Stories & photos - Van Asch Deaf Education Centre

Truro Street, Christchurch 8
Voice/TTY (03) 326 6009
Fax (03) 326 5346
e-mail:
info@vanasch.school.nz
contact persons
Chairperson,
Board of Trustees
Dyanne Bensley
Principal
Ian Cocks
Associate Principal
Marie O'Brien
Deputy Principal
Tess Hillmer
Executive Officer
Lynne Ferguson
Residential Manager
Paul Scammell
Regional Coordinators
Bernie Mulcahy
Niel Pouwels
Audiologists
Paul R. Peryman
Neil Heslop
Specialist
Resource Teachers
Reading/Writing:
Michele Yonetani
Visual Communication:
James Townshend
Speech/Language
Joanne Lake
NZSL Resource Coordinator
Paul Buzzard
Technicians
Tony Dwyer
Phil Henderson
Library
Margaret Hunt
VAN ASCH DEAF EDUCATION CENTRE
News
& views
TERM 1 2006
New Zealand Sign Language Bill
In this issue
van Asch
DEAF
Education Centre
supporting
its region
It was a great privilege to be in Parliament on Thursday 6 April for
the third reading of the New Zealand Sign Language Bill and the
subsequent passing of the Bill into legislation. This has been a
proud and historic moment in the history of New Zealand’s Deaf
Community.
• New Zealand Sign Language Bill • News from the Regions
• Exceptional student work • Vadec news
VADEC News & Views
1

From the Principal
Unfortunately it was not possible for everyone from
the Centre to attend the third reading of the Bill and
given the short time frames it was not possible to
do as much consultation over who would represent
the Centre as we would have liked. In deciding how
the Centre was represented, we tried to achieve a
balance between the Centre’s management and its
Regional and Base School staff and students. In the
end, those representing the Centre included Marie
O’Brien, Niel Pouwels, Janet Stokes, Kay Pinion,
Darryl Alexander, Pam Witko, Jackie
Davidson, Pollyanna Ferguson, Janet Wilson and
Mark Bolger. The Centre was also represented by
two of the Base School’s senior students, Shivani
Dickson and Scott Densem, Jenna Holland, a
mainstreamed student from the South Island and
Andies van Zyl, a mainstreamed senior student from
the lower half of the North Island. It was wonderful
to see a number of students from Newlands College
and other mainstreamed students from the
Wellington area in the House for the reading of the
Bill and attending the celebrations in the Beehive.
For those who could not attend Parliament, the
passing of the Bill was celebrated at the Centre.
A morning tea was held on 6 April to acknowledge
that the Bill would be passing into law on that day.
A celebration was also arranged for the Base School
students during the lunch hour and staff were invited
to a live webcast of the proceedings in Parliament in
the Centre’s the Conference Room.
On Monday 10 April the Governor General signed
the New Zealand Sign Language Bill at Government
House in Wellington. The Hon. Ruth Dyson, David
McKee, Rachel McKee, Lynette Pivac, Shona
McGee, Kim Robinson, Victoria Manning,
representatives from the Office for Disability Issues
and parliamentary staff were In attendance to
witness this final step in New Zealand Sign
Language becoming an official language of New
Zealand. The New Zealand Sign Language Bill can
now be referred to as the New Zealand Sign
Language Act.
The New Zealand Sign Language Act has raised the
profile of New Zealand Sign Language. I am hoping
that this will assist our arguments for increased
funding to make New Zealand Sign Language
available to deaf children. In particular we need
increased resourcing to ensure that all deaf children
from the time they are detected as having a hearing
loss have the opportunity, along with their families, to
learn New Zealand Sign Language. We also want to
ensure that all Deaf children through their preschool
and school years have access to a New Zealand
Sign Language curriculum. While we have
developed a New Zealand Sign Language
curriculum, we now need the resources to implement
it.
Ian Cocks
Principal
It was a wonderful experience to be in the gallery
filled with representatives of the Deaf community
who had come from right around New Zealand to
celebrate the passing of the Bill. It was enormously
encouraging to see that the majority of parties in
Parliament working together over an issue, clearly
recognising the importance to the Deaf Community
of this legislation and it was also impressive to see
how well those members had been briefed about the
issues surrounding this legislation. I am sure this will
have been due to the dedicated work of Victoria
Manning from the Office for Disability Issues and the
staff who have supported her.
It has been a long, struggle to make this Bill a reality
and we must not forget to pay tribute to Ruth
Dyson for spearheading the struggle. Her efforts
and support have been magnificent. I would also like
to acknowledge the work of a former Chairperson of
the Centre, Hilary McCormick. Hilary worked
tirelessly for many years to see New Zealand Sign
Language become an official language of New
Zealand. It was wonderful to see Hilary at
Parliament joining in the celebrations.
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VADEC News & Views
3

