Term 4 Week 1 'Star of the Week'

What a fantastic week we've had. We have lots to celebrate.
The children have settled back into school and have been focused in class. This morning they were awesome at mass and I am very proud of them. Thank you for getting them to school early.

The 'Star of the Week’ for Week 1 is Won Jeong.

Won Jeong listens and follows instructions, and always tries her best.
She is a super role model.

Thank you, Won Jeong, it's great to have you in Room 3.

 

Today Will turned 6. 

We sang 'Happy Birthday' and wished Will all the best.

We wrote some super stories this morning. Here's some of them:

Today is my news day. my news is a beautiful heart bag. My heart bag is from my Mum and Grandma. By Won Jeong

When I was asleep my Dad came to my room. He woke me up to open my presents. I got Lego. It is a fire engine. I liked it. By Will

Today Room 3 went to mass. We prayed at mass. The mums and dads clapped. Then we went in the tennis courts. We played 'Follow the Leader' because we had to get healthy and fit. We walked to mass. By Erin

On Tuesday I played touch rugby. I got a goal. Our team won. I got 'Player of the Day'. I got the Crunchie bar. It was yummy. Rose and Trinity play touch too. I love playing touch rugby. Why do I like playing? Just because it's good exercise. By Lily

This term we are looking at the way Eric Carle illustrates his books. We will be using collage to create our own pictures. Today we completed our first master piece - 'Flowers in a Vase'. Come into our room to see them - they are awesome.

We have budding actors in our class. The Ruru reading group presented the play: 'Mr Bear Squash-you-all-flat to Room 3 this morning and to Rooms 1 and 2 this afternoon. Well done Paige, Amelia, Rose, Lily and Macy - you are stars.

Have a relaxing weekend. See you all on Monday morning.

Our Holiday Stories

 Yesterday we wrote about our holidays and today we illustrated them. These are now on our classroom wall, so come in and read them. Here's a few to whet your appetite:

On the school holidays I went on holiday. It was a nice place. We went on Daddy's boat and Daddy went fishing. He caught two fish. We put them back in the water. I went in the car. We went over the mountain. By Erin

In the holidays I went to Port Levy with the dog and Rose. We got on the kayaks and we had a barbeque. We cooked sausages on the barbeque. By Isla


















I was in Hanmer Springs. I was there for Friday and Saturday and Sunday. I was in front of the garage. I was in the hot pools. By Conor

In the holidays it was my birthday. I went to Wharenui Pool in the car. There were a lot of girls and one boy. There was an inflatable. I had to create the party room with my Mum and Dad. We had yummy, yummy food made by Mum. I didn't want to invite my brothers but they still helped. I think all my friends loved my birthday party. It was great. It was fun. By Rose

In the holidays I went far away to a house. I had pizza for lunch and I watched the last rugby. I went fishing and I watched TV. I went to Shantytown with my Mum and my Dad and my baby. I went to play at the park and I ate chips. I took a photo. By Josh

On Saturday it was my birthday. I got a scooter. Erin and Rose came round. We played musical chairs. They stayed for tea. We went to the park. I got a chocolate cake. It was fun. By Trinity

Term 4 Week 1

Welcome to Term 4. It was great to see everyone back this morning and to catch up on what happened in the holidays. Our classroom had a bit of a face lift and it is now looking clean and fresh. The paint smell is almost gone too!
This is a short but sharp term. We will continue to focus on our reading, writing, maths, and RE as well as learning about Eric Carle (author of The Very hungry Caterpillar) and his style of illustrating.

During the holidays several children had birthdays. This morning we sang 'Happy Birthday' to Amelia, Trinity, Rose, and Rheubyn. We trust you will all enjoy being 6.

Today we wrote about our holidays. I am very impressed with the progress everyone has made in their writing over the last term. We will illustrate our stories then they will be displayed on the classroom wall for you to read. I will publish some on the blog later in the week.

A few reminders as we start the last term as Year 1s:
*School starts at 8:45am and finishes at 2:50pm. It is important that the children arrive at school in time to complete their morning routines and also have a chance to catch up with their friends. This makes for a more settled start to everyone's day.
*Each child needs an HB pencil for writing. Cheap/Smiggle/fancy pencils do not have the right lead so are not suitable for writing at school. They are also difficult to keep sharp. Children should have a set of coloured pencils and a glue stick. A pencil sharpener is also a good idea. These items need to be kept in one pencil case. Thank you for your support with this.
*Library day is (still) Monday. Library books can be kept at home for a week, they do not have to be returned the next day.
*Hats are to be worn at interval and lunch times. Please name your hat. Hats are kept on a hook in the cloak room when not being worn. They do not have to go home each night.
*Please read with your child each night, this makes such a difference to their progress.
*If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please let me know. I value your support which is the key to your child's success.
*On Friday 28 October we will be attending 9am Mass. Please be at school by 8:40am.

Term 2 Week 10 'Star of the Week' and End of Term News

Term 3 is now over! It has been another busy term and the children have worked really hard.

The 'Star of the Week’ for Week 10 is Isla.

Isla is a super listener, she always knows what to do and follows instructions. She focuses on her work and always does her best.

Thank you, Isla, it's great to have you in Room 3.

A big THANK YOU for getting the children to school early for Friday's mass. The mass was said for Mr Macdonald as his time as our Principal has come to an end. I am very proud of the children's behaviour and attitude in mass - they were quiet and reverend. 

