Saturday 28 June 2014

Term 2, Week 9

Sunday 29th June

Hi everyone,

Thank you to all those who attended School Mass this morning, and to those who participated in their various roles. Well done.
What a whirlwind end of term it will be. Keep up the good work.

Important Dates:
*Ice skating – Monday and Wednesday 10 - 11 am. I haven’t had many communications re cars for these two days so please let me know first thing Monday morning and Wednesday morning if you are available to help with a car. The children will be ready to go by 9.30 am as it takes quite a while to get their skates on. Please remember it is now compulsory to wear gloves and helmets.

* Eisteddfod Poems – in class Monday and Tuesday. School Eisteddfods Thursday at  2 pm.
*Swimming: Tuesday and Friday. Everyone is making a noticeable improvement in their swimming – well done.
*Thursday evening 29th June, 7 pm, Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Church followed by a light supper.

Year 3/4 Camp:
We are very fortunate that so many of you are available to come to camp – thank you so much for your support. At this stage there will comfortably be enough parents to fill our ratio of 1 adult to 3 children. We cannot, however, make a final decision about this until I have heard from everyone.
For the Room 4 children who have not returned their camp form, I have emailed these families this afternoon (Sunday). It would be great to have final confirmation of your intentions, whether you are happy not to come, or reasons why you would particularly like to come. This is so we can best meet all the childrens’ needs, and respect your wishes too.

Poetry Eisteddfod
The children will present their poetry eisteddfods in class between Monday and Tuesday this week. The Eisteddfod Assembly will be on Thursday at 2 pm. Well done for all your preparation.

Homework and Book Return
There will NOT be any homework going home this week, including reading books. I am hoping to get ALL books back in – whether it be reading books, journals, or library books. Please make a big effort this week to ensure that all books are returned to school – each one is precious and needs to be accounted for. Homework clearfiles can remain at school.

Congratulations to everyone for huge commitment to homework tasks and reading at home, and to an equally solid effort on classwork. I have been very impressed and you deserve a break. However, there’s a lot of fun stuff to read out there during the school holidays, so gather it up and bring it to school with you next term if you think you would like to share it.

Have a great week and a very safe time over the school holidays.


Regards, Markelle Ward. J

Saturday 21 June 2014

Term 2, Week 8

Sunday 22nd June

Hi everyone. Welcome to Week 8.

Important Dates:
*Ice skating – Please refer to last week’s School newsletter for the ice-skating details. I’ll be following that as well ! Thank you to those parents who have offered cars.
*Swimming – Tuesday and Friday.
*School Mass - this Sunday at 9 am.

Camp Meeting:
Thank you to those who attended the parent meeting on Wednesday evening, and for those who have spoken to me at other times. I will go ahead and confirm most things on the itinerary as it is important to secure bookings and confirm numbers.

A note will come home in homework folders regarding your intentions for camp. Please fill this in and return it to class as soon as possible.

Poetry Eisteddfod
The children have been practising reading poems aloud and some have even written their own. Please let me know if there are any problems with the Eisteddfods. All students will present their poems in class on Monday 30th June.

Homework
Homework routines are going very well and I am noticing excellent commitment and organisation from the children. Thank you so much for your support with this, I really appreciate the communication and feedback regarding the kids’ progress. For homework this week the focus will be on practising for the Poetry Eisteddfod at home, and reading. We can have a week off maths and spelling sheets!

Books
Some of the kids’ school books are starting to fill up, especially their reading, spelling and maths books. I will ask them to let you know if this is the case. To save unnecessary expense, please replace their finished books just with simple lined exercise books. These will be just fine.

School Mass
This coming Sunday 29th June is a School Mass. It will be at 9 am, and the children are required to be there and to be in school uniform. There will be morning tea to share afterwards and all families are invited to bring a plate.

Have a great week.


Regards, Markelle Ward. J

Saturday 14 June 2014

Term 2, Week 7

Sunday 15th June

Welcome to Week 7.

