Skating

Skating is all go for next week starting on Monday, then Tuesday and Thursday. We will be having our 2 catch up days in week 2 of term 3 - Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd August.  Time over the holidays to get in some practice from next week's learning.

School Camp Apple Fundraiser

An order form went home on Friday.  If you haven't seen it, please check your child's bag.

Pacific Rose Apples
$10 per 5kg bag
$15 per $10 kg bag

For every $10 bag you sell, you will receive $2 towards your school camp costs and $3 for every $15 bag.

Payment needs to be with order to the school office Wednesday 29th June.
Contact Alyssa at the office for further information  office@stgerards.school.nz

Delivery will be Sunday 10th July.

Week 9 Term 2

Wow, second last week already.
Last Friday we joined together as a school in the church to share some of our learning from the Holy Spirit Strand of the Religious Education programme.  It was wonderful to see some of you join us for this celebration.  We all enjoyed looking at the variety of presentations, and we were excited to share our art work. Our art is stored at the moment but will be displayed in the church after the present work is taken down.  Children wrote very thoughtful texts about what their piece of art showed and the choices they had made of colour. images and symbols.
Skating this week has been cancelled due to a breakdown of the refrigeration plant.  We hope that we will be off skating next week and may get catch up lessons at some stage.
Next week is Maori Language Week. We will be reading lots of Maori myths and legends, if you have some favourites at home please bring them to share.
Eisteddfods: next Monday and Tuesday with the  Eisteddfod assembly Thursday 7th July at 1:30. We will be presenting our eisteddfods with Room 4 and 6 students will be chosen to represent Years 3 & 4 at the school assembly.
Saturday 2nd July: Family Mass 6pm: there will be a soup meal at 5pm  and games followed by family mass. Please support this venture.  The plan this year is to trial these once a term to allow families to share the Eucharist together, as Sundays have now become very busy with sport.
Friday 8th July: Rooms 3 & 4 will lead the Friday 12:00 mass.

Homework:

• Reading: don't forget your reading log
• Spelling: this week we begin to look at the long 'o' spelling patterns. over, goat, hope. Please encourage your child to listen to each word, identify where the long 'o' sound is, and look at the spelling pattern.
• Poetry eisteddfod: work on your introduction, and being able to say your poem from memory with expression to make it interesting. Remember to practise in a mirror - speak slowly and clearly. Organise your props if you are wanting to dress up or have something to use to make the poem come alive.

We have all done some fantastic learning this term in all areas of the curriculum.  Keep practising your reading and maths on the sites you have.  Like anything 'the more you do it, the better you get!"

Have a great second last week.

Library week

Hi All

This is a Public Library week, are there any Mums, Dad's or Grandparents available to walk with us this week?  
Please email me if you are able to: adelewaldron@stgerards.school.nz 

Morning Programme 24th June 2016

This weeks Morning Crew was was off to a "speedy start" with Otis, and his Famous Person.  You guessed it, he chose world famous sprinting athlete, Usain Bolt, who is currently the fastest man in the world.  His full name is Usain St Leo Bolt, he is 30 years old and from Jamaica.  He won 3 gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and then again at the 2012 Olympics in London.  Can he do it for a third time this year in Rio de Janeiro?  Usain Bolt is known for making the sign of the cross prior to his races and this sign below when he wins.

Next up Greer, who spoke about a place where her family is going for a holiday.   After her description she had us all wanting to join her when she goes on her trip to Port Douglas in Australia, even though, there are sharks, snakes, spiders, crocodiles, mosquitos, cone shells and blue ringed octupus!  Greer showed us some pictures of the beautiful beaches and the lovely tropical fish and corals that they might see if they go in a glass bottomed boat or snorkelling.

Lily A gave us a very informative book review about the Kotuku, the great egret or the great white heron.  She shared with us "Kotuku, The Flight of the Great White Heron" by Philip Temple and Chris Gaskin.  Kotuku are found throughout New Zealand and Australia however, they only nest in one area in NZ - Okarito on the West Coast of the South Island.  Lily told us how the Kotuku is about 100cm or 1 metre tall and it's wingspan (when it's wings are open) is about 150cm or 1 and 1/2 metres.  We can see the Kotuku on our $2 coin.

Charlotte K told us About herself and her family.  Charlotte was born in Ashburton, NZ but her family comes from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, up above Australia.  Charlotte lives in Omakau with her Mum and Dad and big brother Junior who is 8 years older than her.  She loves pets, especially horses and kittens and has a kitten of her own, called Milo.

