Term 2, Week 4

Sunday 25th May, 2014

Thank you to all those who attended and participated at the Family Mass this morning, especially on such a cold morning. Emma did a reading, Jacob did a reading and a prayer, and Libby, Kayla, and Shannon did a Prayer of the Faithful. Jacob and Maggie helped with the offertory, and thank you to Zoe and Brieanna for stepping in at short notice to be altar servers. It was lovely to have story time with Father Pat, and something to eat afterwards. J     

Important Dates:

*DATE CHANGE - “Becoming a Restorative School: You, me and us”. Family/Community meeting, this Wednesday 28th May (Week 4) at 6.15 in Room 5/6, beginning with a BYO meal at 5.30 pm. Children will be supervised.

*Friday 13^th June - New Zealand Playhouse - "Rap-unzel" Performance 1.30 pm.

*Swimming skills programme - starting Tuesday 3^rd June and ending Friday 4^th July.

*Ice Skating, 24^th June till 2^nd July.

*Camp Dates: Tuesday 2^nd- Thursday 4^th September, including overnight at Otakou Marae and Otago Museum – both in the Dunedin area. I will call a Parent Meeting for this soon after Queen’s Birthday weekend.

Our learning in class so far this term:

*Reading – Journal stories: Activating prior knowledge; Predicting; Making connections; Using the visual information in the text. Shared reading aloud.

*Writing – Narrative writing – there are some adventurous stories developing.

*Language – Spelling Alive; Proper nouns; Past and present tense; Word Investigation.

*Maths – Addition and subtraction strategies; Basic facts; Time and Measurement.

*Science – Observing and Recording the Weather; The Water Cycle.

*Social Sciences -  How children our age live in other continents of the world.

*Te Reo - Matariki; Protocols on the Marae; Mihimihi; Waiata.

*Technology – Design an original musical instrument from rubbish.

*Religious Education – Holy Spirit Strand; The Ascension of Mary; Friday Mass.

If you can see yourself fitting in anywhere with the above learning, feel free to join us!

I hope things won’t be too disrupted with all the talk of snow and the heavy rain we are having. Keep warm and snug, and have a great week.

Regards, Markelle Ward. J

Term 2, Week 3

Sunday 18th May, 2014

Hi everyone,

Another busy weekend of sport was had by all… congratulations to you all on your commitment. Let me know what other commendable activities the children take part in during their weekends as well. J    

Important Dates:

*Hockey sessions with Mrs Flannery, this week on Monday at 1.30 pm, and Thursday at 12 noon. Bring your gumshoes.

*Sacramental Programme: Thursday 22^nd May, 7pm, at Father Pat’s house – First Parent Night for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

*“Becoming a Restorative School: You, me and us”. Family/Community meeting, Thursday 29^th May (Week 4) at 6.15 in Rm 5/6, beginning with a BYO finger food meal at 5.30 pm. Children will be supervised.

*Swimming skills programme - starting Tuesday 3^rd June and ending Friday 4^th July.

·      Ice Skating, 24^th June till 2^nd July.

   *Camp Dates: Tuesday 2^nd- Thursday 4^th September, including overnight at Otakou Marae and Otago Museum – both in the Dunedin area.

*Homework:

Please don’t allow homework to be a burden for you or your family. Every child is different and has different needs, some like homework and some don’t want any! Please indicate at any time whether the homework is too much, too little, just right, or whatever. I will acknowledge accuracy, commitment and organisation of homework tasks, but I want to make sure that the balance is right. A little bit done correctly is more important than slogging it out on something done half-heartedly. J

Have a great week, from Markelle Ward

Note

Well done to the hockey players too!
Also note, further to this week's newsletter, that Room 4 will be leading assembly this Friday the 16th May, at 2.10 pm :)

Term 2, Week 2, 2014

Sunday 11th May, 2014

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather today for Mother’s Day. It was also a great day for the Alexandra rugby and netball tournament on Saturday. Well done to all those who competed.      

Sacramental Programme

The first Parent meeting for the Sacramental Programme is next Thursday 22^nd May, 7pm, at Father Pat’s house (that is Week 3 of Term, not this week). Parents and children are invited to this first session, which introduces the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you are intending for your Year 4 child to start the programme, please note this date in your calendar. We look forward to seeing you there.

Publishing:

The published stories called ‘Our Life in Central Otago’ are coming in and they are looking really good as we edit them and add pictures. Thank you so much for your help with this. Thank you Shannon for the awesome home movie you showed us about your pet pukeko, we think it should go to the Solomon Islands too (the movie I mean, not the pukeko!).

Important Dates:

* Swimming skills programme - starting Tuesday 3^rd June and ending Friday 4^th July.

*Ice Skating, 24^th June till 2^nd July.

Camp Dates:

I have pencilled in some dates for the Year 3/4 camp later in the year. The tentative bookings are as follows:

·      Tuesday 2^nd-3^rd September (overnight): Otakou Marae – Dunedin

·      Wednesday 3^rd-4^th September (overnight): Dunedin Museum.

There is a lot of information to be discussed, arrangements to be made, and costings to be sorted – but I thought we better pencil in dates to make sure something was secured. I will gather all the necessary information and let you know in due course.

Lost Clothing:

By the end of Term 1 there was a HUGE pile of clothing and bits and pieces that had accumulated in the Room 4 corridor. At the beginning of last week, we made a big effort to re-claim all our belongings, and get them into our bags to take home. Hopefully some of you got a pleasant surprise to discover that items you thought were lost were just mislaid! However the jerseys, sweatshirts, plastic containers, and fluorescent vests have already started to pile up again already – so please encourage the children to be vigilant with their belongings.

All the best for a great week.

Regards, Markelle Ward. J

Term 2, Week 1

Sunday 4th May, 2014

Welcome back to a new term. I trust you have all had a refreshing holiday break, though it is more likely that the kids had the break, not the parents! I look forward to lots more fun and learning in Room 4. What a beautiful sunny start we had to the netball season yesterday and the Room 4 girls all looked to be having a great time on the court. Good skills girls!

Publishing:

Please keep the publishing coming in. A small piece of writing came home at the end of the term called ‘My Life in Central Otago’. It is to be typed up and emailed in to me. We will edit and add to these at school if necessary. We need to have our class booklet for the Solomon Islands completed in the next three weeks, ready to be delivered to a class there in June.

Browsing Books:

Please remember to return all browsing books from last term, to make way for fresh ones coming this week.

Integrated Music Unit:

This term we will be working on an integrated Music unit based on a project started by Ben Whitaker, who works with children in Buenos Aires. We will be making a musical instrument from rubbish, researching how children of a similar age live in a number of countries around the world, and learning an action-song just like in Ben’s project overseas. For this unit we need lots of large plastic fizzy bottles (2 per student), as well as a selection of ‘rubbish’, eg. cling film rolls, old buckets, containers, and boxes. No pressure of course!

Important Dates:

* This Tuesday, 6^th May, and Wednesday 21^st May, will be CRT Release days for me. Kate Donaldson will be relieving in Room 4 on those two days. I will be using this time for testing Year 4 students in preparation for their end-of-term reports.

* We have the swimming skills programme again this term, starting Tuesday 3^rd June and ending Friday 4^th July. I will provide more specific details closer to the time.

*The same goes for Ice Skating, beginning 24^th June and running till 2^nd July – more information later.

*Remaining Year 3 reports will be sent home throughout the term in line with the children’s birthdays. Parent interview times can be arranged immediately after the report arrives.

Let’s take a big breath as the winter term kicks in. Keep in touch.

Regards, Markelle Ward. J