Term 3, Week 10

Saturday 20th September

Week 10, last week of Term 3 coming up!

Important Dates: 

*Monday 22^nd September: Mercy Day Mass 11am – 12 noon. Some Room 4 children will be doing a role play of the Good Samaritan as part of this Mass. St. John’s School from Ranfurly are visiting us at St. Gerard’s for a good part of the day, to jointly celebrate Mercy Day.

*Speech Eisteddfod Assembly: 1.30 pm this Thursday 25^th September. Class speeches will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Great work everyone, from what I’ve been seeing and hearing the children are really working well on these.

*Athletics Rotations continue this week – 2 pm Tuesday and Thursday. Track pants and gym shoes please.

School Production – Costumes

Mrs Flannery has asked that children now be organised with their costumes for the show as there will be a dress rehearsal this week. Room 3 and 4 children are playing the part of those attending the Palace Ball. They will therefore need a costume suitable for being at a ball. I would like to stress that no-one is required to make or buy anything. If you have dress-ups or bridesmaid dresses or anything in the cupboard resembling a flouncy skirt (girls) or suit pants (boys) then this is the sort of thing they need. School winter trousers would do for the boys, with a tidy shirt and (a home-made) bow-tie. Lots of colour and “fluff and flounce” for the girls, including hair ribbon etc would be great. If you don’t have any of this, then a skirt or dress (as long as possible) would do. Black school shoes for the boys is fine, and any tidy dress shoes for the girls, so long as they fit properly as there is a lot of movement around the stage. The emphasis is on fun and drama, so I hope the costume side of things is not too big a stress.

Book Return

Please get the children to round up all classroom books and journals and return them urgently this week. There are also a number of overdue school library books, and missing town library books. No reading books will come home this week to make the job a bit easier!

Publishing

Only a handful of Cross country stories were published and emailed in to me. These were printed, laminated and put on the wall. Please keep these coming in, it’s great keyboarding practise for the kids and it gets their writing displayed for everyone to share.

Camp Photos

I am gathering in all the camp photos from the adults that came with us, and I will put all these together in an iMovie over the holidays.

Reports

All remaining Year 3 reports will be completed in the holidays and delivered to you in the first week of Term 4. Parent interviews will follow in Weeks 3-4.

Markelle Ward J

Term 3, Week 9

Sunday 14th September

Congratulations to those who celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation at Mass today – it was another lovely Parish occasion on a beautiful spring morning. I think Bishop Colin really enjoyed his time with us and it was great that so many families, sponsors and Parish members could be here to support us.

Important Dates: 

*Athletics Rotations continue this week – 2 pm Tuesday and Thursday. Track pants and gym shoes please.

*Friday 19^th September: School Photos

*12 noon Mass this Friday.

*School Assembly Friday 2.10 pm – led by Rooms 1, 2 and 3

*Monday 22^nd September: Mercy Day Mass 11am – 12 noon.

Eisteddfod Speeches:

I will attach an assessment page to this week’s newsletter and blog for those who would like a clearer idea of the criteria for speeches. The guideline for times is Year 3’s = 1.5 minutes; Year 4’s = 2 minutes. The children have been busy writing lots of reflections about camp and so this will be a good basis for their speech if they choose that topic. Many have chosen a separate topic and are preparing at home. Please check that the Planning Page in their homework clear file is up-to-date.

Camp Clothing:

I was at Dunedin Museum in the weekend and enquired about any belongings left there on the night of Wednesday 3^rd September. The staff person there had two items recorded from that night, one was a very small toddler’s jacket, the other was a Size 8-10 navy hoodie with AUSTRALIA in big letters across the front. I guessed that neither of these were ours, but if you recognise the hoodie then give the museum a call.

I am waiting to hear back from the Marae regarding lost property too, so there is still a chance that missing items can be retrieved.

I have a number of plastic containers to get back to parents… let me know if you’re missing anything else.

School Musical:

The School Musical will come up very quickly once the holidays begin so we need to make a big effort over the next ten days. I have included the song “Your feet are too big” in homework clear files this week. Please practise this with your child. The reason for this is that the junior school (Years 1-4) are leading the verses for this song, with the Senior School doing the echo, so it is very important that we know it well and sing it with great gusto! The children know the tune, so they can lead the song at home for you to practise.

We are also doing role-plays and drama at the moment in class to get us in ‘Production’ mode. Get those ball dresses and suits ready (or anything similar!!!)… the children can bring their costume to school as soon as it’s sorted.

Thank you for your ongoing support for all these wonderful projects and ventures.

Markelle Ward J

Year 3/4 Eisteddfod Speech Assessment

Name: _______________                  Term 3, Week 10, 2014

Topic: ________________________________________

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

Term 3, Week 8

Sunday 7th September

Happy Father's Day to all Dads and Grandads!!

Camp

Wow… what a great camp we had!  We had spectacular weather, wonderful parents, awesome activities, brilliant venues and tutors, good food, lots of learning, and lots of fun fun fun. We also had very tired children (and adults) which is to be expected… I trust you have all had a chance to catch up on some sleep over the weekend.

Over the next few weeks we will put all our photos together and I will endeavour to turn them into an iMovie, so that we can share all our amazing experiences with you all. There were some very special moments and I can assure all parents that your children were even generally self-managing (though I’m now hearing some belongings have parted ways with their owners – eek)!

Thank you to all those who played a role in the School Mass this morning – these jobs were spread around all of the classes and I think you would agree it was a lovely Parish occasion. All our left over camp baking ended up on the morning tea table at Church and was enjoyed by all.

Eisteddfod Speeches:

I have included a Speech planning page in this week’s homework – it will come home in the children’s clearfiles. Eisteddfod speeches will be presented in class at the beginning of Week 10 (22nd-23^rd September). The Eisteddfod School Assembly will be on Thursday 25^th September at 1.30 pm. Our writing theme in Room 4 over the next week or two will of course be “CAMP”, so it would be practical for the children to use this as their Speech topic if they want. If this doesn’t suit, they can choose their own topic and do this at home. Either way, please support and encourage them to get their speech under way very soon as the term is running out.

Important Dates: 

·       *Bruce Potter – Writer/Illustrator: Monday afternoon 8^th September. $2 per child.

·       *Athletics Rotations begin this week – 2 pm Tuesday and Thursday. Trackpants and gymshoes please.

·       *Thursday 11^th September – Parent Night for Confirmation – 7 pm at Father Pat’s house.

·       *Confirmation Mass – Sunday 14^th September, 9 am Mass.

There is a lot happening over the last three weeks of term: School Production practises, Athletics, Eisteddfods, and the list goes on. I’m also really looking forward to doing reading, writing and maths!!!!  …. as well as some fun science after being inspired by the Museum and the Ecosanctuary, and some cool art after being inspired by the Marae.

It would be great if some Room 4 children and their families could support those doing Confirmation this Sunday at Mass. This fits really well with the Church and Sacrament Strand we have been doing in R.E. this term, and there’s another morning tea!

Take care and enjoy our beautiful spring days.

Markelle Ward J