No homework as such this week. Take some time this week to reflect on the events leading up to Easter. Think about what you can be doing for others around you at home, at school and in the community. This is a great week to get involved as a family with the parish, as there are many opportunities to meet as a church family at the various celebrations of this special week in the life of the church.
I would like to look at all the homework books over Easter so they need to be in the homework tray please, many people took theirs home for the weekend as they prepared for the Eisteddfods. Mrs Donaldson tells me that lots of people did not complete their spelling homework last week, please let me know if this was because you did not understand how to, or just because you were too busy training for the triathlon, or forgot. I will expect that this is completed every night from next week. Using Spelling Alive as our whole school programme this year is one of our new initiatives to help lift spelling skills. At the moment we are looking at the words that are decodable by using "clean sounds".
Good luck to the triathlon team, and thank you to all you parents who once again are there to support our students in this event. Remember to bring plenty to eat and drink and wear correct school sports uniform including your tracksuit. Go for Gold and support each other as you tackle this challenge.
Wishing you all a wonderful break with your families over Easter - the weather looks settled for some outdoor activities before autumn really sets in.
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Scripture Reading Eisteddfods
Congratulations everyone on excellent presentations today which showed a good effort put into the preparation of these. Some people forgot that the introductory speech needed to be learned off by heart and that the actual reading needed to be from a Bible. It has been hard deciding who will represent us at the School Eisteddfods in the church on Thursday, but after much thought, and consulting the students recommendations as well, the following people will be presenting their readings.
Congratulations Padraig, Michael, Zachary, Molly, Brooke and Brieanna.
You will all get to practise in the church on Thursday morning. Check again the helpful hints on the sheet in your homework book.
Congratulations Padraig, Michael, Zachary, Molly, Brooke and Brieanna.
You will all get to practise in the church on Thursday morning. Check again the helpful hints on the sheet in your homework book.
Monday 18 March 2013
Week 8 Newsletter
Welcome back to Mrs Donaldson who will be teaching in Room 4 from Wednesday till Friday while I am at a course about Restorative Justice with Mrs Williams in Kaiapoi.
Triathlon
Great to see so many of you at the Triathlon today where everyone competed really well - I have spoken to several non-competitive entrants who are keen to be competitive next year. Remember a run, swim and a bike on a regular basis keeps you fit so that you can enjoy events such as these. Mrs Williams will have information for those attending the Central Otago event next Wednesday going home tomorrow. Please return your slips quickly, as both Mrs Williams & myself are away for the rest of this week and she will need to make sure all is sorted before next Tuesday. Thank you so much to all of you who assisted as marshals, as without this help we would not be able to give your children opportunities such as todays.
Maths Buddy
Lots of you shared what a great programme this is when we met at the Goal Setting Interviews. We were fortunate to have been able to offer this programme last year for a short time at no charge. This year we are able to offer this programme to parents from now until 31 January 2014 for $30 which is much more reasonable than the cost to parents direct. If you are keen please return the slip from last week's school newsletter along with your $30 to the office. I would recommend this programme as it covers everything in the maths curriculum and has a lesson given prior to each set of activities which can be replayed as often as is needed. Great to use at home or at school to enhance learning and give extra practice on maths concepts.
Choir
Mrs Flannery will be taking the choir to the Council Chambers on Thursday to sing at the Citizenship Ceremony. Please be sure to be in correct school uniform as you are representing the school at a very special community celebration (and the Mayoress is an ex-pupil of St Gerards).
Triathlon
Great to see so many of you at the Triathlon today where everyone competed really well - I have spoken to several non-competitive entrants who are keen to be competitive next year. Remember a run, swim and a bike on a regular basis keeps you fit so that you can enjoy events such as these. Mrs Williams will have information for those attending the Central Otago event next Wednesday going home tomorrow. Please return your slips quickly, as both Mrs Williams & myself are away for the rest of this week and she will need to make sure all is sorted before next Tuesday. Thank you so much to all of you who assisted as marshals, as without this help we would not be able to give your children opportunities such as todays.
