What an incredible end to a great year. Tinged with sadness however. Firstly congratulations to all the Year six leavers and especially to all the cup winners.

Charlie -Gill Cup for the top boy.

Rosie -MacGillivray Cup for the top girl

Holly F -Kapa Haka

Stan -the John Goodman Cup for top sports boy

Ruby and Eden -The Trish Goodman Cup for the top sports girls

Plus we had a new cup this year. This went to Kate.

We wish you all future success not only with your academic journey but wherever life may lead you. Make good choices and remember fondly of your days at CTS.

We also farewelled a staff member at the end of the year too. This is always a sad time and this year was no different with Nick, a well loved and respected teachers resigning and moving his family down to Riverton, Southland. Nick has been a valued and skilled teacher on our staff for the last five years. During this time he has devoted a lot of his energy into his passion for the environment. Nick has been responsible for assisting and then running our school on its Enviroschool journey. Good luck Nick with your future. We all hope it works put well for you as you enter an new and unknown phase of your life. We will miss your 'quirky' dress sense, your come and go face fuzz, your sense of humour and of course endless ability to whistle!!

Finally, thanks to all the staff right across our school life for your professionalism, enthusiasm and devotion to making our school a great place for children to learn and play in and for us to work in. A big thanks to parents and supporters of the school and of course, the great kids here on The Terrace.

Merry Christmas to you all and all the best for 2018

(photos coming soon)

The year is almost done! AND along with many others I ask myself where has it gone??? Once again it has just flown by. This is possibly due that we are always fully and actively involved here on the Terrace and time just flies by unnoticed or Maui's flax ropes are failing and he needs to go and sort it out again! How Maui Slowed The Sun.

On Friday we had our annual end of year certificate presentations. Thanks to all the children who have helped out at school in the office, library, as monitors etc. Also, congratulations to all the sports recipients.

Here are a few photos. Check out our photo gallery for a full coverage.

This time of the year is often a time to say goodbye to staff as well as children. This year we are farewelling Nick. Nick has been at our school for five year now and has decided to call it quite on his teaching career. Nick and his family are moving to the deep south to begin a new phase of their lives. We wish Nick, Trish and Peat all the best for their future. Thanks Nick for all the care and nurturing you have given to the children in your care, thanks for all the effort you have put into the enviroschool aspect of CTS, you have made a difference and thank you for all the smiles you have bought to us with your puns, endless whistling, good humour and your individuality. All the best Mate.

I don't believe how quickly this term is racing by!!. We have been doing some fantastic things here on The Terrace, so many in fact it's hard to keep track! Her is a run down of a few.

Chess: Recently four of our boys, Charlie, Mikey, Dallas and Troy, represented CTS at a national chess tournament in Hamilton. Other schools had three or four teams entered to our one. So we were very proud of our boys 13th place. Mikey and Dallas won four individual games. The boys all worked well as a team. A big thanks to the parents who assisted the team.

Coral Art

We recently had two visitors to our school to take us through some environmental science that we could apply to an art form.

A marine biologist explained to us about the different types of coral we have in our waters, both deep and shallow. An artist then showed us how to make coral using rope. These will be added to a local sculpture she is creating that will be exhibited in 2018 here in Nelson. Here are some of our creations.

Room Seven hosted a great musical based assembly recently. Well done to all those budding musicians in the band, the great singers in the choir and to all the children in R7 for their musical talent. It was very entertaining.

Athletics day has come and gone for the middles and seniors. Great work everyone. Participation was outstanding and congratulations to those who will go into Inter-school Athletics Day. Thanks to Wendy for her organisation and to all our helpers.

A great Gym display by our very successful gym team was put on today. Some very talented gymnasts went through their paces in front of the school and parents. Well done Guys and Gals. Big thanks to Dene and Glenys for all their coaching and time.

Speeches:

The senior syndicate recently had their annual speech competition. Well done to all students who participated and especially to those class finalists who went on to the syndicate finals. A special congratulations to Gabe, the overall winner and Charlie who was the runner up. They went onto represent the school at the local inter-school speech competition.

Loud Shirt Day:

Last day of term was a loud shirt day. This was organised by Ruth to support The Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Paediatric Programme, two charities dedicated to enabling deaf children with cochlear implant or hearing aids to listen and speak like their hearing peers. Neither charity charges deaf children or their families for their services.

Sport:

On Tuesday the 22nd of August the middle syndicate sent 3 teams to the Nelson Hockey Tournament.

Everybody had lots of fun with some wins, some loses and plenty of teamwork!

Well done to all the students for their great sporting attitudes.

