Prize Giving Singing

So proud of how you all sang today at the prize giving. Mrs Roberts kindly took a couple of photos - thank you so much. Great job Eden and Aurelia our "choir leaders".

 Looking very serious in this part!

Week 9 Term 4

Where has this year gone? We have all developed so many new skills. It was especially exciting to see how easily everyone was able to confidently chat with the guests at the Cafe.

Junior School Christmas Crafts: Monday 10th & Wednesday 12th
In Room 3 we will be making pine cone Christmas trees. I have gathered a few cones - some are a better shape than others. They need to be a bit pointy but also be open so that we can decorate them. If you want to gather a few that would be great.
Does anyone have any old beads that they don't want any more? - we will use these as baubles on our trees.

Monday 10th: Mufti Mania Day
The cultural leaders are raising funds for a school in Fiji. Dress up as your favourite book character - bring the book too if you have it, and a coin as your donation.

Tuesday 11th: Graduation Mass beginning at 5pm
Please wear correct school uniform and this includes shoes. This is the moment when we farewell our Year 8 students as they begin their high school years. An item for the Community Foodbank would be really apppreciated as families in need are given a few treats at this time of year.

Thursday 13th: Prizegiving in the church at 1pm.

Student Council have boxes of batteries for sale, individual packets $5 - could be useful for those Christmas presents. See Chrissy in the office - the more we sell, the closer we are to having that swing.

Alexandra Musical Society Children's Theatre - 2019 production - 9th-14th April

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Auditions are Saturday 15th December. Contact Trevor Goudie 034489485 or presidentalexmusical@gmail.com

Rehearsals will start in February. So many of you really strutted your stuff in Aladdin - give this a go.

Gosh guess this is probably the last posting for 2018. Can we take this opportunity to thank all of you for the support of your children's learning over the course of the year. We really appreciate this.

Wishing you all a relaxing family time over the Christmas season, and may all your dreams come true in 2019.

Christmas Cafe Photos and Thank yous

Thank you so much to Holly and Donna who helped with the food on Wednesday, to Vanessa who came for the afternoon & also Jess later.
Thank you Maria for the surprise of your very special baking to share with our guests.
Room 6 'wrappers', platter-uppers and  tea/coffee makers - your help was invaluable - we wouldn't have been able to do without you.
Thanks also to Loretta for helping to deliver the invitations, for the lovely cake and sorting the hot water supply.
The beautiful gifts were made by the children during their clay making with Mrs Laidlaw - thank you for the wonderful arty idea - you are just amazing!
"Many hands makes light work"

Thank you Room 3, you were fantastic hosts who got to meet new friends to say hi to in the street. You were charming to your guests and provided wonderful musical entertainment. Well done!
Mrs Chrissy was impressed with your skills as you greeted and directed people to Room 3 - wonderful to hear.

Quinn, thank you so much for bringing your train to share - so many people enjoyed watching it chug around the track.

Remember a special smile is a "God wink" and brightens people's day.

Christmas Cafe

Christmas Cafe is 2pm Thursday not Wednesday as stated in the school newsletter. Oops1!

WATER AFTERNOON TUESDAY

Tuesday!!!!

Cricket coaching
Wear sports gear

Water day 1.30pm.

Togs, towels sunscreen.

Slide,

water guns, sprinklers,

Pools  - If anyone has paddling pools they could bring, that would be great.
All children welcome to bring any form of water gun.(Please name these.)



Thanks

Clock Trip

Yippee, we have enough adults to cover our ratios. Will be a hot walk but all looking forward to it.

EOTC Trip to the Clock

At this stage, owing to insufficient Room 3 parents help we will not be joining Rooms 2 & 7 on the 'clock adventure' today. Let me know urgently if you are available.

Room 3 EOTC Week Timetable

Room 3 EOTC Activities

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Next week our end of year Outdoor Education programme begins.

Here is a timetable of what we are doing and when.

This also has information about what to bring and what to wear.

Week 8
Monday 3 December	Tuesday 4 December	Wednesday 5 December	Thursday 6 December	Friday 7 December
School Sports uniform & school sunhat	School Sports uniform & school sunhat, togs & towel	Summer school uniform & school sunhat	School Sports uniform & school sunhat	Summer school uniform & school sunhat
11 am walk to clock and lunch at playground Bring plenty to drink and a packed lunch. We need parents for this please.	Cricket coaching at school 11:40 – 12:25 Water Day 1:30 Sunscreen, water slide, water guns, sprinklers. Pools – if anyone has paddling pools that they could bring that would be great. Children are welcome to bring any form of water gun. (Please name these)	am: Christmas café food making Cards/gift labels – wrap gifts. 1pm Alexandra Primary School Musical at the theatre, “Move It” (based on street kids in a competition) Rooms 3 – 6 will be attending this but it would be useful to have some parents to walk with us.	Cricket Coaching 9:45 – 10:30 Setting up room – final touches 2pm Christmas café	Last spelling testing OH, NO!!! Class Christmas activities 2:10 – Assembly led by Room 5

If you are able to help with any of these activities please let us know.

