Monday 3rd February 2014
Tena koutou Parents and Caregivers;
Nga mihinui ki a koutou! It is great to be back at school; we’re
looking forward to a fantastic year together.
Te Whanau o nga Mahuri is made up of four classes this
year:
M11 Y3 Shanon Overly
M12 Y4 Adele Connor-Wills
M13 Y4
Amy Austin
M14 Y4 Ximena Aiken
We will work closely together, sharing our
teaching and learning. After a great
summer break, we’re raring to go. We’ve
been reading and thinking about fixed and growth mindsets about intelligence,
flipping classrooms, ways to encourage kids’ persistence and
resilience, developing strong learning dispositions and attitudes through
risk-taking and metacognition (thinking about how we think and learn) and lots
more. Come and have a chat to us about
your thoughts on education and what makes a well-rounded human being – we’re
keen to hear your ideas!
Our first Inquiry is Te Whare Tapawha: how healthy are we? exploring concepts of hauora: te taha tinana –
physical wellbeing, te taha hinengaro – mental and emotional wellbeing, te taha
wairua – spiritual wellbeing (e.g. attitudes, mindfulness), and te taha whanau
– social wellbeing.
We will investigate
the ways that the elements of hauora are interconnected, and look at choices we
make to develop our own wellbeing and that of others. In a few weeks’ time this will involve some
analysis and tracking of eating, sleeping, exercise, and their impact on
moods! Later in the term we hope to take
action, applying our learning in a tangible way. We will also spend time developing our new
class culture by identifying each person’s learning styles, strengths and areas
they want to develop. We invite you and
your whanau to join us on Wednesday 9th April for an inquiry
exhibition afternoon from 2-3pm.
In Maths we will focus on Statistics
and Number: addition and subtraction. We
will be writing about personal experience through recounts and poetry,
using our observations in our writer’s journals for inspiration. Our Physical Education focuses are volleyball,
skipping, and cross country training ready for the school cross country day in
Term 2. The Y4s will swim at the Kilbirnie Aquatic Centre in Term 2, and the
Y3s will have their turn in Term 4.
In Y3 and 4, the main focus of Reading
moves from learning to read to reading to learn. As well as
gathering facts and information, children are developing their use of
comprehension strategies, e.g. asking questions, making inferences, making
connections from the text to themselves/ another text/ the world. Children will develop their independent use
of these comprehension strategies through literature circles and passion
projects. Guided reading lessons may
take place over a few days as we read, discuss and analyse the text.
Children will bring books home around twice a week to share with you. On
the other weekdays we encourage children to read a book from their independent
book box or from the library and to track this in their home learning reading
log. It is still important that they read with you each night. We
read a poem each week that children will bring home on Fridays to share
(and perhaps learn off by heart). Please
return poetry books to school on Mondays.
To kick off the year by celebrating great
literature, we would like to invite parents and whanau to come in and read
a favourite picture book. Whether it’s The
Lion in the Meadow or Kimi and the Watermelon, we'd love you to come
and share a beautiful book (or two) with the class.
This year our home learning will
consist of a fortnightly spelling list, an ongoing reading log, basic facts
practice and optional writing and Inquiry activities.
Children will share personal news on
Mondays and Tuesdays. We will focus on
current events on Wednesdays – children are encouraged to bring a piece of
local/ national/ international news to share. On Thursdays and Fridays our oral
language focus will be te reo Maori, starting with mihimihi, greetings, and
feelings.
We
would like to use last year’s portfolio for goal-setting this term – if
you could send it in to school, we’ll have a look and return it before the end
of week 3. Thanks!
At lunchtime teachers supervise
children’s eating for 10 minutes, making sure they eat the healthiest bits
first. Children stay seated until the
second bell rings at 12.45pm. We would
encourage children to bring a healthy lunch (we'll be investigating these in
our inquiry learning) without any plastic wrap so as to minimise waste and
playground rubbish.
We would like to invite all Mahuri
whanau to a community picnic in the
top block on Wednesday 19th
Feb from 5-6.30pm. A chance to
say hello and catch up on each others’ summers! BYO fish ‘n’ chips and rug.
Reminders
All children need to wear sunhats at
break and lunchtimes this term. To feed
their brain, we encourage children to have a drink bottle in class. If children are late for school (after
the 8.55am bell), they need to go to the office to let them know they are
here. The library is open from 8.10am –
8.30am to supervise children who arrive early.
Then children can play outside until the bell rings at 8.55am.
Requests
We would welcome contributions of old
shirts, newspapers and ice-cream containers for art, and a
box of tissues for a class supply (if possible). Shanon’s on the hunt for a mat/rug for her
classroom floor – do you have one you could spare?
If you are able to support the classroom
programme with parent help, please let us know – we so appreciate your
help with reading groups or spelling testing etc.
Important dates
Thursday 6th February: Waitangi day
Friday 7th February: Teachers' only
day
Tuesday 11th
February: parent-teacher meetings
Tuesday 18th February: visit to Te Marae at Te Papa
Wednesday 19th February: Mahuri
community fish & chips evening
– 5pm-6.30pm
Friday 28th February: school hangi
Wednesday 2nd April (postponement 3rd
April): Jump Rope for Heart day,
1 – 2.30pm
Friday 4th April: noho marae at
Pipitea Marae
Wednesday 9th April: Mahuri inquiry
exhibition afternoon, 2pm-3pm –
parents and whanau welcome
Friday 11th April: Teachers’ only
day
Thursday 17th April: last day of
Term 1
Friday 18th April: Good Friday
Advance
notice: At the end of Term 4 we will have a sleepover
at the zoo. M12 & M13 will stay
on Wednesday 10th December, and M10 & M14 will stay on Thursday
11th December. This will cost
$40 per child (to be paid in Term 4). We
will let you know more details closer to the date!
I’m really looking forward to teaching M13
this year. If there is anything you’d
like to discuss about your child’s learning, please don’t hesitate to email me,
amyaustin@islandbay.school.nz, to make a time for a meeting.
Noho ora mai,
AMY
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