Junior High IEMS are on December 4, 8.30am - 7.30pm and December 5, 8.30am - 5pm.

To book, click on the link and use code: t3gdw

https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code?z=erfQQ0

Please note, students are not required to attend school for both days, except for their IEMs.

If your child needs supervision, please fill in this form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdSZuDAezOSHbelAwwTxRvcvBM4ZnQ35P9FrqTdizIAgUZstA/viewform

Tours begin at 9.30am, 1.45pm and 5.30pm in Te Rangimarekura (Large Theatre)

No need to register, just come along at one of the times listed above.

In order to allow teachers to vote on the pay agreement received from the Government, all members of the PPTA will be attending a Paid Union Meeting next Tuesday 25th June at 9.30 am. Our normal timetable will not operate until 12.15 pm therefore we request that you keep your child at home till then. Supervision will be available from 8.45 am, the usual Junior High School start time. If your child requires supervision on Tuesday 25th June please fill in the google form that would have been emailed to you/attached in Senior High eNewsletter.

Thanking you for your understanding and patience at this time.

We have been informed that all scheduled strike action has been cancelled. Children are expected to be at school as usual.

Open Evening - Tuesday 25 June 2019

6-8pm in Te Rangimareikura (Large Theatre). A tour of both schools will also take place after the meeting.

Open Day - Tuesday 6 August 2019

More information will be made available closer to the time.

We will update here and via Facebook.

https://www.rhs.school.nz/so/dcMYXZD3R#/main

Kia ora, e te whānau,

Last Friday during Advisory time I wandered through some learning spaces and found Keira Meyer, Taylah Parker, Ashley Cloke, and Olivia Kjestrup-Traue busily preparing for their Individual Education Meetings (IEMs).

The students were reflecting on their learning over the past couple of terms and linking this learning to aspects of our CLOAK. They were doing this through our online Learning Management System called Schoology. I asked them what they thought about Schoology and the portfolios they were developing and planned to share at their IEMs. The students explained that the first time they took part in an IEM they were quite nervous and unsure about the process but now (as they have done these a few times) they are very comfortable and believe it is a great way to share their learning - “it is better because we can demonstrate and show what we have learnt and the fun we had”. They find it very enjoyable being included as part of the process and preferred this approach.

They also agreed that Schoology was a great way to share this learning as it helped them to stay organised as they could quickly check their grades, feedback and see how they were tracking overall. They also thought it was great as their parents could quickly see how they were getting on and liked sharing their learning with them in this way. The students have also enjoyed using the Google Apps for Education suite of applications (such as Docs and Slideshows) and they mentioned “once you get the hang of it, the tools are really easy to use”.

It was awesome to hear what a positive experience these students were having with regards to reflecting and sharing their learning using our digital tools effectively. We hope you enjoy your children's IEMs and wish you and your whānau a fantastic Christmas and New Year. Stay safe and take care.

Young people are spending more and more time online so it is very important for the adults in their lives to teach them how to stay safe. The Netsafe Organisation website has loads of useful information about helping our young people stay safe and manage themselves online. Below is a summary of the 10 tips Netsafe has shared on their full blog post - https://www.netsafe.org.nz/online-safety-for-parents/.

Set Expectations - Talk about age appropriate expectations around the time they spend and apps and sites they visit.Understand what they do - Talk about what they are using the internet for, who is involved, and what information they share etc?If you don’t understand then try it - Try the apps and sites they are using and read the terms and conditions.Set a good example - How much time do you spend on a device? What kinds of posts do you share? Do you manage your privacy settings and security well?Teach them the basics - Including strong passwords, protecting personal information etc.Setting up Social Media - setup your own child’s accounts and use your own email depending on their etc.Give them the tools they need - Check out the safety centres for sites and apps that they use, show them how to block people, report content and use the privacy settings.Online Bullying - One in five young people in NZ have be the target of online bullying. Make sure you talk about how you expect them to behave online and what to do if they are targeted online. Lead by example and encourage them to think about the other person. Remind them that if it is not OK in person then it is not OK online.Sharing Personal Information - Talk with your young people about the risks of sharing personal information and images and what can happen once they are created and shared.What if something happens? - Remain calm and talk through the options such as talking with a trusted adult, school or Netsafe. Try not to over react and take away the technology otherwise they may not come to you next time. Focus on fixing the issue not punishing or removing their devices.

tsafe. This guide has great practical tips about how to responsibly use social media such as Facebook and Instagram.

Information on EOTC in 2019 can be found here:

During the next couple of weeks as part of the Learning Advisory curriculum RJHS students will be exploring how we can use digital tools to organise ourselves.