Chris & Ali

Eisteddfod Presenters

Years 3 & 4 presenters this year are:
Jada, Bella D, Bella B, Olivia, Fin and Aurelia.
Once again it was hard to choose - thank you Tara, Eden, Charlie & Jack McLean who also  presented their speeches again for Mrs Dwyer and myself.

Week 7 Term 4

Gosh week 7 already. The year has flown and the students have grown, both in stature and their ability as learners.
Eisteddfods will be heard on Monday and marked against the schedule that is on the blog and in the homework books. On Tuesday we will meet with the Year 4's from Room 4 to select 6 people to represent Year 3 & 4 at the Eisteddfod assembly on Thursday 29th at 1:30. The names of those performing will be in the school newsletter on Tuesday and I will also post on the blog.
Next week is the EOTC Week where we will be sharing in some of the activities with Rooms 2 & 7. We will need some parent help as we venture out of the school grounds. There will be a notice about this is the next couple of days.
Christmas Cafe will be held in Room 3 at 2pm on Thursday 6th December. Our invitations are almost all ready to be delivered, we have begun our gifts and next week we will make some goodies and special Christmas cards.
On Wednesday morning 5th December (from 9:15) I would like some parent help as we make truffles in small groups as well as mellow puff Christmas treats. A group at a time would work in the staffroom with a parent/s on the truffles while we work on the mellow puffs in the classroom along with other Christmas activities. Please let me know if you could offer some time.

Spelling Revision this week, and don't forget to read and enjoy the better weather.


Dates to remember: Graduation Mass 5pm Tuesday 11th December
                                   Prize Giving 1pm Thursday 14th December

Lost Property

Please check the lost property outside the staffroom. There was so much left lying around today that I have hung everything there - some had been dropped outside our room from the field, so maybe not belonging to us.
This is a BIG self management issue. I see several pairs of track pants hanging there. Be sure to collect everything before the holidays.
Please remind your child that if they take off an item of clothing it needs to be put into their bag and zipped up.

Our Cookbook Fundraiser - The Seasonal Cook

 The Seasonal Cookbook - please support this amazing fundraiser. We are just so lucky to have had such a hardworking group of parents - this has been a dream of this group for a couple of years. They have put in the hours and now it is up to us to help them realise the dream's full potential, by helping out with the sales.

Thank you so much 'cookbook group'!


The Seasonal Cookbook

Week 6 Term 4

Week 6 already, where has the term gone?

Central Otago Athletics:
Good luck to the Room 3 people competing at these. They will now be held on Wednesday - cancelled for Tuesday.

LIFE Education:
We are learning about 'decision making'. We have talked about how to deal with our worries and what to do if someone is "bugging" us. Have a chat with your child about what they have learned. Thank you Pip and Harold.

Speeches:
These will be heard next Monday and Tuesday. We are working on how to structure these in class and are writing one. These can be used by those who do not have help at home. Some people have already worked on theirs at home, so start working on your presentation now. Remember we will be listening for that 'wow' opening.

Do you know which creature has green blood? Blood is red, isn’t it?

You need to grab the audience's attention.

Reading:
Remember to read every night and have someone read to you. From my personal professional development reading, this sharing of books is a very important part of 'learning to read'.

Spelling:
We are revising our spelling learning in our lists.

Lots of homework books with the lists in were not at school for tooling on Friday or today. 

My responsibility is to do the teaching - the students' responsibility is to do the learning, and that means the practising of what we have been taught. To do this we all need our homework books at school to correctly tool the list before it goes home.

Room 3 Christmas Café
Thursday 6th December at 2pm in Room 3. We will writing the invitations this week, making a gift with Mrs Laidlaw on Tuesday and planning the food and entertainment next week. This is our Christmas outreach. Invitations will be sent to some of the older parish members, neighbours and grandparents. We will also learn how to be hosts and have intersesing conversations with our guests. I will need some parents to help children with the food preparation - time to be confirmed.

Church Prayer:
We will be leading prayer next Monday in the church at 9am. Please join us.

Summer uniform:
Just a reminder that blue runners are not summer uniform shoes. Please check out the uniforms. Sunhats every day please - seems absurd with the snow at the moment.

Baskets - musical props

There are still 2 lovely cane baskets in Room 3. If one of these is yours could you please ask your child to take it home. That would be great.

Year 3 & 4 Speech Eisteddfod

Year 3 & 4 Assessment Criteria

Time:  Year 3 = 1.5 minutes                   Year 4 = 2 minutes

Writing:

Write a speech using this structure:

*Introduction – Who? What? When? Why? How? Try an interesting question or comment to “grab” the audience’s attention.

*Paragraphs/Headings: Each paragraph will be about a different part of the topic. Show a clear sequence of ideas.

*Conclusion: Sum up your topic. Leave the audience with an interesting thought or message.

Presenting/Speaking:

·      Speak clearly so the audience can hear all that is said.

·      Use expression in your voice.

·      Pause for effect.

·      Use pictures or props to add interest.

·      Make eye contact with the audience.

