Have a great holiday

Kia Ora Families
We hope you are having fun times with your children these holidays!

Attached is an invitation to attend a meeting to inform you on how we plan to introduce 1:1 devices for Year 5 and 8 children next year at Hoon Hay and OLA.

We are keen to know your thoughts, questions and concerns, so that we can tailor the meeting to your needs. We want you to leave the meeting feeling confident and assured that your children will be getting a good deal in 2015. The more information you email, the more tailored the meeting will be. So please email us.... principal@hoonhay.school.nz, or principal@ola.school.nz or RSVP to office@hoonhay.school.nz. or admin@ola.school.nz


COMMUNITY MEETING

Hoon Hay School & Our Lady of the Assumption School
INFORMATION EVENING
Tuesday 21 October, 7.30pm – 9.00pm

Hoon Hay and Our Lady of the Assumption Schools are thrilled to announce that we are part of the Ko te Tihi o Matauranga Cluster - a Christchurch wide project made up of five different communities
of schools. The aim of this project is to ensure that our students have access to suitable digital technologies at home and at school.
It is all about building digital learning capabilities. 

In a nutshell – we are part of a number of local schools who will receive Ministry assistance to further develop eLearning in our schools.
Why is this good? 

This initiative helps us to achieve our goal to meet the needs of equipping our children with 21st Century skills and digital competencies more quickly than we could if we worked in isolation. We will receive Ministry funding to provide professional learning to staff to ensure that we are planned and ready to meet the challenges that having more digital devices will bring.

It is an advantage that our two schools work together to utilise the strengths and demonstrate collaborative learning practices. We are the same community and let's celebrate that and work through the process together.

The Modern Learning Environment is coming! This cluster development will place our schools in a positive position to know how we need our schools to look, to reflect the way we need to teach, to ensure success for all.

Until now this approach has been accessible to mainly independent schoolsand we are very fortunate to be funded for this development. 

Going Digital OLA and Hoon Hay

You will now be aware that in 2015 Hoon Hay school’s Legends Team (Year 5 & 6) and OLA's Batten and Hillary Teams (Year 5 - 8) are intending on running a pilot programme with each child having a device. Our staff will use technology in ways to improve, enhance and engage learners. We already have lots of devices in our school however having 1 device for each child is new. Keep up to date by checking the blog for all the information and remember to ask questions and make comments. 

We want to know what you’re thinking
We want to know your questions & concerns 


So please comment on the blog or e-mail:
Lee McArthur
principal@hoonhay.school.nz
Jo Earl
principal@ola.school.nz
We will endeavor to answer all your questions at this meeting 

Remember, no question is silly! If you are thinking it – someone else will be too

Meeting Format
7.30pm Welcome
Why digital?
Derek Wenmoth – Director of e-Learning, Core Education
 
Derek has been involved with CORE since its inception in 2003. With a background as a teacher, principal, teacher educator, and education policy advisor, Derek’s role perfectly combines his passion for teaching and learning together with his long-held fascination with the use of technologies in education. Derek is regarded as one of New Zealand education’s foremost future-focused thinkers, and is regularly asked to consult with policy makers and government agencies regarding the future directions of New Zealand educational policy and practice. 

8.00pm How might it look in classrooms in 2015?
OLA and Hoon Hay Staff 

8.30pm Ko te Tihi o Matauranga Cluster
Leases and insurances – how will this work? Carol Moffatt and Mike Hillard

Location To be confirmed
RSVP office@hoonhay.school.nz or admin@ola.school.nz By Monday 20 October 

Google Chromebooks
Our schools, like many in the cluster, are choosing Google Chromebooks as our device.
The trust is intending to bulk buy with options for parents to lease or buy outright. An approximate cost at this stage looks to be about $400 which includes everything – set up software, protective bag, insurance etc.
The experience of other schools suggests one device is preferred for the following reasons
o Teachers explain the way to use a Google Chromebook rather than a variety of devices o Technicians will be available to fix Google Chromebooks (not other devices)
o The learning needs to be the priority not the type of device
o Google Chromebooks will be insured – other devices won’t be
o Having different devices could be a distraction.
However, we are considering a ‘transition year’ to allow those that may have already purchased devices for intermediate and secondary schools. To be clear we are not opting for BYOD, rather we are choosing a preferred device – in our case that is a Google Chromebook. 

2 Connected Communities
Blog http://2connectedcommunities.blogspot.co.nz E-mail Lee principal@hoonhay.school.nz
E-mail Jo principal@ola.school.nz

In the last week of Term senior students from Our Lady of the Assumption and Hoon Hay schools welcomed our giraffe to school. Students from both schools have now entered designs to paint and name our giraffe. The brief given to the students was the design must represent our two school communities and e-learning. Early in Term 4 the winning design will be painted on the giraffe and then it will join the Christchurch Stands Tall wild animal trail before the giraffe is returned to our schools.