Next up we had Casey who was on Current Events. Casey spoke to us about "Queens Birthday."  Did you know the Queen has two birthdays, what a lucky lady!  Her first, and real birthday is on the 21st of April and her second one is the first weekend in June.  We as part of the Commonwealth celebrate  this with a long weekend.  Casey told us the reason behind this.  The first sovereign's birthday to be celebrated back in 1748 was King George the second. The problem was his birthday was in November which in the United Kingdom where the King (or Queen lives), it was winter.  The people wanted to celebrate outdoors so the official birthday celebration was moved to June to be in the summer.  Casey also told us that our current Queen's birthday was quite a special one, as she turned 90.  The special celebration was 90minutes long, with 900 hundred horses and 1500 people from around the world.

And lucky last today was Adam who also spoke to us about himself and his family.  Adam told us that he was in such a hurry to get into this world that he actually arrived in the back of an ambulance on the way to Dunedin hospital!  Wow, that might explain why he's speedy like Usain Bolt!  Adam has 3 big sisters and 1 big brother, his oldest sister his 16 years older than him.  Adam enjoys playing lots of sports and likes mathematics.

Great job again today team!

Week 8 Term 2

We had a wonderful day on Friday, joining with Holy Family School to enjoy a concert with Monica Brown and her best friend Bubbles the clown, followed by games, taking on a new buddy from Holy Family to share lunch with  in Room 3 - there was not a square inch left to move, but it was warm and very friendly. We have all made new friends who we will look out for next time our schools get together.
Skating starts next week.  The information is in a separate post and also went home in the newsletter last week.  It would be really useful if each child has their shoe size written on their hand next Tuesday - saves heaps of time for the first session.
Wednesday = Waste Audit Day - school track pants might make this task easier than kilts for this activity.  It was great to be able to encourage our Holy Family friends to use our recycling and compost bins in our room at lunch time on Friday. The staff from Wanaka took the idea back with them and were really impressed at how carefully we all sorted our waste.  I hope this is evident when we look at our trash on Wednesday.
Assembly on Friday will be in the church at 2:10 where classes will present learning from the Holy Spirit Strand.

Poetry Eisteddfod:
An interesting selection of poems are beginning to appear in homework books. Next week there will be class time to practise presenting these and giving an introduction. Title, poet - a little information about the poet if you have some and why you chose this poem.  This could include about the rhyme, exciting words, funny story etc

Spelling: we continue to work on the long 'i' spelling patterns

Reading: it's very exciting to have sunshine-on-line again. There is a wide variety of texts covering a range of topics/subjects - science, maths and many non-fiction which are being added to all the time.  This is a fantastic way to access the texts without the need to spend a large amount on having hard copies. Enjoy.  The levels start at 1 and go to Level 30, so there is something for everyone.

Have a great week.  Amazing that it has been so warm again, hopefully there will be a few  frosts to tighten up the ice again.

Skating

Skating Timetable 2016

St Gerards skating starts on Tuesday 28^th June.  Find the timetable attached below.

As in past years Room 6 will meet Mr Yeoman at the rink at 8:55am, other classes will be transported to and from the rink.

The cost for skating this year is:

• Entry & Skate hire $6  ($3 entry, $3 equipment hire skates and/or stones/sticks)
• Activity $2

Those with rink concessions need to have their ticket sighted by the class teacher and the teacher then records the names on the daily payment sheet. Thanks for your co-operation with this requirement.

Individual class costs are:

• Rooms 1, 2, 7, 3 & 4: 5 sessions plus bus to and from the rink $45
• Room 6: 6 sessions $48. There is also a Curling Tournament planned for Friday 8th July.

Tuesday 28 June:

• 9am – 10  Rm 6 Hockey or Curling
• 10am -11 Rm 3 & 4 Skating
• 11am -12 Rm 1, 2 & 7 Skating

Thursday 30^h June:

• 9am – 10  Rm 6 Hockey or Curling
• 10 -11 Rm 3 & 4 Skating
• 11-12 Rm 1, 2 & 7 Skating

Monday 4^th July:                                                                            

• 9am – 10 Rm 6 Curling or Hockey
• 10 -11 Rm3 & 4 Skating
• 11-12 Rm 1, 2 & 7 Skating

Tuesday 5^th July:

• 9am – 10 Rm 6 Curling or Hockey
• 10 -11 Rm3 & 4 Skating
• 11-12 Rm 1, 2 & 7 Skating

