Welcome to 2012!

Dear Parents and Caregivers

A warm welcome to everyone as we start another new year. The children are very settled at school already and have enjoyed catching up with their old friends and making new ones. As we end the week, however, some children are quite tired with all the extra activities. This year we have the theme 'Making It Happen' and already it is pleasing to see the children taking part in lots of different learning experiences and giving things a try even if they perceive them to be tricky at first. It is good to reinforce this message at home as we want all children to attempt each part of their learning instead of not trying or worrying about making a mistake because they think their work has to be perfect.

Jumpjam
Thank you so much to the parents who either joined in with their child doing the routines or were quiet while they observed. Thank you to those who left the hall and continued their conversations outside. It is quite an ordeal for five and six year old children to go up on the stage for the first time to demonstrate the different dances.  It is very important for all the new children in the audience to be able to concentrate so that they can join in with the dancing too and this is made very difficult if there is too much noise. Parents are always welcome to join us in the hall on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays but please observe our rules. 

Stationery
Thank you very much to all those parents who have purchased the correct stationery. The books in the packs have been especially chosen due to their paper quality, number of pages and the correct line size for the developmental level of Junior children. We expect the children to do quality work so purchasing of quality exercise books helps with presentation and enables them to create a sense of pride in their efforts. The children also need to have extra items that are available from our school office. If your child already has these items then they do not need to be purchased again. e.g. if they have a bookbag then they do not need to buy another one. If your child started school last year any exercise books that they did not use have been passed onto their new teacher to be used along with the new stationery. Your child's alphabet card, blend card and dictionary cards have also gone to their new classroom. 

Swimming - Aquatics Education
We are so fortunate to have expert swimming instructors working with your children. They are employed to give swimming and water safety instruction for each class for half an hour daily over a two week time span. Classroom teachers will implement the aquatics programme outside of these sessions. Under their expert guidance, these instructors have ensured that the children have made amazing progress already. It is very helpful if your child wears clothing on swimming days that they can easily get on and off themselves. Thank you to those parents and caregivers who have given up their time to help with the dressing of the children.

We will be having a fun swimming festival which we will invite parents to so that you can see the progress that your child has made in swimming. 

Reading
Every day your child will be bringing home a book to read to you at home. It is extremely important that they do this. You may find that your child will be reading some of the books that they have had previously. Some children have not done any reading over the holiday break and after current assessments some children have gone down some levels. With regular daily practise they will go up again. Please continue to read aloud and discuss books with your child on a daily basis. If you have any concerns about your child's learning please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.

Photos
Your child will be bringing home an order form today for class, family and individual photos. Room 2 will have their class photo later in the year when the class is full but they can still have individual and sibling photos taken at this stage.

Butterflies
We are very excited about the creation of our new butterfly garden in theJunior School.  The children have been very animated in their discussions about the different stages of the butterfly life cycle observed on the large swan plant. We need each child to bring to school a clean yoghurt pot for the planting of their seeds. We also need clean ice cream containers.

Homework this weekend involves looking at their garden and gardens in their community to find out which plants butterflies land on. We would appreciate any cuttings of plants from your gardens that the butterflies have landed on.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Kind regards
Maureen Buckley
Deputy Principal