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At our recent leavers dinner held at the Addington Coffee Co-op Robert Fruean shared his inspirational life story with our year 6 school leavers, their families and school staff. Robert’s story, which has seen him overcome life threatening health issues at the peak of his sporting career, held the children and adults spell bound. Robert spoke to the group after a wonderful meal at the café. Robert’s final words of advice was to always remember the following three phrases “Please”, “thank you”, and “I’m sorry”.

"You know I can't stand Shakespeare's plays, but yours are even worse" - Tolstoy to Chekhov "Many accepted authors simply do not exist for me. Bertolt Brecht, William Faulkner, Albert Camus, many others, mean absolutely nothing to me" - Nabokov I've been wondering whether the "I don't like it" vs "I don't get it" distinction is if not artificial then at least unknowable (to self and others). Or which predispositions and situations make people say one rather than the other, what the motives and consequences might be. "I don't like it" vs "I don't get it" Can this distinction be made? Sometimes surely, but it depends on the context. Social situation - In the tutor/pupil situation perhaps it's easier for the tutor to say "I don't like it" and the pupil to say "I don't get it". In judges' reports you might not often see lines quoted that the judge admi...

Today 10 children shared a pizza lunch with Ms Heath. Bayden, Caleb, Nevada, Nihmot, Jasmine, Utu, Alex, Yazmin, and Ryan had each earned 10 Green Cards for their consistant great behaviour, and wonderful Addington Attitude. The favourite varieties are Homer Simpson, and the Vegetarian Supreme, which was pronounced 'delicious' and 'very tasty' by Nihmot. The pizzas are sponsored by Filadelfios Pizza in Beckenham. A big "Thank you" to Tony for supporting this programme in the school.

Late last month, the Green Team put their creative heads together and came up with what will hopefully be the solution to birds eating their lettuce seedlings!! Named Spud Murphy by the younger members of the team, he now stands guard, (in his pyjamas), over the strawberries and lettuce seedlings. So far he has survived three vigorous southerly changes, a nor'west blast and the theft of his t-shirt! The lettuces are looking better already.

The PAP is at it again: Papmandering - a form of gerrymandering unique to Singapore. As I defined it in an earlier blog article: Papmandering: 'The art/science of redrawing electoral boundaries, electoral laws and/or the constitution for the purpose of maintaining overwhelming control of Parliament through the mechanics of clearly articulated arguments in favour of an inclusive form of democracy'. The Prime Minister has chosen to announce, curiously from a faraway place, that a 'cooling off' day would be incorporated into the election process. This, it appears, is to prevent irrational voting. We the voters might be swayed by uplifting, exciting but misleading rhetoric and we might vote against the PAP erroneously. We the voters might be whipped into a frenzy of anger against the PAP and might commit the grave error of delivering a 'freak' election result. Looks like the PAP has decided that the SPH in its infinite wisdom would be the sole source of informat...

Congratulations to Mary Jones the grandmother of Kahu Jones whose name was drawn out as our Duffy 'Caught being a good grandparent". Kahu nominated her because "she gets books out of the library to share with me and helps me make stuff.

Once again, our Year 6’s did us proud with their Addington Attitude during their Sailing Trip with CanSail in the Lyttelton Harbour yesterday. It was a brilliant day with plenty of sun and wind.    We enjoyed the company of three Hector Dolphins during our trip.   It was great to see all of the children challenging themselves in a new environment, working with such team spirit and for the teachers seeing our children achieving was magical. It was a pleasure to be part of this wonderful day. A quote from one of the students, “This is just like being on a family holiday.”   - It’s pretty exciting when a school experience can feel like being in a family! Our thanks go to the CanSail Trust who offered us this wonderful opportunity. Thankyou also, for their financial sponsorship, without it we wouldn’t be able to take part in such a unique and valuable experience.