Important Dates:
*Swimming again this week – Tuesday and Friday 11.40 am till 1.15 pm.
* Hockey Tournament, Wednesday 18th June, beginning with lunch at the park at 12.30.
*Camp meeting for parents – Wednesday 18th June, 7 pm in Room 4.
*Ice Skating, 24th June till 2nd July.

Gift to the Solomon Islands:
I have finally sent our parcel to Colleen Blackmore in Oamaru, and she will then send it on to a class in the Solomon Islands. Included in the parcel are our Class Booklet; our Science iMovie on a memory stick; Shannon’s Pukeko CD; 40 notebooks; 40 pencils; 12 erasers; and 6 pencil sharpeners. We send this gift with our thoughts and prayers for all the ongoing issues they are having in the Solomons, including flood damage and riots. Colleen has a huge number of goods to co-ordinate to get safely to the islands, so I trust our parcel will reach a group of students who need it the most. It will be a huge bonus if we hear back from them. Thank you for your efforts on the Class Booklet, and for bringing $2 each to support this project.

Camp Meeting:
Our parent meeting for the lead-up to the Year 3/4 camp is to be held this Wednesday evening at 7 pm in Room 4. This is to discuss all information and costings so far, and to ensure that we have as accurate a number as possible for those children that will be attending camp.
I promised you some initial information prior to the meeting, so here is an outline of the proposed schedule with approximate costings:

Date
Time at Venue
Tuesday 2nd September
9.30 am: Depart School
12.30 pm: Dunedin, Moana Pool
3 pm: Arrive Otakou Marae
-       Pōwhiri (Welcome)
-       Dinner
-       Overnight stay
Wednesday 3rd September
9am-2pm: LEOTC Activity Programme
2pm: Depart Marae
3pm: Otago Museum
-       Activity Programme
-       Dinner
-       Overnight stay
Thursday 4th September
9.30am: Depart Museum
10.30am: Arrive Orokonui Ecosanctuary
- Activity Programme
12.30pm: Depart for Alexandra.
Approx. 3pm: Arrive home.

*At this stage the cost looks to be around $190-$200 per student. This is subject to bus/car options and lunch options being discussed at the meeting.

*Main purpose of this week’s meeting:
- To present timetable/activities - learning objectives
- Costings 
- Transport: Bus plus 1 emergency vehicle as best option?
* Parent help - (ratio 1 - 3 is preferable)
* How school fundraising will work this year.
I look forward to seeing you there.

Poetry Eisteddfod
We have begun preparation for the Poetry Eisteddfods coming up on the last week of term so the children should all be feeling suitably inspired! Please choose a poem with your child as soon as possible so they can put lots of work into practising it. Criteria for this will be in homework folios this week. Any problems please don’t hesitate to ask.

Religious Education
This week we begin the God Strand of the R.E. curriculum. The relevant page from the Whanau Book, and an activity, will be in the childrens’ homework folios this week.

Have a great week. Regards,

Markelle Ward. J

Saturday 7 June 2014

Term 2, Week 6

Sunday 8th June, 2014:

Another busy weekend of sport and trying to keep warm…. we’re into the thick of winter now!

Important Dates:
Swimming again this week – Tuesday and Friday 11.45 am till 1.15 pm.
Friday 13th June - New Zealand Playhouse - "Rap-unzel" Performance 1.30 pm.
Camp meeting for parents – Wednesday 18th June, 7 pm in Room 4.
Ice Skating, 24th June till 2nd July.

Making new stuff from old stuff:
Thank you to Lisa and Michelle for the help with making the maracas. Next step – learning the action song!

Reports:
Year 3 reports will continue to be sent out in line with your child’s birthday, either for 30 months or 36 months. Year 4 reports will all be sent out at the end of this month. I have been meeting with the children individually when I can to do reading and maths assessments.

Writing:

Having just marked many of the children’s stories, I continue to be surprised at how the basics of capital letters and full stops are being completely overlooked. So I’m including a proofreading activity in the homework today. See how you go… they may need your help!

Have a great week. Regards, Markelle Ward. J

Week 10, Term 2

Wow, we are at the end of the Term! I have loved teaching the children in Room 4 for the last two terms and I look forward to my last week...