Trip to Wellington
My name is Scott Densem. On Thursday I got up at
5:30am to get ready to go to van Asch School. We
meet Shivani, Jenna, lan Cocks, Marie and Janet
Stokes at school and then went to the airport to go to
Wellington. In Wellington, we met two people named
Mark and Andries from New Plymouth. We got a taxi
to the hotel. We went to the bedrooms to have a look
and talk to friends who were there one night. At 12
noon, we met together down stairs. We went out for
lunch and then we went to look around in the
Museum in Wellington. At 2:15pm, we come back to
meet together. Then walked to Parliament House.
Outside, we had a photo with all the deaf people
there. All the people started going in. At Parliament
House they have a rule, they only take 10 people at a
time to the gallery.
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VADEC News &Views
We all watched the MP members. They started
talking about New Zealand Sign Language at 4:40pm.
It was a long talk. However, it was ok. They started to
do yes or no questions to the MP members. 119 said
yes and 2 people said no to the NZSL Question. Then
all the deaf people watching were so happy and
waving and all the people went to beehive to have
small party. Later on it got a bit late so we went back
to the hotel and have dinner there. Then at 10 pm, we
went to bed. However, my friend and me stayed up
to 4am in the morning. We had to be up by 6:30am
so I had only 2 hours sleep. The next day we had
breakfast, then we had to be ready to get in the taxi at
7:30am. Then we went to the airport. We left
Wellington and we arrived in Christchurch. We got a
taxi to come back to school. Thank you to van Asch
for sending me. I had a great time in Wellington. I had
not been there before.
Scott Densem.

My trip to NZSL Bill in Wellington
by Shivani Dickson
On 6th April, I went to Wellington and I stayed in a
hotel for one night. I went to the museum and I saw
some cool things. I also saw a old friend name, Rose
and we had a good catch up. At night time we went
to the Bee Hive. I saw lots of deaf people there. I met
and talked to them about different things. There were
a lot of people there. We went inside the
Parliament to watched Ruth Dyson talking about the
New Zealand Bill and how deaf people need NZSL
for communicating to each other. Ruth Dyson talked
for 3 hours. She told us that NZSL is important. I
waited until the end and wanted to know if we have
passed the Bill. We were so happy that the Bill had
passed. I presented Ruth Dyson with our new School
hat. It has a logo that says NZSL. We went back to
the hotel and had dinner. When it finished Jenna
and I went to bed. Early in the morning we went to
the airport to return to Christchurch. I came back to
van Asch Deaf Education Centre. I enjoyed myself in
Wellington. I wanted to stay in Wellington but I had
to return to Christchurch. Hopefully I will return there
one day.
Photos courtesy Royce Flynn
VADEC News & Views
5

From the Regions
Kit day at the Amazing Maze
Today me, Mum and Tania
went to the Amazing Maze
in Marton for KIT Day.
We had to get into groups. Kitana and her mum
came with us. The maze was a cornfield. We ran
around the maze and we came first. I was a bit tired
after the maze but it was fun and I made a new friend.
Then we had a sausage sizzle for lunch.
I played swingball.
We got glasses to go
through the 3D maze. It was
colourful. There were red,
green and yellow lights.
It was beautiful. Then we
came to the scary part of
the maze. I was very scared
because it was dark. I was
holding my Mum’s hand
because she wasn’t scared.
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VADEC News &Views
We took Kitana home.
I hope I see her at the next KIT Day.
By Tatiana Tibble

