Monday 22 September 2014

Week TEN!!!

Hi everyone,

Wow it's hard to believe we only have 4 days to go until we are on holiday. We've had such a busy and full on term!

This week continues to be cray busy. We celebrated Mercy Day today with St Johns School from Ranfurly. We had  a lovely Mass, a delicious lunch and a fun afternoon of games. 

There is lots happening for the rest of the week too.....

Tuesday: Eisteddfods presented in class (the 22 that didn't present them today), Athlectis rotation (pm) please wear sports uniforms to school :)
Wednesday: Florrey candy decorations/arts and crafts, Athletics rotation (pm) - Sports gear can be worn to school.
Thursday: Sports uniform day - Swimming(am) children will need clothing to swim in - long sleeved top and pants - no onesies or jeans. Eisteddfod assembly @ 2pm in the hall. Please come and join us
Friday: Last day of term. Round The Clock Race for those children who have put their names down. Please meet at the Linger and Die (across the road from the old swimming pool) at 4.25. I will be there to organize you.

CAMP: Thank you to all of you who have put your names forward to help out. We have 10 parents who are able to attend camp which is fantastic!! I have talked to a few parents who are happy to form a committee. We will meet this week and discuss food for camp which will finalize the cost of camp. I will be able to give the final cost out to you all at the beginning of term 4. At this stage it is looking at being between $100 and $150. At this stage we still need a few more 'driving parents' and vehicles to get us from place to place. I am hoping to get an 11 seater vehicle but we may still need another few vehicles as there are about 40 seats required and only about 20 seats offered. We will get this sorted next term though.

Florrey:
I have been busy making the florrey at home and am hoping to get it over to school later this week so the kids can put the finishing touches on it. I'm just hoping it will fit through a door way so it can get into school! I'm not entirely sure how they are judged but if the public can vote, please vote for our "Candy House"!! :)

MUSICAL:
Its exciting to see the musical coming together! Please make sure all costumes are at school by Thursday this week (in a plastic bag with your child's name on it). We would love to have a run through with the children in costumes before the holidays. If you have any concerns about what your child needs, please come and see me ASAP. Please encourage your child to keep practicing their words and the words of the songs over the holidays.

There is no homework this week as it is the last week of term, however some children may need to finish their reading projects for homework. Children who are selected to say their speech at the assembly will need to be practicing during the week. 

I think that is all for this week. Please come and see me if you have any concerns about anything mentioned above.

I hope you all have a safe, relaxing and fun break!! I will certainly be relaxing in Rarotonga in the second week of the holidays! 

Enjoy!!

Jo :)

Saturday 13 September 2014

Week 9

Hi everyone,

Hope you've all had a chance to enjoy this beautiful spring day! It's hard to believe we are almost half way through September and we only have 2 weeks left at school until holidays.

This week is full on once again;
Monday: Full musical run through in the afternoon, Kapa Haka (am)
Tuesday: Sports gear day - Athletics training in the afternoon
Wednesday: Sports photos (pm) children who have played sport for St G's this year need to bring in their sports uniforms (they are not to be worn to school). 
Coaches and Managers afternoon tea - if you have coached or managed a sports team this year please join us for afternoon tea from 3pm in the staffroom.
Thursday: Sports gear day - Swimming (am) and athletics training (pm)
Friday: FULL WINTER UNIFORMS need to be worn - School photos, we will be attending Mass but there will be no assembly.

Please ensure all camp notices are returned to me by Tuesday please. I would like to get the confirmed camp costs out to you all before the holidays. Thanks to those of you who have offered to help. I will be in touch as soon as I have all notices returned :)

There will be no maths or spelling homework this week as eisteddfods needs to be focused on. Eisteddfods will be presented in class on Monday and Tuesday of week 10. We have Mercy Day on Monday (week10) so there will be approx an hour of eisteddfod presentations before the Mercy day activities kick off.

If you have offered to help at the Car Boot Sale next weekend Angela will be in touch soon (if she hasn't been already) to fill you in on what needs to be done. If you are able to help out please get in touch with Angela or myself ASAP!

