Term 1 is over! We can't believe how quickly the eleven weeks has flown and how much learning your children have covered. There have been many highlights in this time. The grandparents and grand-friends visit to school was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyed by children and adults alike. Thank you very much to the parents who organised their family members and friends to join us for the afternoon and for the lovely afternoon tea that you provided. The children are still talking about the interesting items that the visitors brought along and the fun that they had that day.
'Celebration of Learning' afternoon
On Wednesday May 15th, parents are invited to visit their child's classroom from 1.40 p.m. The bell will ring at the usual time of 1.30 p.m. and then after the roll is called parents will be invited into the classrooms to spend time with their child. You will have the opportunity to see what your child is learning about and to ask them questions about it. Teachers will be in the classroom to answer any questions you may have.
Parent Information Evenings on Curriculum
I will be running three workshops during the evening early in Term 2 about how we teach reading, writing and mathematics to Year 1 and 2 and how you can support this learning at home. I will give more details about these at the beginning of next term.
Junior School Cross Country
This annual event will be held at Bishop's Park on Wednesday June 5th. This is on a different day from the rest of the school. Your child can get some extra running practise in over the holidays and build up their fitness levels in preparation for this fun event.
Footwear
Your child needs to bring slippers to school at the beginning of next term as each child wears slippers inside the classrooms throughout the school. Please name them (along with coats and sweatshirts) as some children have the same size feet and often have the exact same slipper designs. Your child also needs to wear sensible shoes during the winter terms as we will be doing lots of running and skipping activities. Please also teach your child to tie up their shoelaces as they will be removing their shoes at least three times during the school day. Sunhats will be coming home today.
Hooked on Books
This very successful reading programme begins again in term 2. This involves an adult listening to children read aloud in a one on one situation for approximately an hour one day a week or alternate weeks. If you or anyone you know would be interested in doing this could they please contact me? Often there are grandparents or other people in the community who are interested in doing this so if you know of people please let them know and you can email me or they can contact the school office. I will be running a quick meeting about the 'Hooked on Books' programme straight after school at 3 p.m. in room 3 on Thursday May 9th to explain what this would involve. The whole programme is set up and all you need to do is sit and listen to a child read and praise them for their efforts.
Hotdogs
Every year in Terms 2 and 3, the Home and School Committee sell hot dogs to the students every Wednesday for lunch. Mums and Dads love the break from packing their child's lunch, and the children really look forward to the warm lunch, especially during the colder weather. So far we have not had enough volunteers for us to continue to do this. Please reconsider and email Gwyn Morphew (gocinema@yahoo.co.nz) if you would be available to help out. The time commitment is minimal. I've highlighted some points below:
- Timing is from 11:30am - 1:30pm (at the latest) on Wednesdays
- All food, sauce, equipment, etc. is provided - all you have to do is turn up
- You can sign up to work from as little as one Wednesday per term to as many Wednesdays as you like
- The tasks are documented and are very straightforward
- You would be on duty with another parent
- The buns are pre-split, so all you have to do is warm up the hot dogs and slide them right in
- The kids love it, and the work is fun
gocinema@yahoo.co.nz
Please contact Gwyn to lend a hand to this very worthwhile fundraiser. If you can just give up two hours once that would be very much appreciated and make one less turn for Gwyn to do.
Oral Language for Year 2
Mrs Jan Avison is running an oral language speech and drama programme over terms 2 and 3 for children in years 2 and 3. This involves working on a programme each week at school on a Friday morning. She does individual and group work and the children work towards an oral assessment in term 3. If you are interested in finding out more about this or having your child sign up please contact her on jan.avison@vodafone.co.nz
Holiday Learning
Over the holiday break it is good for your child to keep up with practising their learning especially reading, writing, handwriting and mathematics by doing a little bit each day. The following are a few suggestions of what they may like to do.
If you are on a trip you could play 'I spy' in the car which will build up their alphabet sound knowledge and widen their vocabulary. They could draw pictures and write a little diary of their trip for example. If the weather is not too great, you could play board games like snakes and ladders or card games together to improve their mathematics. Lots of counting forwards and backwards is great too. They can do more Mathletics and earn bronze, silver and gold certificates or they could try live mathletics for more of a challenge. They could go to the library and get out lots of books to read or join in with the activities that they have operating there. Lots of drawing and writing including using felt pens, coloured pencils and whiteboards are also fun and help with their development of fine motor skills. For the more active a large ball doing lots of throwing and catching outdoors is also very beneficial.
Thank you very much for supporting your child in their learning this term. It makes a huge difference. Term 2 starts with Jumpjam in the hall at 8.40 a.m. on Monday May 6th. We hope you all have a lovely holiday break with your children and that they get lots of rest ready for a very busy term.
Kind regards
Maureen Buckley
Deputy Principal
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