Choir Rehearsal Update

 Another entry that's full of celebration!

The New Windsor School Choir went to Papakura Primary on Tuesday of this week to join with other choirs in our first Regional Rehearsal. The other choirs were mainly from South. We joined their group for the first rehearsal, as the Central Regional Rehearsal group was scheduled to be on NWS Accord Day. 

Our forty- five choir members were inspired with the power of group.  The choirs sang in unison, in two,  three and four part harmonies with one student from another school singing a solo part. 

The choirs are all working towards memorizing the words of all the songs and mastering the discipline involved in singing as part of a mass choir.

New Windsor students were able to rise to the challenge positively by using their New Windsor Way Values in an exemplary manner.

Our students are already deciding which of the songs is their favourite. It's a fine line between 'See You Again,' 'Memories' and 'On With The Show' at this stage.

What a joy it is to be their Choir trainer!

  😎 Community Service - Vision Screening 😎

Yesterday twenty Auckland University Ophthalmology Graduate Students came into school with their Tutor to do vision screening on all our Year 1 & 2 students and some Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 students who were identified by teachers with a possible visual impairment. 

 

New Windsor has welcomed their visit for the past six years and many families have benefited from this service. This annual community service is offered to our school free of charge. Unfortunately in 2020 this had to cancelled due to Lockdown.

The idea behind this service to give the university students experience working with young children. The students who came yesterday were lovely with our little people, and all our children enjoyed the experience. It was amusing to hear tales of which cool glasses they had to put on. One of our Year 5 students told me he got to wear the little pink glasses with the cute red bows on the side. He was very pleased to have an eye examination.

The assessment is followed up with a letter home next week, to let parents know if their child passed or failed the vision testing. For any child who has failed the screening a full examination will be offered at the eye clinic in Grafton. Parents just need to phone or email to make an appointment.

The first time we had free screening from Auckland University, in 2015 they screened the whole school, 550 students over three days. The Graduates picked up 80 children with a visual impairment, some mild, some extreme. 

I make a point of following up with parents so our students can be the best they can be. It's very hard to succeed at school when you can't see properly! 

 

Cross Country 9 Year Old Girls and Boys 🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃

It was my privilege to be the Senior Leadership Team member to support the 9 year olds Cross Country race last Thursday, 27 May. 

The turn out from parents, grandparents and extended whanau was pleasing. It was heart warming to see these families come to school to support their children on a cold, south -westerly day.

The students participated in the race in an exemplary manner. They showed respect, responsibility, resilience throughout the race. 

The Cross Country was loved some students,  whereas others found it very hard

The crowd support was appreciated by the runners. The spectators supported building confidence for all students to participate and be the best they could be.

The top ten students will attend the Zone Cross Country soon.

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                    🎸 🎵  Musiqhub 'Have A Go Day' 🎶  🎹

On Wednesday morning the Music teachers from Music hub ran a 'Have a Go Morning' for our interested students and their parents. 

There was a big turn out of eager students to listen to the music teachers talk about learning to play an instrument. Ms Tannahill thought it all sounded very exciting. 

Both teachers demonstrated their playing skills. Lih, the guitar and ukulele teacher, played 'Day Dream Believer' on guitar, followed by Shirley on keyboard with the theme song from 'Star Wars'.

Then the students had a chance to have a go. Some opted to try the guitar and ukulele, while others enjoyed their chance to play keyboard.

The Musiqhub run lessons at school on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

See our school newsletter for contact details.

 Choir 2021

Our New Windsor Choir have had two rehearsals this term. It was pleasing to have so many keen Year 5 & 6 students turn up to the first meeting. Last year the Music festival had to be cancelled due to Covid, so the schools are all looking forward to performing together this year.

The Choir meet once per week for Choir Rehearsal to train ready to perform at the 2021 APPA (Auckland Primary Principal Association) Music Festival at the Town Hall. 

This is true celebration of Music, Dance and Song! Our performance is in the evening on Tuesday November 2.

The choirs we perform with are from ten different Primary and Intermediate Schools from Central and South Auckland. In total there are about 500 students students at the performance. 

We have two regional practices with half the schools, then meet for two full rehearsals with all the schools, then have a Dress Rehearsal the day before the performance.

To be a member our School Choir students need to attend weekly rehearsals at school with Ms Tannahill, learn all the songs, memorize all the words, attend all regional and whole choir rehearsals and the evening performance.

The choir is an opportunity to work hard, celebrate music and have fun. 

Brick Club Professional Development

 Brick Club 

Last Friday Lisa B and I went to Lego Therapy workshop to learn the theory behind Brick Club and how to facilitate Brick Club in schools. We are life long learners just like all our students at New Windsor. 

Our group agreed to make this Toy Story Lego following the instructions. 

Brick Club is a social skills group targeted for neuro diverse students who meet weekly with a facilitator to socialize with each other and build Lego together. 

Brick Club is very different to New Windsor School's lunchtime Lego Club, because Brick Club is run by a trained facilitator working with only three students at a time. It's run in class time and encourages participants to cooperate, communicate and collaborate together. 

Our facilitator chose our group's freestyle bricks as the most creative. 

                            

During the Brick Club sessions students collaborate to select their Lego of choice to build, then they decide which student has each of the three specific roles to get started. These roles or jobs are the Supplier, the Engineer and the Builder. The group agree on a time limit for the roles then swap once the time is up. They participate and contribute to the group in a polite and encouraging manner so all the members of the club feel valued.

The roles of the Brick Club support cooperation, communication and collaboration.

We are considering some fundraising ideas so we can purchase resources and run Brick Club at New Windsor School soon. 

Another group made this Frozen Lego using the instructions.