Earth Hour 2012

Saturday 31st March, 8:30 - 9:30pm.

Check out www.youtube.com/earthhour

There is a challenge "Ï will if you will".  Think about making changes for more than just an hour on Saturday night.

Homework & Newsletter 27 March

Well done everyone - all our EOTC slips back really quickly.  Thank you.
Good luck to those of you who are representing the school at the Central Otago Triathlon - go hard, support each other and be proud of your efforts to have been selected, you are all winners for this.

It's hard to believe that the term is nearly over and here are the end of term dates and times.
Rooms 3 & 4 will be participating in the Friday mass at 12:00 in the church this week.  Please join us.

Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday.

On Monday 2nd April the Kapahaka group will welcome our ERO visitors to the school, please practice the actions for Haere Mai to keep them in your minds.

Tuesday 3rd April, our last visit to the Alexandra Library for this term.  Thank you so much to Michelle, Kath, Dale, Angela and Mary who have helped us this term by accompanying us - I hope I haven't missed anyone. Using this facility has been fantastic and Janene has quickly identified the types of texts that individuals enjoy, and we have all enjoyed the huge range of books available.  I intend for our class to continue to use this resource on a regular basis once our school library is back in action.  We are also grateful to the librarians for opening the library for us prior to opening time.  As everyone now has their own library card, be sure to use it over the holidays.

Thursday 5th April: 1 boy and 1 girl from each class will present their Bible reading Eisteddfods at 11:30, followed by the retelling of Holy Week through songs, drama and readings. Parents are invited to stay at school for lunch - further information in the school newsletter.  At 1:30 the end of term assembly will include the presentation of the swimming cups and Triathlon certificates.

Homework

1.  Maths - use those maps for giving and receiving directions.  Have you tried the nzmaths site for basic facts practice? It's free, you just need to get yourself a log in. Don't forget that there is a box of family games and activities in the classroom for borrowing.
2. Reading - keep your reading log up to date.
3. Spelling - learn these each night, get someone to test you and sign your list on Thursday night.
4. Touch Typing - www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/  please record in your homework book which level you are working on.
5. Morning Programme - Group 4 this week. There have been some fantastic oral presentations, we are all learning so many new things.
6. Bible Reading Eisteddfod - some excellent explanations have been written, write yours into your homework book.  This part of the eisteddfod needs to be known so that you just talk about what the reading means to you, before you read the text from the bible.  Check the sheet that you took home last week. Please see me if you have any problems, I am here to help. Room 4 Eisteddfods will be presented on Monday 2nd April at 9:00.

Tables Practice

Try this site for getting those tables fast. A good section on addition and subtraction to 20 as well as multiplication and division. There is a "learn a new table" part where there are visuals to help see how the numbers are being joined or separated.  You will need to get a log in, but it can be used at home as well as at school.

http://www.nzmaths.co.nz/

Choose "Basic facts learning objects"

Good luck

Thank You

The outfits for our dress up day were amazing, thank you so much for assisting your students with these.  Despite the rain, the day was a real celebration of our learning. There were some pretty competitive marble players, but knucklebones is a game not played by many - a wee way for most of us to go to get past Ones.

Central Otago Triathlon

Well done everyone on your determination to give the school triathlon your best shot.  Miss Rodgers has given information to those selected to attend the Central Otago Triathlon in Cromwell next Wednesday. Please get these back tomorrow if possible as Monday is a holiday, this will allow transport to be arranged.

Homework 19 March 2012

I hope this is working for you - it certainly will save a few trees and means that I can update during the week.

What's Happening In Room 4?

For maths we are looking at giving and receiving directions using mathematical language. Share some maps together and discuss which places are north, south, east or west of others. Get a tear off map of Alexandra from the Information Centre to look at and talk about.  Give directions for getting from one place to another, "turn left at ________ St and walk east until you come to _______ St, turn right ..."

IMPORTANT: everyone was given a blanket permission form for EOTC events along with a letter from Mrs Eastwood today. Please return this form by Wednesday morning at the latest.  My goal is to have all back tomorrow if I can.  I know we can do it Room 4.

• Spelling: lists are in books for learning, be sure that a parent signs your learning on Thursday night.
• Read for at least 10 minutes each night and record this in the reading log, some people need to glue in a new reading log.
• Morning Programme: Group 3  this week.
• Maori: continue to share your mihimihi with your family. Great to hear how quickly some people have perfected this and have excellent pronunciation. Ms Tamati was impressed with your knowledge last Monday. Like anything it is just a matter of practise to remember yours.
• Bible Reading Eisteddfods will be presented on Monday 2nd April. Now is the time to choose a Bible story that means a lot to you. The information sheet about this will be given out tomorrow.
•  Autobiographies: Wow! some amazing pieces of work of which you should be really proud. Those with parts still to finish need to have these to me before the end of the week. Something for you people to work on now, is your time management.
• Touch typing: keep working on improving your skills www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
• The maths website which may be useful http://nz.ixl.com/math/ 
• Keep working on those basic facts especially addition and subtraction to 20.

Centenary

What a fantastic weekend of celebrations we had.  Congratulations to everyone who contributed to the success of this event, from designing the goody bags to performing in the Kapahaka Group or the choir, or taking part in the Saturday Liturgy or Sunday Mass.
If you have not been to the school over the last week, make some time to have a wander round and appreciate the fantastic art work, the beautiful gardens and the classrooms which have amazing displays.
I felt so proud of how Room 4 stepped up as school leaders on Friday, leading the National Anthem at the Citizenship Ceremony and also leading by example at the Time Capsule burial. The letters we have written to ourselves in 2062 which are inside this capsule are very enlightening.

It is not too late to order a copy of the Centenary Book for just $15 - this will become a historical document for our children with the set of class photographs from 2011 included.  See Mrs Bennie at the office.

RNZAF Visit

Thank you so much to all the parents who were so fast to offer transport to the airport at very short notice. We all learned heaps about how the Airforce and the Army co-operate, and being able to sit in the cockpit of the Hercules and watch some spectacular flying were real highlights of our learning this week.  When asked about who wanted to join the airforce, there were plenty of recruits for the year 2021. My next learning step is how to put a set of photos on here for you all to view at home.