Maths Buddy
Lots of you shared what a great programme this is when we met at the Goal Setting Interviews. We were fortunate to have been able to offer this programme last year for a short time at no charge. This year we are able to offer this programme to parents from now until 31 January 2014 for $30 which is much more reasonable than the cost to parents direct. If you are keen please return the slip from last week's school newsletter along with your $30 to the office. I would recommend this programme as it covers everything in the maths curriculum and has a lesson given prior to each set of activities which can be replayed as often as is needed. Great to use at home or at school to enhance learning and give extra practice on maths concepts.
Choir
Mrs Flannery will be taking the choir to the Council Chambers on Thursday to sing at the Citizenship Ceremony. Please be sure to be in correct school uniform as you are representing the school at a very special community celebration (and the Mayoress is an ex-pupil of St Gerards).
Friday 15 March 2013
Scripture Reading Eisteddfod
- Your scripture reading can be anything you like, eg: a parable, a psalm, a reading from the Gospels
- Introductory Speech: 30 - 45 seconds. This is a time to use the main ideas or theme of your reading to make up a small speech explaining what the reading means to you, without retelling the reading - ie: "What the story of the Last Supper tells/demonstartes/means to me is ....."
- Homework: your speech will be written into your homework book by Friday 23rd March. Well done to those people who have already done theirs over the last 2 weeks.
- Format for scripture reading on the day of the Eisteddfods in the church: start in the middle of the church in front of the altar using a microphone with your introductory speech, then move to the lectern and say, "This is a reading from.... eg: Matthew Chapter 3, Verses 1 - 14 ..." then start the reading. At the end if it is a Gospel reading only say, "The Gospel of the Lord."
- Timetable: Class eisteddfods will be heard on Tuesday 26th March (remember Monday is a holiday). They will be heard in the classroom and speech and reading will be from behind a desk. Although many of you have worked on your eisteddfod from a photocopied paper, you will read from the bible or bible story book on the day.
- Thursday 28th March: 1:45pm in the church will be when the school presentation will be held. The names of those reading will be in the newsletter on Wednesday 27th.
Hints for your oral presentation
- When reading from the lectern you do not have to look up at your audience all the time, and don't always look at one particular group.
- Use good expression when you read - use the punctuation to phrase your reading into meaningful chunks - pause correctly.
- Read at a steady pace - not too fast.
- You do not have to learn your reading off by heart, but you must learn your introduction.
- Make sure that your words and voice are very clear so that your audience understands.
Thursday 14 March 2013
Spelling Alive
This week we have had some intensive class sessions with Mrs Eastwood to get us up and running with our Spelling Alive for homework.
Next week spelling will be in the centre of the homework book, and it is expected that everyone works through the words each night. The process is: say the word, conduct the word, tool the word and write it, mark in the sound lines, look carefully at the word and identify the hard piece. This part of the process will be completed on a Friday at school during Spelling, so the first part of the sheet will be completed. I will check this preparation when I mark the homework from the week before. Students then work on each word every night. There will be a Spelling test on Friday.
All children have been tested and have been put on levels according to their spelling needs. At first while we are learning this new system it may seem that the words are simple, however we are starting on "decodable words" which are either Plan 1 (1 sound = 1 letter) or Plan 2 (1 sound = 2 or more letters). All these words can be tooled and the clean sounds heard, or in the case of Plan 2 words some digraphs (sounds like sh, ch, th, ph etc) can be heard, recognised and recorded.
I am learning this system along with the students, so please ask me if you or your student is unsure about how to do any of this - we are on a learning journey together. Everyone should be able to explain to you what they are doing. As we move ahead, the words will become more challenging, however we are in the process of learning 'how to'.