Aiming To Be A Champion
Matthew Jordan, a Year 13 student at Lincoln High
School is proving that hard work and training pays
off.
He is now working on Level 3 NCEA after achieving
Level 2 NCER with114 credits. His subjects were
English, Biology, Graphics, Outdoor Education and
Maths.
Matthew loves sport. His aim is to be part of a
Commonwealth Games Team one day! He attends
athletic training with wonderful results. At the recent
South Island Secondary Schools Championships
Matthew came in 3rd in his 100m final and 4th in the
200m final. He was fourth runner for the Lincoln High
School 4x400m relay team which came in FIRST!
Matthew also has part-time work in a micro-biology
laboratory.
(Keep up the good work,Matthew)
VADEC News & Views
7

Morning
I saw her rise up
She was melting the darkness away
Up in a roar the city wakes
She sits above watching me and you
It’s time to say goodbye
But only for a short time
Darkness comes, the city sleeps.
Champion
He settled out to the sea
He looked like a dolphin to me
Jumping and ducking the waves
He stops
Then a wave started, not any wave
But a tsunami like wave
He turns paddling hard, he rose from his
board, standing in the air
Like Jesus walking on water
He surfs the wave like never before
As a champion I thought
It was only my brother.
Friends
Friends come and go
Like the waves on the beaches
But the sand stays strong, it doesn’t move
That’s like our friendship, memories
They stay with us in our
heart forever, goodbye friend.
Poems by Jessica Topping,
(Yr 12),
Napier Girls’ High School.
WHO ARE YOU?
I AM A CHILD
I am all the things of my past
I am the colour of my mum's eyes
I am interested in car racing like my dad
I am all I see
Fast cars on the road
My mum cooking
Yummy food yum
I am all I hear
Cars doing skids on the road
Motor bikes racing
Loud V8's
My cat purrs
My mum roaring at me
I am all I feel and taste
Chinese food and sweet and sour pork
Patting my smooth cat
Fizzy Just Juice bubbles
Pork chops
And all I remember
My Nana goes camping
My Grandpa went to war
My brother fell off his bike
I am all I have been taught
About cars
Talking
Riding my bike and motor bike
And learning to tie my shoelaces
I am all I think
Secrets that I can keep
I am all those things
That I dream of doing skids on the road
I am a man of the future.
Kerrin Hodges,
Year 9,
James Hargest College - Senior Campus
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BEING THERE
by Jaime Dowdle,
Year12, NCEA 2,
Central Southland College,
Winton, Southland.
Misty morning breeze in the air. A murky path leads
up to the farmhouse to a cloud with a girl sleeping,
breathing the icy air in. The smell of saucy bacon
carries to her bombsite room. Alarm! The girl's feet
hits the floor as the floor groans and she walks out
of the mouth of the door into a long, tall hall like a
mountain.
See. Stamping into a lounge of blue and green like
an open huge sea with an enormous, comfy, leather
brown couch welcoming her. The big TV like a camera
taking shots every second. The old cute photo of
her stands out like the sun. Leading into a kitchen,
where her big ravenous brother is standing over the
oven waiting to pounce. She wishes she could have
some bacon but she has to tame herself. No! Her
dear dad walks in and looks like a big friendly bear to
cuddle but... phew! She has to hold her nose .
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
to the Rescue
Once upon a time there was a family who had a
magic car called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It can fly
and float on water. One day Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
saved the family from an accident. One day Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang took the family to France to have a
picnic. They went into a cave. There was a
robber's room full of guns. Just then 3 robbers
came in. They tied the Mum and Dad up and they
held the children up for ransom. They took them to
Paris. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang put the Mum and Dad
into her seat. She took them to Paris. The robbers
stopped outside of a house. The children ran over to
the Mum and Dad and they untied them. The 3
robbers started shooting. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
was not scared of guns. She ran through the door
and she ran over the 3 robbers. She killed them.
The End
By Callum Lines,
Windsor North SchooI,
Invercargill
Hear. Moooo! Moooo! The cows are telling her it's
milking time. Stamp, stamp like an army on a mission.
Swish, swish goes every tail. Long, short,
messy tails swishing to the beat of the marching.
Then a big booming mooooo and she sees a
confident bull marching with his girlfriends, bossing
them around.
Toby her cat, is torturing her like a five year old to
feed him. "Mieoooooow""Go away", she says. "Woof,
woof!" yelps Maddy. The little dog is chasing her
ball and would never stop all her life. She now sees
Saffy, the big lion like dog getting jealous and lets
out booming woofs. She smells the air, ewww! Cow
pat! She hates the horrible, murky brown pat next to
the old farm house in the ripped up paddock. She
turns the other way towards the house to get rid of
the smell and sniffs chicken stir fry and runs inside to
eat her tea.
Cows rest and look like whale boulders in the
darkness. Brother is watching TV like a eagle,
younger sister sound asleep in soft dreams and dogs
scratching, Toby her cat, is purring and
creating an earthquake softly on the bed. She tries
to stay awake. 1,2,3 looking at the moon which looks
like a piece of cheese. 4,5,6 hears her dear dad
snoring like a buzz saw next door. 7,8,9 she's
waiting for the terror of school to happen the next
day. Ahzzzzzz.
The Venus Fly Trap
The Venus Flytrap is a meat eating plant. It is green
on the outside and red on the inside.It also has
springy edges to trap the bugs.The Venus Flytrap
plants live in North America. It likes wet soil. It eats
frogs, dragonflys and other bugs.
Dorne Kini,
Aurora College,
Invercargill.
VADEC News & Views
9

