Hangi lunch tomorrow

A huge thank you to the families who have already paid their 

$5 for the hangi lunch tomorrow.  

Don't forget to bring a plate, bowl, knife, fork and spoon.

Yummy- I can't wait!

Week 11- Last week of Term 2!

Monday: 

Tuesday: 

Hangi lunch- Year 2's. $5. Parent helpers needed.

Move it. Bring PE gear if needed.

Library day.

Wednesday: 

School singing- 8.40am.

Move it. Bring PE gear if needed.

Firemen visiting.

Thursday:

Kapa haka 2pm.

Friday: 

Bishop Steven is visiting our School!

Mandarin with Ling.

Sausage sizzle.

Golden time- Wheels day.

Hi Parents.
We have made it to the end of a very long term. If you haven't already noticed, most of us are a bit tired and ready for the holidays ;)

Special Guest - Friday. 

Bishop Stephen is visiting our school on Friday. He will be coming into each classroom to say hello. We will be able to show him some of the fantastic art work we have done during our God strand this term and some of the amazing work that has gone into your children's RE books. 
We will be welcoming Bishop Stephen with a powhiri at 10am on Friday in the school hall. You are most welcome to attend.

A huge thank you to those children who have brought back their completed RE books. The prayers were lovely!
Can we please have all RE books returned to school tomorrow.

Holiday Reading Logs 

Holiday reading logs will be coming home this week for you to complete during the holidays.

It is crucial that your child reads every day in the holidays! 
Not reading can result in a lower reading level upon return to school next term.

Last holidays only 17/26 children in Room 9 completed their reading logs and handed them in. This term we are aiming for 26/26!

The Public Library has a huge range of books available for loan. 

On Reading Eggs there is also a library with thousands of books for your child to read. 

To access them, click into Reading Eggspress, the blue side after you log in. 

When the floating island comes up click the part to the right until the library appears. 

Click library and enter. 

Then choose the reading age and type of book you want. I would start with 5-7, then see how your child goes. 

The children can read the books themselves or have the computer read it to them. Then they have Comprehension questions to answer.

Matariki

This week we are going to have a Matariki and Maori Legends week in class. As part of this, the Year 2's will be having a hangi lunch on Tuesday. The cost for this is $5.

Our normal programme won't be running, but we will still be doing lots of learning. 

Fire safety 
We will also be learning about being firewise. On Wednesday some firemen will be visiting the Junior School. In preparation for this, please make sure your child knows their first and last name, their home phone number (or mum or dad's mobile number) and their address. 
These are very important pieces of information to know in an emergency.

Thank you!
I would like to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you for all your fantastic support this term with your children's learning. 

Also, a special thank you to our Parent helpers who have come in and helped out this term and done a wonderful job. 
Melisa, Jesse's mum, reads with children individually so they can get extra practice. 
Emma's Nana, Eleanor, tests the children on their weekly spelling words each Friday. 
And Cherie, Destin's mum, returns our huge pile of home readers each week.   
Thank you ladies x

Please have a safe and enjoyable time with your children over the holidays. I look forward to catching up with you all next term.

God Bless. 

Eliana

Dates for Term 3

Monday 20th July = Teacher Only Day
Tuesday 21st July = Term 3 starts
Wednesday 22nd July = Reports and Portfolios go home

Cross-country has been cancelled

Unfortunately Cross-country has had to be cancelled this Thursday.

It will now be held next term.

Week 10

Monday: 

Tuesday: 
Move it. Bring PE gear if needed.
Library day.
Wednesday: 
School singing- 8.40am.
Move it. Bring PE gear if needed.
Thursday:
Junior Cross-country "Give it a go!" race. 11am on the School field. All supporters welcome!
Kapa haka 2pm.
Matariki dinner for all St Mary's families. 5.30pm in the hall. Bring a plate of food to share.
Friday: 
Mandarin with Ling.
Sausage sizzle.
Spelling testing with Nana Eleanor.
Golden time- Baking star cookies for Matariki! 
Please send $1 to school with your child for this.

Hi Parents
It was so lovely to see so many of you at our assembly on Friday. The children launched Matariki beautifully for the school!

I will upload the quality photos I took of our assembly to the Our learning page, which can be found on the tab along the top of our blog. 

If you have any other good photos of the children, please email them to me and I will add them too. Unfortunately most of the photos taken for me on our class camera were blurry, as they were taken from the side of the hall. 

Principal's Shield
Congratulations to Tinky, who received the Principal's Award from our class. 
She always has a positive attitude towards her learning, presents all of her work to a high standard and is a kind and caring member of our classroom.

Junior Cross Country 
This is on this Thursday at 11am on the school field.
Please make sure your child has their: 
- PE Gear 
- School Polar fleece and 
- Water bottle. 
Running shoes are optional.  
Hopefully the weather is fine for us to train this week! 
If it is wet on Thursday morning, check our blog after 7.40am to see if it has been cancelled.

Matariki
We will continue our Matariki learning in class this week.

Portfolios
This week we will be finishing off the last of our assessments and putting these together. 
This means we can have lots of fun week next week!!!