Next week spelling will be in the centre of the homework book, and it is expected that everyone works through the words each night. The process is: say the word, conduct the word, tool the word and write it, mark in the sound lines, look carefully at the word and identify the hard piece. This part of the process will be completed on a Friday at school during Spelling, so the first part of the sheet will be completed. I will check this preparation when I mark the homework from the week before. Students then work on each word every night. There will be a Spelling test on Friday.
All children have been tested and have been put on levels according to their spelling needs. At first while we are learning this new system it may seem that the words are simple, however we are starting on "decodable words" which are either Plan 1 (1 sound = 1 letter) or Plan 2 (1 sound = 2 or more letters). All these words can be tooled and the clean sounds heard, or in the case of Plan 2 words some digraphs (sounds like sh, ch, th, ph etc) can be heard, recognised and recorded.
I am learning this system along with the students, so please ask me if you or your student is unsure about how to do any of this - we are on a learning journey together. Everyone should be able to explain to you what they are doing. As we move ahead, the words will become more challenging, however we are in the process of learning 'how to'.
School Triathlon
Great to hear that many of you have been running, swimming and biking as part of homework. At school we have been running and will do a session of riding bikes on grass tomorrow (Friday). Please be sure to have your bike at school and use your cycle knowledge learnt with Mr Milford to check that it is safe.
On Monday we will be walking over to the Aquatic Centre, leaving school at 12:00, and eating lunch once we are there. Students will push their bikes along the Rail Trail unless parents are dropping their bikes at the venue. If you wish for your student to ride their bike home from the pool, I need a note to this effect, otherwise please collect your student from the pool by 3pm. Those catching buses can be taken back to school, but will need to make arrangements for their bikes.
Again this year there will be 2 sections competitive and non-competitive, with those in the competitive section racing for the new trophies. These will be the people who may represent the school at the Central Otago Triathlon in Cromwell on Wednesday 27th March. There is a list of the entries at the office if you wish to see which section your child has entered in.
I am seeing some fit runners and saw some fantastic swimming at our sports, so good luck to everyone. "Go For Gold!"
On Monday we will be walking over to the Aquatic Centre, leaving school at 12:00, and eating lunch once we are there. Students will push their bikes along the Rail Trail unless parents are dropping their bikes at the venue. If you wish for your student to ride their bike home from the pool, I need a note to this effect, otherwise please collect your student from the pool by 3pm. Those catching buses can be taken back to school, but will need to make arrangements for their bikes.
Again this year there will be 2 sections competitive and non-competitive, with those in the competitive section racing for the new trophies. These will be the people who may represent the school at the Central Otago Triathlon in Cromwell on Wednesday 27th March. There is a list of the entries at the office if you wish to see which section your child has entered in.
I am seeing some fit runners and saw some fantastic swimming at our sports, so good luck to everyone. "Go For Gold!"
Thursday 7 March 2013
Interviews Reminder
Monday and Tuesday next week, only 16 bookings this morning, please go online and book as I want to catch up with everyone to share testing results and set goals for the first part of the year. Please let me know if you are having trouble booking or ring the office and leave a message if you want a later time on Monday.
Monday 4 March 2013
Newsletter & Homework 6 March
Thank you to those mums who walked to and from the library with us. Janine (the librarian) was pleased to see us and has since found a book that Jake was looking for and also ordered some books after students requests for these. Our next visit will be on Friday 5th April.
Friday was very exciting as Sam from Paper Plus and Karl Green from the Radio Station arrived with our $500 prize of Inkie products. Each student received a goodie bag with a rubber, pencil, bookmark and also a set of earphones. These earphones will be kept at school and will enhance our use of i-pads and computers as everyone can work on interactive sites such as the BBC typing programme, enjoying the oral feedback from the cartoon characters without my having to ask them to turn the sound down so that others working with me can hear. I know that adding music and sound effects to i-movies will also be enjoyed without annoying others trying to work. The ear phones, which I am assured are of good quality, will belong to the students but will not go home - year 6's will take these with them to Room 6 next year. Thank you Dale for getting us organised to participate and to everyone who made their comment. We also have a class pencil sharpener, a large calculator (which Dale notes that I can use without my glasses), some enormous rubbers, a usb dock for 4 data sticks, and some other bits and pieces. We were also generous and shared a couple of things with Room 1, as they were also entered in the final draw.
