News, Events and Media Releases
Browse here for the latest news, upcoming events at Parnell Trust and in our community, and to read our press releases.
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November 2008
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Parnell Farmers' Market celebrates its first anniversary on Saturday 1 November.
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Media Releases |
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| July 2008 | Holidays Rock | |
Children relish the opportunity to explore their environment and to learn about how things work. A group of 9 14 year old children from the Rock On school holiday programme spent a day in the first week of the holidays, at the SPCA site in Mangere. They experienced some hands on care of animals as they washed and then helped to exercise the dogs and tidy out the cat enclosure. An interactive presentation taught children the basics of animal welfare as well as the roles and responsibilities of those who work for the SPCA. During the second week of the holiday programme the children also had a great opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes Zoom Tour at the Auckland Zoo. Another memorable and interactive day where children are accompanied by a Zoo Keeper and as they see first hand what a hippo has for lunch or how the sea lions are cared for. A session in the Zoo's Education Centre informed the children about some of the work of the Zoo including their participation in the breeding programme for endangered species. With fewer than 400 Sumatran Tigers in the wild, the recent birth of three baby Sumatran tigers at Auckland Zoo has been news around the world. These full day excursions have been included by Parnell Trust into thier school holiday programmes as part of the Young Auckland Project, which is another new initiative by the Trust. Each of the Rock On holiday programmes, up to April 2009, will incluide experiences that provide young Aucklanders with opportunitites to apprecaite and learn about their environment. Themes incorptoated include Animal Antics - Jul;y 2008, Geographically Speaking - Sept/Oct, Summer Loving -Jan 09 and connecting with People in Your Environment - April 09. We understand that the older children thrive on exploring their wider community and on actively learning how they can care for thier environment." says Jenny Boyle, Manager Childcare Services, Parnell Trust. With over 15 years experience providing school holiday programmes in support of working families, Parnell Trust now offers a range of four choices for children 5 14 years, including two special interest programmes: Business for Kids and modules (including Lego robotics) from the Science, Engineering and Technology curriculum by Tufts University, Boston, USA. Enrolment in these programmes is open to all Auckland families and details on the holiday programmes are available on their website prior to the start of each holiday period www.parnell.org.nz. ENDS Words 408
THIS PRESS RELEASE IS SENT TO YOU BY PARNELL TRUST, AUCKLAND . FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE PHONE PARNELL TRUST PHILLIPPA PITCHER, GENERAL MANAGER OF PARNELL TRUST, ON 09 379 2095 EXTN 9707 or 027 474 9452. |
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| May 2008 | Kiwiana rules in Parnell and Newmarket | |
Auckland May 2008 Zarbo Art Snake, organised by Parnell Trust, returned to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell from 19 to 30 May 2008. Up to 700 children from Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School exhibit their art works in the shop windows of Parnell and Newmarket including Holy Trinity Cathedral. This year's theme was Kiwiana and the children created vibrant and imaginative art works around this uniquely New Zealand subject. Thirty six of the most promising young artists where then invited to attend art tutorials which where hosted by Parnell Community Centre. The art tutorials where held on Tuesday 27 May and ran over three days. Parnell Trust was fortunate to have secured the services of Sarah Guy to tutor the children. Sarah incorporated the Kiwiana theme into her tutorials and the children where challenged to design uniquely New Zealand postage stamps. During the tutorials the children were asked to produce an A4 image that reflects what being a Kiwi means to them. The image was copied to a small 5cm x 5cm square using sticker makers. This was then turned into an individual set of self adhesive stamps. In finial development stage, the initial image was used to create a 3D clay model. The activities where especially designed to focus on colour matching, colour compositions and transforming 2D images into 3D ones. It was great fun and all the children really enjoyed the activities which extended their creativity. Zarbo Art Snake is such a fabulous event for all involved and we know that the children of Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School really enjoy taking part in it, says Phillippa Pitcher, General Manager, Parnell Trust. Zarbo Art Snake is an event made possible by sponsorship and it is encouraging for us to know that our sponsors and partners share our vision and values in working collaboratively to bring community and business together for the benefit of all involved.
