Week 9 Term 4 2015

Week 9

Mon:

Tues: Dance Programme

Thank You to the families who have already paid their $2 for our dance programme.

Wed: Team Picnic

Wear mufti, bring a sunhat, togs, shared lunch, drink bottle, sunscreen

Thurs: End of Year Mass 1pm

All are welcome to join us for this lovely mass

Fri: Reports go home

Relax!  No Surprises!

-----------------------------------

Week 10

Mon: Orientation Day

Children get to visit their class for 2016 - Breathe, they'll be fine.

          Tryathlon

You'll need your togs and bikes for this one

          Prizegiving 9am

You will be notified if your NEED to be there but all are welcome

          PTA Raffle drawn

It must be my turn to win this year!

Tue:

Wed: Missioning ceremony

This is a lovely ceremony in which we bless our Year 6 students          

School Closes 12:00

Wow!!!!  

Reminders:

- Please return all school resources (library and reading books etc)

- Check lost property before the end of the term

- Collect a few phone numbers so you can keep in touch with your mates over the Christmas holidays

What a treat!

We had a lovely surprise this morning. We have a band here to perform for us. 

 

 

We will let you know all about it soon.

Week 8

The Countdown is on... 
Only 13 school days left and we have quite a bit to pack in.  


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This week

Monday 30th November.

10.30am Church Choir in Rm 15

From 3.15pm Student Led Conferences.

Tuesday 1st December.

Wednesday 2nd December.

8.45am School Singing

1.30-2.30pm ELL Picnic on the School field

Thursday 3rd December.

Friday 4th November.

Golden Time - Brrrrrr! It's a chilly one.

Coming up:

05 December - Christmas Parade 

                     A note will be going home this week for children who are interested in being in this 

                     years Santa Parade.  Children may come dressed as angels, shepherds, stable animals...

14 December - Tryathlon.  

                    This is a fun event and ALL children are encouraged to have a go.

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Museum Trip

A big thank you to all of the amazing parents who are coming to help out at the museum tomorrow.  We look forward to seeing you in Room 10 at 11:45.  We are really looking forward to it.

Reminders:
As Room 10 will be at the museum during the school lunch break we will not be able to order sausage sizzle or juicies.  
A packed lunch will be needed tomorrow, please.  Children will also need their hats and a bottle of water.

SLC

Student Led Conferences are next week.  The kids have been hard at work preparing for this exciting evening.  Please book your time slot asap - they are filling up fast.

We have made some beautiful invitations but they are still wet - you'll get them tomorrow (shhh! act surprised).

Flags

Flag Referendum on PhotoPeach

Week 7 Term 4 2015

MONDAY 23RD NOVEMBER

Our School Flag Referendum starts today

10.30am Church Choir in Room 15

5.30pm Reading Together


TUESDAY 24TH NOVEMBER


WEDNESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER


THURSDAY 26TH NOVEMBER

5.30pm Coaches Thank You in Library

FRIDAY 27TH NOVEMBER

Year 2 visit to the Museum

Middle and Senior School Athletics Day

Class Trip

I'll send out the hard copy on Monday

Oh My Goodness!!!!

This afternoon Mrs T got tough!  She has been reminding us to pack our bags properly and zip them up.  This helps to keep our area safe and it keeps our stuff safe.  BUT...

Mrs T went and collected all of the bags that were left unzipped after lunch.  Only 4 people had managed to keep their bags zipped up.  Well done Thomas, Rose, Sophie and Tilde!!!  You are wonderful.  The rest of you need to practice packing your bags for homework. 

Ahurei

Rosa, Adam and Harrison - here is the link to the Kapa Haka page.  Mum and Dad can check here for anything they need to know about Ahurei.

You are awesome, Adam!

 That is a super cool Happy Cake.  

You must have done a great job at reading the recipe.

