Animal Tracking Tunnels

Room 1 and Mr Yeoman have helped us set up a second set of tracking tunnels this week. Last time we used jam on the tracking card and this time pic's peanut butter.

We have one by the chucrh again under the remaining autumn leaves. I wonder if there may be hedgehogs wintering over there? One near the compost in the school garden - last time we found several sets of footprints on the card in the tunnel set here, one behind a tree near the playground and one tucked into the bush in the rock garden outside Room 4.

Week 2 Term 3

What a special mass this morning where we welcomed several children into the church through the sacrament of Baptism.

Thank you all for your efforts with book character costumes on Friday - what a colourful parade we had.

These were the Room 3 'finalists' with their books. Liam was selected as one of the winners with his "Where the Wild Thigs Are" costume and book.

This will be the last blog post as we move to the Skool Loop App. Please follow the instructions in the school newsletter to download this app. Keeping you informed will be so much more efficient.

Monday: The junior school will be walking over to the cross country track at 1:45. It would be great if there were some parents to come with us. We will walk the track so that everyone knows where we will be running on Wednesday. Check the school newsletter for information about times. Great to see everyone in sports uniform last week - we have trained each day at fitness time. Keep this up.

PMP: all year 1's will be joining Mrs Wright and Bernadette in the hall at 9am on Thursday mornings for this programme. If you are able to help at an activity, please add your name to the roster on the Room 7 door. More helpers still required.

Homework Books: Please make sure that these are at school each day.

Maths: Some people will have the "What's My Number?" game in their reading folders. You just need a whiteboard marker so that the game can be played over and over. These are to keep at home and play. By looking at a hundreds board regularly we will be able to visualise the patterns on it, which helps develop a strong mathematical foundation. Have a conversation with your child about the patterns that they can see.

Spelling: the spelling group are working on the 'long i' spelling patterns again this week. We can all listen for words that have this sound in them when we are reading. Words like: hide, night, pie etc. Hearing these sounds is the first step, then use your 'sharp eyes' to spot the spelling pattern.

Looking forward to seeing people step up and support each other at the cross country on Wednesday. You can do it!!

Week 1 Term 3

The holidays have whizzed by and I have enjoyed spending time with my grandchildren one of whom was brave enough to fly by himself from Christchurch to Queenstown. He was so pleased to be here, and also enjoyed having our own Rebecca Cowley give him a skating lesson - he can't wait till his school has their skating day this term.

We welcome Harry Campbell, Mia Samuel, Joe McLean and James Fahey to Room 3 this term. I know we are all ready to help them settle in as Room 3 students, and that they are keen, as a couple of them took the opportunity to hang their bags and join us for prayer on the last day of the term. Meanwhile Mrs Flannery was looking for them!!

Interviews: are on Tuesday and Wednesday. I have messaged on Seesaw a few parents who I noticed had not booked by the end of last week, just to check that this was not an oversight. It will be super to touch base and share where your children are at. I do like to have your child at the meeting so that they can talk about their learning with you.

Book Fair: from Ashton Scholastic (Lucky Books) is running from Monday to Thursday this week. The books are on display in the hall which is open from 8:30 - 9am and then again after school.

• I am sure many of you have a favourite children's book, and as part of the Book Fair Week I would love some parents or grandparents to come and read their favourites to the class. Please let me know if you could do this - we will accommodate a time that suits you.
• Friday = Dress up as your favourite book character and bring the book to share. There will be a parade starting at 11am

Cross Country: The school competition will be held on Wednesday 31st July at 1pm. In preparation for this we will be using daily fitness time to bring our running skills up to speed. Please wear sports uniform and running shoes from now until the cross country.  Uniform items only - green track pants/black shorts, school sports shirt and jersey or tracksuit jacket if you have one. Mr Yeoman is the organiser of this event and will be delighted to hear from you if you are able to help as a track marshall on the day.  ollieyeoman@stgerards.school.nz

Mass 28th July 9am has the sacrament of Baptism where a number of students including Sophia will be baptised. This is a special "welcome" and it would be wonderful if some of our families could attend. Our Religious Education strand at the start of this term is "Sacrament" and we are learning about Baptism. Children will be asking you about their baptism as part of our homework, and this Sunday is a perfect opportunity for them to watch and take part in a Baptismal Mass.

Spelling: We are beginning to look at the "long i" spelling pattern.

Family Ski Days: have been booked for Wednesday 7th August and Wednesday 4th September. Watch the newsletter for further information. Families can head for the snow for a day and pay school rates.

Looking forward to a term with lots of exciting learning.

Week 10 Term 2

Where has this term gone? I am hoping that after a bit of sunshine this weekend those people who have been so miserable with bugs will be feeling a bit more like themselves. Whatever is going round has certainly hit Room 3 hard.

Skating - Tuesday & Thursday thank you so much for the help with skates. We have been asked to make sure that we lace these tightly to save the coaches needing to do this before the lesson starts.

Wednesday - 1st Aid session 9am Please try to be at school early so that children don't miss any of the session.

Thursday - 

• Eisteddfod assembly 1:30. Names of those children presenting their poems will be in the newsletter on Tuesday. There are still a few people to hear, as sickness has made hearing these difficult. Not too late if you were sick. 
• Mufti Mania - this is a Caritas fundraiser undertaken each year at the end of term 2 by Catholic school across the country. This year all funds raised go to a school in Papua New Guinea, for toilet facilities, a water tank, classrooms and resources. Gold coin donation please.

Spelling: 'long e' again this week. We are hearing this spelling sound lots in our reading and so many of us can now spot the spelling pattern.

