Week 5 Term 3

Hi everyone,

Wow where is this term going?? We are almost half way through the term, which is very scary!!

I hope you all had a good week last week. This week is one of the last 'normal' ones before the madness hits us.

The children have been given their homework for this week. Spelling, reading, maths (division) and a new project for the next two weeks - cooking you and your family a delicious meal :)

Room 5 is on assembly this week and the whole school will be attending Mass at 12 as well. We are busy practicing the musical songs at 2.30 most afternoons. Things will start to come together a bit more in the next few weeks when children begin to practice their speaking parts together.

We have been out skipping for P.E and fitness as we are participating in The Heart Foundations 'Jump Rope for Heart' programme. If your child has their own skipping rope at home they are more than welcome to bring it into school, as we don't have enough for one each. More information about this will come out in the next few days.

Next week is going to be busy with the Catholic ERO team doing a review on the school from Tuesday - Thursday. The C.O Cross Country is on Tuesday - I will be going to Arrowtown with the children competing and the rest of Room 5 will be at school with Mr Yeoman for the day. 

SWIMMING:
Beginning next week Room 5 will be swimming every Thursday from 9.15-10.15. This is a tricky time as we wont have enough time to walk to the pool and get organised before the lesson begins. I will be at the pool at 9.00 and children can get dropped directly to the pool instead of coming to school first. If your child comes to school on the bus Mrs Eastwood will take them to the pool. We will be walking back to school after the lesson. Can you please email or text me to let me know how your child will be getting to the swimming pool on Thursdays as I need to ensure they all get there safely. 

They will need to get there no later than 9.00am!

If for any reason your child/ren can not swim on a particular day I need a note to explain this and they will still need to come to the pool.

Please get in touch with me if you have any questions or concerns about anything.

Have a great week.

Jo :)

Week 4 Term 3

Hi everyone,

What a fantastic week we had last week! The Cross Country was awesome and all of the children participated well. It was great to see all of the hard work paid off as everyone was able to finish the course with a smile. I was very impressed with the running skills that Room 5 showed! :) Thank you to all the parents who helped out on the day - we couldn't have done it without you!!

The dress up day on Friday was great. It was lots of fun and there were some outstanding outfits! Well done to everyone.

The St Gerard's open day is on Wednesday starting at 1.30 - the Choir and Kapa Haka groups will be performing as well as two other children from Room 5 who are taking on special jobs in the opening welcome.

On Friday we are having a Liturgy for the Feast of the Assumption at 9am. You are all welcome to join us.

We are starting to get into the swing of things for the musical. Room 5 has a few children with speaking parts so scripts will be coming home soon if they don't already have one. We are having singing practice most days at 2.30. Exciting times ahead!!

Children who have qualified for the C.O Cross Country will be bringing information home this week. The date for this event is Tuesday 26th August.

Homework for this week:
Project - completing 'current events' project which is due in on Friday
Spelling - working on conducting words correctly
Reading - daily please, anything from home or there is a range of journals at school that children can take home
Maths - times tables facts

Thanks,

Jo :)

Week 3 Term 3

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend! It's so nice to see the sunshine.

Sorry for the delay in posting today, I wanted to wait until after our staff meeting to ensure I didn't forget anything. :)

This week is busy, busy, busy. It's Book Fair Week so please don't forget to check out the awesome range of books on offer in the school Library.

Monday: homework handed out, Kapa Haka
Tuesday: Choir and singing (pm)
Wednesday: Wastebusters talk 9.30-10, Cross Country (starting 1pm)
Thursday: Back into full school uniform 
Friday: Dress up day - book character (Lorax) or bugs, there will be a parade at 11am. No assembly or mass this week. Otago V Southland pre-season game - Curtain raiser 1pm, main game starting at 2.30.

Homework this week is the same as last week - spelling, basic facts and reading. This fortnights project is 'current events'. More information is in your child's homework book.

Cross Country - Thank you to those who have offered to help on Wednesday. Lets hope all of our training will pay off on Wednesday and we will have a beautiful sunny afternoon. Please read through the information in the previous blog, if you have any questions please get in touch with me ASAP. :)

Rugby game on Friday - I have asked in class and it appears that a lot of the children are going to be leaving school to watch this game. Can you please let me know by email or text if you are intending on taking your child to the rugby. There is a possibility that I will take the rest of the class to the game (if they want to) but I will discuss this with the class and get a consent form home tomorrow if the class decides to go. It's not every day we have the best rugby players from the lower part of the South Island playing in Alex so we have to make the most of it. Obviously it is not everyones cup of tea so children who don't want to go will have the option to stay at school. Please get in touch with me if you have any concerns about this.

I hope you all have a great week. I'm sure I will see lots of you on Wednesday at the Cross Country cheering on the children.