Yr 5/6 Hockey Tournament

On Thursday 24 August, 28 yr 5/6 CTS kids took their fantastic attitudes to Saxton turf and played in the Primary Hockey Tournament. For some kids this was the first time they had ever played. Others were defending the title they had won as Yr ¾’s Lots of fun and fairplay was had by all. The boys above had a fantastic tournament. In 7 games they scored 28 goals and only let 1 past! They shared the glory around and came home as the 2017 Primary Hockey Champions. Fantastic team effort.

Cultural Day:

Last week we had a great day making masks from around the world to fit in with the upcoming Nelson Mask Parade. We alternated between mask making and learning about the culture of the country the masks came from. It was a GREAT FUN DAY and superbly organised!!!!!

Ski Trip:

Earlier this month The senior syndicate went on their annual ski trip to Rainbow. There had been a good fall of snow a few days beforehand so everyone had a great day!

Finally, have a great holiday everyone. See you all in term 4.

A long over due update of life here on The Terrace.

We recently held our local Science Fair. This year it was changed to include a science experiment project, a technology project, a research project or an 'art in science' entry. The fair was held school wide with entries either at class level, group entries or an individual topic. Congratulations to all that entered. A particular congratulations to those who got through to the Nelson Science Fair competition.

Aqua Bots

By Tui & Amelia Rm10

On the 14th August the some of the children who did the science certificate got together and got into two teams with 5 people in each and started making the Aqua bots.

An Aquabot is an underwater robot. It is made out of pipes and it has three motors, one goes up and down the other goes right and the last one goes left. It also has sponge on the top to help it float. Some people use them to look under the water to see the underwater sea life or to study different types of things. An Aquabot is also used in an Aquabot competition they go in an underwater obstacle course.

We started the day where each team had all the tools laid out on the table and we also had instructions as well as the materials that we needed.

First we started making our Aqua Bots with the help of other people in our group and we had to do lots of different things like measuring, cutting, drilling, soldering and lots of other stuff. We also had a remote to control it. By lunchtime we had finished making our Aqua bots.

When we got back from lunch we were told that we were going to test them in the pool and we could also add things so that it could pick up hoops. After we got to the pool we put our Aqua bots in and spent the rest of the afternoon racing the other team. We all took turns at controlling the Aqua bots and we had to go through hoops and race to the end of the pool.

It was really enjoyable making and playing with the Aqua bots and we can’t wait till the competition.

We have, at long last, been having some nice sunny days here on The Terrace. Over the last couple of weeks we have been making the most of it by holding swimming sports (senior) and our annual school wide triathlon event.

These are always a great time for the children to challenge themselves and give a new activity a go. Well done to all the kids who tackled the three events with the usual CTS ‘Can Do’ attitude and a big congratulations to the winners. Thanks to Wendy for expert organisation and to all the CTS supporters who turned out to cheer their children on.

With our lovely heated pool and the warm days, we have been able to have a good swimming season. The seniors have had their swimming sports. Again, well done to all competitors from the syndicate and to the winners who may go on to the Interschool sports.

The holidays have come and gone

Up again to the morning birdsong

Can’t wait to get out to work

Plenty to do, no time to shirk

All the teachers and kids are a buzz

‘specially Shar, Robert and Muz

(but not Heather and Ruth

who seem to be MIA...ain't that the truth!)

Again the year has started with a hiss and a roar and children are into all sorts of activities inside and out of the classroom.

Our school-wide trip to Rabbit Island was on last Friday and a great time was had by all. The day was warm but inclement to say the least. However, the beach and surf was still the best place to be and, as you can see from the pictures, the children were well into the spirit of playing together with their friends and buddies.

We have already had ‘Meet The Teacher’ evening, the triathlon, camps and swimming sports are looming.

So, welcome back to all children, staff and parents. Welcome to our new children and families and staff members, Mel and Michelle. We do have a blast here on the Terrace and long may it continue.

As I said above, the Rabbit Island picnic has come and gone and, as usual it was great.

There was plenty to do at Rabbit Island with the children being divided into three buddy groups, rotating around between swimming in the sea and beach sculpture and sand castle making.

After a break for lunch it was into fun and games such as soccer, cricket, sack races, even if it was in the rain!!!. All in all it was a great day for children and adults alike. Thanks to Amanda for her high quality organisation, parents who supported us, staff and parents who helped out in and out of the water and to the kids of CTS who once again showed the CTS can do attitude.

What an incredible end to a great year. Tinged with sadness however. Firstly congratulations to all the Year six leavers and especially to all the cup winners.

James -Gill Cup for the top boy.

Lola -MacGillivray Cup for the top girl

Sky and Charlotte -Kapa Haka

Adam -the John Goodman Cup for top sports boy

Lola -The Trish Goodman Cup for the top sports girl

We wish you all future success not only with your academic journey but wherever life may lead you. Make good choices and remember fondly of your days at CTS.

