Term 4

October 2011

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

It’s great to be back at school again with the final term ahead of us! The children have had a great holiday break and are buzzing with the World Cup celebrations! The next eight weeks are going to fly by! The Junior Team has planned some really exciting and varied learning opportunities for the students over this time, which include Junior Athletics, Junior Cross Country, our Education Outside The Classroom programme and a Christmas celebration concert.

In Oral Language the children will be sharing their personal news and be involved in a range of discussions including current events, thinking hats, the habits of mind and books on a daily basis.

In Te Reo the students will be gaining greater confidence in using Te Reo Maori in a range of contexts by speaking and responding to some common sentence structures. Students will also be exploring our native trees and birds, listening to stories including myths and legends and using both poi and te rakau. They will also be learning some new waiata including the New Zealand National Anthem and our school song in Maori.

Our focus for Writing this term will be writing poetry where the students will be using adjectives, nouns and verbs to make their poems interesting. They will also be writing recounts and letters using the correct format.

The ‘Letterland’ and ‘Smartphonics’ programmes will continue as part of our daily programmes in Reading as well as guided reading, shared reading and independent reading. Each child brings home a book every day to read and on Fridays a poem to share.

In Handwriting there is a focus on holding the pencil correctly and the accurate formation of all alphabet letters. The students are also trying to write letters using the correct slope and size and spacing between each of the letters.

In Mathematics, the children will be learning about volume and capacity, exploring number knowledge and also practice ways to strengthen their number strategies.

This term our major Inquiry topic is a health and physical education unit entitled “Safe in the Summer Sun”. The students’ will be identifying and carrying out ways to keep sun safe at home, at school and around water. They will investigate how the sun can help and harm us.

Our Physical Education programme will focus on athletics, moving in different ways, having fun moving, challenging themselves, sharing space and equipment and reflecting on the game, running and aquatics. The students will be learning and practicing athletic skills for a Junior Athletics event and running skills for our Cross Country to be held in week 6. Our focus for fitness will be Jumpjam on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays while on Thursdays and Fridays students will be using a range of equipment to learn and practice skills needed for games.

Our Visual Art topic is Mixed Media art. The students will be learning how to layer using a range of materials and make three-dimensional creations. They will evaluate their own work and other’s art.

This term the children will be using laptops to reinforce I.C.T. skills that they have been learning throughout the year. These skills include drawing and typing using the ‘Kidpix’ programme, using a mouse to navigate, point, click and drag, accessing classroom blogs and learning how to leave a comment.

Homework

Please help support your child in their learning by listening to them read for at least five minutes every day, read aloud to them daily, and help them to learn their reading rocket words, spelling words and basic facts.  The students get tested once a week on both their spelling words and basic facts.

Term 4 Junior Syndicate Dates:

• Junior Assembly – weeks 2 and 4. They will be on Fridays from 1.35 p.m. in the school hall.
• Junior Sport / Fitness – Jumpjam, Athletic Skills, Ball Skills, Running and Swimming.
• Enrichment programme is fortnightly on Thursday afternoon – Weeks 1 and 3
• Education Outside The Classroom week – Week 6
• Starting School at Five information evening – Week 6 Wednesday at 7 p.m.
• Junior Christmas Concert – Week 7 - Wednesday at 1.30 p.m.
• Reports and portfolios come home – Week 7 - Friday

Each class has a Classroom Blog so please visit these on a regular basis and post a comment. The students and teachers enjoy receiving these!

Please feel free to speak or email either your child’s classroom teacher or myself with your queries and celebrations. 

Yours in partnership,

The Junior School Team

Maureen Buckley – Deputy Principal buckley@muritai.school.nz,

Gabrielle Heath heath@muritai.school.nz, (Room 3) 

Barbara Ryan ryan@muritai.school.nz  (Room 1)

Sally Ingram ingram@muritai.school.nz  (Room 2)

Sheena Naik naik@muritai.school.nz  (Room 4)

Annabel Capper capper@muritai.school.nz, (Room 5)

Morag Roberts roberts@muritai.school.nz  Jo Salisbury salisburyjo@gmail.com (Room 6)

Margs Smith (Room 16) mills-smith@muritai.school.nz

Karen Jones jones@muritai.school.nz,  (Reading Recovery)   

Elizabeth Sullivan sullivan@muritai.school.nz, (Classroom Release)

Abby Wilton wilton@muritai.school.nz

Carolyn Murphy murphy@muritai.school.nz (Junior School teacher aides)