There will be a lot of musical practices happening this week as we are aiming to have the musical fully ready to present before the holidays. Keep encouraging your child to practice their speaking/singing parts at home.

Have a fun and happy week!

Jo :)



Monday 8 September 2014

Week 8!!

Hi everyone,

Sorry for an extremely late post. It's been a mad start to the week!

We had a fantastic afternoon yesterday with Bruce Potter (writer/illustrator). He showed the children how to doodle - it's fair to say we were all pretty amazed! He was very talented! Please make sure you pay the $2 cost per child.

Athletics rotations started this afternoon. We will be practicing athletic skills on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this week and next week. Sports gear can be worn to school on these days. Swimming continues on Thursdays for the remainder of the term. 

Homework:
Spelling, reading and maths like usual. The children should be well underway with their eisteddfod speeches as these are going to be presented on Monday of Week 10. If your child is having any issues with their speech, please encourage them to come and talk to me before the end of the week. This will be the last week of spelling and maths as I want to give the children enough time to learn their speeches well next week. :)

Camp forms are due back in on Friday. Thanks to those of you who have already filled these out and returned them to me.

A massive thank you to everyone who sponsored their children to do the skipathon. As a school we have raised over $650 for the Heart Foundation which is amazing!!!

The musical is slowly coming together. Practices will be taking up more of our days as of this week. If your child has a speaking/singing part please make sure they are practicing at home. 

The end of the term is approaching very quickly!

Have a happy week :)

Jo

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Whoops!

Hey guys,

So I've been calling the Blossom Festival float/trolley the wrong thing (Thanks Jenny for pointing this out to me) :) The children need to design a Florrey. Let your imaginations run wild!!

Jo :)

Monday 1 September 2014

Term 3 -- Week 7

Hi everyone,

It's SPRING!! We had a beautiful day to welcome in spring and we were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine for the Heart Foundations Skipathon this afternoon. The kids were looking for water and shade after lots of skipping and fun! It was a fantastic afternoon.

Skipathon fundraising: Please make sure all money is returned to school by Wednesday so I am able to send the money to the Heart Foundation. :) A big thank you to everyone who has fundraised and to those who have already returned their money!! You are awesome!

School Mass is on Sunday, please be there by 9.45 in full school uniform. If you are unable to attend you need to let me know by email, text or a note.

A big thank you to all of those parents who helped out with transport to the pool on Thursday. We were there in plenty of time and the children all enjoyed their lessons. We will be swimming every Thursday for the rest of the term, so sports uniforms and tracksuits can be worn on Thursdays.

Homework: basic facts worksheet and reading as usual. Last week was mad, so spelling testing only happened today. I'll hopefully have the new levels ready for tomorrow. Only three nights will need to be completed.
Project - this week the children have to design a 'Frolly' for us to enter into the Blossom Festival Parade. We have a had a few parents offer their expertise to build the Frolly which is amazing, now we need some fantastic designs to create. At this stage we will be making one between Room 5 and 6 but if there are a number of designs that the children like then we could potentially make more than one (time allowing). I'm happy to make the flowers at home but may need some help later on in the term to put it all together.  The designs need to be at school by FRIDAY 5th Sept.

FUNDRAISING: We are looking at fundraising for camp on Election Day (20th September) by having a car boot sale at school. This will be for Room 5 and Room 6 families only. If you are interesting in helping with this (cooking the BBQ and helping at the devonshire tea stall) please let me know ASAP. If there are not enough families interested then this may not go ahead. It will be an easy way to get funds for camp so get involved. :)

Camp: Apologises that I haven't given any more information out regarding camp, I've been waiting to hear back from a  few businesses to confirm costs. At this stage it is looking like camp will be no more than $150. I will send home a form this week for parents to return if they are willing to take on parts of the Rail Trail with 27 children. Camp dates are Tues 2nd - Thursday 4th December.

Athletics training starts next week - more information will be in the newsletter on Wednesday.

Summer uniforms can be worn from Monday 8th September (next week) but full winter uniforms will need to be worn on Friday 19th for school photos.

Please get in touch if any of this does not make sense.

Have a fantastic week and the sunshine!!

Jo :)