It was great to have a good turn out of parents to the EOTC Consultation Meeting last Thursday. A note with the decisions made went home today, and permission slips need to be returned by Friday. I need to be sure that there will be sufficient adult skiers for the 1:3 ratio on the slopes. I have booked the Vincent Ski Hut and also confirmed with Coronet Peak that we will be coming. Exciting stuff!
Good luck to everyone swimming at the Central Otago Swim Meet on Wednesday - "Go For Gold!" 10 from our room in the school team.
Cricket Coaching = Wednesday afternoon
Assembly will be held in the hall on Thursday at 2:15. The junior school will lead this first assembly of the year.
Friday was very exciting as Sam from Paper Plus and Karl Green from the Radio Station arrived with our $500 prize of Inkie products. Each student received a goodie bag with a rubber, pencil, bookmark and also a set of earphones. These earphones will be kept at school and will enhance our use of i-pads and computers as everyone can work on interactive sites such as the BBC typing programme, enjoying the oral feedback from the cartoon characters without my having to ask them to turn the sound down so that others working with me can hear. I know that adding music and sound effects to i-movies will also be enjoyed without annoying others trying to work. The ear phones, which I am assured are of good quality, will belong to the students but will not go home - year 6's will take these with them to Room 6 next year. Thank you Dale for getting us organised to participate and to everyone who made their comment. We also have a class pencil sharpener, a large calculator (which Dale notes that I can use without my glasses), some enormous rubbers, a usb dock for 4 data sticks, and some other bits and pieces. We were also generous and shared a couple of things with Room 1, as they were also entered in the final draw.
It was great to have a good turn out of parents to the EOTC Consultation Meeting last Thursday. A note with the decisions made went home today, and permission slips need to be returned by Friday. I need to be sure that there will be sufficient adult skiers for the 1:3 ratio on the slopes. I have booked the Vincent Ski Hut and also confirmed with Coronet Peak that we will be coming. Exciting stuff!
Good luck to everyone swimming at the Central Otago Swim Meet on Wednesday - "Go For Gold!" 10 from our room in the school team.
Cricket Coaching = Wednesday afternoon
Assembly will be held in the hall on Thursday at 2:15. The junior school will lead this first assembly of the year.
Homework
- Reading logs.
- Maths: Tables practice - 3's, do your part in filling out your Census form on Tuesday - discuss this with your family.
- Morning Programme: Group 5: Kate you are the leader who needs to remind everyone to be prepared. Thank you for playing for us last week Alannah, it's great to have the opportunity to share our talents.
- Touch Typing: great to see some people are working consistently on this - the more you do the faster you will get - it's just practice like any new skill. Don't forget the computers are there before school for things like this.
- Triathlon Training: bring your gear for running this week. Make a note in your homework book of any practising you have done out of school hours. The fitter you are the more you will enjoy the event.
- Bible Reading Eisteddfod: information about this is glued in each homework book. We will be looking at suitable readings at school, and photocopying chosen ones for those who would like some help selecting. I expect you to write your introductory speech into your homework book. This does not need to be done by this Friday. It is a good time now to start your preparation, so that by the 26th you know your reading well and can talk about the reasons you chose it, from the heart.
- This is the week to walk, bike or scooter to school - a good start today.
Sunday 3 March 2013
Booking Interviews Online
I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone. Unfortunately the code on the school newsletter for on-line booking was printed incorrectly. The code is: MA7BU
If you are unable to find a space, there are 3 or 4 times following the last available on-line booking on the Monday. Please phone the office to book these.
If you are unable to find a space, there are 3 or 4 times following the last available on-line booking on the Monday. Please phone the office to book these.
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