University of New South Wales Exams

Once again students may register to sit these exams.  The two coming up shortly are Writing which costs $17.50 and Spelling at a cost of $9.50. Mrs Moors needs to register anyone interested in these by tomorrow.  If you would like your child to participate in this please contact her first thing tomorrow at school or by email. rachellemoors@stgerards.school.nz  The English and Maths papers information will also be available in the near future.

Skating

Thank you so much to the parents who provided transport to the rink yesterday.  Next week we skate on Wednesday and Thursday from 10 - 11 am. Could those who have offered transport please be at the church carpark at 9:45am.  I will be with the class on Wednesday and Mr Davies on Thursday.

It is important for safety that everyone brings gloves to wear on the ice - I have had the misfortune to see the result of an accident which would have been much less severe if the child had been wearing gloves, so please bring these and wear them.

It was interesting yesterday to have the opportunity to try curling - the rest of the lessons will focus on improving skating skills.

Farewell to Noah on Friday

Just a reminder about what was in the newsletter this week.

Assembly at 11am in the hall. All welcome. It is our turn to lead this assembly however, the time frame is short this week and the assembly is about saying goodbye to Noah, Jessian and Deborah.  We are working on making a short i-movie to present.

The class will have a shared lunch at about 12:00 in the classroom.  Please bring some food to share. Our lunch will be finished in time for any sports practices that are scheduled for Friday lunch time.

Week 6 Homework

This week and until the end of the term our maths learning is about addition and subtraction strategies. All year we have worked on keeping our knowledge of basic facts snappy so that we can use this knowledge to solve problems. Earlier in the year from testing, we identified a weakness in being able to use suitable strategies for word problems, so the teaching will be based on learning a strategy and then practising using it to solve word problems.  This means that we are also working on reading and understanding questions. Some nights a question will come home for your student to work on and talk about the strategy that they are using.

• Tables - monthly tables test on Friday.  Write your goal for this in your homework book - then do something about this goal by practising the sheet.  Get someone to mark your work so that you can work on any you don't know before the test on Friday.
• Spelling
• Reading Log
• Reading Eggs - hey everything on this site - reading, spelling and writing. Make the most of this free opportunity
• Morning Programme - Group 1
• Topic: be sure that you have the date when your earliest ancestors arrived in Central Otago, where they settled and what they did for a job, so that we can add your information to the class timeline.

Newsletter Week 6

Thank you so much to those parents who provided transport and took part in our EOTC trip to Dunstan House and Clyde last Wednesday. What amazing history we have at our own back door and some people were able to make connections to their first family settlers in this area. How difficult and isolated it must have been for the few farmers who lived in the area before the Gold rush in 1862.

Skating starts tomorrow. Thank you to Kath, Dale and Helen who have offered to assist with transport for this tomorrow - we almost have enough.  We will leave from the church carpark at 12:45 - the lesson starts at 1pm. I have 4 skating notices returned today - if yours was still in a school bag, please return this so that transport can be arranged for next week's skating. Dress warm in mufti - especially a jacket as ...

We will visit the library tomorrow, leaving school at 9am - and will need parents to accompany us.  Thank you to those who have been so generous of your time so far this year, which has allowed us to use this wonderful community resource.

Monday is Queen's Birthday Weekend.  On Tuesday Mrs Sue Wright will teach Room 4 while I complete  individual reading testing and on Thursday 7th Mr Terry Davies will teach the class while the whole staff head to Hawea School to look at ideas for teaching children to write.

Farewell Assembly: Friday at 11:00 - we  are the class to lead the assembly as we say goodbye to Noah and also to Jessian & Deborah Muchiri. Please bring something for a shared lunch which we will have at 12:00 in Room 4 with Noah.  All the best Noah as you move to Rangiora.  You will be able to keep up with what we are up to through our Blog.

Spelling Quiz: I have entered 3 teams in this competition - at this stage a team of 3 and two teams of 2.  A couple more people would be great - remember that this is a team effort so you work together. Those attending are: Ursin, Caleb, Bailey, Zachary, Celia, Zoe and Anna. There is plenty of transport for all.

