Sunday 8 December 2013

Library Books & Track Suits

These were all meant to be back by last Friday at the latest.  Please check those shelves, under the bed or in another school bag.  We have four pages of books out still.  It would be fantastic to be down to less than one page.

We are still chasing tracksuits.  Several people have brought back just a jacket or just pants, this is not fair to Kath or the PTA who have purchased these tracksuits, which we have had the use of for a very small cost.  These will need to be replaced.  I intend to bring this up at the PTA meeting tomorrow, as somehow replacements will need to be purchased, so that next year's year 5 - 8 students get full tracksuits.

What's Happening?

Gosh the year has really flown, I'm getting through the reports steadily - always seems a mountain to climb.  If anyone wants to view or talk about the recent assessments that have been done and that I am using to base the report on, please come in and see me.

This week everyone needs to have an empty lemonade/coke bottle for Christmas basket making, and any Christmassy bits and pieces that might add to the decoration of them.  I have my Christmas junk (recycled stuff) that comes in handy, too.

We would like to invite everyone who has volunteered this year to an afternoon tea in the library on Friday 13th at 2pm. Please RSVP for this to the school office by 12 on Thursday 12th, so that we know how many to cater for.  This is an opportunity for the staff and students to say thank you to you all. As this is my responsibility this year, and Dale & Kath were delighted with the help our girls gave them at the Touch Tournament, we will prepare the food, set the library up and serve this.

Thursday will be a day for 'food', each group will need to share the ingredients for making truffles, and there are some other ideas that the students gave me today. An extra pair of hands would be useful for this.  I haven't set an exact time for this yet- will be morning, as I'm sure that there will be a practice for the final mass that is yet to be confirmed.

Father Pat will visit our class this week for prayer and R.E.

Ms Tamati will be here on Friday at 11am to take Kapahaka - please make sure that you have your poi and that you have been practising.

Monday 16th: Petanque after church prayer - 9:30 - 11am, Final assembly and prize giving 12:00, followed by picnic lunch.

Tuesday 17th: I'm talking to Zachary about what he would like to do for the first part of the morning. Shared lunch to farewell Zachary at 12:00. Water afternoon organised by House Captains & Greg the Youth Worker.

Remember that if the weather is really hot we will cool off under the sprinklers about 2:30 each day - depends on how fast we tidy up.

Final Mass = Thursday 6pm: please be seated by 5:50 with the class - choir in the choir loft.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped make a difference to the children's learning this year - we couldn't have managed without you.

Wishing you all safe and happy holidays with family and friends.

Chris



Tuesday 3 December 2013

Shared Lunch - Tuesday 17th

Tuesday 17th is the whole school water afternoon.  As this fun will be in house groups, please wear house colours - include a sunhat!!  The water fun starts at 1:30.  More information in next week's newsletter.

We will have a shared lunch in our classroom starting at 12:00.  This will be a time when we farewell Zachary as he moves to Kaikoura next year.

Please bring some finger food that is nutritious and christmassy. Nothing with nuts though please, as we need to be aware of the school being nut free..

Goat Farm/Sara/All Things French

What a lot we all learned today.

Thank you to those who transported us to the goat farm.  Andrea was a mine of information.  For those of you who want to try goat's cheese, it is available for sale from Thrive and is made by Faith of Galloway.  As usual all the students were well mannered and asked interesting questions of Andrea.  Talk to your child and find out one new thing that your student learned today.  What was the highlight of the trip?

After lunch we were lucky enough to have Sara Hutton come to share her photos and video of her time in France last Christmas.  Thank you so much Sara.  The opportunity to spend Christmas in France is now an option for those studying French at Dunstan High School in year 12 - something to think about for the future.  Sara started her french language learning here at St Gerards and was impressed with what we can say after only a few weeks of language instruction.

Eisteddfod Assembly/Newsletter

Hi All

A small glitch, I didn't get our names for the eisteddfod performers to the office before the newsletter was published.  Oh to be perfect!

All of the eisteddfods were of a high standard and I congratulate everyone on their preparation and choice of such a wide range of songs.

This year our performers are:
Anna Naylor, Celia Ward, Alannah Kys, Brieanna Kelly, Jake Denniston and Zachary Wilson.  Our stand by performer is Padraig Reilly.  These performers are chosen jointly by the students in the class and myself and are not always those with the highest marks.  This assembly will start in the school hall at 1:30.  We hope to see you there.

Unfortunately there was a glitch with getting the school newsletter on line today so all students have brought home a hard copy - please check the school bags so that you have information about what is happening over these last few days.

Togs/Sprinklers
We will avail ourselves of the opportunity to have a quick cool off at the end of the day on these hot afternoons.  Please bring togs and a towel.  Everyone will need to change back into school uniform before going home.

Sunday 1 December 2013

Transport to Goat Farm

Transport is looking promising at this stage, although only 5 people returned slips today.  I hope that everyone knows this is happening. Cars will be taken by: Dale (up to 7), Cushla (up to 7), Maree (4), Lisa Reilly (5) and myself (4) - that makes 27 seats, one more car would be great in case everyone is at school. Thank you all so much. We will be back at playtime.
Zachary still has to decide whether he is going to look after the school pig or visit the farm.
Please remember sturdy shoes, school sunhat & jacket in case there is a cold wind - forecast does not indicate this at the moment.