LAWRENCE AREA SCHOOL

Community Newsletter
10th May 2012 No 6

Dear Parents and Friends of the School The commemoration of ANZAC Day has captured the hearts and minds of New Zealanders. Increasing numbers are attending ANZAC Day Services throughout the country. More families are attending. What is very pleasing is that children have an appreciation of why they are there, what they are remembering and how events of the past have shaped the nation.
Our districts ANZAC Day service was very well attended. As a school we were indeed very proud to have one of our senior students, Tom Blackmore, deliver the ANZAC Address. Tom put considerable effort into the preparation of his speech asking family and friends for their ideas and combined this with his own recent experiences inJapan to craft a very dignified and thoughtful speech. In response to many requests we have included Toms speech in full in this newsletter. We are proud of all our students and especially proud of our senior students who are proving to be excellent role models and fine citizens.

Website

Kind Regards John Auld

Lawrence Area School now has its own website. We are still in the process of building the site, but when you visit you will find a calendar of events, current newsletters and some school information. http://lawrenceareaschool.edublogs.org Mark it as a favourite and visit it for up-to-date information.

Can You Help? Do You Have Good Ideas? HUI

Monday 14th May 5.30pm to 6.30pm School Library. All interested parties are invited to come along and discuss ideas for the promotion of TE REO and TIKANGA MAORI at Lawrence Area School and Community. All input will be valued. A cup of tea and finger food will be served. John Auld and Natasha Mikaere

ANZAC ADDRESS - TOM BLACKMORE

When asked by Mrs Wilson to speak here today, to be honest, I really didnt want to do it. But when I thought about it a little more, I came to realize, this is a very small challenge compared to what the young men of our community faced when asked to do their duty for New Zealand. In both World Wars 1 and 2, the young men going to fight were as young as myself, some even younger. They did it for their families, they did it for their towns, they did it for their country, and being young and idealistic, some did it as an adventure. 98 years ago, back in 1914, I, and almost all young men the same age as me would be packing our bags, and heading off to fight for King and country. I suppose, in 1914, the idea of being able to see the world would be an extremely exciting prospect, it was the one opportunity for these young men to really see the world, get away from their home towns, and head out on their big adventure. It is really quite amazing to consider what these young men did, uprooting themselves, and, in a lot of cases, giving their lives, for our country, for adventure, for us. Buoyed by patriotism and idealism, and the thought that the enemy would be beaten easily, volunteering was perceived as an exciting way of seeing the world. But, knowing what we know today about the hardship and horrors of war, I do not think many young people would step forward and take the risks that our forebears did. As young people attending an ANZAC Day ceremony we may have different reasons for attending than older generations. What does ANZAC Day mean for my generation? What value does it have? Some may see today as just another public holiday. Many of us have never known a war veteran, and have difficulty identifying with national icons such as ANZAC Cove and Gallipoli. What we know about ANZAC has usually come from school lessons, we get taught the big picture, what happened, and who the heroes were. But what we dont hear is the personal stories. Lawrence here today is a mirror image of what is happening all over the nation. Every year, more and more young people and their families attend these services to pay their respects, lay down their poppies, and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. For me a certain experience has heightened my awareness of war and all of its horror. After the German surrender in WW2, the Japanese fought on, refusing to surrender in spite of being beaten. Conventional warfare was getting the allies nowhere, so on the sixth of August 1945; an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. This caused utter devastation to the city. Over 100 thousand people were killed, and Japan surrendered very soon after. In 2010, I went to Japan on a school exchange. This was all paid for by the Japanese government, in the hope of deepening mutual understanding among the young people of Asia and Australasia. In my time in Japan I spent 6 days staying with a family and going to school. The whole time I was there I felt welcome, and safe. Something the young soldiers in Japan in WW2 would have by no means felt. On the 11 day exchange I visited Hiroshima, and spent a few hours in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. That was a very humbling experience, being in the place of mass devastation, where the Atomic Bomb was dropped 67 years ago.