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| April 2008 | It's Snake time! | |
Zarbo Art Snake returns to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell Auckland April 2008 Zarbo Art Snake, organized by Parnell Trust, returns to the streets of Newmarket and Parnell from 19 to 30 May 2008. Up to 750 children from Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School will exhibit their art works for two weeks in the shop windows of Parnell and Newmarket . This year's theme is Kiwiana and we know the children will come up with vibrant and imaginative art works around this uniquely New Zealand subject! Zarbo Art Snake is such a fabulous event for all involved and we know that the children of Newmarket Primary School and Parnell District School look forward to taking part in it, says Phillippa Pitcher, General Manager, Parnell Trust, Zarbo Art Snake is a not for profit-event financed through sponsorship and it is encouraging for us to know that our sponsors and partners share our vision and values in working collaboratively to bring community and business together for the benefit of all involved. Special thanks go to our sponsors and many volunteers! We like to thank Mark McDonough, owner of Zarbo, for making this year's Art Snake possible and for hosting a reception for the 36 promising young artists and their parents at Zarbo; Gordon Harris The Art & Graphic Store, Dashwood Design, 3M New Zealand Ltd, Soar Printing Co Ltd. Further thanks go to Newmarket Business Association and Parnell Mainstreet for their sponsorship of this year's Zarbo Art Snake and for their continued support in encouraging retailers to display the children's art works in their windows, to Federal Institute of Studies for volunteering a team of students to help display the art works in shop windows, to Hilltop Superette and all participating retailers in Newmarket and Parnell. Parnell Community Centre will host special drawing tutorials for 36 promising young artists during the time of the exhibition. Members of the public are invited to come to Parnell and Newmarket and enjoy this exhibition of children's art during the Zarbo Art Snake event from 19 to 30 May 2008. See you then! |
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| March 2008 | Hydrangeas Bloom Again | |
They're not just Nana' flowers any more. Says Nadine Rangi of Fresh Cut Flowers in Waiuku, because these flowering shrubs where once a feature of our grandmothers gardens'. Now in hot demand from trendy Aucklanders and professional, international florists alike, Nadine has recently begun selling the vibrant blooms to locals at the Saturday morning, Parnell Farmers' Market. Grown in 50 acres of outdoor paddocks in Waiuku these blooms are longer lasting than the greenhouse varieties with an average life of 3 weeks once cut or 5-7 weeks for the popular antique' varieties. Weekly, Nadine and her team are now overseeing the preparation and boxing of hundreds of hydrangeas to be sent to their export markets in USA , Japan , Dubai and much of Europe . The blue shades are popular with Americans while customers in Dubai love the vibrant green. Export rated, long stemmed blooms can exceed the size of a dinner plate and attract premium prices said Nadine. The striking colour range now available has been developed over many years and the current favourite shade is known as antique'. This is the final (semi dry) flowering stage of the hydrangea plant and results in attractive mottled colour combinations of green, maroon, gold and blue. They're freshly cut and beautiful export quality. We don't usually get to see the really amazing blooms as they all go overseas says Melody Francis, Parnell Farmers' Market Manager. Melody loves her antique hydrangeas because of their huge and colourful, mottled heads. With the growing season extending from November to June, Nadine will be a regular stall holder each Saturday until May. The hydrangeas are sure to become a real favourite with hundreds of shoppers that visit the market each Saturday morning. Nadine's' tip for keeping the cut flowers fresh in the vase is to change the water each week, adding ½ a teaspoon of Janola - as this inhibits bacteria growth. Parnell Farmers' Market runs Saturdays from 8am noon in the Jubilee Building car park, 545 Parnell Road, Parnell. The Link bus stops outside the building or free parking is available off George St . All welcome. Ends (Words 348) THIS PRESS RELEASE IS SENT TO YOU BY PARNELL TRUST, AUCKLAND . FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE PHONE PARNELL TRUST PHILLIPPA PITCHER, GENERAL MANAGER OF PARNELL TRUST, ON 09 379 2095 EXTN 9707 or 027 474 9452 |
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| March 2008 | Visiting Professor Rocks Robitics | |
