individuals who have dedicated their lives to effecting change on a global scale. These inspiring figures shared their wisdom, experiences, and breakthrough initiatives, leaving an indelible mark on our students' minds.

Armed with newfound knowledge, motivation, and a shared vision, our head students have returned, eager to implement innovative strategies within our own community. 

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE ART ROOM

Year 8, Cycle 1 finish up this week.

The students have completed their printing and ceramic fish.

30 of these fish will be in an exhibition at Sculpture on Shore at the end of the year. The fish will be displayed ‘swimming’ over a large piece of wooden driftwood.

The students will travel by bus to view both adult and student sculptures.

 

2024 ENROLMENTS

Our 2024 Enrolment will be opening on Monday 3 April.  If you have a Year 6 student who will be coming to RI in 2024, we encourage you to start the enrolment process early to ensure we are well prepared for the coming year.  You can now apply online by clicking this link. If you have query regarding the enrolment process, please contact Ms Amy McGowan at enrolments@remint.school.nz

Public Open Morning
When:   Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Time:     8.45 am - 10.30 am
Where:  Meet in the School Hall

 

IMPORTANT DATES

May

19           Pink Shirt Day

23           CZ Football Year 8 Boys

25-26     Science Road Show

25          CZ Football Year 7 Boys

30          Year 7 Water Safety - Room 10

31          CZ Rugby Girls and Boys

June

1            Year 7 Water Safety - Room 8
              Year 7 Zoo Trip - Room 1, 12 and 18

2            Teacher Only Day - No School

5            King's Birthday - No School

6            Year 7 Zoo Trip - Room 26, 27 and 28
              Year 7 Water Safety - Room 9

8            Year 7 Water Safety - Room 13

12          CZ Hockey Boys

13          Mufti Day - Westpac Helicopter Trust
              CZ Hockey Girls
              Year 7 Zoo Trip - Room 8, 9 and 10
              PTA Meeting

14          Public Open Morning
              Year 7 Zoo Trip - Room 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17

19-23     Art Week

21          PTA Evening - Our Kids Online

22          CZ Table Tennis

27         Year 7 Water Safety - Room 26
              BOT Meeting

28          Art Evening

29          Year 7 Water Safety - Room 15

30          Awards Assemblies
              Term 2 Ends

ABSENCES

All absences need to be reported by 8:45 am at the latest. To report an absence please:

Use the 'Report an Absence' link in the top right corner on the school website homepage http://www.remint.school.nz

Use the school app or phone the office on 09 522 9890 Option 1
Please do not email absence notifications to classroom teachers

ABSENCE TEXT NOTIFICATION

Your children’s safety is of paramount importance to us.  In order to ensure the safety of all our students, at 9:45 am if your child has not been marked as Present we will send out a text notification to alert you of his/her absence.  We are aware many parents are very busy people and forget to notify the school so please respond with a Y and a reason for the absence/lateness. Respond with an N if you have dropped your child at school or know that he/she was coming to school and we can investigate this promptly. Should your mobile number change, please notify the school immediately so that we can update our records accordingly. 

PARENT PORTAL

Parents are able to use our portal to pay for their child’s donations and fees. We encourage anyone who has not already signed up to do so.  The address is https://parent.edgelearning.co.nz/

REMUERA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL APP

You can download the free SchoolAppsNZ from the App Store or Google Play. It works on both android and Apple phones. It sends important school messages and forms a big part of our school communications.  

Features of the App:

  • You can subscribe to alert groups of interest to you and your child
  • You can complete the absentee form directly from the App
  • You can access the school calendar, news and events directly through the App
  • We can send out targeted alerts to everyone with the App or to specific groups