Castlepoint
Science Camp
– 2006
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My teacher, Mr Elliot gave me a sheet to take home
to show Mum. It was all about Science Camp.
Only 2 students were chosen to go from each school
in Masterton. We were going to Castlepoint and
staying there for 2 nights. I felt excited about going
because I wanted to learn about sea animals. I had
to take lots of gear, like pads, a pencil case, sleeping
bag, and pillow, clothes, my hearing aid kit and FM.
I got to take my headlamp that I got in the school
holidays.
On Monday 20 th March Kelsi and I were picked up by
the van first, and then went to Masterton Intermediate
and other schools to pick up the other kids. When the
van was full we went to Castlepoint. When we got to
the Lodge where we were staying, we put our stuff
into the bedroom we were staying in. There were
5 boys altogether and we stayed in the same room.
There were 13 girls and they were rowdy!
We ate our lunch at the Lodge, and then went across
the road to the old school at Castlepoint. It has been
there for more than 100 years. When we got there I
looked at the tree that was planted there in memory
of a 14 year old boy who died because a horse fell on
him during a horse race. We went into the classroom
and met Clel, who was our Science Camp teacher.
He took us into the garage and we got a bucket each
to take to Mataikona, which is another beach with lots
of rock pools. When we were about to get there we
saw a seal sitting there on a rock, drying himself. Clel
gave us a sheet that told us what things we needed
to collect. I collected starfish, cockabullies, hermit
crabs, 3 different kinds of coloured seaweed, and
pauas. We went down by the lighthouse and got
sea-water to fill the tank, so that the animals could
survive for 3 days, while we were looking at them and
learning about what they do. When we went back to
the school Clel filled big buckets with water and we
put the animals in them. We had to put different kinds
of animals in different containers, or they would eat
one another (like star-fish would eat the pauas or little
fish).
We went back into the classroom and Clel told us
everything about mountains, water, and how New
Zealand broke apart to form 3 islands. Then it was
nearly dinner so we had to get back to the lodge
and we had fish and chips, which were YUM! After
dinner we went back to the school. It was dark.
We had to get different kinds of animals and put
them into ice-cream containers, take them into the
classroom and look at them through microscopes,
to see what they do. Clel told us to go back to the
Lodge to go to bed. We cleaned our teeth and went
to sleep.
The next morning we had breakfast, a glass of
orange juice, and went back to the school. We
looked at how the sea animals were going. We found
a little coloured fish had died, but the rest of the sea
animals survived. Clel had put oxygen into the water
like you see in fish tanks. Next we learned about
the Sedimentary Process, and what different rocks
were made of, like limestone is made of calcium
carbonate, which comes from shells. After school
was finished we went back to the Lodge to get our
head lamps, jackets, raincoats and beach shoes.
We had to wear shorts because we were going
around the rocks, through the sea water to get to the
CAVE! When we got there we saw another seal,
and Clel told us that they bash their heads together
when they fight. He told us that we had to be careful
and keep away from the seals, because they would
rush out to sea if they felt cornered and we could be
knocked over.
The cave smelt quite bad. There was brown liquid
in puddles on the rocks and it was seal’s pee. It
stunk! Inside the cave it was dark so we had to
turn our headlamps and torches on. Clel showed
us Stalactites up on the ceiling and told us if we
yell loudly, they would fall off. The waves were
crashing against the rocks and it was so loud and
echoed again and again in the cave. We felt a bit of
wind every time the waves came in. My headlamp
wasn’t working well, so I had to tap it to make it go.
There were big holes in the rocks, so we had to be
careful where we stepped. I was looking around for
Adrienne but she wasn’t there. When I got out of the
cave I asked her why she didn’t come and she said
that she was too scared! I thought it was exciting in
the cave. Some other people were scared too, and
stayed out with Adrienne.
When we got out of the cave we walked over to the
sea and saw a Blue Penguin swimming towards
us. It climbed out of the water and did a cute walk
past all of us to get up onto the sand. It wasn’t even
scared! We went back to the vans and waited for the
rest of the kids and adults. When they got back Clel
wasn’t with them so we waited for him. We saw him
walking up the beach with his bucket. We ran up to
him and looked in the bucket and saw a long Sea
Centipede. When we had finished looking at it, Clel
took it back to the rocks and let it go.
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We walked up to the lighthouse before going back
to the Lodge for our tea. When we were nearly
there I tripped over but I didn’t mind, because I was
really brave! Clel saw a penguin down on the edge
of the rocks and showed us. We all walked up the
steep and zigzagging path to the lookout. We could
see a white ship on the horizon. We knew it was
big but it looked the size of a cicada. Clel told us
we were going down the steps and walk along the
cliff-top and that we had to stay on the right side of
the orange markers, away from the edge. I felt really
tired by the time we got back to the van. All the girls
were singing’‘I Believe’ loudly, so I turned off my
hearing aids. That night we had a barbeque tea and
orange juice. I had a shower after that then had an
ice-cream with chocolate ripples for pudding. I was
tired so I went to bed.
On Wednesday morning we had breakfast then
Chrissie told us to go and help Clel pack up. None
of the girls helped us. When we had finished Clel
told us to go back and get our pencil cases as we
were going to have our last lesson. We had to write
down what we had learned and what we had enjoyed
about the Science Camp. We took all the animals
back to the rock pools in buckets. We went back to
school, but on the way stopped to look at the layers
of rocks by Mataikona. We carried on and stopped
by Castlepoint to look at more layers of rocks. We
went back to school and put everything away before
we had our bread rolls for lunch.
On the way back into town, the girls were busy
singing again, so another boy called Sam stood up
and told the girls to ‘Shut Up!’, but they ignored him
and carried on singing. Sam just rolled his eyes at
them and tried to ignore them. We dropped some
kids off at Lakeview School, then St. Patrick’s, MIS
and then Masterton Primary, where Kelsi and I go.
I saw my Mum and Kate, who is my best friend’s
sister, and Kelsi’s mum waiting just out of the school
gates. We saw Mr. Elliott, my class teacher, on our
way home, and I told him about the Science Camp.
It was so much fun there, and I would love to go
back there again.
The next morning I went to school and Miss Victor,
my teacher that day, told me to stand up and tell
the class about my Science Camp. I talked for 26
minutes because there was so much to say. People
asked me lots of questions too. Kawiti asked me if I
had touched a seal, and I said no, I wouldn’t want to
anyway because they can be quite dangerous and
bash their head on you if you get in their way.
The three pet animals and a tiger
A long time ago there was a dog Sandy and he has
a friend cat called Lisa. They both have a friend
mouse called Sugar and they are family. One day
Sugar was playing chase with Lisa. Lisa got mad so
she went inside to have asleep. Sugar was going to
have a sleep too. Sandy the dog was making
breakfast and then the sky got darker and darker
and the wild noises started to come closer and
closer. Sandy got mad and then he got a fright and
then he ran inside.
BY Aleisha Putt,
Year 6,
Donovan Primary School,
Invercargill.
I have a new pet. My new pet is a cat.
I am playing a game all day. The game is called
Duck Duck Goose.
We let the butterfly go outside. It flew away.
Brian Payne,
Windsor North School,
Invercargill.
I was so glad to be chosen to go to Science Camp.
It was exciting and I learnt a lot.
By Sam Birchall,
Year 6,
Masterton Primary School
VADEC News & Views
11