On his second visit to New Zealand, Professor Chris Rogers spoke at the Lego Engineering Conference, held on 19 March at Kings College, Otahuhu. As a teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University , Massachusetts , Professor Rogers has a passion for teaching and in 2003 became a co-founder and Director of the Tufts University Centre for Engineering Education Outreach (CEEO). The purpose of the Centre is to improve science education and introduce engineering to younger children by working with teaching professionals and children in classrooms and via international conferences for educators. In 2002 Chris Rogers made his first visit to New Zealand spending 6 months as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Canterbury University , Christchurch . Through a dynamic partnership between Lego Corporation and the CEEO. Prof. Rogers developed the specialised ROBOLAB software, which is the programming software that drives the amazing robotic Lego Mindstorms equipment. This Lego equipment is used to promote the teaching and learning of maths, science and engineering through a system of fun, hands-on robotic challenges that where also developed by Professor Rogers. Initially it was IBM that approached Tufts University to create a Holiday Camp' that would support the allow children of IBM staff, the opportunity to have fun with technology and to support the work/life balance of employees. In New Zealand , Parnell Trust is the only provider of this unique educational system and promotes it locally as Robo Explorer' , one of their most popular school holiday programmes. In the 5 days that it runs, children aged 9 to 14 years get to explorer robotics using their own creativity, interpersonal skills and problem solving abilities to complete a number of challenges and competitions. The focus here is on having lots of fun and learning through exploring. Children have even asked their parents to be dropped off early so that they can get a head start! One of the tutors in the up-coming April programme will be Bradley Barrow. Originally from Johannesburg and now a resident of Torbay on the North Shore , Bradley is a young 18 year old who is enthusiastic about robotics and has presented a robotics projects at a teaching conference in South Africa in 2007. Feeling lucky and privileged to have been invited by Parnell Trust to attend the Lego Engineering Conference, Bradley is looking forward to working with the children and the Advanced Robotics programme offered in the April holidays. We are delighted to offer these high calibre, specialist programmes which the children find fun and stimulating. Said Phillipa Pitcher, General Manager of Parnell Trust. The Trust has now been providing a range of holiday programmes for the community, for over 15 years. Children from all parts of Auckland attend Parnell Trust's School Holiday Programmes some live locally and others are transported to the activities by family who work in central Auckland . Children can join in a whole week's fun (or more).
There are a limited number of places on the week-long Robo Explorer Advanced Robotics programme, so early enrolment is essential. Further details and enrolment information is available at www.parnell.org.nz , by phoning 09 379 2095 x 9724 or by email to pfc@parnell.org.nz
ENDS (Words 453)
THIS PRESS RELEASE IS SENT TO YOU BY PARNELL TRUST, AUCKLAND . FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE PHONE PARNELL TRUST PHILLIPPA PITCHER, GENERAL MANAGER OF PARNELL TRUST, ON 09 379 2095 EXTN 9707 or 027 474 9452 |
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| January 2008 | It's Real Life! | |
When you hear the kids talking about the challenges of working with team members, learning through their mistakes and problem solving and see them empowered to make decisions, growing in self confidence and self awareness, it's exciting and very rewarding says Janet Hunt, National Director of Primary Enterprise Programmes with Enterprise New Zealand Trust. The Trust was started 25 years ago with the backing of the Chamber of Commerce to promote enterprise education programmes into schools and last year 40,000 primary and secondary students were involved in one of the programmes which are now available. Many of these programmes receive direct sponsorship or support from a range of organisations including ASB, BP New Zealand, the Fletcher Trust and American Express to name a few. Now recognised as a curriculum subject for secondary schools with NZQA credits, the programmes have created a number of enterprises which continue to trade successfully as small businesses. Starting with their employment contract and cash book, Ms Hunt begins training for the 3 tutors from Parnell Trust who will be running the very first full week Business for Kids holiday programme beginning on Monday, 21 January. This new initiative is partnered by Parnell Trust who has been providing quality school holiday programmes to the Auckland community for the past 15 years. We're delighted to bring the first Business for Kids holiday programme to budding entrepreneurs in Auckland says Phillipa Pitcher, General Manager at Parnell Trust. While based at Parnell District Primary School , all Auckland families are welcome to enrol. While the tutors are facilitators, the kids take ownership of their learning and are in control of their own enterprises. said Sonya Clyne, a programme tutor. While fellow tutor, Sarah Guy observed that they will see that anything is possible with some skills and a will to do it. The kids get a real sense of achievement and are just buzzing by the end says Janet Hunt. Further details and enrolment information is available on www.parnell.org.nz or call Parnell Trust on 379 2095. ENDS ( words 336) THIS PRESS RELEASE IS SENT TO YOU BY PARNELL TRUST, AUCKLAND . FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE PHONE PARNELL TRUST PHILLIPPA PITCHER, GENERAL MANAGER OF PARNELL TRUST, ON 09 379 2095 EXTN 9707 or 027 474 9452.