Reading Eggs

I have registered our class for this interactive reading site and we have a trial period till 22nd June. Google Reading Eggs to get onto the site. Everyone will have their password in their homework book next week.  Some people already have their passwords and have had a look at this site at school.  It looks like a lot of fun while improving our reading skills.  This morning Zachary was checking out his spelling knowledge on this - a great way to practise your spelling skills before the Quiz in June.  Make the most of this introductory free offer.

Central Otago Orienteering

Today our team of Ella, Gabrielle, Zak and Zachary took home a note from Miss Rodgers about this event on 6th June.  Please be sure to read this information and return the slip to Miss Rodgers as soon as possible so that she can continue with the organisation of this event.

Spelling Quiz

The ODT Spelling Quiz for Years 5 & 6 will be held at the Cromwell College Auditorium from 4:30 till 6pm on Wednesday 20th June. If you are keen please get your permission slip back to me by Friday as I need to enter the teams by then.  I have a boy's team of Caleb, Ursin and Zachary all set to go - this was a challenge that two of these boys set for themselves last year. It is a fun night and everything is done as part of a team of 3.  There are lots of fantastic spellers in Room 4 - take up the challenge and have a go.

Newsletter/Homework Week 5

Top Bike: Well done to our team of 6, Ella, Bailey, Gabrielle, Will, Levi and Zachary, for your amazing cycling skills on such a freezing day, and you were a team supporting and encouraging each other.  Congratulations to Zachary for a very quick circuit of the grass track, leaving the rest of the race behind. Thank you so much to Mrs Healey and Mrs Martin for braving the Antarctic conditions to manage the team, and Mrs Martin for the lunch time warm up by her fire. There are still some people to pay their $4 to Mrs Bennie at the office - please attend to this immediately.

Wednesday 23rd - visit to Clyde:
At this stage I have 13/24 permission slips to attend this trip, and transport provided by Mrs Hutton, Mrs Naylor, Mrs Rendall, Mrs Loader, Mr or Mrs Middendorf and Mrs Davidson (if we are short).
Please meet at the church carpark ready to leave at 1:00pm.  We will look through Dunstan House, have a look at Clyde's historical buildings with Mrs Haig, then head to the Clyde Museum.  It was really interesting last week to hear about several ancestors who had connections to Clyde's historic buildings many years ago, perhaps you can get a photo of yourself at the site to put with your autobiography and your new research.
As we are now into chilly winter days, be sure to bring a warm jacket and a hat.

Friday next week we will lead assembly and we invite you all to attend in the hall at 2pm.
Homework:
Maths: Revising the x2 and x3 tables
Reading: Record your reading in your log - remember to read a variety of texts
Touch Typing: Use the link to practise this skill for a short time every night if you can
Spelling: Keep working on knowing all the words on your Spellwrite list - testing of these basic lists will be done before the end of the term, so check out the mistakes you made at the beginning of the year. Spelling Quiz information is in the classroom - teams need to be entered shortly even although the competition is not until 20th June.
Religious Education: Please share with your family what we are learning about.
Morning Programme: Group 4

Week 4 Term 2

It was exciting today to have our whiteboard installed so now we are all properly shifted into Room 4.

Tomorrow we will be visiting the library to change our books.

What inventive people you all are - some fantastic games to help us get our basic facts faster - well done.

The Kahurangi Maori Theatre group performed this afternoon, sharing with us a variety of Maori myths and legends, music and dance.  We are fortunate that REAP will subsidise this performance by $1 per child with our PTA covering the rest of the cost.  Thank you.

Monday 21 May - Alexandra Rippa Rugby Inter-school Competition, Miss Rodgers has entered the Thursday night team that played during the first term.  There will be a full notice once all details are to hand.

Wednesday 23rd May Rooms 3 & 4 visit to Dunstan House - Clyde. As part of our inquiry this term we will take a walk through Clyde (The Dunstan) looking at the historic buildings and also tour Dunstan House which has retained many of the original fittings of earlier times. We will need transport for this please.