Have a wonderful week.
Eliana

Week 9

Monday: 

Tuesday: 
Move it. Please bring PE gear.
Library day.
Wednesday: 
School singing- 8.45am.
Move it. Please bring PE gear.
Thursday:
Matariki starts. The Maori new year.
Kapa haka 2pm.
Friday: 
We are hosting School assembly. 2pm in the hall.
Mandarin with Ling.
Sausage sizzle.
Spelling testing with Nana Eleanor.


Hi Parents
Thank you so much for the birthday wishes, cards, flowers, chocolates, gifts and beautiful birthday cake on Friday!!! I had a lovely day with your wonderful children.

Junior Cross Country 
Yes... it is on this term! The official date is Thursday the 25th of June, so we will be training every day in preparation for this. More details are to follow.

Mid year testing
This went really well last week. It is so great to see the progress children have made. Testing will continue again this week. 
Portfolios and reports will go home next term. Further on in the term, we will also be having Student Led Conferences. 

Move it

We start Move it this week. This is a great gymnastics programme that focuses on balance and coordination. Please make sure your child has their PE gear on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sustainability: Am I a caretaker of God's creation?   

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Please have your child bring to school in a named plastic bag 4 different things that can be recycled. Things that could be included are bottles (milk, fizzy drink, water, shampoo, cleaning products etc), cans (tin & aluminium), yoghurt pots, glass jars, ice-cream containers, boxes (cereal, tissue, pasta, museli bars etc), magazines, newspapers etc. Please make sure it has been rinsed/washed (if needed) and dried before bringing them in.

Matariki
This Thursday signals the start of The Māori New Year as the Matariki star cluster (Pleiades) is visible in our skies. 
We will be learning about this occasion in class this week in preparation for our assembly item on Friday.

There is also a Matariki family night at the Museum this Saturday the 20th  of June, from 5pm-9pm.
Celebrate the Māori New Year at Rotorua Museum with Cosmodome Planetarium, Travelling Tuataras, crafts, face painting and music.
There will only be 6 sessions of the Cosmodome during the night so book tickets in advance at Rotorua Museum reception. Tickets: Adults: $5, Children (5-15 years): $3, Under 5 years: Free.
Follow this web link to find out about this great event!
http://www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz/exhibitions/details/matariki-whanau-night/

Whanau group dinner
The Whanau Group would like to extend an invitation to all families to a pot luck dinner on Thursday the 25th of June at 5.30pm. The dinner is to celebrate the cultural diversity we have in our school.
Come along for some fun conversation and get to know our community. Last year was great fun! 

Our class blog

Thank you to the people who check the blog regularly. The aim of our class blog is to help build good home/school communication. I spend quite a bit of time each week trying to make our blog attractive and fun. If you have any ideas to help make the blog better, please email them to me. 

Have a joyful week.

Eliana

Week 8

Monday: 

Tuesday: 

Library day.

Wednesday: 

School singing- 8.45am.

Thursday
Kapa haka 2pm.

Friday: 

9am Mass- Feast of The Sacred Heart in the Church. All family members are welcome to attend.

Golden time: It's my birthday, so let's have a Party! 

Please send a small plate of food to school with your child for a shared lunch. I will organize some party games!  

Hi Parents.

As I write this I have 3 sick patients to look after. The winter bugs have arrived :( 

This week is going to be quite a busy one in class with a few portfolio assessments to be completed before the end of the term.

Reading

Our focus this week is on reading fluently. Fluent readers use many strategies so that they don't sound like robots. 

They use a storytellers voice, put words together, change their voice to match the mood, follow punctuation and match their voice to it, change their voice to sound like the characters and read smoothly.

Maths

This week we are looking at equal sharing. For example; 

If Tinky had 8 jellybeans and had to share them equally with Mya, CJ and Ariel, how many jellybeans will they get each? 

RE

We are focusing on the idea of us all being unique, but all having the love of God in common.

We will be talking about God’s love for us, and his ultimate sacrifice of sending his only son to save us from our sins. 
The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a celebration of the love that Jesus has for us.

School Assembly

Next Friday (the 19th of June) our class is hosting School Assembly at 2.10pm in the hall. You are most welcome to join us. I will take photos and upload them to the blog for those who are unable to make it.

Have a great week.

Eliana

Week 7

Tuesday: 

Library day.

Wednesday: 

School singing- 8.45am.
Thursday: 

Kapa haka 2pm.

Friday: 

Golden time: Bring a toy.

Welcome back to another week of learning and fun in Room 9!

Thank you for all of the positive comments you wrote to your children about their reading on the padlet. Seeing the children's eyes light up with beaming smiles as I read them is something I will always remember.

Testing
The reading testing (running records) I did last week shows that all of the children have made excellent progress. Great work everyone!!!

This week I will begin maths testing using JAM- Junior Assessment of Mathematics. These standardised questions will show me what strategies your child knows how to apply to solve mathematical problems.

The children will also complete a persuasive writing sample which will be assessed and put into your child's Portfolio of learning. 

All assessments will be used to assist me in making an Overall Teacher Judgment about your child's achievement for their mid-year report.
Written reports and Portfolios will go home at the end of this term.

Sustainability
This week we will be making pen containers. Please send an empty and clean tin can to school with your child, along with any ribbon, crafty bits, googly eyes etc that they might need to bring their ideas to life.

Chickenpox
Chickenpox is making it's way around the school. Our class has had 3 cases of chickenpox in the last 3 weeks.
We pray that those children make a quick recovery.

Have a blessed week.
Eliana