Monday 30 April 2018

Friday 11th May

Rooms 3 & 4 will need some parent help for an EOTC event which will be held next Friday. No transport needed as we will be working between school and the Manuherikia River. Sports uniform and gumboots please. Further information to follow. Please let me know if you are available to take part.

Week 1 Term 2

Sadly at the end of last term we said goodbye to Mrs Stratford who has been so appreciated by us all. This term we welcome Mrs Ali Roberts who will teach maths and take the fitness/brain food session. She will start in the classroom each day at 9:45 and work until playtime. Welcome to Room 3, Mrs Roberts it is wonderful to have you. Mrs Roberts worked in Room 3 at the end of last term, so she and the students already know each other a little.
Information about Friday Morning Programmes and library visits will be on the blog once how this will best work has been sorted. Thank you for your understanding.

For the next 2 weeks, girls need to wear school sports uniform as we have netball on Mondays and Wednesdays, swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the girls have a "Year 3 & 4 Girls' Self Defence" course with a visiting tutor this Friday. What a busy start to the term.

Swimming: We leave school by bus at 12:45 and Room 3 will have the first half hour lesson. If there are some parents about who can assist with supervising in the changing rooms that would be much appreciated. We will have break at 12:30 to eat a snack, but will eat our full lunches at 1:30 after our swim.

Eisteddfod for term 2 is Poetry: Eisteddfods will be heard on Monday 2nd July.

This term there is a Rippa Rugby tournament that doesn't clash with our swimming programme,  YEAH! so 2 mixed  teams of Year 3&4 players can be entered. This tournament is on Wednesday 20th June. Teams will only be entered if there is a coach/manager for each team. I know that there are some very excited rugby players in this age group, so if you know you are able to help please let me know. We will focus on the necessary skills in our PE learning after Queen's Birthday weekend.

HELP: please check at home for those home diaries and poetry books - there are some hiding there and that makes it hard to encourage self managing between home and school. A Reading folder is needed to transport books to and from school. If yours from last year is missing, Mrs Turnhout has these for sale in the office.

This term homework books will come home with a spelling sheet for working on. This will begin next week. In homework books there is a list of words that could be practised so that children know them well and can write them quickly. This is not a spelling activity, but just to get these words established so that they can be written fluently and fast. On looking over the writing books this term, it was evident that many children do not have these in their fast writing vocabulary.

Sunshine on line: The school has subscribed to this on-line site. sunshineonline.co.nz The login and password is on the inside cover of the homework book and in the diary. There are a variety of books both fiction and non-fiction with many activities. An enjoyable way to read.

Fridge Words: conscience, collapsed.

Let's get our skates on and embrace another very busy term. Excited about ideas from the Play is the Way Course that our staff attended during the holidays. Along with the rest of the Junior staff we will be visiting some schools in Dunedin next Wednesday, to see how they have implemented this.  Keeps the old brain ticking - new ideas all the time!

Thursday 12 April 2018

NZ Ski Pass Offer

NZ ski passes

NZSKI are offering Local School Passes this year for the same low price as last year.  $100 for primary aged children (5 years and under are just $20)$165 for secondary school aged children. Passes will be available from the Queenstown Snow Centre from 8th May, and  there is no deadline for purchase. Passes DO NOT  need to be purchased before the end the general early bird sale which is April 5th. 
Please let Chrissy know if you wish to purchase this as she has to forward your name to the snow centre to verify you are at a CO school. She will need these names before the 8th May.

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Eisteddfod Presenters

Wow, what a hard job it was to choose 6 people to present their Bible Reading at the assembly. Congratulations everyone, and thank you parents for your assistance at home.
"The Garden of Eden" was a real favourite story this year, and unfortunately we had about 5 people whose reading of this was of a really high standard. Thank you all for your effort. Mrs Dwyer and myself had a hard job choosing just 2 of these for the school eisteddfod assembly.

Year 3 & 4 Presenters are:

Jack Melvin - Noah's Ark
Olivia Dyson - The Garden of Eden
Eden Breen - David & Goliath
Jada O'Neill - The Good Samaritan
Pippa Williams - The Garden of Eden
Findlay Love - David and Goliath

As you can see some popular stories this year.

Make sure that you polish up your introductions and work on clear voices.


Monday 9 April 2018

Swimming Timetable - Term 2

We are straight into swimming when the new term begins.
Swimming lessons are Tuesdays and Thursdays for the first 5 weeks of the term.
Please add these dates to your calendar so that togs can be packed into bags. This should be easy with each child using a personal diary - another opportunity to encourage your child's self management skills.
Tuesdays: 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th May
Thursdays 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th & 31st May
These are half hour lessons on water safety skills, where there are real life situations described and safe practices to handle these are taught.
It is expected that children swim each session - please provide a note if your child is not swimming.
These lessons are fully funded, but funding can only be applied for by the pool teaching staff from the numbers who complete each lesson.
What to wear: Girls please wear sports uniform on swimming days.

Week 11 Term 1

Finally I have managed to get back into the blog. It's not been from want of trying. I pushed something 2 weeks ago and the couldn't find a way back into here!
Last week of term already.
Monday/Tuesday: Scripture Reading Eisteddfods will be heard. Please remember to see Mrs Stratford or myself if you need help with this. This year Mrs Dwyer and I will hear the eisteddfod separately then hear the top few together so that we can select the 6 Year 3 & 4's for assembly.
Interviews:
Tuesday from 2pm, interviews to check out how your child is going and to set some next steps. If you haven't yet booked, go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and use the code 7dgyj.
Wednesday from 3:30pm. I am at Reading Recovery In-service until then. Times until 7pm so that Dad can come too.
Thursday - Eisteddfod Assembly in the church. Names of those who will be presenting will be in the newsletter on Wednesday.

Homework
  1. Enjoy watching the Commonwealth Games.
  2. Read every night 
  3. Fridge words: foraged, multiple, fragile,  rhythm

Please remember to wrap up well as the forecast is chilly.

The term seems to have flown, thank you for supporting your child with their learning. Our biggest learning this term has been about managing ourselves
This means things like:
  • getting ourselves ready before school 
  • knowing where to put away and find our books
  • remembering to use the toilet and get a drink after fitness, at playtime and at the sports shed bell at lunch time
  • managing our behaviour on the mat - especially as we are establishing 'table talk' on the mat - waiting our turn & listening to others, rather than talking over the top
  • keeping our focus to start work quickly and stay on task to finish
  • completing 'must dos' and choosing 'can dos'
  • bringing our reading folders and home diaries to and from school
  • looking after our clothing
  • looking after our pencils, ruler, rubber etc
  • taking turns and co-operating to clean up after Discovery
  • practising being  "Respectful, Caring, Trustworthy, Responsible and helpful"

From studies of children who are successful, it has been shown that 'self regulation/management' is a huge part of their success story. I believe that if we can encourage our children and teach them these skills, they will be successful citizens who will go far as they follow their dreams. 
"If you can dream it, you can do it!"

Very much like the Commonwealth Games motto "Share the dream"

Have a happy, safe holiday. See you all refreshed and ready for a new term of learning.