Nicole Patrick

Matthew Hart

Megan Crawford

Chole Winn

Tyrone Goodlet

Melissa Gray

This park was built around the area where the nuclear bomb hypocenter was in 1945. I would have to say, looking through the park, seeing what had once stood, and what stood now, was one of the most shocking experiences I have had. We laid paper cranes on a memorial, looked through the museum, saw photos of radiated bodies, and items which had been exposed to the blast. It was shocking. That day really did help me to realise some of the atrocities involved in war, and made me appreciate the world we live in today. The next half hour as we travelled through the city in the bus was spent in near silence, as we all tried to understand the shocking things we had just witnessed. Those soldiers who volunteered and went to war would have been just like you or I, ordinary people with jobs to do, and families to support, yet they were willing to sacrifice all fighting for what they thought was right, they fought for each and every one of us, they fought for New Zealand, and they fought for our world, for our freedom. In the past few years I have been to many of the ANZAC day ceremonies here in Lawrence, all who have spoken in the past years seem to have a connection to the war. When I started to write this speech I didnt think I had any. Mum had mentioned her great uncle from Craigallachie who died in World War 2, but we didnt know much more. But a couple of weeks ago, we came across a column in the ODT, It discussed Craigallachie, and went on to talk about Alistair and John McKenzie, My great great uncles. Alistair and John were farmers in Craigallachie, and had both served in World War Two. John returned safely, but Alistair was killed in the Battle of Crete. Their sister, Mattie, was the postmistress in the Beaumont post office. Mattie was working at the time the telegram advising Alistair had been killed in action was rung through. So it was Mattie who was first in town to hear the news. As you can imagine, she received a terrible shock. Over the length and breadth of this country there are almost 1000 memorials dedicated to the soldiers who fought for our country. Whether they are a small plaque, or gateway, or the grandest of cenotaph or memorial hall, they all stand to remember one thing. To remember the 30 thousand NZ soldiers killed at war On the cenotaph in the Peace Gardens on Peel Street the words are written Erected by the people of Lawrence and the surrounding district in grateful remembrance of the men, who, at the call of duty, left all that was dear unto them, faced danger, endured hardship, and finally laid down their lives for their country in the great wars for righteousness and freedom. There on that cenotaph there are 84 names That is why we have gathered here today. That is why we honor them. That is why we must never forget.

Sports Round Up
Students of all ages have started their winter sports with the traditional codes of netball, rugby and basketball underway. We have students aged 5 to 19 taking part in regular club sports as well as representing school. A new sport for students this year is Equestrian. Under the guidance of Kate Anderson our young team: Kylie Lyders, Autumn Forbes and Nadia Lyders competed at Gore recently achieving very pleasing results at the Otago/Southland Secondary Schools Team Event Championship. 95cm - Morning Class of Dressage and Show Jumping - Kylie Lyders 6th overall 80cm - Morning Class of Dressage and Show Jumping Nadia Lyders 6th overall 80cm - Afternoon Class of Dressage and Show Jumping Nadia Lyders 1st overall The team was placed 5th overall in the Teams Event which was an extremely pleasing result.

Basketball
Our senior girls are entered in the Bgrade competition in Dunedin, competing on Friday Nights. Week 1: We gained a hard fought victory over Bayfield High School 32 to 22. A really good team effort. Rhea Cameron Top scored through a series of excellent lay-ups. Emma Shaw collected rebound after rebound and Eloise McLaughlin in her first game showed real potential for the future.

NCEA FEES
This year is moving very quickly through to the externals, we are almost at the mid point of the Year 11 to 13 school year. We need to start thinking about the fees that have to be paid in order to get the standards the students achieve credited to themselves. Full fees are $76.70 and are due to be paid to the school by Monday 3rd of September. However if you wish to apply for financial assistance which reduces the fees to a maximum of $30 for 2 or more children or $20 for one then the application form must be at school before Monday 20th August so that they can be processed and approved before the fees are due. The fees pay for both the Internal and External Standards and if the fees are late an extra charge of $50 is put on them as a late fee. If there is any problem about paying the fees please talk to Mr Auld as soon as possible. If you have any questions please ask. All students have been given a financial assistance form and some explanation sheets and you can decide whether or not you are eligble. More copies of the form or the explanations can be downloaded from NZQA.