West Melton School

Friday, 12 February 2016

Ceremony for the Blessing and Turning of the Land

Friday 12th February 2016

Early Friday morning, West Melton staff, BoT members and students of the school, attended the blessing of our new build site. As well as Daphne O'Connell, Chair of the Kaumatua Council, Margaret Joans, the Kaumatua Deputy Chair and our local Kaumatua, Patrick Nutira and Denise Sheat.

Justin Tipa, the Kaikarakia, performed the ceremony for us, with a waiata 'He Hōnore' at the beginning. Once Justin led us into the site, our Head Students Alessandra & Bella were asked to dig a piece of soil and keep until the new building is complete, where it will be returned to the land.

We finished with another waiata, 'Whakaaria Mai'. At the end of the ceremony we returned for a cup of tea and light refreshments.

Thank you to Liz Brown, the Education Sub-Committee Leader for the Te Taumutu Rūnanga, for organising the blessing.

Liz Brown, Denise Sheat, Justin Tipa, Patrick Nutira

Thursday, 11 February 2016

100km Walk for Oxfam

Six years ago my partner Andrea, completed the Oxfam 100km challenge. For her it was life changing in so many ways and even today the strength she got from completing the adventure helps her with the ups and downs that life throws you.

Last year I was lucky enough to be a support person for a friend of mine and see the emotion as they crossed the line was incredible.

Once back at school I decided to set up a team to make the challenge in 2016. As a result of this, four amazing people have been training since Labour Weekend and now only 8 weeks away from the start of what will possibly be the hardest 24 hours of their lives (event is on Saturday 2 April).

Julia Cider, Anna Jenkins, Nicole Allchurch and our good friend Chantell Court, a teacher from Burnham, are the determined ladies who are going after the challenge.

One of the reasons why our Team (The BMW's, which stands for The Burnham Melton Walkers) are doing this challenge is to support Oxfam and the work they do to reduce poverty throughout the world. Our team pledge to raise $2500.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!!

To help us reach our target we will be doing various fundraising events both at school and in the community and we desperately need your help.

Please donate directly to the website: https://www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/otw16/teams/bmws

Any donation is appreciated.

Thank you for your support.
Shane Dawson

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Friends of the School (PTA)

A huge THANK YOU to our fantastic Friends of the School (PTA) who organised,cooked and sold hundreds of sausages and ice blocks at our Community FUN Day.

They are a wonderful group of parents and would love to see you at their AGM on Tuesday 1st March. Come along see how you can help the school.

Thank you also to the ASB Bank for the usage of their BBQ.

Community FUN Day

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Our annual Community Fun Day was a great start to the beginning of the new term with our learners having fun and making those important friendships.

Our Intermediates (Y7 & 8) organised and supervised the activities. There was two bouncy castles, Dress Up Races, Hula Hooping, Frisbee Throwing (a few definitely aiming towards the photographer!), Chalk Drawing, Outdoor Games, BMXing and to end it all, a swim in the pool.

There was also a communal picnic with family and friends, enjoying the sausages and ice blocks for sale by the FOTC (PTA).

What a fantastic start to the school year!

Tuesday, 9 February 2016