Summer is finally here and this week our students have enjoyed our school pool finally opening for the 2010/2011 summer season.

Our pool is a great asset to the school and has a history going back to 1904. About this time local residents expressed their concern to authorities about chldren having to swim in the local Heathcote river downstreet from the Sunnyside hospital The health risks were very obvious. After many meetings it was agreed to build a swimming pool on the school site.

Successive school committees and parent groups maintained the pool and ensured it was used effectively. At one stage the pool had a diving board with a significantly deeper, diving end. Changing sheds and pool surrounds were all projects undertaken by the community for the development of this area.

In 1999 the school completed an upgrade of the filtration plant and we included additional capacity for the growing roll.

Today it is interesting to see the increased emphasis being placed upon water safety and swimming instruction. Hopefully the next step might include the provision for school pools to be covered [or housed indoors]. The increase in the length of the swimming season, especially here in the South Island, will be a small step towards improving students proficiency in and near the water.

Our other main event this week has been the highly successful market day. Well done to the senior school for their organisation of the event. As in previous years, all the proceeds are used to support the school camp planned for the following year.

Events at the school in the first days of this week have been dominated by the earthquake on Tuesday. These continuing shocks are a good reminder, should we ever need it, of some fundamental beliefs of our school. These are:
1 We are all here for the children and their wellbeing is important. Keeping the school routines going and having 'normal' life continuing is part of our approach to managing the stresses and strains caused by these earthquakes.
2 Yes it is fine to ring the office and check if your child or family are safe. It may become hard to get through sometimes, however we will try to get to every caller. We will also try to update our set messages when we can. It does help us if you understand we can be flooding with calls sometimes. It also helps if you can hold off your call into the school.
3 Yes, you can come down to the school to make contact with your kids! [Please come past the office first just so we know who is where in the school].
4 Yes, you can come into the classrooms to see them [as above, just so we know who is in the school].
5 Yes, of course you can take your children out of school.
6 Yes, we check our buildings regularly to make sure they are safe.
7 Yes, the children appear very happy to be among their friends here at the school.
8 Yes, if anything happens we will do everything in our power to ensure the children are safe and we will not send them home if there is a possibility of further risk.
and finally yes, difficult but true,
8 The children watch us to see how we are managing and often copy our reactions. If we show fear and panic, they will be less likely to manage any situation with ease. If we appear calm and controlled they are more likely to be comfortable and able to handle the events. So yes, one of our roles here at the school is to remain as calm as we possibly can be and to ensure this is visible to the children.

Being an adult at times like this can be difficult. We have to put on a brave front for the children. We need to be aware that talking about our fears and concerns in front of children can be counterproductive. Often it may be necessary to do this out of their hearing. We also need to understand that fear and panic are two emotions that are easily transferred to others.

When we finally get over this testing period no doubt we can look back and say 'remember when..' or 'I was there when..' We have to be certain we are building our kids for tomorrow. It might help if we focus on that.

Welcome back to the new term.

In my visits to the classrooms this morning I was pleased to see the children so clearly happy to be back in the familiar surroundings of their classroom.
An extra surprise today has been the Ranfurly Shiled making a special visit to Room 3. It's great to see things are returning to their rightful place!
Our children have a busy term with the music festival next week and our choir children perform on Thursday.

Other events coming up include: tennis coaching, athletics, digital kids, our PTA disco, market day, orientation for Intermediate and our cycle safety. The dates and more specific details about these events will be included in our newsletters nearer the time of each event. Enjoy the term and roll on the summer!

We've come to the end of another school term. Our students have done so well. The earthquake appears as a distant memory, the smiles are back on faces and as always, the energy levels are at maximum.

During the week I had the good fortune to watch our netball girls competing in the Canterbury Champs. Well done girls, you are a credit to the school, your coaches, your parents and yourselves. The thing that stood out for me beyond the great court work was your obvious enthusiasm and enjoyment for the occasion.

Today at our Duffy assembly we hosted Jo Holley, a television presenter from Auckland. Jo reminded the children of the need to read and also provided several 'feet in the mud' techniques for public speaking. Thanks Jo, we trust the visit wasn't too earth shaking.

We will take a short break now. I know our staff have completed a busy term and after the events of this month the timing for them is very fortuitous. My thanks everyone for your solid efforts, enjoy your break.

I wish everyone in our scchool community a stress free and enjoyable break, see you all after Monday 11 October.

Welcome back to school. The events over the last week have been a challenge to many of us and it is pleasing to see so many happy children returning to school today. During the day I have managed to visit all of our classrooms. I have been impressed with the way the children have settled back into their work and they appear eager to get on with their routines. School really is a cool, secure place! Earlier today we provided a canteen in our hall where hot drinks and morning tea where available for any members of the community and parents who wished to stay on site. We are in the fortunate position of having no damage at the school and we managed to get our telephone message and website information updated fairly promptly. In addition the school received a host of offers of support and services. We are extremely grateful for these offers and we feel humbled that people can think of us at a time when others are so needy. Thank you. I would also like to acknowledge and offer my personal thanks to everyone in our team here who contributed to the smooth running during the local emergency. Our theme for the remainder of this term is very definitely Spreydon; we rock, we roll and we recover - with pride!

Once again our students have perfomed with distinction. Earlier last month a team of six represented Spreydon at the Literacy quiz. Only a few points separated the top teams and we managed a very creditable fourth placing. I watched our pupils during the night and their concentration and well controlled behaviour never faltered. Well done our literacy quiz team! Our thanks also to the team of parents who offered their support on the night and to our hard working staff. I know the staff members are very relieved to pass on the rather thankless organisation burden to others. In my experience, and speaking to these staff members, this organisational hard work is too often overlooked. A hearty thank you for all your efforts on behalf of all the competitors in this effort.