Assessment	Developing (1)	Achieved (2)	Achieved to a high level (3)
Content Introduction “grabs” attention Clear structure (Opening/paragraphs/conclusion)
Clear sequence of ideas
Interesting vocabulary
Delivery/Expression Clear voice Good pace/used the full time Eye contact Stance/Props TOTAL =      / 25
	+ 1 mark for Plan

Week 5 Term 4

How disappointed we all were that the weather at the end of last week meant that we couldn't run our athletic sports. Those children 8 years and over had the opportunity today to compete in events and qualify for the zone sports, which will be run at Molyneux Park on Tuesday. Those who have qualified, have a note from Mr Yeoman and Mrs Eastwood in their bags. Good luck and enjoy your first Championship Sports Event - remember to support each other.

Sunhats:
These need to be worn at play and lunchtimes. Please ensure your hat is in your bag. As we have had head lice in our classroom, I would ask that you bring your own hat. No hat sharing in the meantime and this includes Room 3 spare hats.

Speeches:
This week we are working on how to write a speech in class. Speeches will be heard on Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th with the eisteddfod assembly being on Thursday 29th at 1:30. The marking schedule will be on a separate post.

Library visits:
As we no longer have a teacher's aide available to walk to and from the library with the class, we can not make these visits unless there are parents willing to walk with us. Please email Mrs Roberts if are available to do this.

Teacher Strike:
Thursday 15th - the school will be closed - a great day to work on your speeches!!

LIFE Education with Pip and Harold:
Room 3 will have sessions in the bus on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Please be sure to be at school on time on Friday as our slot is first up at 9am. Mrs Roberts will take the class to the bus, as I am at a meeting for the day.

Goal Setting Sheets:
At the beginning of term 3 your child set learning goals at the child led interviews. Check these on the sheet in the homework book and have a chat about how they are going. There are still a few weeks left to achieve these.

Spelling:
For the next few weeks we are consolidating our year's learning as we tackle lists of mixed long vowel sounds and decodable words. Please be sure to tool these carefully each night so that you are listening to and looking at the spelling patterns. We are learning strategies to hear and record sounds in words to help us when we want to write words that we don't know. Just rote learning the weekly list does not help us to develop our spelling skills. Check out the revision sheets in books. Each week your child's spelling results are written into their homework book (if the book is at school on Friday), so that these can be reviewed if necessary.

We are back into summer school uniform now. Please make sure that shoes are regulation ones - we shouldn't be seeing bright blue runners now.

Gosh another short week - keep up the great work reading to and with your children at home.

Athletic Sports

After a lovely week the forcast for our sports day is not good - 100% chance of rain. Please check the school facebook page to confirm whether  it is on. We have all improved so much during our athletic training rotations. Fingers crossed that the weather is kind to us.
Remember to bring your school sunhat (has a wide brim to protect necks and ears), plenty to drink and eat. A rain jacket may also be a good idea in case of a shower.
Good luck everyone!

Week 4 Term 4

We are practising our athletic skills Monday to Wednesday in preparation for the school athletic sports. Remember to wear your sports uniform.

The Athletic Sports will be held on Thursday 8th November at Molyneux Park, with the postponement date being the following day, Friday 9th November.

The events will start at 9:30am and run through until approximately 2:45pm.

Students will need to wear their school sports uniform with track suits or track pants and school jersey over the top. Sun hats, sun block, a warm jacket and plenty to eat and drink are needed.

All children are to be at the park by 9:15am. Please line up behind the Room 3 cone, so that the roll can be taken. If your child will be travelling to school by bus on the day, please let me know so that we know who to wait for, and your child will be walked or driven to the park – wait in the school office area once you get off the bus.

If you are able to help on this day at an event please email ollieyeoman@stgerards.school.nz. Thank you to those people who have already indicated that they are available to assist. These people need to meet Mr Yeoman in front of the steps at 9:15am on the day of the athletics.

The Athletic Sports timetable will be on the window in the school foyer to enable parents to plan ahead the best time to visit if possible. 

Sausages for sports day
The PTA will be selling BBQ sausages for lunch on Thursday. Please send your orders in a named envelope to the school office by Tuesday. No sausages at school on Wednesday.

SUNHATS
There are still some children who do not have sun hats. If your child has lost theirs, they are available from the school uniform shop. (Opening Hours: Monday - 2.45pm to 3.15pm and Friday – 8.45am to 9.15am.) We will be asking your child to sit in the shade at playtime and lunchtime if they do not have their hat.

NZ MOUNTED RIFLES - ARMISTICE DAY
We are very lucky to have the NZ Mounted rifles visiting our school.
This will happen on Friday November 9th 11.15 - 12.15.
We are asking children to bring a gold coin donation which will go to the Alexandra/Clyde RSA and the NZ MountedRifles Charity - The Long Walk Home. Parents and friends of the school are more than welcome to attend. A great opportunity for photos so don’t forget your camera.

Assembly will be led by us on Friday at 2:10.

Spelling is in homework books - "ou" sound spelling patterns.

Hoping that the weather gods are kind to us for Thursday.