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Carey College News
18 May 2015
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What Learning Looks Like
This photo of students at work was featured on 5500 flyers distributed to Eastern Suburbs homes last week. It was part of a campaign to make the school better known and to invite enrolments in our new after-school tuition. If a flyer was dropped through your letterbox your neighbours also got one: that gives you a great opportunity to talk to them about your school.
There is no question that at Carey College we use teaching methods that value teacher instruction and structured, content-rich work by students. This contrasts with popular student-centred activities that over the last two decades have dominated New Zealand schooling.
The Finish national education system has been one of the key influences in this. Recent research however has shown that the good results reported in Finland for many years are the result of traditional schooling that predated the "reforms" copied by New Zealand schools. In fact, the "reforms" are a key influence in the recent decline in standards of Finish education. Check out this research here.
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Key Dates
23 June
Auckland Uni Parent Information evening
29 June - 1 July
Mid-year exams for Secondary Students
3 July
Term 2 ends: school closes at 2:00 pm
Primary Reports available on Engrade
8,9 July
Waikato University Open Days
20 July
Term 3 starts
24 July
Secondary Reports available on Engrade
Cambridge Exam Entries due
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Sex at School
Recently the Ministry of Education released a new curriculum in sexuality for state schools that will indoctrinate children as young as 5 with the deceit that gender is a matter of choice not biology and God-given nature. As they get older they will be shown how to have sex as a recreational choice. Family First has good comment on this.
For parents wanting good, biblical resources on sex education, we would recommend Lovewise (also see their Facebook page).
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Net Safety Focus
 Next June has been Internet Safety Month and we will be finishing up the term with some fresh guidance for students. A fantastic resource we use at school that is also parent-friendly and child-appropriate pages is NetSmart. Their key points for parents and teachers this month:
Don't let this month go by without talking to your children about internet safety:
- Talk to teens about sexting with the sexting tip sheet.
- Watch the NetSmartzKids music video to teach younger kids about privacy.
- Remind kids who are trusted adults that they can always talk to.
- Teach them how to report inappropriate content on the sites and apps they use.
- Show older kids how to report sexual solicitations.
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Big Screen 3D Monarch Butterflies
 Next Next week there are a couple of charity screenings of The Flight of the Butterflies in 3D at Sylvia Park. You can watch a video trailer and get more details/book tickets here. We have no brief to support the charity sponsoring this, but we like Monarchs, encourage them at school by growing swan plants, and think the film should be enjoyable and informative.
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Mid-Year Reports
Next Mid-year reports will be available to parents on Engrade: just logon as usual after reports go live.
Primary Reports will be available 3 July. Secondary Reports will be available 24 July after exam results have been finalised.
To find report comments when you have opened your child's Engrade account, scroll down the menu on the left side of the screen, and click on <Comment>
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Have you missed Monday Newsletters?
This is the first Newsletter for a month ... have you been missing the weekly newsletter? We hadn't planned this, but various unexpected pressures stretched resources so that the newsletter had to wait. But we would now like to know what works best for you. Please email us with your views. Answers to questions like these will help us:
1. Do you like getting a newsletter every week?
2. What day/time would you like to get your newsletters?
3. What do you find most helpful in newsletters?
4. What don't you like in newsletters?
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Computer System Glitches...
We have had issues with our server and with tablets connecting with our WiFi over the last few weeks. Hopefully they are now sorted. We are planning an upgrade, but that depends on Chorus connecting us to the fibre cable already at our school gate: this has been "happening" for over six months now with no evidence of progress although we get regular reports on why it is not progressing!
... and Blessings
 Last week staff received training in a new resource we will be trialing (and it doesn't depend on a fibre connection!) that gives us access to a vast library of broadcast video, along with a facility for integrating interactive video content with lessons. For more on this have a look at eTV and Zaption. |
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Curriculum Focus: Junior College Composition
 Effective written communication comes through training, attention to structure, and mastery of good English. Sound research also helps for non-fiction writing! These elements, at the core of our English course for Junior College, are exemplified in Alida's informative essay on Amur Leopards. |
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Parents: Protect Children or Prepare Them
 Can we protect our kids from the world and prepare them for it? This really helpful short article shows how parents can do both as they transition from commander, to coach, to counselor while their children transition from infants to adults. |
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