Sunday 20th May - Working Bee to complete the new playground - this will take place after church on Sunday morning - "many hands make light work" - the PTA are keen to have this project completed and I know the children can't wait to have a go on the new fitness equipment.  For further information contact Maria Williams.

Homework

1. Maths: calculating perimeters. Remember that a perimeter is how far around the outside of a shape.  Keep working on those fast facts. Try http://www.shephardsoftware.com/mathgames there is a whole selection of maths activities.
2. Spelling: learn your individual list - remember that the spelling quiz is 20th June - who is keen to attend?  I know there is a team of boys who are looking very competitive.
3. Reading Log: the more you read, the more you know and the better you write.
4. Morning Programme: Group 3 this week - well done to the 2 groups who have presented so far this term - what a variety of things we have learned about.
5. Inquiry: last term we found out about our families. We now need to find out when our families first came and settled in the Central Otago area. Why did they come?  What did they do for jobs?  How many generations of your family have lived here?  I think that Alan's family, (the Beilby's) came here before 1920 - I would have to check what we put on the tile outside Central Stories. His grandfather was a raceman and walked each day from Alexandra out towards Chatto Creek to work.  As well as the McArthur Room, there is a room with historical information at Central Stories - ask at the desk if you want to use it to look at old town records.

Central Otago Top Bike Competition

This year there are three teams competing at this competition on Wednesday at Molyneux Tennis Courts. 

Two teams from Room 6 and our team of Ella, Gabrielle, Bailey, Zachary, Will and Levi.  Thank you to Michelle Healey and Kath Martin for agreeing to supervise the team on the day. Please be sure that you have paid your $4 entry to Mrs Bennie.
Registrations start at 9:00 with the competition beginning between 9:30 and 9:45.

Remember that this is a team event so put all your great teamwork and bike skills into practice and have a great day.

Uniform is school sports uniform with your school tracksuit.  I hope the weather holds, if not the cancellation day is Thursday 17th.

Good luck - enjoy

What's happening? Week 3

We all enjoyed having Miss Lyon in our class for two weeks and wish her well as she now returns to Invercargill to her continue with her teaching course.  We hope that she will pop in and see us again when she is in Alexandra.

Thank you to Mrs Kelly and Mr Hutton who accompanied us on our bike ride on Thursday.  It was good to see the skills that people have on their bikes.  Now it is important to put these into action when on the road with mates. To keep this learning in our heads, talk to Mum and Dad about the Give Way rules when you are out in the car with them.  Remember to watch carefully what other road users are doing.  The police recommendation is that people under 10 years should only be on the road with an adult.

Congratulations to Celia, Ella, Zak and Caleb who are again in the 90's Club for tables, as well as Jacob who has continued to score 100% each month. Most people are improving each month, the tables are all correct and it's just speed that needs to be worked on.

Scholastic Book order forms are in the classroom to be collected - another great selection of books to choose from.

The date for the ODT Spelling Quiz in Cromwell is Wednesday 20th June from 4:30 - 6pm. It would be good to send several teams of three.  Last year one of our teams came 3= only 2 points behind the winning team.  I know that we have some excellent spellers who would enjoy taking up this challenge. We will practise some of the activities from past quizzes closer to the time.

Have your PE uniform at school each day, as we will be orienteering around the school using the maps and courses that you have designed.  Mr Godsall will be at school on Wednesday morning. School sports uniform is black shorts and school T-shirt.

Homework:

1. Maths: keep working on those tables - especially + and - to 20. Design a game to  help people remember these facts.
2. Spelling: learn your list each night - parent to test and sign on Thursday night.
3. Reading: record your reading in the back of your homework book every night.  The class will visit the Alexandra Library next Tuesday.
4. Religious Education: We are learning about the Holy Spirit, last week we learned about the titles of the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel, an advocate and the Spirit of Truth, and what these mean to us - share the home activity worksheet with your family.
5. Morning Programme - Group 2.
6. Typing: keep working on your touch typing.