Cross Country Information

St Gerard’s School Cross Country

Wednesday 6^th August

12.00pm – Early Lunch

12.30pm – Leave from School

Children will have an early lunch on this day and we will walk from school to the course at approximately 12.30pm

12.45pm – Walk the Course

Children will walk the course at approximately 12.45pm and races will begin immediately following this. The race order will be as follows.

1.00pm (approximately) Races Begin

Race order as follow:

Year 7  & 8 Boys (4 laps)

Year 7 & 8 Girls (4 laps)

Year 5 & 6 Boys (3 laps)

Year 5 & 6 Girls (3 laps)

Year 1 & 2 Boys (1 laps)

Year 1 & 2 Girls (1 laps)

Year 3 & 4 Boys (2 laps)

Year 3 & 4 Girls (2 laps)

Years 3 – 8 are eligible for the cups.  Years 5 – 8 are eligible for selection to represent St Gerards at the Central Otago Cross Country on Wednesday 20^th August.

2.30/2.45pm (approximately)

Last race finished, tidy up of area, return to school.

All children need to wear school sports uniform. Children who have a school tracksuit at home need to wear these over top of their sport uniform. They may wear this to school instead of their school uniform. If your child does not have a school tracksuit they may wear appropriate sports gear. Please bring a drink bottle some extra snacks and lots of warm clothing on this day.

The class will walk back to school with me at the conclusion of the races. If you want to take your child home directly from the cross country, please bring a note prior the event.

The track will be the same as last year as long as the conditions are good. The children will be starting and finishing on the Rail Trail just over the Railway Bridge where we started and finished last year. Please park in the car park to your left directly across the Railway Bridge. The school will be congregating and sitting just along from here.

If you are able to help with marshalling please let Miss Passmore or Mrs Beilby  know ASAP.

Cross Country Training

We have been training each day at school over the past two weeks and it has been super to see how much fitter some people are.  They have certainly been "Going For Gold" like the Commonwealth Games athletes.
On Monday after lunch, 1:30 we will be heading over to the Cross Country track to have a run round the race track.  We need 2 or 3 parents to accompany us please.
Children need to come to school on Monday wearing tracksuits if they have one, or track pants.  If you have a school sports top and shorts please wear these underneath.

Year 3 Camp Information

Year 3 & 4 Camp:  Each week Mrs Ward is including snippets of camp information in her newsletter or on the blog for your information. This week – Activity Choices.

Activity Choices:

After much discussion we have made some decisions about the activities we will be doing at each of our venues. I think we have a very well-rounded programme which the children will thoroughly enjoy.

*Moana Pool: Swim and water-slide.

*Marae:  LEOTC programme (Wednesday 9am – 2pm) including weaving, maurakau/taiaha (weaponry), and a historical tour of Huriawa - the pa site on the peninsula.

*Museum: Education Programme = “Rock Solid”. Night-time activity = “Olympic Odyssey”. Secret Visit = “Giant Escape”. Our Museum package also includes a visit to the Butterflies, Discovery Time and an Exploration Trail.

*Orokonui Ecosanctuary: Animal and plant adaptations in the area, including NZ native animals, introduced predators and traps, and native forest ecosystems.

I think you will agree this looks like an action-packed time full of fun and learning.

Parent/family visits to camp:

The programme for the Year 3/4 camp this year makes it a little difficult for those wishing to “visit” us at our various destinations. With the travel, full programme, and pre-arranged meals, visiting may not always be appropriate. The Marae in particular, with the protocols surrounding our arrival and the pōwhiri, means that once we have been welcomed on as a group, it will be difficult for visitors to then be coming and going from the Marae.

Similarly at the Museum, while visitors could join us during the times that the museum is open to the public (3 – 5 pm on Wednesday 3^rd Sept), it will not be possible to join us once the busy evening programme is underway and the museum is securely locked. Please discuss these things directly with Chris or myself well in advance of the camp to ensure that any plans for visits by family members have been carefully thought through.

School Cross Country - Wednesday 6th August

12.00pm – Early Lunch

12.30pm – Leave from School

Children will have an early lunch on this day and we will walk from school to the course at approximately 12.30pm

12.45pm – Walk the Course

Children will walk the course at approximately 12.45pm and races will begin immediately following this.

All children need to wear school sports uniform. Children who have a school tracksuit at home need to wear these over top of their sport uniform. They may wear this to school instead of their school uniform. If your child does not have a school tracksuit they may wear appropriate sports gear. Please bring a drink bottle some extra snacks and lots of warm clothing on this day.

Children will walk back to school with their teachers at the conclusion of the races. If parents wish to take their children home directly from the cross country, please bring a note prior the event.

The track will be the same as last year as long as the conditions are good. The children will be starting and finishing on the Rail Trail just over the Railway Bridge where we started and finished last year. Please park in the car park to your left directly across the Railway Bridge. The school will be congregating and sitting just along from here.