Fridge Word = quiver

Holiday Reading: everyone will take home 2 or 3 books from their browse boxes to read if there is an opportunity. Please read every day to your child - this is just as important as hearing them read to you - in fact probably more important from the PD reading that I have been doing this year.

Thank you all for your support of your children this term - it is a real pleasure to be their teacher. Next term we welcome Mia, Joe, Harry and James to Room 3 and I know there will be lots of people to help them settle in to our routines. They will spend some time in Room 3 this coming week. 

Have a wonderful break - see you all next term.

School cross country is in week 2, so a wee run now and again over the holidays might be fun.

Week 9 Term 2

What a large number of people have been unwell with the flu. Keep warm till you feel better.

Skating begins this week Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of the term.
Your child needs to bring a helmet, gloves, waterproof pants, warm jacket and a full drink bottle. Our skating session begins at 11:20 but we will be at the ice earlier to get our skates and have them laced and ready to go. We will travel by bus leaving at 10:55. We would appreciate help with getting the skates on and off. To help with getting the correct sized skates, could you please write your child's shoe size on their hand.

Poetry Eisteddfods will be heard on Thursday afternoon 27th June. Some children will be selected to present their eisteddfod poem at the eisteddfod assembly in week 10.

Matariki Breakfast - 7:30 Friday 28th. We will be celebrating this special time in the Maori calendar. Come dressed in your school uniform ready for the school day and bring whatever you want to eat for your breakfast - just like a picnic breakfast. There will be toasters, hot water, tea & coffee available. The PTA are assisting with this event which was an initiative from our last whanau hui. We will share some Matariki stories.

If you are able, we  welcome you to the school assembly, which begins in the hall at 9:10.

Fridge Words: extinct , nimble (from our Jack Frost poem)

Spelling: the spelling group are looking at the spelling patterns for the 'long e' sound for the next 2 weeks. Help them listen for the sounds as they are reading or you are reading to them, then see if they are able to spot the spelling pattern. Those not yet on spelling sheets are amazing as they give words with a 'long e' sound. Keep up the listening to the sounds in words.

Over the next couple of weeks Bernadette and I will be retesting the letter knowledge - a big focus for many on this test, will be on correct letter formation. Keep practising with Casey Caterpillar. Letters made from the bottom are incorrect - some have had to work hard to change this habit.

Action Stations: please keep the bits and pieces coming for construction. I didn't ever think that the storage boxes in my cupboard would run out, but they have. We also need cones, bottle tops, buttons - all those little pieces that are used so creatively.

Have a great week.

Week 7 Term 2

Gosh a short but busy week last week. I have nearly finished all the testing in preparation for report writing. This will be available for you to see at the parent interviews - it has been exciting to see how many children are using their alphabet knowledge to help them with unknown words when reading texts. This individual testing allows for precise 'where to next' for each child. The last 3 children's reading assessments will be completed on Wednesday morning when I have CRT release. Mrs Rowena Te Huia-Holmes will be teaching Room 3, as Mrs Flannery is off to camp with years 7 & 8.

Rooms 3 & 7 will be leading assembly this Friday at 9am in the school hall. We hope some of you are able to join us at this time.

Jackets & hats: it is important for children to have a warm jacket for playing outside at lunch and playtimes. There is also action station playing options outside and warm clothing is needed for this.

Skating: will be on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in the last 2 weeks of this term. See the newsletter for further information.

Poetry Eisteddfods: This is the week to have that poem or nursery rhyme chosen. We will be bringing home poetry books each night to help with this. Thank you for helping your child with this. Ideally every child will have chosen their poem by the end of this week.

Reading: will be our poems. We will have a new poem each day. Children will also bring home a book from their browse box. Of course bedtime stories read by you to your children will complement this.

Fridge Words this week are: scampered, disappeared. You can find these words written into the 'Fridge Words' page in homework books. Have a chat with your child - how many different oral sentences can you make using one or other of these words?

Spelling: The spelling group is learning about 'long a' spelling patterns this week. The patterns we will learn about are: ay - play, a-e - make (we call this pattern "a split e"), and ai - wait. as well as tooling these look out for these spelling patterns in reading.

Have a great week. Despite a cold start another beautiful day to be outside after lunch. Wrap up and enjoy these great central days.

Poetry Eisteddfod Tips

This information is in hard copy in each child's homework book. Next week our reading will be a poem a day! Poetry books will come home each night so that there is plenty to choose from for the eisteddfod poem. Year 1 may say a nursery rhyme, but as several of our year 1's have now rurned 6 I'm sure that a poem would not be too much of a challenge for them. Please check in the homework book as I have written the Year 1 expectations there. We have some super poems that could be acted out as they are said, with props (as long as these don't distract from the audience being able to hear the words).  I hope this preparation time is fun, so that it is not a last minute stress. Please let me know if your child needs me to help. Poems will be heard in week 9. I'll confirm the day after I have this sorted with Mrs Wright.

Of course if your child has a poem that they love - go for it. The poem does not need to be a class one.

Year 2 Poetry Eisteddfod - tips

WALTs:

·      Present a poem to an audience

·      Use a clear voice

·      Listen attentively to the presentations

Marks	What I could do ….
Introduction  5	Say the name of your poem Say the name of the poet (if you know it) Say why you chose the poem
Presentation 10	Say your poem with expression Use the full stops, commas, speech marks and other punctuation Look at the audience (eye contact) Keep your head up Try not to rush Look like you are enjoying sharing your favourite poem
Preparation    5	Know your poem off by heart Speak slowly Choose a poem that the Room 7 & 3 audience will like
Voice              5	Use a loud voice so that we can all hear Keep your head up so that your voice projects Speak slowly Use expression