There are many tools that people use on a daily basis to stay organised. Some popular ones that we use at school are:

Schoology CalendarGoogle Docs and SpreadsheetsGoogle GmailGoogle KeepGoogle TasksGoogle CalendarGoogle DriveTrello

In your daily routine and at your places of work you might use project management software or other tools such as GANTT charts etc to manage projects. It would be great if you could share some of your own tips and tricks with your kids that you use to stay organised. How do you organise the weekly family routines? Kanbans can be a great way to organise kids jobs to be done as this video explains. Kanbans are basically 3 lists with sticky notes of tasks to do. First they are tasks that need ‘to be done’, then one is selected to work on and can be moved into the ‘doing’ column. Once the job is completed it is moved into the final ‘done’ column. It is a simple, visible and effective way to manage tasks that need to be completed.

Managing and sharing information is an area that our students are learning to deal with effectively. It is important to continue to have discussions with our young people about the types of information they are accessing, storing and sharing. Are our young people really aware of the full impact and implications of using social media apps and how their choices about what and how they share information truly affects others? Research has shown that ‘cognitive’ and ‘affective’ empathy are still developing during the teenage years. Cognitive empathy is the ability to think about things from someone else’s point of view (perspective-taking). Affective empathy is the ability to recognise and respond to other people's feelings appropriately.

We can support our young people to be more consciously aware of developing these skills by:

Discussing current events/TV shows/movies and how the different people involved might be thinking and feeling.Role modelling and sharing your own thoughts and feelings about situations and the different perspectives involved.Helping them to problem solve by asking them how they would feel in a particular situation and actively exploring someone else’s point of view.

Our young people are starting to develop empathy and compassion and although they might be able to theoretically put themselves into someone else’s shoes it might be difficult for them to act on this particularly in group situations. Empathy is an important disposition that fits in well with the ‘K - kindness and respect’ part of our CLOAK and learning experiences here at RJHS.

Digital Citizenship - Term 3 Celebration

This term at RJHS our Learning Advisory curriculum was updated and streamlined to cover the following three key strands:

Social and Emotional - Students will, develop Digital Citizenship skills and be able to explain key aspects leading to them having a positive Impact on Others and SocietyWhanaungatanga - Students will develop a sense of belonging and connectedness, to build a strong school culture. This will include Waiata and Assemblies as key components.Learning to Learn - Students will develop reflection skills and tools and be able to apply these in a variety of learning contexts.

Our Learning Advisory curriculum has been rich and varied, ranging from celebrating spirit week to learning about digital communication, digital footprints, effectively reflecting on our learning and the benefits of mindfulness. In the last two weeks of this term students are reflecting, sharing and celebrating what they have learnt in terms of Digital Fluencies.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with students about what they had learnt this term and this is what one of the students had to say - “We learnt about safety on the internet, how to find reliable websites and how to know if they are fake or not. We also learnt about digital footprints which is about what you do online and that everything is recorded and you should be careful about what you post". All the students I interviewed reported enjoying the learning in advisories and were very articulate in being able to explain what they had learnt.

We would also like to remind you of the fantastic opportunity for the community which is the Cybersafety Parent Information Evening.

Cybersafety Parent Information Evening.

Location: St Pauls Collegiate, Hukanui Road.

Date: Wednesday the 26th of September

Time: From 7 – 8.30/9pm

It’s free of charge, however spaces are limited, so parents must RSVP on the event below as attending. The event is rated R18 – As some of the content is not appropriate for children. Please visit the Waikato Police Facebook page, and go to the events to RSVP - https://www.facebook.com/events/254276345327544

Guest speakers include:

Pauline Spence – Educator from Netsafe NZDetective Reece Durston – Hamilton Police CIBConstable Pete van’t Wout – School Community Officer – Hamilton Police Youth Services.

Digital Citizenship - Mindfulness

In our RJHS Learning Advisories students have been investigating how digital tools can be used to enhance our well being. In Te Aho Tapu each student has reviewed a digital tool and shared how effective the tool was in supporting mindfulness. They wrote reviews and created posters that were placed around the learning spaces so that other students could read the reviews, check them out and also give them a star rating.

Some of the apps that were reviewed included:

InspirARTion - reviewed by Celine Mason. This app is a great tool for the creative process of developing digital drawings and art.Relax Melodies - reviewed by Noah Hagar-Dent. This tool has over 100 different calming sounds to listen to. Weavesilk.com - reviewed by Toni Wu. An interactive website that allows you to create art.Aura Meditation & Mindfulness - reviewed by Ella Cooper. This app has loads of mediation sessions and resources .Let’s Create Pottery - reviewed by Amy Liang. A peaceful and relaxing app that you use to make pottery.

There are so many great apps and websites out there, our staff and students have enjoyed finding digital tools to help with being mindful and living in the moment.

Andy Puddicombe explains in this video how we can all recharge by taking just 10 minutes a day to focus on the present moment.