If you are able to help with marshalling please let Miss Passmore or Mrs Beilby  know ASAP.

Week 2 Term 3

Our first week back flew.  Thank you everyone for having your homework books at school on Friday.  They are all checked and ready now to take home with spelling lists tooled.  We are all getting very independent with conducting and tooling in class on Friday mornings. Please remember that Friday is our library day.  I do expect everyone to take a book out, not possible if you have 3 at home.

On Friday at house buddy reading we all listened to the first of the songs for this year's musical "Cinderella - Rockafella".  Everyone in Kiwi house enjoyed the first song - a catchy big opener.  This will be an exciting term! The musical will be performed in week 9.

The Book Fair opens next week with the theme "Catch the Reading Bug".  In preparation for this and our dressing up on Friday 8th, we are reading books about bugs and finding out interesting information to share.  Our Eisteddfod this term will be a speech and will be heard on Monday 22nd September.  Some people may want to think about using some bug information to talk about.  Talking about something that is your passion is always the best idea.  More about eisteddfods later in the term.

Interviews Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Please remember to bring your child with you so that they can share their learning with you and talk about their next steps. If you need a time to discuss anything without your child's presence, please make a time with me.

Last week for maths we looked at how artists use shapes in their work. "Cubism". We have made some interesting pictures with shapes and can use clear mathematical language to describe our work.  We have also designed our own quadrilateral pictures by tracing around quadrilateral shapes.  Some are really stunning.

Please remember to wear running shoes to school each day as for fitness we are training for the school cross country.

Homework

1. Reading: - remember to complete your log.  Great to hear so many of you before school. We are all working on having our reading sound like talking, and reading on if we get stuck, then rerunning to think about which word could start with that initial letter and have the sentence make sense.
2. Firewise continues this week for Year 2.  Everyone received a home book on Thursday with a dvd.  Well done Ana on your well drawn escape plan.  Nicolas has been checking that we have everything "a metre from the heater" in the classroom.
3. Spelling: great to see how most people are taking care to be independent with learning their spelling.  Don't forget to tell Mum or Dad a sentence for each word - no need to write these down.
4. R.E: I have given a few special stickers to people who have been able to say the Lord's Prayer to me. You are amazing to have learned it in such a short time.  The challenge is there for everyone else.  This week Year 2 have a worksheet to complete about 'imagination being a gift from God'. 

Week 1 Term 3

Welcome back to a very busy term.  From listening to the children's comments it sounds as if everyone had a fantastic holiday.  Great to see most people have recovered from the awful coughs and colds at the end of last term.

The school musical will be performed in week 9 - we are just waiting for the music and script to arrive so that we can start rehearsing. Later in the term we will let you know how you can help with costumes.  The school production is always an exciting evening not to be missed.

The school cross-country will be held on the afternoon of  Wednesday 6 August so we are training for cross country each day as part of our fitness programme.  Please wear a pair of runners to school for this training - leave your school shoes at home. We will head to the actual track to have a run closer to the event and children will need to wear shorts/track pants that day.

PMP this term will only be on Wednesdays. If you are able to help please fill in the timetable on Room 1 door. This is from 2pm for a set up, PMP starts at 2.15pm and finishes at 2.50pm.

Please feel free to join us for assembly this week at 2.15pm in the hall.  Room 4 are the leaders.

Don't forget to book for the parent interviews next week - this is specially for those who are receiving reports now.  It is expected that the students come to the interviews so that they can share their learning with you. Remember though, that I am available to meet at any time if you need to talk about your child's learning.

We are beginning a Firewise fire safety unit.  Each Year 2 child will receive an information booklet with a dvd to keep at home.  Children are checking that the handles of the pots on the stove are facing away from the edge of the stove, and looking out for other areas where they need to keep safe around fire at home.

Homework

• Reading each night.  Lots of people are really whizzing away with their reading - 'the more you read., the better you get'.  Great to have reading sounding like talking shared with me before school.
• Spelling: - please tool and work through the spelling list each night.
• R.E: - a challenge to learn the Lord's Prayer off by heart - some people are almost there. Some beautifully illustrated prayers.

Book Fair - Parent Help Please

This year's Scholastic Book Fair will be held in week 3 this term - Monday 3rd - Friday 8th August.
The theme is: "Book Fair Garden - Catch The Reading Bug".
Mrs Rendall our librarian is planning some exciting activities for this week, but she does need some help with the setting up and daily manning of the stall.
The plan is to set up on Friday 1st August as soon as the books arrive, have the fair open each day Monday to Friday in the mornings from 8:30 - 9:30 am and again in the afternoon 2:30 - 3:30pm.  The pack up will be on Monday 11th August.
Wednesday afternoon will be the school cross country, so a decision will be made closer to the time as to whether the fair opens that afternoon.
One person has indicated that they can help over this time - please if you are able to help, could you email Helen at: rendall@xtra.co.nz