Today we had a crazy dress day. Some of our pupils [and the staff] are amazing. We had everything from coloured hair, jump suits through to ballerina costumes. It is always refreshing to have something as colourful as a dress up day, today was no exception. I believe we enjoy the dress up even more because we have such a strong ethic associated with our school uniform and the pride we have in wearing them.

This week we celebrated our school birthday and this event surpassed all expectations. Our school council managed to give everyone a 'piece of cake' - in this case a muffin iced in our school colours while our new school flag fluttered proudly as it was put on display. Thank you for this gift school councillors. Our visitors for the morning all commented favourably on the school, the students and the occasion. Well done everybody and a special thanks to Amelia Carson, the world's best cake maker, for our Spreydon birthday cake! It is also worth while noting the other significant roles and duties that our students take in events such as this. The day involves their ideas, their secrets, their actions. The birthday assembly is hosted by our school pupils, with Ruby and Angus expertly leading the way, while the work behind the scenes from icing the cakes to cleaning up the cooking all has to be planned and taken care of. Our staff all support the event and take their role in ensuring the students are at the centre of the event. Again, a huge team effort and well done everybody.

The other major even of the week has involved our sporting teams at winter tournament. Two close seconds and stirling team efforts from our students proved how hard our students work and can apply themselves to the event. Team coaches, supporters and managers all work so hard to ensure things are right on the day, thank you everyone for this commitment.

It is always pleasing to receive feedback on these events and this week was no exception . Parents have commented to me on how well our students worked on the day, their excellent behaviour and their team spirit. These comments have been shared with the students. We look forward to the remainder of the term including a little more sunshine on some dry Thursdays so that our regular cycle of sport can progress.

Next week we look forward to our literacy quiz on Thursday evening, I will include a report on this event when my blog is next prepared.

Welcome back to the third term. A special welcome to new students who have started here at Spreydon.

Our value this term is Learning. Our obligation for students is to learn and let others learn. If we can do this, school will remain a great place. I know our students have taken this message well and it is a pleasure to visit the students as they work and play. This shows how well they are using their time at Spreydon.

Preparations are well underway for the first week in August. This is our birthday. Next week I will be able to share the special events that have taken place.

We have reached the end of a very busy term. This week I have had the pleasure of taking two Spellathon winners shopping.

Marcus raised over $180 while Havica had nearly 40 sponsors. Both these students enjoyed travelling to Barrington Mall and selecting their prizes from the shelves. Well done. This week several classes of students enjoyed their prize lunch. Rooms 3, 5 and 15 are to be congratulated for their efforts. At our last count over $5000 had been raised, very impressive indeed!

Tomorrow at our celebration assembly we have several items to conclude and our students will no doubt be very excited.

Tony Walley of our local four seasons Harcourts is visiting. Tony will choose the winners from his word find competition and present their prize.
Our flag design competition winners will also be announced and this has been an extremely difficult decision. I understand there is more than one prize winner!!!
Last week's visitors from Kiwikids Nursery and Preschool in Annex Road, Nathan Astle, Desley Eastwick and Joanna Phillips also posed some questions that led to a competition. This means another winner will be announced. Joanna's story reading last week was amazing. To watch 300+ students miming animals in time to her story reading was a great experience. Well done Joanna, and thanks to the Kiwikids team.

We end the term on a high note. In the last weeks another ten students have enrolled to come to the school, while a quick look at our forthcoming enrolments shows over twenty five year olds will be starting soon. A new classroom will open later next term to make sure all these new students start their learning in the best way possible. I urge any parents who are thinking of coming to Spreydon to visit the school in the next few weeks to complete their enrolment details.

Finally, I wish all our staff and our wonderful students a restful break. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday 19 July. Take care!

It has been a week of stunning performances.


Last evening our school dancers performed at the James Hay Theatre as part of their 'Dancing with the Stars'. What a performance - and these students were the youngest on stage! Congratulations for completing such a fine dance routine and being such super ambassadors for our school. A special thanks also to the staff and supporters who worked behind the scenes to ensure this event was completed so successfully.

Our Spellathon also has been a huge success and tomorrow we will hold a special Spellathon assembly to announce our prize winners. This will include classes as well as individuals. My thanks to everyone who has put in so much effort to make the event such a success.

In the next weeks our performance team will decide how to put the Spellathon funds to the best use for our students. We will advise you of our purchases as soon as practicable after this has been completed.

Once again, to all concerned, my thanks for your efforts and contributions to our school.

On Friday this week, our ambassadors, Ruby Richards and Angus Shorter, will be involved in a memorial ceremony for the late Miss Thelma Keele.

Miss Keele started teaching here in 1957 and remained on our staff for 32 years. Our records indicate Miss Keele was a 'friendly teacher who was always neat and tidy and was remembered for wearing nice coats and having lovely hair'

Our memorial ceremony will involve Miss Keele's relatives, along with former staff member Mr Paul Carlson, attending the school. During this visit we will plant a tree in a special plot next to our new staffroom and mark the placement with a plaque.

As 'relationships' is one of our key student values with its special obligations, I am sure our Spreydon students will understand the connection the school has with Miss Keele and how we are working to remember this special teacher.

Getting started

Welcome to our techie world!

We hope you join us as we make communicating easier.

This platform is a great chance for me to thank the amazing team at the school who continue to drive our ICT forward.

It's my first attempt at blogging so I will be endeavouring to post a few words here on a regular basis.

I look forward to seeing you when you are visiting the school.


Rick