On the Monday before our final assembly we had our annual certificate assembly. This is where children who have contributed to the school life or gained a sports certificate etc are acknowledged. Well done to all who received a certificate.

And of course there was the annual gym display. Our gym club was extremely successful this year and the end of year display was a great performance of their skills.

We also farewelled some staff members at the end of the year too. This is always a sad time and this year was no different with three well loved and respected teachers retiring or resigning. Firstly we farewelled Louise who has been on maternity leave for twelve months and is taking more family time. Good luck Lou with your future.

Trish has taken retirement after having time off to recover from an injury. You will be sorely missed Trish and we look forward to being able to farewell you properly sometime this year.

And finally, Rosemary has retired as of the end of this year.

Rosemary has been a valued and skilled teacher on our staff for over twenty years. During this time she has devoted a lot of her energy into her passion for science and the environment. Rosemary has been responsible for getting our school onto its Enviroschool journey and has been a driving force in getting us through to our Green/Gold status. Her passion for science has shown through strongly in her organisation and judging of our science fairs and she has promoted our wonderful grounds through gardening clubs, walkways, and insect friendly plantings and 'homes'. She has been a strong influence on the school council, organised the chess club and has always had the children's best interest at heart.

Rosemary, we will miss you and your caring ways. All the best for your retirement and your new direction in your life.

We also farewelled Bev, one of our fine office ladies. Bev, you will be sorely missed. You have been a great asset to our school personal and to the office staff. Nothing was ever a problem and your generosity will be sadly missed. Thank you personally, for all the help you have given me over the years and I am sure others will feel the same. Best wishes to you.

Finally, thanks to all the staff right across our school life for your professionalism, enthusiasm and devotion to making our school a great place for children to learn and play in and for us to work in.

Merry Christmas to you all and all the best for 2017

At the beginning of term 3, senior children were given an opportunity to join the senior gymnastics club. They had a few weeks to decide whether they wanted to be part of the school gymnastics team to take part in the primary schools gymnastic competition.

Throughout term 3, those children dedicated one lunchtime and a portion of the same afternoon to gymnastics. Term 4 got a whole lot busier. We started extra practices before school and morning tea was available for those who wanted to put some extra time in, along with extra lunchtimes. The children worked exceedingly hard. We had children who had done very little gymnastics, if any, to children who took part of our CTS gymnastic team last year or those who do gymnastics as a sport. It is always a really big commitment for all of the children, as it is not just about their own individual effort but also a team effort. Most children were in teams of 4 so all marks got added together. We had two competitive children, one individual child and ten teams.

The children all competed extremely well and were well behaved throughout each of the two days competitions. There were four apparatus competed in by all children. The only difference between the boys and girls events was that the boys did conditioning while the girls had the beam. There was also bar, floor and vault. Each level had a slightly different routine per apparatus.

Below are the results the of both competition days.

Level 1 Girls Team: 3rd, Hayley, Erin, Bea & Ivy Individual: 2nd, Bea

Level 1 Boys Team: 2nd, Micah, Bailey, Bayley & Ben

Level 2 Girls Team: 2nd, Ruby C, Ruby F, Grace D & Elle

3rd, Keira l, Ella G, Sophie & Hayley Individual: 3rd Ruby C

Level 2 Boys Team: 1st, Stanley, Ziv, Sebastian & Mikey Individual: 2nd, Mikey

Level 3 Girls Team: 1st, Lola, Phoebe, Ella D & Hester

Individual: 1st Lola, 2nd Ella D

Level 3 Boys Team: 1st, Adam, Max, Cosmo & Tom

Individual: 1st, Max

2nd, Cosmo

3rd, Tom

Competitive Boys: Matthew

Last Friday it was Room Four ran a superb assembly. One small part of it was a fraction survey they did. Here are the results.

TWO THIRDS (2/3) OF RM 4 CAN ROLL THEIR TONGUE.

ONE HALF (1/2) OF RM4 HAVE MISSING TEETH

ONE THIRD (1/3) OF RM4 CAN DO A CARTWHEEL

ONE HALH (1/2) OF RM4 GIRLS HAVE PIGTAILS

ONE QUARTER (1/4) OF RM4 BOYS DO THEIR PUSHUPS

ALL OF RM 4 ARE HAVING FUN

~The Big Day~

On Tuesday the 8th Clifton Terrace had a negotiation with some important people. First we had an assembly and invited them into our school. Then we brought them up to the staff room and had a chat about the environment and also introduced ourselves. We shared some things that we do at CTS that shows that we are a ‘green gold enviro-school’. We invited Tessa Dudley to show her genius 20%. Her genius 20% was about trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by making days that begin with ‘T’ vehicle free for CTS parents who drop their children off. Next, for morning tea, we had some delicious food up in the staffroom. After morning tea we set off on a tour taking our guests around our beautiful school. After that we came back to the staff room and that was when we made the big decision. We did some activities to see if we were up to the standard. And you know what? we were!