BA my cat
Storm
Today a storm came down from the sky. It sounded
like a rumbely cloud that’s hungry. After it stopped,
rain came pouring down from the sky. But the
lightning flashed in my windows. It happened in my
house, before at Nokomai, when two of my friends
were there. One of my friends went home and black
clouds came and took over the white ones. We saw
lightning before it started to rain. So we went inside.
My dad went outside to look at the lightning so I went
to join him. Soon we went inside with dad. Inside we
heard bug rumbles and my friend was scared. We
played games and soon my mum said we had to go
to bed and we did.
My friend Ryan
The other day I went to Ryan’s house. Ryan told me
his cat had babies and he let me hold one. Later me
and Ryan wanted to go on the computer. We played
pigwig lang and 2 Mickey Mouse games. After, I had
to go home when my dad came. So I said goodbye
to Ryan and off I went.
Josef Bode,
Year 5,
St Patrick’s School,
Invercargill.
Dacre School Triathlon
I liked the bike. We biked around the grass. I put
swimming togs on. I swam fast.
Commonwealth Games
The girl is going to ride on the bike. She will ride
fast. She is wearing a top, cycling shorts, shoes and
helmet.
BA is my cat and I got him from the SPCA.
BA is getting fat and big.
He is black and white.
He likes being outside
playing with the flies.
When I am in bed
he licks me on the nose.
YUK!!!!!
Driving Dad’s racing Car
I was driving Dad’s car at Sandy Point on Saturday
at 6.30 until 7.30 and it was fun. I did big skids.
Dad was the instructor to me so I could learn. Ah!
In the car were me and Dad and Maddy and
Morgan.
Kerrin Hodges,
Year 9,
James Hargest College - Senior Campus
Today after school I might go to Debra’s. My Mum
might go to work today after school.Today after
school I am going to Tee ball.
My dad and I are getting our hair cut next week
because it is growing long.
Yesterday I saw some kittens and Samuel and
his mum came too. Their names are Garfield and
Odie and they have a toy in Samuel’s cage with his
kittens. They are a wee bit and they walked around
the classroom.
Aidan Brown,
Year 2,
Waverley Park School,
Invercargill.
Sharna Brownlie,
Dacre School,
Southland.
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VADEC News &Views