Jo :)

Cross country information

The cross country is to be held in week 3 - 6th August. It will begin at approx 1pm

All children need to wear school sports uniform. Children who have a school tracksuit at home need to wear these over top of their sport uniform. They may wear this to school instead of their school uniform. If your child does not have a school tracksuit they may wear appropriate sports gear. Please bring a drink bottle some extra snacks and lots of warm clothing on this day.

Children will walk back to school with their teachers at the conclusion of the races. If parents wish to take their children home directly from the cross country, please bring a note prior the event.

The track will be the same as last year as long as the conditions are good. The children will be starting and finishing on the Rail Trail just over the Railway Bridge where we started and finished last year. Please park in the car park to your left directly across the Railway Bridge. The school will be congregating and sitting just along from here.

If you are able to help with marshalling please let Miss Passmore or Mrs Beilby  know ASAP.

Thanks :)

Term 3 -- Week 2

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend and have been able to enjoy the beautiful sunshine!

We had a great week last week catching up with everyone and hearing some awesome holiday stories. It sounds as though you all had a nice break.

This big event for this week is interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday. These are three way interviews so your child needs to attend these with you.
 If you still haven't made a time, please do so as soon as possible. At this stage there are 5 of you that have not made an appointment. If none of the times that are left suit you, please email me and we can arrange a time on another day. The website is www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and the booking code is: BJWN4

Cross country training is well underway. Everyone is looking great in their tracksuits and it certainly makes things a lot easier. Remember these can be worn all of week 2 and the beginning of week 3. The cross country will be held on Wednesday 6th August (week 3). Please encourage your child to run at home to help build up their fitness level. It's important that they enjoy running the cross country.

Homework:
This week the children need to be completing their projects on the Commonwealth Games. These will be presented on Friday.
Spelling will begin this week. Some children have new levels due to their results after testing last week. In some cases some children will be having the same words that they have had earlier in the year. This is ok as they are learning about spelling patterns as well as learning individual words.
Maths - basic facts worksheet
Reading - either set reading from me or a book from home.  

Have a great week, see you at interviews.

Jo :)

Term 3 - Week 1

Welcome back!!

I hope you all had a wonderful break! We now have 27 children in Room 5! Olly Lyon has returned to St Gerard's which is awesome, we are excited to have him with us. 

Term 3 is going to be full on with cross country, skipping, swimming, speeches and of course the musical near the end of the term. 

This week is going to be nice and quiet which will be a nice way to ease back into school!!! :)

Monday - Kapa Haka 
Tuesday - Mrs Donaldson teaching - Release day for me
Friday - Assembly 2.10, no 12pm mass this week.

Interviews are next week, please make sure you get in early to book your interview time. These will be mainly to look at your child's report that you would have received during the holidays.

Homework this week - maths, reading and a project to complete over the next two weeks. there is no spelling homework as we will be doing testing in class to establish new levels.

Hopefully you've all been in touch with Selena regarding camp fundraising. If you did not receive this notice on the last day of term, please let me know and I will send another one home today. :) During the holidays I booked accommodation at the Ranfurly Holiday Park so the camp dates will be Tuesday 2nd Dec - Thursday 4th Dec. More camp information will go out in the next few weeks.

If you have any questions please get in touch me. :)

Have a great week!

Jo

Term 2 Week 8

Hi everyone,

Sorry for being terrible with the updates on the class blog. 

Information for the remainder of the term.....

School Mass is this Sunday 29 June celebrating the feast of St John the Baptist and Saints Peter and Paul. Children are to wear their winter school uniform and meet us at 8.50 outside the church.  Families are asked to bring a plate for a shared morning tea and a food bank item for the Offertory.

We have our eisteddfods next week. By now your child should be well on their way to knowing their poem off by heart and be practicing it each night. This week there is no spelling or maths homework as the children need to ensure they know their poems well. They will be presenting them on Monday 30th (and Tuesday 1st if needed). We will be selecting 6 children to present their poems in the Eisteddfod Assembly on Thursday 3rd July. 

We are busy with skating this week and next week. Everyone did a great job on Tuesday and enjoyed themselves (only a few falls and tumbles on the ice). We are back up to the rink today and have enough transport to get everyone there and back. Next week (week 9) we are skating on Monday and Wednesday. If you are able to help with transport and you haven't let me know could you please do so ASAP so I can ensure we have enough seats to get to and from the skating rink. ALL students must now bring and wear a helmet while skating!!

Camp..... we are still finalising what we are going to do for camp and deciding if it is manageable to add on a Marae visit in Dunedin at the end or if we do that as a separate trip/event. I will be sending a letter home next week about fundraising as I still need to find a parent to coordinate the Room 5 fundraising. If you are interested in doing this, please text or email me.

We have had a busy and full on term and everyone is getting ready for a holiday. 

Please get n touch with me if you have any problems.

Have a good week and weekend - Go the Highlanders!!

Jo :)