Senior Syndicate Abseiling Trip

From the 11-13 of October the senior syndicate went to Cable Bay for the day. We were separated into two different groups. One group went to the right side of Cable Bay to explore the rock pools while the other group went to the left side to do some rock climbing and abseiling. The rock pools were very interesting to explore as there were lots of little critters, crabs and fish. We were set a task to find any sea creatures, identify them and sketch them in our art books. We all had a great time exploring the rock pools and learning about the rock pool creatures. I enjoyed the rock pools as I don’t normally get to have a look at the pools. After the first group had finished we walked back to the grass area, had some lunch and waited for the other group to come back. SWITCH TIME! Once we had all got our bags and hats we headed over to the other activity. Rock climbing and abseiling were amazing! We had a safety talk first, and then got into groups of three. The person who was climbing got attached to the ropes and the person who was controlling the ropes got harnessed up. Now we started climbing! Once the climber went up as high as they wanted they called down to the person below to let them down slowly. Then the person abseiled down and then the next person had a turn. As well as rock climbing we did straight abseiling. We did a practice abseil down a small but rocky slope. Once completing this activity, we headed over to the waiting area to go down the wall. Once we got up to the top of the wall the person at the top told us what would happen. We had to lean back as far as we could then slowly walked our way down the wall. It was rather scary when you had to lean back as it felt very terrifying knowing that there are big rocks below you. When the day was over we walked back to the cars, did a headcount and then drove back to clifton terrace. I think the whole senior syndicate had a great experience with the rock climbers.

Abseiling -By Taylor

Have you ever thought about dangling off a cliff face with nothing but a harness and rope attached to you and your friends below? Well that’s what I did. All of the senior syndicate went abseiling off a cliff face in Cable Bay on October the 11. It was scary just the thought of it, off the side of a cliff with just a harness and rope attached to you. I know you must be thinking you’re crazy what on earth are you doing? But no I assure you we were safe. Although………………… If we had dropped only one person could save us and that person was the third person. The third person had the rope wrapped round their waist and at any time of emergency could tug the the rope and stop you from falling any further. Well unless they were talking to the person next to them. We did do rock climbing but I didn’t get very high because I was afraid of falling. This was definitely a terrifying experience.

In all my time at CTS, I have never seen what I saw today. Around midday there was a frenzy of activity (and that was only the children!) On the Top Court there was a great buzzing of hundreds of honey bees that were swarming. Quite quickly they moved out onto the rock area on the field and started to set up home. The children were enthralled but commonsense prevailed and they had to spend the lunch hour in another area of the school.

A beekeeper was engaged to get them into one of his hives and away from the playground. This in itself was no mean feat, as he had to find and entice the queen away from the rock and into the hive, hoping that the other bees would follow. After about two hours it looked as though it would be successful although he could not be sure until dusk when he was hoping that they would all move into their new dwelling.

An interesting and informative little interlude. It would have been nice if the hive could have stayed on site and we could have had CTS honey on our sammies!

The C.T.S Kapa Haka Group was lucky enough to perform at Stage One at 901 Square, as part of the Nelson Arts Festival. We all went and performed five songs: Whitiki Taua, Mai te po, E Rere Taku Poi, Kua Rongo and E i o Matua. Some of us were a bit nervous but we all had a great time and did well. It was also our first time performing in our new Kapa Haka uniforms outside of school. Thanks to our amazing Kapa Haka teachers, Shar and Rayna.

Mid Term rockin’, beginning of spring, warm sunny days, daffs and blossom breaking out???...must be spring on The Terrace.

As usual, there is lots happening.

The middle and senior school have been tree planting as part of the ‘Beautifying Nelson’ programme. We were planting out at Whakapuaka by the tennis courts and playcentre. It was a bit boggy in places but the long term goal is to have a semi wetland there so it seems to be understandable!! and kids don’t mind a bit of mud!

Rio Day. On the last day of the Rio Olympics The Terrace also held their own ‘olympics’. Buddies teamed up in to different bigger teams and completed a variety of fun activities that involved a lot of collaboration. It was great to see a group of seniors taking over and organising and running each activity, well done guys and girls, as well as the big buddies helping the little ones.

Finally, Room 10 presented a great assembly last week. It was great to see them all dressed in their ‘YMCA’ gear and performing that iconic piece with enthusiasm.

Over most of this year, Heather has been taking different classes for art. She has an amazing talent that she has passed on to all the pupils who are creating some brilliant art pieces.

The art is on display all over the school and has added a fantastic back drop of creativity and colour to our already vibrant school.

Here are but a few examples.