Week 6 Term 4 2015

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MONDAY 16TH NOVEMBER

10.30am Church Choir practice in Room 15

1.30pm Kapa Haka Practice in hall - TBA

5.30pm Reading Together meeting in the staffroom (for those involved)

6.00pm Parent mtg for parents of Year 2 parents - re. google apps and chromebooks.

TUESDAY 17TH NOVEMBER

WEDNESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER

8.45am School Singing

8.30-10.00am All Ahurei children to meet in hall. Chn need to be there on

the dot.   

2.30pm Parent mtg in Staffroom Student Led Conferences

7.00pm Ahurei Performance. Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre

THURSDAY 19TH NOVEMBER

FRIDAY 20TH NOVEMBER

Middle and Senior School Athletics Sports at JPC = no sausage sizzle for juniors.

WORKING BEE NOTICE

Saturday 20th November, we intend to have a working bee to complete a few jobs around 
the school. A notice was sent home on Thursday with the list of jobs and if you are able to 
help please indicate the jobs you might be able to help with and return the form back to 
SCHOOL WORKING BEE: 8.00AM -12 NOON THIS SATURDAY. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

Year 2 Parents Meeting:  Google Apps for Education Accounts and Chromebooks.

You may or may not be aware that in 2014, with the support of our Board of Trustees, we introduced Google Apps for Education accounts for all our Year 3 and 4 students. Since June 2014 we have allowed students to bring a Chromebook to school. 

This programme was expanded In 2015, so now all our students in Year 3-6 have Google Apps for Education accounts and a large number of the students bring their own Chromebook to school. This has resulted in all our Middle School students having access to a device, which is used on a daily basis for learning purposes. 

Some common questions parents have are:

Why have we done this?

What is a Chromebook? What can you do on them? Why this particular device? Can my child bring a different device?

What is a Google Apps for Education account? Why and how are students using this to help them with their learning? Aren't Year 3 students too young for this?

Is it worth buying a device for my child? How much do they use it in class? What are the benefits of bringing a personally owned device to school? 

Where can I buy one? How much do they cost? Which model should I get?

On Monday 16 November, our Elearning Lead Teachers, along with some of our 2016 Middle School Teachers, will provide an information session to help parents gain a better understanding of how and why we are utilising Google Apps for Education accounts, along with devices, to assist our students with their learning.

On Friday all Year 2 students were given a notice to take home. In case this notice never reached you, this is what it said.

Notice for Parents of 2015 Year 2 students

On Monday night we are holding an information evening for parents who have children who will be in Year 3 classes at St Mary’s in 2016

When: Monday 16 November

Where: Room 14

Time: 6pm - 6.45pm

Purpose: To provide parents with a better understanding of why and how  students use Chromebooks and Google Apps accounts in our Year 3-4 classrooms.

We hope you are able to attend.

HELP!!!!!

A camera belonging to a Grandparent was lost at school last Friday. The camera is a Panasonic LUMIX.  It is silver and in a black hard case. There are also a few accessories inside the case - adaptors and memory sticks. The family are very keen to have the two memory sticks returned as these contain precious family photos. Ella in Room 14 would love to hear from anyone who can assist with locating these items.

Writing

Today we watched this short video: A reluctant boy gets more than he asked for in a ball pit. Will he conquer his fears to escape the adventure he finds himself in?

We wrote stories about a time when we had to conquer a fear.  We thought about the feelings and thoughts we experienced in the moment and all of the things that we could see and hear around us.  Sometimes our imagination makes small things look really big so we got a little bit creative.

Mrs T is super proud of our writing so she is flat out typing our work to share with the world on the blog - watch this space!

Grandparents and Grand-Friends Day

Grand-Friends Day on PhotoPeach

Week 5 Term 4 2015

MONDAY 9TH NOVEMBER.

10.30am Church choir Room 15

Lunchtime. Kapa Haka girls to Room 4 for making of poi

TUESDAY 10TH NOVEMBER.