Wednesday 6^th July

• 9am – 10 Rm 6 Curling or Hockey

Thursday 7th July:                                                                                   Friday 8^th July:

• 9am – 10 Rm 6 Curling or Hockey                                              Primary Schools
• 10 -11 Rm 4 & 5 Skating                                                             Year 7 & 8 Curling
• 11-12 Rm 1, 2 & 3 Skating                                                           Tournament

Health and Safety regulations: from Ice-In-Line

1. All children are to wear appropriate warm clothing such as track pants, hats, jackets and gloves – no skirts or shorts.
2. The wearing of cycle helmets (or similar) is compulsory for school groups.
3. If taking part in curling activities, rubber soled shoes are essential on the ice rather than plastic or leather soled.
4. Running is not permitted on the ice surface or the rink surrounds.

Waste Audit Wednesday

On Wednesday 22nd Anna Robinson will be back to help us with this task.  Last year we learned lots about being environmentally aware, and yes, the Room 6 enviro people have congratulated us on how our class sorts our waste into our 3 classroom 'bins'. Well done Room 3.

I have booked our time for 11:45 - 12:30 on Wednesday.  It is important that we all have covered shoes, which is our uniform at this time of the year anyway. She will provide lots of pairs of gloves, but if your child wishes to bring their own 'rubbish sorting gloves' that is fine.  Last year her gloves were lovely thick gardening ones.

If there were a couple of parents able to help us at this time, that would be fantastic.

Hopefully we will find that we have lots less "rubbish" - that is the things that can not be recycled or composted.

Monica Brown Concert

The time for this concert in the church has changed from 10am to 10:30am. Parents are welcome to attend, but are asked for a gold coin donation please.

As we will be enjoying the company of Holy Family's year 3 & 4 classes between playtime and lunch time, Room 3 may wear school sports uniform.  It will be games rotations if the weather is mild, and we have a quiz planned if there is a change in the weather.

Computer viruses and Sunshine online!!

Today we have been learning about computer viruses and how we can prevent these.
Also about getting an adult if we see pop ups on the computer.
We also spent some time working on Sunshine online!! This is an online resource our PTA pays for.
It is great learning in the areas of reading and maths.
Your child was able to record the password and is welcome to use this at home.

Week 7 Term 2

Great to have everyone at school today - the first time for a while.
We remember Casey, Mason and Amelia Knowles and their families in our prayers as they have all lost loved grandparents, great grandparents and great aunts recently. We took time to pray for these people on Friday.
We are asking people not to bring cartons of noodles for lunch that need hot water added, as having to carry these with boiling water from the staffroom is a hazard.  Noodles are fine in a plastic thermos from home where these are already cooked.
This week Mrs Waldron and I will be out of the classroom on Wednesday morning with Mrs Flannery taking our release. Mrs Waldron will be the afternoon teacher as I attend my Reading Recovery In-service retraining course.
On Friday the school will be attending a concert in the church presented by Monica Brown who has written many songs and mass settings for use in primary schools. This will be at 10am. Following a morning tea break where we will host Holy Family School from Wanaka, Rooms 3 & 4 will enjoy some activities with the year 3 & 4 students from Wanaka.
The final day of swimming was really exciting - awesome to watch the final assessments in both pools and then the excitement of the water safety swimming in pyjamas.  We have learned so much - just a shame that many bugs hit the class hard over this time.  Thanks so much to Sue and her team at the pool.

Please check those bedrooms for homework and poetry books. 
As a reading theme this week we are learning about Matariki. Head outside and look in the night sky for this constellation - an indication that the Maori New Year is here.

Homework

1. Reading - record in your log what you are reading.
2. Spelling - over the next 2 weeks our spelling focus is the long "i" spelling patterns. Children should be listening carefully for the sound in their words this week and thinking about the pattern "to learn" for each word. It is great to see many people seeing these patterns within words in texts that we are being read at reading time.  "Great learners make connections" and they are using this knowledge when encountering some unknown words.  Keep this up.
3. Maths - enjoy those great games that Mrs Waldron has sent home. 
4. Poetry eisteddfod - this week we do not have a new poem, but will be reworking many of our poems that we have had this year. We'll be practising reading these with lots of expression. I'm excited to see that some people already have their poems chosen and have them glued into their homework books.  Well done that you are well on the way with your eisteddfod preparation. Class poems are a great choice and I'm happy to copy any so that they are in the homework book.  I hear that some are now up to sorting out extra actions or even dressing up.

