Term 2 Week 4 Certificate

This morning Maria received a certificate at the school assembly.

Ka pai, Maria, we are proud of you.

This week has been a bit different with swimming each day. Everyone has coped very well with the change in routine and I am very proud of they way they all Stepped Up for Success. The children's behaviour was superb. A special THANK YOU to all parents who were able to help us, your support ensures the success of swim week.

We did manage a little bit of reading and writing and now have our first retelling of a fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs, on the wall for you to enjoy. Come in on Tuesday and check it out! Here's a preview:

The first little pig made a house out of straw. After he finished he was playing in his garden. He knew the big bad wolf would come but he thought that the wolf wouldn’t have a trick up his sleeve. Alex

The first little pig saw a man carrying straw.“Hey,” the pig said, “May I have some of your hay?”The man said, “Yes.” The pig was proud and happy with his house. Uriel

The wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house down. Then the pig got eaten. Ollie

Splash! The wolf fell into the pot that the pig put there. The pig laughed at him. The pig quickly shut the pot and never saw the wolf again. Callum

Next week will again be a bit different with Queen's Birthday on Monday - hopefully a sleep-in for all. We will be back into our routine, including spelling homework. Please keep up the reading over the long weekend, and have a look at Mathletics as well. 

Safe travels to those on the move.

Swimming

Everything is going well with our swimming so far. The cold weather and the few flakes of snow yesterday gave way to sunshine today. The bus ride is a highlight of swim week for most children, though a few did say they would like to walk to the pool! A big thank you to all our parents who have been helping in the changing rooms after swimming, we do so appreciate it.
Here's a few photos from today's session:

Sophie

Maria

Lachlan and Ephrem

Ollie

James

Alex

Term 2 Week 4

This week's 'Star of the Week' is Bridie.

Congratulations, Bridie, it's great to have you in Room 5.

This morning was our first swim day. Thank you so much for having your child at school early. It meant that we were ready to leave school on time. The children enjoyed their lessons and coped with the freezing outside weather after being in a warm environment. Some children appreciated having a beanie to wear after their swim. If you do send a beanie with your child, please ensure it is named. Here's Ryan listening to his swim instructor. I plan to take some more photos tomorrow.

Today Elspeth turned 8. 

We sang 'Happy Birthday' and wished her all the best as an 8 year old.

The top three Week 3 Mathletes are: Joe, Isabella and Bridie. Well done and keep up the good work.

Bridie also made the Top 100 NZ Students Leader Board, coming in at number 67. A great achievement Bridie.

After the games on Saturday Hamish (rugby) and James (rugby) were named 'Player of the Day' for their respective teams. Congratulations boys.

Term 2 Week 3 Assembly Certificate

At this week's assembly Ephrem was presented with a certificate.

Ka pai, Ephrem, we are proud of you.

Nicholas received the Homework Award for his spelling sentences. Well done, Nicholas, keep up the good work.

On Friday five members of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra came to share some music with us. Peter was chosen to blow the reed of a clarinet. After a few puffs Peter managed to make a sound. He was very pleased with his efforts - maybe he is a clarinetist in the making. 

Here's some of our thoughts about this visit:

Today we saw the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. It was fun. I felt very happy because I like listening to music. It felt like I was in a dream. I really liked the harp. Sometimes it was loud, sometimes it was quiet. Sometimes it was soft, sometimes it was fast. By Aysha

Today we saw some people. One had a harp, one had a flute, one had a violin and there was a person with a violin but it was a big violin (a cello). By Maria

Today I watched the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra with their instruments. I was amazed. I liked when they played The Simpsons because it was funny. It was a little bit loud. I have never seen a violin that was so small. By Ryan

Joe had his 7th birthday on Saturday so we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. We wish you a great year being 7.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Junior School Mass this morning. The children were well behaved and those who greeted, read, prayed and did the data projector should be proud of how well they performed their roles. Thanks Joe, Addison, Elspeth, George and Peter.

This week we are swimming at Wharenui Pool. Half of Room 5 will leave school at 9am with Room 3 and the other half will leave at 9:30am with Room 6. I will be traveling with the second group. If you have any questions about swimming, please just ask me.

Swim week is great but it does change our routines so this week we will be reading plays instead of group reading (children are still expected to choose a book from their browsing boxes to bring home to read each night) and we will not have spelling homework. Again, if you have any questions or concerns please come in and talk to me.

Term 2 Week 3 'Star of the Week'

This week's 'Star of the Week' is Addison.

