Saturday 28 February 2015

Term 1 Week 6

Sunday 1st March, 2015

Sea Week Exhibition:
Our Year 4’s are lucky enough to be heading down to the Community Centre from 9.30 – 10.30 tomorrow morning (Monday) to see the Sea Week Exhibition. This includes displays, informative videos, short talks and games.  The topics covered will be water quality, pollution, mudflat and rocky shore habitats. It also includes marine mammals…. which fits in perfectly with our science this term, yay!

World Day of Prayer Service:
At 10 am on Friday morning, Room 4 will be joining the choir at the World Day of Prayer Service down at the church. This is a combined church service and all are welcome to attend.

Clothing and Equipment
Room 4’s pile of clothing and belongings is getting big again, and things are being left out overnight. There is a box under the table (blue tablecloth) in the classroom where all clothing is returned to, so please keep an eye on this if you are missing something.

Thursday
I am away at a Conference in Dunedin on Thursday. Mrs Lyon will be relieving in Room Four.

Publishing
The publishing continues to come in by email. I have displayed everything so far in the corridor. Please have a look if you are around before or after school.

PAT Tests
The Year 4’s had a busy week last week completing PAT tests for Maths, Reading Comprehension, Reading Vocabulary and Listening. Year 3’s just had the Listening. Thank you to the children for their commitment.

Caritas
The visit from Michael Stewart from Caritas was a good catalyst to get us talking about our fundraising project for 2015 for Room 4. We have agreed that we would like to bake some truffles in class, and sell them. I will give more details about this closer to the time, as it will require a small contribution of ingredients from each family.


Have a great week. 
Regards, Markelle Ward      J

Saturday 21 February 2015

Term 1, Week 5

Room 4 Newsletter:  Term 1, Week 5

Sunday 22nd February, 2015

Thank you to those children who enthusiastically gave their time to participate in a Lent role-play at Family Mass this morning, as well as readings and prayers of the faithful. I was very proud of you, and Roly thought you were wonderful too! Congratulations Thomas, Harry, Dani, Libby, Lydia, Lauren, Shannon, Grace and Charlie. A great message to get us started for Lent.

Swimming
SWIMMING SPORTS DAY: 9 am – 12 noon Monday 23rd February. It’s all go!

Caritas:
Wednesday 25th February:  Michael Stewart from Caritas will be in the school between 10.15 and 11.15 this Wednesday to talk to classes about the work Caritas does. This year the focus is The Philippines. We look forward to making an action plan for our school to support their work.

Homework:
Thank you to all the Room 4 children for their commitment to homework tasks. I have been amazed at how quickly they have published their writing and emailed it into me. Published holiday stories will go up in the corridor this week (so keep them coming). Please have a look before or after school if you are around. Reading, maths and spelling homework is coming along nicely too.

Sea Week Exhibition:
On  Monday 2nd March, the Year 4’s have been invited to go down to the Museum from 9.30 – 10.30 am to see the Sea Week Exhibition. A parent to walk with us at this time would be great.

Choir:
This week children will be invited to join the School Choir. This is available to all students from Year 4 up. Please discuss this with your child, because once committed to the choir it is really important that they are reliable. Our first appointment is to sing for the World Day of Prayer service on Friday 6th March at 10 am.

School Library
Room 4’s designated School Library time is 2.15 pm on a Wednesday. Please remember this for return of library books. The computer system will not allow issues to any student who has overdue books, so please make sure books are returned regularly.


Have a great week. Regards, Markelle Ward      J

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Newsletter

Sorry for the problems with being able to view the newsletter. This should now be fixed!!!
If you have problems please ring the office.
We are hoping to have the link to the newsletter link up on the Facebook page very soon. We will keep you posted.
Many thanks

Julie

Saturday 14 February 2015

Term 1, Week 4

Sunday 15th February

Thank you for your participation at the School Mass this morning, and to those who managed to get to the Family Meet-and-Greet evening on Thursday. If you couldn’t make it on Thursday and have questions, don’t hesitate to pop in. It was very exciting to meet Baby Molly with her Mum last week, thank you so much for sharing her with us Charlie. J J J

Swimming/Hats:
I trust everyone managed to get their own belongings back home after the three swimming days… the childrens’ self-management skills were really put to the test. In class we are working hard at looking after our hats, please remember these are compulsory and should be worn every play and lunchtime. There will be random Nice Ones awarded to those who are SunSmart.

Important dates coming up:
*Ash Wednesday Liturgy – 18th February, 12 noon. This liturgy will take place down in the church and marks the beginning of Lent. The new ‘Wednesday Word’ booklets will be blessed, and then presented following this liturgy. They are not homework, but a fun activity-based page for kids to bring the Gospel into homes every week.
*Family Mass – Sunday 22nd February, 9 am. A number of Room 4 children will be participating in a short role-play (about Lent) at this Mass. I have asked the children not to commit to this until they have your permission, and they need to confirm this with me by Tuesday. Please note that a Family Mass is a Parish Mass and does not require school uniform.

Homework:
It was good to clarify a few things about homework at the meeting on Thursday.
*A book or books will come home every Monday and the title(s) will be recorded in your child’s Home Reading Log in their clearfile. They are to record what they read each night. For some it will be a text, for some the chapter of a book, and for some maybe just a page or two. It would be great to have your signature on this each week. Thanks for the early feedback on how this is working for you.
*Each child’s holiday story is coming home this week. Please support them to publish a piece of their story (minimum 6-8 lines). This means having them type up the text themselves, and then getting you to email it to me. Publishing is a great way to encourage their editing and keyboarding, and it also means they are sharing their writing with a wider audience. I will display published work in Room 4 as it comes in. (markelleward@stgerards.school.nz)
*A maths and spelling sheet will also come home, as it will every week.

Science
We welcome Mr Hogue into Room 4 this week, between 9.15–11.15 am, Monday to Wednesday for teacher release (CRT) time. His focus this term will be on Science, so no doubt you will be hearing some interesting news about that. I have also begun a Term 1 focus on Sea Creatures, particularly mammals like whales, dolphins and sea lions, so there will be lots of exciting science resources to share with the class this term.


Have a great week. Regards, Markelle Ward           

Saturday 7 February 2015

Term 1, Week 3

Room 4 Newsletter:  Term 1, Week 3

Sunday 8th February, 2015

I trust you all enjoyed the long weekend.

Waitangi Day
Waitangi Day this year held even greater significance as 2015 marks 175 years since the first signing of the Treaty of Waitangi/ te Tiriti o Waitangi on 6 February 1840. In that year, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Māori chiefs signed what is often considered to be New Zealand’s founding document.

Important dates coming up:
* Swimming for Room 4 - Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th, and Thursday 12th February 1.30 – 2.30 pm. Please come prepared with swimming gear.
*Thursday 12th February – Meet and greet evening, 5.30 pm, starting with family tea.
*Sunday 15th February – Opening School Mass, 9 am.
*Ash Wednesday Liturgy – 18th February, 12 noon.
* Family Mass – Sunday 22nd February, 9 am.

Thank you to those who have logged in to Study Ladder at home. It is a great opportunity and is free this year.

Have a great week.
Regards, Markelle Ward     


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...