Hello all,

This week is a busy one for me as it includes a couple of days out of the classroom.  On Thursday I will be attending a First Aid course and Friday is my release day.

HELP!!!  Room 5 needs two parent volunteers to be 'Friends of the School'.  Each classroom at St Gerard's will have 2 parents representing the children and families in their class, and will act as a liaison for the PTA (you will not be a PTA member, just help out with contacting parents etc when help is needed).  Signing up for help does not mean you have to be a life member, we are only asking that if you can help you will let us know.  We are all busy people and many hands make light work.

The meeting for being a friend will be held in the staffroom TOMORROW NIGHT at 7pm.  Alternatively if you can't make the meeting but are keen to put up your hand you can email Sue Brydges at sue@homeclinic.co.nz

St Patrick's Day Mufti Day Lenten Appeal  On Thursday this week the children will be able to dress in GREEN mufti.  Please bring along a gold coin to be donated to Caritas who this year are supporting children in Cambodia as a part of their Lenten Appeal.  

Thursday is also Sausage Sizzle day so be sure to bring an extra $2 for that.

PTA AGM will be Wednesday 16th March  - I am fairly sure the location for this is in the staffroom - correct me if I am wrong PTA parents.

CAMP NEWS - We have 46 bikes in total to transport during the driving journey's of our Rail Trail camp.  At this stage we have a 30 rack bike trailer from the awesome team at Trail Journeys and we have a couple of other trailer offers (for baggage and food) which I will be making use of.  We will be taking 6 vehicles to camp with 3 towing trailers and the other 3 carrying a rack with 4 bikes - those of you who offered the use of a 4 bike rack I am taking you up on the offer.  Thanks so much for this people - I am getting excited to get out on the trail with the kids!  

Please be sure to get your children out riding as much as possible over the next few weeks.  Every bit of cycling fitness helps.

A reminder to keep Frans du Plessis and his family in your prayers.  With Frans and Nadia in Christchurch it can be a long week at home here in Central for Nia and her Dad.  The Room 5 kids are doing a great job at supporting Nia while she is in class.  I want to say a big thank you to those parents who encourage their children to help Nia out when they can.  

Have a great week.  

Mrs Lyon

Week 6 - 7-11 March

What to expect from Week 6!

By the end of this week we will be over halfway through the term.  Doesn't time fly!  Last week I received news that I qualify for classroom release time because I completed the Teacher Education Refresh Programme through The University of Waikato last year.  This means that 1 day a week I will work outside of the classroom.  Karla Sanders will be teaching the class during this time.  She has previously taught at One Day School and is currently involved with The Stick 'n Stones Cyber Safety programme.  She has loads of experience and I am so excited to not only have Karla as my release teacher, but also to be learning from her during this time.

Camp Information...Brace yourselves for a camp notice this week.  It looks likely that all parents keen to come can do so, which is just great!  There will be times when each parent will be driving a vehicle enabling everyone to have time on the trail with their kids.

PAT's - We have been making their way through our annual round of PAT testing.  Two tests were completed last week and I have two more to do this week.  I will be using some of my release time this Friday to record results for these tests.

Homework books are used in class during the week.  Please remind your little cherubs that when they put their lunchbox in their school bag, homework books should be in there too.

Study Ladder - this week I am hoping to see that each child in Room 5 has spent time during the week on study ladder.  I am considering not giving a maths sheet for homework if we can get all children in room 5 completing maths work online.

School Triathlon  This will be next week - Monday 14th March, from 12:00-2:30pm.

Next week I will be out of class on the 17th (St Patrick's Day) as I am updating my First Aid Certificate.

Not much else to report...let's all have a good week.

Mrs Lyon

Week 5 - Halfway through!

Hi there parents,

Apologies for the lateness in this post.  Not to worry as you haven't missed any action at all!

The children in Room 5 are working so well this week.  We have had a few interruptions with illness (a nasty bug floating around) but mostly we have had a full class and heaps of learning happening.  If for some chance your child picks up the bug we are encouraging you to keep you child home for a minimum of 48 hours after the last vomit (sorry) so as to reduce the chances of anyone else getting the dreaded lurgy.

Homework this week is as usual - reading for at least 20 minutes, a maths sheet, spelling words and time on study ladder.  It becomes obvious to me during the year who spends the time reading at home, so please do make an effort to see that reading happens.  It is so important for understanding what we read, for our writing and for our communication skills.

Please keep the du Plessis family in your prayers.  We heard the sad news last week that Frans (in Room 4) has been diagnosed with Leukaemia and is currently receiving treatment for his illness in Christchurch.  Please let me or Alyssa or Trina know if you can offer any assistance to the lovely du Plessis family.  At the very least, please keep them in your prayers.

Work attitude - Thanks to the wonderful parents of our Room 5 children for supporting me in my quest to getting the school work done.  Your encouraging of your child to bring their learning attitude to school means that with a full class of 31 we are chugging through my planning and learning lots of new stuff (for want of a better word).

Keep an eye out for a camp notice next week with an update on what we need to do to prepare for our trip.  Exciting times people!  It wouldn't hurt to get the old bike out of the shed and do a few laps with your kiddies.  Every bit of fitness will help us out on the trail.  

Closer to camp time we will be checking that bikes are in good riding order.   If you need help in this department I know of a cheap bike mechanic!!!

Have a great rest of your week. 

Mrs Lyon