1.30pm Kapa Haka Practice Girls

2.15pm Kapa Haka Boys

WEDNESDAY 11TH NOVEMBER.

8.45am School Singing

THURSDAY 12TH NOVEMBER.

1.30pm Kapa Haka Practice

FRIDAY 13TH NOVEMBER.

Mufti day. Proceeds for Needy Children's Christmas Party, Hamilton. Young Vinnies to organise.

Library Day 

Golden Time

Kapa Haka

The final countdown to Ahurei is now on.  The performance on Grand-friends day was wonderful!  I'm really looking forward to seeing our clever kids on stage next week.

Library

I have been given a printout from the library records which shows how many books each child has "beeped out" and how many of these are fiction/non-fiction. A few kids have really not made the most of the library - please make sure books come back each week so that we can promote reading and help to widen their reading horizons.

Golden Time

'Old School' games.  Four square, elastics, hopscotch... you remember them.  Mrs Power (Oliver's Mum) is going to be teaching in Room 10 on Friday - if you would like to come along and help out I'm sure she would appreciate it. 

Grand-friends Day

Thank you all so much for your support of this day.  We had a HUGE number of visitors and all of the kids performed beautifully.  Some of our talented friends were in two or more performances - clever kids!  It was a really lovely day.  Sorry, we were running late at 3:00 - we were having so much fun in the pool that we completely missed the bells.

Grandparents/Grandfriends Day

Grandparents/ Grandfriends Day - This Friday

9.15am Mass

10.00am Morning Tea in classrooms. Please, bring a small plate of food to share for morning tea.   Grandparents can come into classrooms during this time.  The children love taking show off tours of the rooms.

10.30am Performances, on the grass outside hall, including Kapa Haka, Fillipino Dance group,  Gymnastic Group and several others.  Coffee and tea will be provided for adults.  Families are welcome to sit together during the performances - you might want to bring a picnic blanket.

AT END OF CONCERT- Children will have their playtime, Grandparents are welcome to stay and play too.

All Blacks Win - of course!

The early start was just so worth it!

What a great way to start the day!

Week 4 Term 4 2015

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MONDAY 2ND NOVEMBER

Church Choir Practice at morning Tea

Minecraft Competition

10.00am All Souls/All Saints Liturgy in the school hall

5.30pm   Reading Together evening (for invited parents)

TUESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER

Minecraft Competition

2.00pm Kapa Haka. Only Performance children.

WEDNESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER

THURSDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

2.00pm Kapa Haka. Only Performance children.

FRIDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

9.15am Grandparents’ Mass and Day.

Minecraft Competition

Entries need to be sent in at the end of this week- if you need help to organise your pictures or video come and see Mrs Schofield  in Room 14, Mon, Tues,  or Wed.

Kapa Haka

After much head scratching and praying Mrs Dunkley and Matua Koro announced the final Te Ahurei group last week.  I certainly don't envy them - some very difficult choices had to be made.  Congratulations to Adam, Rosa and Harrison.  If your child was not selected this year, don't worry, there are another 4 years of St Marys Kapa Haka performances on the horizon.  With only 18 days until Te Ahurei, Kapa Haka will be focussed on the performance group so children who missed out this time will be back in class with me.  

Swimming

Bring your togs, towel and a plastic/swimming bag.  If your child is unable to swim notification must be given, please (email, note, or a chat with me).  Swimming is an assessed part of our PE programme - I can't teach or assess swimming skills on dry land.  Kapa Haka times clash with our swimming time - bring your togs, just in case, but be aware that Kapa Haka must take priority right now.  

All Saints/Holy Souls Liturgy

The church is having a service at 9:00 during which 100+ candles will be lit and left to burn.  Father Eamon has concerns about us bringing our 400+ children into the church with the 100+ candles... Hmmmm, he might have a point.  This liturgy will now take place in the school hall. You are welcome at either celebration.