Regional News
Congratulations . . .
Congratulations to Kerrin Hodges,Year 9, James
Hargest College - Senior Campus, as he received
prizes in the Southland Secondary Schools Sport
Participation Awards. He was the winner in the
Southland Cycling Championship Special 500m
scratch and second in the Southland Cycling
Championships special 800m scratch.
Well done Kerrin!!
Darryl Alexander (Deaf Resource Staff),
Emma and Geraldine Quested (Teacher Aide)
Emma Paton’s Year 8 efforts during 2005 were
recognised at the Oamaru Intermediate School
prizegiving. Emma was presented with a class merit
certificate and was awarded the Technology trophy.
Emma has also been busy with her other interests, by
representing North Otago in soccer and cricket and
just recently received notification that she was the
joint winner of the New Zealand Federation for Deaf
Children logo competition.
Regional Support
. . . and another term has whizzed by. The first term
is always a very busy one for the SRT Team with lots
of travel and this one has been no exception.
Michelle, Wendy and James have visited Palmerston
North, New Plymouth, Wellington, Masterton and
Hawkes Bay together. As well as visiting students
and supporting ITOD’s, these visits entailed
presenting the ‘Supporting Deaf Learners in the
Mainstream Classroom’ Course to teachers and
teacher aides who have a deaf child in their class for
the first time. These courses have been very well
attended and received. We have thoroughly enjoyed
presenting to these groups as the participants are so
keen to learn and appreciate all the information given
to them. Our thanks to all the advisors for organising
these valuable courses.
As well as the visits above, James has also made
visits to Oamaru, Dunedin and Southland. Olwyn
Sparks visited Southland with James – it was her first
time experiencing the famous southern hospitality.
Michelle presented a workshop to itinerants in
Gisborne and also visited students and itinerants in
Nelson. Evette has also visited Fairlie. While travel
is always tiring and takes us away from our own
homes and family, all of us always appreciate that
wherever we go we are made to feel so welcome by
the ITOD’s and Advisors in that particular region.
There have been two Pre-School visits at van Asch
this term. Five families have attended coming from
Masterton, Nelson, Wanganui, and Wellington
areas. Janet Stokes has joined the team to provide
the parents with information about NZSL and Deaf
Culture. We continue to admire the families who
come to these courses and their willingness to learn
and do all they can to assist their child’s development
and learning. The SRT Team are fortunate as we
often get the opportunity to meet these families in
their homes or pre-schools, either before or after their
visit to van Asch.
Rarely does SRT work-related travel extend beyond
New Zealand but that’s the case for Michele. During
these holidays, she is heading off to Toronto with
Jane Peterson, Tess Hillmer and the rest of the
writing project team. A major feature of the itinerary
will be presenting the collaborative writing project,
with Connie Mayer, to various groups at York
University, Rocherster School for the Deaf and the
National Technical Institute for the Deaf. We look
forward to hearing all their news when they come
back.
There will be a personnel change in Term 2. Wendy
Lamb is taking leave and so Angela Rosie will be
taking over Wendy’s travel. Angela is looking forward
to her first visit to the West Coast Region in May.
Have a great holiday and we look forward to seeing
you all again soon.
From the SRT Team: James, Michelle, Wendy,
Angela, Evette, Olwyn and Sue
VADEC News & Views 13