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| September 2007 | Spring Launches the New Season |
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Parnell Trust launched their new season of heritage walks during the recent Auckland Heritage Festival, by offering a selection of walks over the two weeks of the Festival. Catherine Parker, Manager of Community and Venue Services has been delighted with the response this year. "A group of 20 people gathered in Outhwaite Park to learn some of its history and then were taken through a secret gate off the park to Huntly House where the owners, Margaret and Jim Dowd provided an insight into the history and restoration of their home. We were privileged to gain access to the privately owned, historic Huntly House which backs onto Outhwaite Park " said Parker. "Another thrill for us this year was the launch of a new walk which increases the total number we offer to ten" said Parker. In the Zone', a walk developed by Elizabeth Priest and Beverley Teague, transports walkers through one of Auckland 's most gracious quarters. The walk starts at the corner of Seccombes and Mountain Roads and ends at Rannoch in Almorah Road . The group that took the initial In the Zone walk on Wednesday, 19 September, where treated to rare entry into Auckland Grammar Hall as well as one of the privately owned houses on route which remains one of the most original in the area. "This was such a special surprise for us all and the owner even had a glass of homemade lemonade waiting for us!" says Parker. There appears to be a growing interest form the wider community in local heritage and Parnell Trust is proud to be supporting this. ENDS |
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January 2007 |
Games, SET and no match for this school holiday programme |
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Building robots and experimenting with science could be just the answer for children with energy and imagination to burn over the schoo holidays. An innovative and inspiring new programme based on IBM's international Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) school holiday programme is now being offered in New Zealand for the first time. Parnell Trust, which is already well-known for its quality school holiday programmes, recently won the contract to deliver the SET programme throughout New Zealand to Kiwi kids.
The SET programme encourages children to create and build fun projects such as real working robots – and in the process develop their interest and knowledge in mathematics, physics and use of computers. The prestigious Tufts University of Boston, devised the web-based interactive SET programme for children in response to staff surveys at computer giant IBM Global. The aim was to provide an educational holiday programme option for the children of IBM staff members as well as an offering to help working parents manage work/life balance over the holidays. The programme began four years ago in the United States and is now also being run in Sweden, Singapore, and Australia. Despite tough competition for the contract, IBM selected Parnell Trust to deliver the SET programme for the first time in this country. Half the places are for the children of IBM staff members, and half are open to the public for children aged nine to 14 years. The course, to be held at Parnell Trust's offices, Jubilee Building, 545 Parnell Road , will run twice – each time over a full five-day week: January 15 to 19, 2007, and January 22 to 26, 2007. Hours are 8am until 6pm, making it manageable for working parents. SET is a very special school holiday programme, says Parnell Trust General Manager Phillippa Pitcher. It is a brilliant learning experience and heaps of fun at the same time. Parnell Trust is delighted to have been selected by IBM to run this unique programme in New Zealand - it sits perfectly alongside the other school holiday programmes we've run for the past 15 years.
The goal of SET is to stimulate
children's interest in science, engineering and technology. Participants
get to explore and experiment through hands-on learning activities
such as building a robotic car and then racing it against other participants'
cars. There are only a limited number of places on the SET programme available, so early enrolment is essential. The cost is $325 per child for the full week. Further information is available at www.parnell.org.nz or by phoning (09) 379 2095 x 9724. Parnell Trust offers programmes and services for the Parnell, Newmarket and Grafton districts, and aims to build a strong sense of community in the area. ENDS |
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