Grandparents/Grandfriends Day

Mass will be celebrated at 9:15am.  After this Grandparents will have the opportunity to join us in our classrooms and to share morning tea and some entertainment.  As soon as I get the final plan I will update the blog with details.  Please, extended our warmest invitation to Grandparents and Grandfriends.

Proud All Blacks Supporters.

Discover China Day on PhotoPeach

All Hallows Eve

All Hallows Eve

There is always quite a bit of debate about 'Halloween' in Catholic Schools.  So, here are a few facts.

Halloween is also knows as All Hallows Eve.  'Hallow' is an old english word for 'Saint'.  All Hallows Eve is the vigil before All Saints Day - a Holy Day of Obligation.  All Saints Day is the day that we honour all of God's saints, even those who have not been canonized by the Church. It is a family day of celebration — we celebrate the memory of our family members and friends.  We rejoice that they have reached Heaven and pray for their happiness and for their help.  

Go The All Blacks!

Black Out Friday Again This Week 

Wear All Black to support our rugby heroes.

This time we are going to ask for a donation.

Can you please bring a can for the food bank? 

Thanks, heaps.

Secret Agent Day

We couldn't get in the classroom this morning - Mrs T had locked us out!  When the bell rang she came outside and said she had a treat for us.  We were having a secret agent day!  Our first challenge was code breaking...


Code Breaking on PhotoPeach
   

Then Mrs T opened the classroom door.  There was a laser maze!!!!  We had to crawl under, climb over and twist around the lasers to get into the classroom.  It was the strangest way to start a school day - but we have lots to write in our Recount Assessment!!!

Laser Maze on PhotoPeach

Week 3 Term 4 2015

No Swimming this Week

Mon: Labour Day
Tues:
Wed:
Thurs: Rosary - Junior school to lead 
Fri: Discover China Day

Rosary: 
You are most welcome to join us for our final celebration of the month of the Rosary.  The junior team will be leading the Rosary on Thursday at 8:45am.  A few kids have been selected to represent our class at the microphone and the rest of the class will be leading the school - with our very cool rosary beads that we made by ourselves because we are that awesome.

Assessments - again
Don't panic - it's just the same old stuff just in a different format. Come prepared for a strange and hilarious start to the week - Mrs T has a crazy plan to make our testing even more fun.

Discover China Day
Room 10 has been learning some basic Mandarin with Lin.  On Friday Lin, and seven other Language Assistants, will be running a Discover China Day to help our kids learn a little about their country, language and culture.  

Golden Time
We haven't had a wheels day in a while.  So bring your wheels - skateboards, bikes, scooters, toys cars... 

Be Sunsmart!!!!

A reminder to all students: Sun Hats must be worn in Term Four. No hat = No play. It is also a good idea to put on some sunblock before coming to school.

Symbols

We are learning about symbols - symbols are pictures that have a message for us.  Today we had a look at NZ Sign Language.  We learned how to spell our names and then Mrs T gave us a secret message to decode.  All of the letters were drawn using finger spelling.  Tricky stuff.


Finger Spelling on PhotoPeach I can spell my name on PhotoPeach
I'm a good kiwi.

Amendment to Newsletter 32 - 21 October 2015

Principal's Message -

Please note that Grandparents' Mass and Morning Tea will take place on Friday 6 November 2015
commencing with Mass at St Mary's Church at 9.15am. The date shown in the second to last paragraph of my message is incorrect.

Kind regards,
David Macmillan, Principal.

Black Out Day

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This Friday is Black Out Day.  

Wear black and support our awesome All Blacks.

Room 10 Pink Walkers

What cool kids you are!!

Week 2 Term 4 2015

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Bring your togs, towel and a plastic bag

MONDAY 19TH OCTOBER


 TUESDAY 20TH OCTOBER
2.00pm Kapa Haka  - Girls only


 WEDNESDAY 21ST OCTOBER
8.45am Rosary. Seniors

 THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER

 FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER
Library
Golden Time - we'll decide on Monday
Assembly Room 16.
Weetbix Tryathlon Promotion at assembly.
Reading Log draw

Shake Out 2015

Shake Out 2015 on PhotoPeach

Term 4 - here we go!!!!