Duffy books
On Monday 3 rd April van Asch students and staff
assembled in the Conference room for the first Duffy
Book Assembly for 2006. Margaret Foster, coach for
the Canterbury Flames netball team, was supposed to
be our speaker but was unfortunately unable to attend
due to illness in the family. Instead, Bessie Manu, up
and coming star of the Canterbury Flames, came to
speak to us and present the students with their Duffy
books.
Bessie is only 19 years old. She has been a member
of the Canterbury Flames since she was 16. She
is also a member of the NZ Under 21 netball team.
Bessie’s greatest ambition is to become a Silver Fern.
Nobody becomes a Silver Fern without hard work!
Bessie trains at least 20 hours a week. She does
workouts and weight training at the gym, goes for long
runs and practices her netball skills on the court with
the other members of the team.
Life is certainly very busy for Bessie with training,
travelling, playing in competitions and studying full
time at Canterbury University. She is a remarkable
young woman and a wonderful role model for all our
students. We wish her all the best for a successful
career.
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VADEC News &Views

Early Intervention
We have fun playing games on Tuesdays.
We all went to Orana Park to visit zoo animals.
Jake and Shania liked the goanna.
We went around the zoo in the shuttle.
Lily came back to visit us from school. Shania had her last day.
VADEC News & Views
15

Rooms 1 and 2
. . . visits to the gardens, lollipops, visits from
donkeys, a peacock and in the cooking room -
making puddings and Puerto Rican meals.
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VADEC News &Views

My operation.
Last Friday I went to the hospital to have an eye
operation. I was given anaesthetics. I saw the
doctor. After the operation my eye was sore and had
a bandage around it.
Mum was worried but happy that I had the operation.
The amazing Maize.
Erin, Dawon, Selvin, Mary and I went to the Amazing
Maize. The group walked through the maize. After
the maize I played mini golf. It was sunny. We were
tired of walking around the maize.
By Nicole Boese,
Room 20.
van Asch
Athletics.
Victoria Park
The high school and I went to Victoria Park.
We had lunch at the park.
Two years ago I went to Nelson. I got five medals for
competing in athletics.
Last year, I went to QE2 for the Special Olympics.
There were lots of people from different countries.
I was involved in running and shot put. I got two
medals and one ribbon.
This year I will be going to Australia in October for
eight days. For three days I will be competing in the
athletic sports. For five days I will be going to the
fun park with my team. There are eight people going
to Australia. When I come back home Mum, Dad,
Nanna and Grandad will be happy to see me.
By Samantha Campbell
After lunch we went for a walk. We walked for an
hour. I was very tired. I forgot to bring my water
bottle.
By Samantha Campbell.
VADEC News & Views
17