Ka pai, Addison, it's great to have you in Room 5.

This morning we celebrated our latest successes:

George (rugby) and Elspeth (hockey) received 'Player of the Day' awards. Ka pai.

Lachlan and Addison ran in the Tiddler Fun Run at Hagley Park on Sunday. They each received a certificate and a medal, thanks to Addison's Dad.

Mathletics certificates were given to Lachlan, Isabella and Joshua. As less than half the class gained a certificate we did not have a 'Mathlete of the Week'.

Looking ahead - Next Sunday 25 May at 9am the Junior School children are expected to attend mass with their class at Christ the King Church. Please put this date in your diary.

Term 2 Week 2

At the school assembly Callum and Joe received certificates.

Ka pai, Callum and Joe we are proud of you.

On Tuesday Adrian from Reading Rocks came to talk to us about the wonders of reading. He told us that he learnt how to juggle by reading a 'How to juggle' book. Adrian showed us some other books he'd read and then he did some juggling for us. Elspeth was Adrian's helper. She had to catch the juggling balls in a hat.

Spelling homework has recommenced. We have discussed the expectations and this term there will be a weekly Homework Award given each Friday. I will now be collecting the spelling books on Thursdays so they will not be coming home on Thursday night. Spelling tests (of the week's words) will still be on Friday afternoons.

The expectations are:

1. The day and date must be written before the sentences.

2. The word is written out at least once before each sentence.

3. Sentences must start with a capital letter and end with a full stop, or other appropriate punctuation.

4. The spelling word must be spelt correctly. (It is ideal that all words are correctly spelt, but the focus is on the list word.)

5. Each sentence should have a different beginning.

6. One sentence each day should be a compound sentence, using a joining word such as because, but, so, and.

If you have any questions about the spelling homework (or anything else that we are doing) please come and talk to me or send me an email.

Term 2 Week 2 'Star of the Week'

Congratulations to Ryan, this week's 'Star of the Week'

Ka pai, Ryan, it's great to have you in Room 5.

Mathletics News:
Ashleigh received her first Bronze Mathletics certificate. Ka pai, Ashleigh.
The top three Mathletes for last week are: Lachlan, Peter and George.
Joshua was named 'Mathlete of the Week'.

Ka pai to you, and to everyone who gained a certificate. Keep up the good work. 

On Monday mornings we catch up on our sporting successes. Everyone who played sport gave a brief report of their game. Congratulations to Joe, who was named 'Player of the Day' for his soccer team. Also congratulations to Connie who came second in a Canterbury Cross Country race at Bottle Lake. 

It's great to have so many Room 5 people involved in sport.


A reminder for Wednesday: Please bring your recorder for your music lesson.

Term 2 Week 1

Zach received the first certificate for Term 2. 

Ka pai, Zach, we are proud of you.

We have settled into our new room and are enjoying the space. If you have not yet been able to come in, please do so. 

This week we have had our two visits to the Life Education Mobile Classroom and met Harold. For most of us this was the first time we have experienced this classroom. We talked about friendships and what makes a good friend. We do have a follow-up work book, which we will look at in class before it comes home. 

Next week we continue our topic of Fairy Tales. 

Term 2 Day 1

It was great to see you all back this morning. Thank you for the positive comments about our new classroom. We did enjoy being in it and so far the current layout is working. We would like to get a few more (smaller) cushions so if you have any spare please bring them in. (If you would like them back at the end of the year, please name them.)

Over the holidays a few people used Mathletics. This morning three Silver Mathletics certificates were presented. Congratulations to: Lachlan, Hamish and Joshua.
Peter made the World Top 100 Students, coming in at number 51, and 21 on the Top 100 NZ Students board. By the time we managed to get a screen shot he was at number 89 - just shows how quickly things can change. Well done, Peter.
I attended a Mathletics course in the holidays and have learnt a lot. I have created a new course on patterning and will regularly update the courses. Please keep practicing the Basic Facts - Live Mathletics is a fun way to do this. Each week everyone who gains a certificate goes in the draw for the 'Mathlete of the Week' trophy, so keep solving those problems.

If you haven't yet been into our room, please make a visit - it is a super learning space for us.

Start of Term 2

The holidays are coming to an end and it's time to start thinking of getting ready for another term. I trust you have all had a relaxing break, even though the weather hasn't been kind.
Our new classroom is ready for us - check out these photos - and I know we are going to enjoy being in it.
I am looking forward to seeing you all on Monday morning and catching up with your holiday news. Remember to bring your (cleaned out) pencil case and your library book.