This term is going to be amazing!  It is also going to be very busy so here are a few ideas about the learning goals for Room 10.

Religious Education
We are learning about the Holy Spirit.  We will talk about the words 'believe' and 'faith'.  We will discuss the ways that the Holy Spirit works in our lives and through us and we will figure out how we can respond.

Literacy
We are learning that some of the things we do well in reading (like sounding out tricky words, using chunks of words, re-reading, talking about the story...) can also be used to help us with our writing.  We are going to use VCOP to review other authors work and to make sure our writing is as clear and exciting as the published work we are reading everyday.
V = vocabulary. What words could we use instead of 'went', 'said',...?
C = connectives.  How can we link our ideas without using 'and' or 'then'?
O = openers. Are there more interesting ways to start a story than "I went to..." or "In the weekend"?
P = punctuation.  We know what many marks are and what their job is now we need to find out where they go in our writing.

Numeracy
In number we will be looking at using basic facts to help us to solve problems with number 0-100.  We will need to know number pairs that make 10 (1+9, 2+8 etc), our doubles and halves and facts numbers up to 10 (5+3, 6+2, 8-2, 9-6 etc).  Basic facts can really help us.  If we know that 6+4=10 then figuring out 56+4 is a piece of cake, 56+24 is easy too AND knowing 60+40 makes us feel really smart.

We are also looking at transformation (Geometry).  We will be looking at reflection, translation and rotation.  We'll find out what these strange words mean and we'll make patterns and pictures to show that we know how they work.

Concept
Our concept this term is Symbolism - messages within images.  We will be learning about the signs and symbols we see on the road, in shops, at school and in church.  How do symbols talk to us? What is a symbol? How can symbols be used? Why is it important to have the same understanding of some symbols?

Swimming
We will be swimming EVERYDAY IN EVEN WEEKS. This will start next week so make sure you have your togs, towel and swimming bag ready. Girls must have their hair tied back so that it doesn't flop in their face, please. If your child is unable to swim, for medical reasons, you will need to send me a note or an email. All children must swim. I really am quite good at teaching swimming - but not when the children are on dry land.

Week One
Mon: Welcome back
Tue:
Wed: Rosary (led by middle school)
Thu:
Fri: Library, Golden Time and Assembly.

Where are you going this holiday?

Cross Country

Cross Country on PhotoPeach

Week 10

Mon:
Tue:
Wed: Cross Country
Thu:
Fri:Last day of the term
      No Library this week
      Golden Time - Mrs T's treat

This week we are having Rocket Week.  It's my way of saying 'Thanks' for your patience and help during the last couple of weeks of testing and portfolio work.  I have so many experiments to try that I don't think we can pack them all in.  A few of these ideas are definitely outdoor activities so a prayer or two for fine weather wouldn't go astray - St Joseph is our meteorological man in heaven.

The Cross Country is scheduled for Wednesday 1:30pm on the school field.  When you're talking to Saint Joseph about the rockets a little mention of our cross country might be helpful too.  Children will need to bring their PE gear and their school jersey/polar fleece.  Running shoes are optional but preferable.

I haven't heard about the holiday reading logs yet but I'm sure they will be ready by the end of the week.  The junior team is having a giant stocktake during the holidays so ALL READING BOOKS must be returned please.  We need to compile orders to replace missing and damaged books and then we'll know if we can get excited about getting some more new titles.

Library books must be returned this week.  The library is closed so children can put their books in our library corner and I'll return them.

Have a fantastic week!

Calendars

Order Forms were handed out this afternoon - please check reading bags and rescue them.

Sun and Moon

We have been learning about the cycles of sun and moon.  We learned that when NZ is facing the sun we get it's heat and light - that's daytime.  When NZ is facing away from the sun, it's heat and light can't reach us, we are in the shadow - it is night.

