Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Kia Ora Koutou!
We are back! I hope that you were able to get out and about with your children and enjoy the holiday break. Term 1 was a very busy term. The students did a great job in all learning areas. They got stuck in to the swimming sessions and swimming sports at the beginning of the term, which was awesome to see.
Camp was a GREAT success again. The students had such a blast! If haven’t seen the ‘infamous’ teacher’s camp video, you can see it here: https://youtu.be/dRMmTWn2WXo.
There is also a folder which has all of the photos that were taken by the teachers/parents.
You can find that here:
The students also displayed HUGE enthusiasm for our Wahine inquiry topic, which enabled them to explore the tragedy that happened 50 years ago on our ‘doorstep’. The Wahine museum in the school library, and the rest of our syndicate artefacts in Room 9, were amazing.
I would like to acknowledge our Road Safety team who worked tirelessly each morning and afternoon to ensure everyone stayed safe on our roads. This term we will have a number of Year 6 Peer Mediators in the playground. They will be a part of helping to keep Muritai School an inclusive, friendly environment for all. Our Year 6 Kererū student leaders have also been planning a few exciting activities for our syndicate too.
Term 2 is going to be another very exciting term with a continued focus on the ‘BASICS’…Reading, Writing and Maths. There will be a ‘Celebration of Learning’ evening at the end of the term. The ‘Celebration of Learning’ is an opportunity for you to come, with your child, and have them share their learning from the past two terms. The mid year written reports will also be given out at the end of term as well.
Our Values...
This term we will be focusing on the values of ‘Curiosity’ and ‘Excellence’. These values fit nicely with our ‘staples’ of numeracy and literacy and also with the continuing focus of being ‘the best we can be’. We encourage you to discuss these values with your child and talk about how they have demonstrated them during the day at school.
Our Inquiry...
Our BIG IDEA for the inquiry-learning topic: Eureka! - Change can be observed, measured, controlled and responded to.
The students will investigate the following science concepts:
- Substances have physical properties that can be described. We can use these properties to group them. When a physical change takes place, a substance changes its form only. (for eg, ice may melt to form liquid water, but it is still water).
- Substances have chemical properties that can be described and used to group them. We can investigate the chemical properties of a substance by observing the way the substance reacts with certain other substances. When a chemical change takes place, new substances are formed.
Students will also understand that scientists answer their questions by using ‘fair tests’ and comparing their results by measuring them.
We are always keen to connect with the wealth of expertise in our local community. If you have a background in this field and you would be willing to come in and talk to our students as a ‘real world expert’, it would be hugely appreciated. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher.
Literacy...
We will have a multi writing focus this term, where the students will explore a variety of genre (procedural and narrative) . Our writing and reading lessons will be linked to our inquiry topic, as much as possible. The class reading programme will focus on developing comprehension skills, which are essential for our learners to know, understand and use.
Maths...
Our focus for maths will primarily be on multiplication and division (and fractions, proportions and ratios) problem solving strategies. We will also be looking at the maths strand of Measurement. There are a couple of new tools for home learning this year. The first is Prototec Basic Fact Maths Practice (https://maths.prototec.co.nz/). This tool allows the students to practice their basic facts at range of levels. Another tool that is useful for practicing maths skills is Prodigy Maths (https://www.prodigygame.com/). Most students were introduced to Prodigy Maths in Term 1. It is highly engaging. Please see the classroom teacher for a login and password (there is also a parent portal so that you can see how well your child is doing). Please encourage your children to use these tools during home learning to practice their maths.
Health & Physical Education...
We will start the term fitness sessions where we left off in term 1…training for our school cross-country event that is on Thursday 24th May (pp. Friday 25th May). We will also train our team (those who place in the top 10 at the school cross country event) for the South East Zone cross country which is to be held on Tuesday 29th May. Skipping will be a part of our PE programme for the first half of the term. In the second half of the term our physical education programme will be focused on Gymnastics. Please ensure your child wears suitable clothing to ensure they can participate in all PE activities.
This term we welcome Constable Blue who will be involved in helping the staff to facilitate the ‘Kia Kaha;’ programme. Through the Kia Kaha programme the students develop strategies for respectful relationships where bullying behaviours are not tolerated. The resources will help students to learn:
- about the impact of bullying
- a range of personal skills to prevent bullying
- what they can do if they have been or are being affected by bullying behaviour.
New Zealand Bullying free week is from 14th - 18th May. We will be having a ‘Pink Shirt day’ (https://www.pinkshirtday.org.nz/) to symbolise a stand against bullying.
Things to note...
Dates to remember…
Tuesday 15th May (p.p. Thursday 17th May) – South East Zone Football Tournament
Friday 18th May - Pink Shirt Day
Thursday 25th May (p.p. Friday 26th May) – Y3-8 School Cross Country
Tuesday 29th May (p.p. Thursday 31st May) – South East Zone Cross Country
Tuesday 19th June (p.p. Thursday 21st June) - Inter Zone Cross Country
Tuesday 3rd July (p.p.Thursday 5th July) - Regional Cross Country
*Important Reminders…
Homework
The focus for homework is the basics; reading and maths (using Prototec and/or Prodigy). Each individual class may also have extra learning activities connected to the class learning programme (Homework will be given out each Monday and is due back in on Friday).
Slippers
We have a ‘shoes-off’ policy throughout the winter months (Terms 2 & 3) to help keep the classrooms and corridors clean and dry. There are ‘shoe racks’ or places for students to keep their shoes throughout the day. Students may bring slippers to wear around in the classroom.
Syndicate Assemblies
In term 2 we will continue to have ‘informal’ syndicate assemblies each week. We will blog, on the classroom blogs, the important notices or messages from each assembly.
Class Blogs
The class blogs are a great way for you to capture a ‘glimpse’ of what is going on in/outside of the classroom. We encourage you to visit often! We would also like to see the students commenting on the posts that are made, as it is a great way for the students to reflect.
Room 16 - http://mrmckays.blogspot.co.nz/
‘Keeping in touch’
As always, your first port of call for anything is your child’s teacher. We can be contacted by our email address or feel free to pop in before/after school for a quick chat. If you wish to talk about your child’s learning at any stage of the year, you do not have to wait until parent interviews. Your child’s teacher will be happy to talk to you – however please be aware that on Monday and Tuesday after school we usually have staff/team meetings.
Please note that we will do our utmost to respond to emails within 24 hours, but we may well not see these during teaching times (8.45 – 3pm). If your message is urgent, please call the office to ensure that we receive it.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to continuing our work alongside you!
Ma whero ma pango ka oti ai te mahi
Mauri ora! Kia ora!
Deane McKay and the Team Kererū Teachers
