Term 2, Week 1

Hi folks,

Welcome back to school for Term 2!  I trust you've all enjoyed some quality time with the kids and that you are happy to send them back to school to me tomorrow.

Learning Focus' for Term 2
For Literacy this term we'll be focusing on Narrative writing.  There'll be investigations into language features in our reading and we'll be planning and writing narratives to be published.
Maths will have a focus on Multiplication and Division and our strand will be Geometry - position and orientation.
RE Strands covered will be Prayer, Sacrament and God
Our big idea for the term is Living in Harmony which will be covered through student Inquiry.

ALiM
We have been lucky enough to receive funding to have an ALiM (Accelerated Learning in Mathematics) programme run at school this term.  I will be teaching 2 focus groups for this.  During the afternoons from Monday to Thursday while I get release to teach this,  Mrs Bennett will be teaching in Room 5 for 1 hour each afternoon.   I am excited to have the opportunity to teach small group Maths to a small group of students.

Ski Camp
Ski Camp will happen next term from August 21-25.  As we stay at the Vincent Ski Hut and accommodation is limited the class will be split into 2 groups -  Year 5 will ski from Monday to Wednesday and Year 6 will ski from Wednesday to Friday.  Keep an eye on the blog for a meeting date around week 4 of this term to discuss the camp and get some initial planning/parental support etc underway.

Homework
Please ensure reading happens daily with your child.  Spelling homework will come home and this term with a focus on Multiplication/Division for Maths I'd like to hear feedback that the tables are being practised at home.  At our house I encourage Sophia to begin by choosing a table she is working on and then just skip count - 4, 8, 12 ...48 to familiarise the brain with the numbers in the 4 x tables.  Saying, writing, testing for a few minutes each day will help the facts to stick.  I suggest picking one table - like the 4's - and just focusing on that until the answers are remembered.
Usually 2's, 5's and 10's a learned first, followed by 3's and 4's and then 6,7,8 and 9s.   A maths worksheet will come home every week.

Have a great week everyone.

Mrs Lyon