This week we learned that the moon doesn't have it's own light source.  The moonlight we see is actually the sun's light being reflected off the moon's rocky surface.  With all of these moving parts, it gets a bit confusing.  We got into our research teams and acted it out so that you don't get too  discombobulated (Francis' favourite word of the week).

Mac Attack

Mac Attack - Ice Bucket Dunking on PhotoPeach

Week 9 - where did the year go?

MONDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER

10.30am Church Choir in Room 15

TUESDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER

12.30pm Gymnastic Club in Hall. Only competition children.

1.30pm Senior Speech Competition in hall

WEDNESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER

8.45am School Singing

THURSDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER

12.30pm Gymnastic Club in Hall. Only competition children.

2.00pm Kapa Haka

FRIDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER

Mrs T is out all day

Rotorua Gym Competition 

12.30pm PI group in Room 15

Golden Time???? Not sure - will need to se how keen my reliever is.

Library - Last week for the term - PLEASE BRING YOUR BOOKS

Gymnastics Competition

It's competition week for our Gymnastics kids. We have a few very talented gymnasts in Room 10 who were selected to compete.  They have been training very hard and will be tough competition for the other schools. Best of luck to you all for Friday.  

Library

Mrs O'Leary needs to check that all of her book friends are safe so the library will be closed next week.  PLEASE, return all books this Friday.  I think we can still get a book out for the holidays but I'm waiting to hear from the book boss.

Friday

It will be a topsy-turvy day with gymnastics kids out and a relief teacher in.  I will be at a course presenting the findings of my reading inquiry.  No small amount of thanks to the amazing people who support and encourage reading at home.  All of the kids in Room 10 have made huge progress in reading this year and, more importantly, are now enjoying reading for the fun of it! 

Room 10 readers are the best.  

Updates and Notices

Daffodils and Ice Buckets
As most of you will be aware, we held a daffodil fundraiser recently.  Kids could pay a donation and vote for a staff member.  The 'winning' staff member would get to take part in an ice bucket challenge.  There were a large number of votes for Mr Volshenk and for all three of the Mrs Ts got our fair share (be very careful Room 10, I'll find out who you are eventually) but, I can not tell you how very, very, very pleased I am to announce that Mr Macmillan will have this honour.

You didn't hear this from me, but, if you happen to come early for the Friday afternoon pick up (say 2:30ish) you might get to witness this wonderful, charitable event.  I am certain there will be plenty of photos and video footage for those unable to make it.


Ordering Lunches
There are almost too many options to choose from now.  Pita Pit, Owhata Bakery, Lunch box lunches... Check the school school newsletter for more information.

Calendar Art

A few kids away this week - don't panic, we'll catch them as soon as they return.


Calendar Art on PhotoPeach

Week 8 TERM 3!!!!

Well done Rosa and Isaiah - you're Kapa Haka performance at the citizenship ceremony last week was so awesome that the mayor posted a video on her facebook.  And another one.

A big round of applause to our clever gymnasts who were selected to compete at the Rotorua Competition soon.  You have worked really hard girls.  It's not easy remembering all of those routines.


Mon:  Church Choir Practice at morning tea time (Sophie - that's you)

Tue: Gym Club at lunchtime

Wed:

Thurs: Gym Club at lunchtime
            Kapa Haka
            Visit from the Royal NZ Ballet

Fri: Muftimania
       PI Practice
       Library
       Golden Time

Mufti Mania
Bring a Gold Coin for the Caritas appeal

Royal New Zealand Ballet
RNZB dancer will tell the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream followed by a talk about their journey and the life of a dancer followed by a Q&A when the children can ask questions

Golden Time
It's a surprise week.  I will keep it a secret all week - there's no way you can guess it.


Happy Father's Day to all of our Superhero Dads, Pops, Papas, Grandpas, ...


Superheroes on PhotoPeach