"Go green, orange and purple"
Excellent planning and preparation and the support
of School and ground staff culminated in a thoroughly
challenging, colourful and satisfying Athletic Sports
Day. The students excelled in a range of events.
Wonderful team spirit abounded.
True to their house colours - Helen Tullock said it
with oranges, John Bone said it with water mellon,
John Westall said it with grapes. They said a big
thank-you to Heather Benbow for a brilliant summer
Sports Day!
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VADEC News &Views

Local News
Introducing Joyce Ferguson -Archivist
Hi! I am glad to be back to my old school (Van Asch
College) in a part time Archivist position. I was a
student at VADEC from 1980 – 1987, and in 1993.
This is my other home! As an Archivist, my main
focus at present is scanning all the photos from 1880
to now. Once the scanning is finished we can focus
on developing an efficient a new database system.
We have lots of ideas for different projects which will
be completed eventually.
The Museum remains the same since the 125 th
Jubilee. I meet with Friends of the Museum
(FOM) regularly attending their meetings and “get
togethers”.
You are welcome to visit me. I am happy to answer
queries or tour you around the museum, Anniversary
garden or the school grounds. If you have some
historical documents, information or photos etc,
we would love to copy them. Currently I work on
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9.30 am
– 4.00pm. To contact me email: –jferguson@
vanasch.school.nz or fax 03326 5346 Attn: Joyce
Ferguson.
In costumes borrowed from the Museum, School
Council members, Scott Densem ('Matron'), Mark
Berry ('Teacher of the deaf') and Shivani Dickson
(herself) helped students celebrate our Aniversary
Day.
Pop your partner's balloon and a playground chalk
activity proved to make this lunch-time a lot of fun,
whilst remembering that deaf children have been at
our school for 126 years.
Among the interesting visitors to the Centre this term,
were David van Asch, his wife and son Jonathan,
from England. David is great grandson of Gerrit van
Asch, our first principal. The van Asch visitors were
welcomed to a School Assembly, shown the Museum
and the 125th Memorial Garden.
On the final day of term base school staff gathered to
enjoy a baby-shower with Paula Haworth.
Our best wishes to Craig and Paula as they take on
the exciting challenge of parenthood.
VADEC News & Views 19

Farewell Paul Scammel
Welcome Harry King
Paul Scammel
This term staff and students gathered to farewell
Paul Scammel. He will be sadly missed.
Staff and students will remember his calm and
friendly approach to everyone. His family will see
more of him as he has taken up a position with
regular working hours. We wish Paul, his wife Sue
and his children, Jude and Iris, every best wish.
Baby Harry
Congratulations to Phillip King and Ally Win,
who have a baby boy named Harry.
Welcome Hunter Swindale
Notices
Baby Hunter
Congratulations to Arnya and Tony Swindale,
who have a baby boy named Hunter.
Welcome Olivia-Rose Kavermann
Mark Berry
Mark Berry
Student Representative
van Asch Deaf Education Centre Board of Trustees
I would love to hear from you in regards to any
questions you have for the Board, as well as any
comments or issues you would like me to include in
my monthly report.
Mail me c/o van Asch.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Mark
Baby Olivia-Rose
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VADEC News &Views
Congratulations to Rachel Kavermann,
who has a baby girl named Olivia-Rose.

van Asch Deaf Education Centre
Board of Trustees
Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting of the
van Asch Deaf Education Centre Board of Trustees
will be held in the Seminar Room
at van Asch Deaf Education Centre
Monday 15 May 2006
at 7.00 pm.
Anyone wanting copies of the Chairperson, Principal or Financial Reports before the
Annual meeting, please send your name and address to Lynne Ferguson, Administation
Officer, van Asch Deaf Education Centre, Truro St. Sumner, Christchurch 8.
VADEC News & Views
21

Produced by
van Asch Deaf Education Centre
Truro Street, Sumner,
Christchurch 8.
Voice / TTY 03 326 6009
Fax 03 326 5346
e-mail : info@vanasch.school.nz
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VADEC News &Views