Have a great week.  Nice to have a few warmer days to get outside.

Library next week cancelled

Just to let you all know that we will have to cancel Library next week as we have the Monica Brown concert at school.  

I popped in to see if we could organise another morning next week but unfortunately there wasn't a suitable time slot available.  

If you are able to take your child at some time to return any books and for them to choose and issue some new ones, that would be magnificent.  If not, returns can come to school as usual and I will drop them all in on the Friday (17th) on my way home.

Morning Programme 10th June

Today's super duper MP team, well organised and rearing to go! 

Amelia got us started today.  She had everyone hooked as she described the steps involved in how to help foal a mare, when to call the vet if needed and what to do straight after the foal is born.  Amelia shared some lovely photos with us of some of the many miniature horses and foals that her family have or have had.

Hayvin drew the second spot.  He told us about a very famous American baseball player, called Babe Ruth, whose real name was actually George Herman Ruth Junior.  He was born in 1895 and played professional baseball from 1914-1935.  Although he started as a pitcher he became famous for hitting many home runs by "slugging" the ball way into the outfield.  Babe Ruth is the hero of the characters in Hayvin's favourite movie, "The Sandlot."

Mason was next to share all about himself. Mason, his Mum, Dad and little brother, Liam live in Earnscleugh with some hens, a cat called Oscar and today they will be joined by two rabbits, Pax and Anca.  Liam loves to play rugby and hockey and to ride his BMX and motorbike.  He likes helping his Dad with jobs around the house and at the work bench.  They are fixing a go-kart.  What a handy man!

Charlotte drew fourth place today.  She spoke to us about a beautiful place in the North Island called Paekakariki which is not too far from Wellington.  In Maori, Paekakariki means "perching place of the kakariki" which is a native NZ green parrot.  Can you see the word "kakariki" inside the name Paekakariki?  Paekakariki is only a small town with a population of one thousand, five hundred (1500).

Sophie was lucky last today.  She gave us a book review about an Enid Blyton story called "The Little Brown Bear."  It is about a boy called Tony who loved bears.  One Christmas he wrote a letter to Santa asking for a real bear.  In the morning he went out to play in the snow and saw footsteps leading to the shed... what could it be???

Great job today team, we all enjoyed learning some new information from you presentations.  You all spoke clearly and loud enough for your audience to hear easily.  Well Done.  

Year 3 & 4 Netball Draw Saturday 11th

11am:
St Gerards Yellow vs The Terrace Navy - Court 4

12:00
St Gerards Green vs BP Workshop Cromwell Orange - Court 7



If you have someone playing in the Year 5&6 grade both teams play at 10am
SGC Steel vs Envirobark Cromwell Blue  -Court 4
SCG Unicorns vs Alex Kea - Court 6

Please spread the word.

Sorry this was not available for the newsletter.

There will be a hard copy note sent home on Friday

Library 3rd June

Great trek to the library today, the kids were brilliant and the parent helpers fantastic.  Thank you Sarah and Regina.

Just a wee reminder that if your child did not return their books today you will need to return them as we do not go again until the 17th - they will be due next Friday the 10th.  Only a couple of children chose to renew them which was great.

Have a lovely long Queens Birthday weekend.

Tuesday = Last Swimming Day = Pyjamas

Tuesday will be the assessment day for swimming.  The first part of the lesson will be assessing their skills, then the children will be learning some water safety skills and will need to bring a pair of pyjamas to wear in the pool.
We were all so excited yesterday to see Sophie and Jelena pass the 200m swim (8 lengths) in the big pool.  YOU ARE STARS!  There are others in this group who will have another go on Tuesday. Perhaps a swim at the weekend to practise for this is in order.
The lessons have been spot on this year and despite the coughs and colds everyone has made super progress with their skills and strokes.  We are so appreciative that this initiative is free in our community.

Library Week

Hi All

Library
Just a reminder that this Friday is a Library day.  Please make sure library books come to school so we can return them and new ones can be chosen.   (Public Library books are issued for 3 weeks, if kept for longer than this, "overdue emails" are sent.)   Children also need their high vis vests.

We have one parent joining us on Friday if anyone else would like to come, we will be leaving school at 9.45am.

Maths 
Hope you have all had the chance to test your brains with a maths game or two.  The 3 maths games that the children brought home yesterday (Tuesday) are great ones for them to practice some number knowledge and play round with probability.  These can be played on occasions for homework alongside StudyLadder activities.