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

22nd-26th Feb

Thanks to those of you who came to our Meet the Teacher evening on Wednesday.  I did go on a bit (sorry) but I wanted you all to be understanding of our classroom programme.  Thanks for listening and also your encouragement.  31 is a big class and I am so lucky to have keen kids and supportive parents.

CAMP MEETING THIS THURSDAY EVENING - FEBRUARY 25th - 7:30pm!!!
I have made this top of the list so you all see it first and commit to coming along on Thursday if you need to hear what's happening, put yourself forward as a parent helper or can help with any camp needs.
During the week I will be talking to the class about their dietary requirements - bare in mind I am not talking gourmet options, just whether or not we have gluten free/vegetarian/allergies etc.
The date of the camp may not suit you all but I have chosen to have the camp this term because I believe the bonding which happens on camp is beneficial to relationships between the kids throughout the year - not at the end before summer holidays.   I also know that Term 4 can sometimes be so busy that camp doesn't really get the energy it deserves.
If you cannot make the meeting but need to chat with me, feel free to drop me an email.
carolynlyon@stgerards.school.nz

Homework
Homework this week will be spelling words, 20 minutes reading each night and a maths sheet.
There are also set tasks on study ladder.  All logins for this site are in the kid's homework books.

DOJO FOCUS
The class dojo focus this week will be job responsibility and care and set up of our own things.
Encourage this as much as you like at home - ha ha - like you don't already!

I have popped a message on our whiteboard for each child to bring a box of tissues along to school. During the winter months it is handy to have a box available so that we minimise the spreading of germs.  I know it's not cold yet, but if we could be prepared for when the seasons change it would make Room 5 a healthier place to be.  No hurry for this - just as you next think about it thanks.

St Gerard's Garden
On Friday Room 5 spent an hour and a bit in the school garden.   With the help of Mr Yeoman, Sue Brydges, Regina Adams and Rachael Mackie the kids got stuck in to their new job roles and we had our first day of contributing to the upkeep of a very special area of our school.  Next time you are here do take a look and do a lap.  It is nothing but organic goodness!

Have a great week,

Mrs Lyon.

15^th-19^th February

This week is our first full week at school with no days off!  I had a word to Room 5 last week about being kind to themselves and others if they were feeling tired.  This was more of an act of kindness to oneself as opposed to a behaviour reminder.

Important dates for this week.

• Swimming – Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons - please remember swimming gear.  We'll be walking again and if you can come to walk with us, please do.
• Wednesday evening - Meet the teacher evening - 5.30-7pm at school.  Bring a picnic dinner for your family and mingle and chat with the teachers and other families from school.
• Swimming sports Thursday morning.  Please see last week's newsletter for any information regarding this - DRESS IN HOUSE COLOURS PLEASE!
• Thursday afternoon - NZ Playhouse Performance

That's all I can think of at the moment for activities this week.  I will dojo message any updates.

Homework

Study ladder usernames and passwords have been given to the children for use at school and at home.  I have set activities appropriate for the Year level your child is at.  If you want to discuss levels with me, please do so.  You may find that your child needs more of a challenge, or that they are finding the level I have set too challenging.  If this is the case, please let me know.  I encourage you to get your child active on this website as we can access bonus activities when we have kids participating.  I use study ladder for my own children at home and it’s good, relevant learning at the child’s level.

I expect every child to spend at least 20 minutes reading each night as well as learn their spelling words.  Work on spelling will happen during the week at school during reading time as I encourage a depth of word knowledge – not just rote learning of words.

Computer battery is low and charger is at school....

See y'all Wednesday evening.  It'll be a good chance for us to have a brief chat about camp too!

Mrs Lyon

FEBRUARY 9th-12th

Hi All,
I hope you enjoyed the long weekend and made the most of the stunning weather.  I took my kids camping at Glendhu Bay - what a great place to get away to and practice my relaxing skills.  I managed to prove to Olly that I could in fact do a circuit on the water skis!

This week in Room 5

Swimming:  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - please make sure your child brings their togs, goggles and towel.  We will be walking to and from the pool leaving school around 1pm.  I have had two offers from parents to accompany us on our walks.  Please come and join us if you can.

Ash Wednesday: There will be a mass on Wednesday at 11am to mark the beginning of Lent.  All parents and family are welcome.  This is a parish mass which the school will be attending.

Assembly:  Room 5 are on Assembly this week.  Not a lot has happened so far this year but we have a few art items we will be sharing.  If you would like to come along, please do.

A reminder to students to bring their drink bottles to school - keeping up with hydration in this warm weather makes it so much easier to concentrate in class.

Glue Sticks - please be sure to supply 4 glue sticks if you haven't already.  These were left off the stationery list sorry.  Please have them named.

Have a great week.


Mrs Lyon

p.s. that is not me in the pic...

Welcome to Room 5's first blog post for 2016

Only joking - no homework this week!

I am really looking forward to seeing the kids on Wednesday, and I am sure they will be looking forward to catching up with their peers! 

What to bring

1) School Hat! - Wednesday is supposed to be a scorcher so it's vital that all children bring their uniform hats with them to school.
2) Swimming Togs.  If it's a roasting hot day we may have the sprinklers on for a bit of a cool down in the afternoon.
3)  Stationery.  The pre-packed boxes of books etc are ready to be picked up in the foyer on Tuesday (tomorrow).

We have a really busy term with many different sporting and other events.   There are also a few holidays peppered through Term 1 and we finish week 10 with the bi-annual Rail Trail camp.  As I get more information regarding the above events I will be sure to keep you all posted.

If you would like to come in and say Hi on Wednesday morning before school, please do.  I am sure there will be a few anxious feelings about a new teacher/new room and sometimes having a parent come along for support can help ease first day nerves a little.

That's all I can think of for now.  We have had a very busy day at school today and will probably have a repeat tomorrow.

See you all Wednesday,

Mrs Lyon

Ha Ha ! It is late and I laughed out loud at this. 

P.S.  Definitely not a crazy cat lady, just enjoyed these two memes today.