Our swim week has been a success. While it disrupts our normal timetable having an intensive week swimming at Wharenui Pool has many benefits. I have enjoyed watching the children's confidence and progress in the pool as the week went by. We enjoyed buddying with Room 4 (Year 3) again. Thank You to all who helped with dressing the children each day. A special thanks to the Dads - we couldn't have managed without you.

For Art our Classroom Release Teacher has been teaching the children about horizons. They have completed some fantastic pictures which are now proudly displayed in our classroom. These photos do not do them justice, you'll have to come in and see them. Grandparents, aunts, uncles ... are welcome into our classroom so please bring them in when they're visiting.

Today we sang 'Happy Birthday' to Danny. He will be 6 on Sunday. We hope you enjoy being 6 Danny.

The end of a term gives me a chance to sit back and reflect over the past 10 weeks. It is wonderful to see the progress the children have made. We are now a settled unit and will start Term 4 all together. While things are not always perfect the children do work well together and appear happy in class. I am pleased with their positive attitude and willingness to give anything a go.

On Wednesday we completed a writing sample. I have compared some of these to the ones we did in August and even in that short time there has been a marked improvement - in the children's concentration and focus as well as in their output. I am impressed and proud of the children. If you want to keep the momentum going how about starting a holiday diary? You could also try the Dance Mat Typing site linked to this blog. This site teaches typing skills.

Reading is my favourite time of the day - I so enjoy listening to the children read to me. It's great to see their confidence grow as they tackle more challenging books and put their reading strategies into place. A highlight this term has been the presentation of plays. The children enjoy doing them and will seek to do more next term. I hope you will find time to visit a local library and choose some books to read together.

I have recently retested children on their number knowledge. This is another area where I have been pleased with what the children have learned and with their increase in confidence. For home practice play card or board games, count the dishes as you lay the table or put them away, read letterbox numbers as you walk along the street. The children enjoy the Basic Facts website linked to this blog.

I finish this post with a big THANK YOU to you all. I do so appreciate your support, both at school as you come into our classroom each day to look at what your children are doing, and at home with the reading and getting your child to school (and collecting them) each day. I feel very fortunate to have not only the BEST class but wonderful parents as well.

Have a safe, happy, and relaxing holiday. I look forward to catching up with you all on Tuesday 25 October. And to all those having a birthday - Happy Birthday.

Swimming

This week we have been swimming at Wharenui Pool. We are really enjoying our swim week.
Today Trinity could not swim so she became our photographer. She took some fantastic photos. Click on the video to the right to view a small selection of photos.

This morning we wrote stories about our swimming experiences:

I went swimming. I liked it. I went on a bus. It was fun. I did dolphin dives and I went under the water. I like going under the water. My Room 4 buddy was James. By Ben

Today Room 3 and Room 4 buddies are going swimming at Wharenui Pool. It is going to be fun because they help me to swim. I like the helpers. I like swimming. My swimming buddies are called Bella and Trinity. I like my swimming buddies. Swimming is the best. By Tahliya

Yesterday I went to the swimming pool and the swimming pool is good. Dolphin swimming is fun. My buddy is good and my buddies' names are Georgia and Rose. By Won Jeong

On Tuesday I went swimming with Room 4 buddies. I went swimming at Wharenui Pool. We did whales. At the end of swimming we got dressed then we got into the bus. Then we had our lunch. It was fantastic. My buddies are Nicola and Maya. I like my teacher. By Erin

On Monday we went to Wharenui Pool. We're going there for the rest of the week to learn to swim. It's fun because we get to have boards and we lie on our backs and kick all the way to the other side of the pool and back. We go on a bus. The bus has groovy seats. We go for swimming lessons because we need to swim because when you're older you might want to be a swimming teacher and you'll know what to do. My swimming instructor was Leanne. My swimming buddies were Freya and Eloise. I liked going swimming. The bus seats were colourful like a rainbow. The roads were very bumpy. By Paige

Term 3 Week 10 Certificates

Today's assembly was a bit different from our usual assemblies. 

The knowledge-a-thon prize draw was drawn. An amazing $9000 was raised from this event - well done everyone and thank you to the Parent Council for organising this. Room 3 featured as Tahliya won the Junior prize of a bike, and Alessandro won the family prize of a holiday in Reefeton. We are pretty excited to have two prize winners in our room.

Congratulations, Tahliya and Alessandro, enjoy your prizes.

As this is Mr Macdonald's last week as our acting principal we said an official 'farewell' to him. After singing a song dedicated to Mr Macdonald each class presented him with a card. We included our 'Orange Poem' on our card as Mr Macdonald said orange was his favourite colour.

An Orange Poem

An orange orange

An orange felt pen

An orange summer shirt

An orange setting sun

Mr Macdonald’s favourite colour

By Room 3

Today's certificates were presented in class.

We congratulate Samantha and Joshua. 

Samantha received her certificate for her super reading progress. Joshua's certificate is for his great attitude to all his work.

Congratulations Samantha and Joshua. We are proud of you.

Today we started swimming. I am very proud of Room 3. Their behaviour was fantastic and they all worked hard in the pool. It would help if children could wear sandals to school. Putting socks on damp feet is a challenge and sandals are safer than jandals.


News this week will be on Friday for everyone.

A reminder that school starts at 8:45am. It makes for a relaxed start to our learning day if children arrive at school early enough to complete their morning routines. Thank you for your support with this. On Friday we will be attending the 9am mass. Children will need to be at school by 8:40am so that I can check the roll before we go into the church. This mass is being said for Mr Macdonald.