Welcome to another busy term! A special warm welcome to the new children and their families who have joined us over the past term! We hope that you have settled in well.
The Junior School teaching team have planned a wonderful variety of learning experiences for your child to take part in over the next ten weeks so we hope that they have all had a lovely, relaxing holiday and are refreshed ready for new learning and to build on what they already know.
The 'Celebration of Learning' afternoon and evening was a great success and very much enjoyed by both the students and family members alike. The students did an amazing job of explaining their learning and sharing what they have been doing over the past six months at school. Thank you all for coming along to support your child in their learning. We had 100 % turnout in the Junior School. We do hope you have a clearer understanding of what they are working on and how you can further support this at home. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.
'Science week' was lots of fun too. The children loved making and flying their kites as part of Matariki as well as taking part in a variety of scientific experiments throughout the week. Please ask them to explain to you what they did and why things happened.
The term ahead -
Key Competencies
The Key Competencies are Managing Self, Participating and Contributing, Relating to others, Thinking and Using Language, Symbols and Texts and they underpin all that we do. Our modern learning and teaching environments use the Key Competencies to encourage students to take charge of their learning. For further explanation of what each of these areas encompasses, please ask your child's teacher or go to www.tki.org.nz
Values
Over the school year we focus upon different values and this term we will be working on self confidence and commitment in particular.
Fitness
It is important for all the students to warm up their bodies ready for learning so we begin each day with physical activities to do this. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will be having Jumpjam again in the hall from 8.40 a.m. Parents and Caregivers are very welcome to join in with the Jumpjam routines along with your child but please do not stand around the hall talking as the students need to be able to concentrate on performing the Jumpjam movements. On Thursday and Fridays the students will be learning new skills with skipping ropes as well as relays and ball activities. Some Year 1 classes will also continue the Perceptual Motor Programme (P.M.P.)
Literacy
Oral language is the key to learning and we place a firm emphasis on
speaking clearly so that each child can communicate their ideas in sequence and
that what they say is understood by other people. This involves a myriad of
things from looking at the person who is speaking, waiting for your turn, being
polite, using manners to using a correct volume for example. We also have a big
focus on listening to others without interrupting them e.g. when they
are speaking, contributing ideas, reading out loud, presenting some work.
Reading is a big focus and children partake in reading throughout the day every day. They have guided reading sessions with their teacher to support the strategies that they are working on to doing work involving alphabet sounds using the Letterland or Smartphonics programmes, to re-reading writing, taking part in different activities e.g. independent reading of big books, poems, library books to name a few during the literacy
rotations, inquiry, or using Ipads. They bring home a book to practice reading
to you on Mondays through to Thursdays. These books should be easy and are designed to give your child practice in reading fluently and confidently using a range of strategies not laboriously sounding out words letter by letter. On Fridays, they have a poem to share that
has focussed upon the letter sound/blend of the week. Students in Year 1 will also have a reading wall which encourages the quick uptake of the high frequency words that they will meet in their reading books.
We encourage adults to continue reading aloud to their child on a daily basis. Listening to stories for about five minutes daily where your child hears a good model helps your child immensely to be successful readers themselves. We also suggest you ask your child questions about the story that you or they have read as it is understanding that is the key to reading not just parroting the words.
We offer a school subscription to Reading Eggs if you would like one for your child. It will cost $20 now and goes through to the end of February next year. It is suitable for students aged from 3 to 13 years and works on different aspects of reading, comprehension and spelling. If you would like a subscription please send along $20 to Jo in the school office.
Your child also does lots of writing throughout the day. This term the
writing genre we will focus on will be innovations and argument writing. They will also do writing as part of our inquiry. The students will move through their individual learning steps whether they be an
increase of their output, writing in a set structure, placing spaces between
their words, editing or adding capital letters and fullstops to the correct
places.
Spelling programmes continue in each class in conjunction with the spelling rockets for Year 2. All students need to be able to spell 290 words from the Essential Words lists accurately over their first two years at school. The students practice and get the words correct in their weekly test but it is more important that they are able to transfer these words and spell them correctly every time in their everyday writing. The students, of course can also spell more words than these 290.
Handwriting is also part of the daily programme. It is very important that the students learn to hold their pencil correctly, develop hand dominance and accurately form all letters of the alphabet, both upper and lower case as well as all numbers to 100 over their first two years at school. Over this time they also work on reducing the size of letters as well as accurate placement on lines. If your child is writing at home, please encourage them to pinch their pencil and remind them that the letters start from the top and go down. We are trialling the use of 'porcupine' balls as many students find holding their pencil difficult and this is impeding their progress in a variety of curriculum areas. If you would like to purchase one to have at home please send along one dollar to Jo in the school office.
In Te Reo, this term we will continue with our work around Matariki as well as waiata, rakau and poi and an understanding of local place names and enjoy some Maori Language week activities.
Numeracy
In Mathematics, the students will be increasing their number knowledge with a focus on addition and subtraction in Year 1 along with multiplication and division in Year 2. Everyone will also be learning about money, which will involve the recognition of notes and coins and comparing their value as well as giving change for the older students. Later in the term, they will be learning about measurement and in particular ordering and comparing the length of different objects. Year 2 will also be continuing with Basic Facts carriages and all students in our school are enrolled in Mathletics. If you have misplaced your child's login details and password or have any questions relating to Mathletics please do not hesitate to ask your child's teacher. Some classes have been involved in the 100 days at school and this is approaching fast for them. Your child will be involved in a range of mathematical activities involving the number one hundred. If this concerns your child, their teacher will notify you.
Inquiry
This term, our major Inquiry topic is entitled
'Mighty Magnets' and has a technology focus. Our big idea for our topic is that
we use magnets in everyday life so we are going to design, construct and
evaluate a suitable magnet that will be strong enough to hold our homework on the fridge. We are currently
investigating how magnets work, the jobs that they do and what they will and
will not stick to. The students have been using magnetic sand, Magnetix and
also been playing fishing games.The Junior School Science club has begun this week with fifteen students working with Mrs Ryan, at a time, in four week blocks and this will continue
each Thursday at lunchtime.
The Arts
The Visual Art topic this term involves mixed media and will involve the students working with a wide variety of materials to create art works. Some classes will continue to work with Mrs Hooke in Performing Arts. The students who performed on stage at the full school assembly at the end of the term did a great job with the playing of the musical instruments and doing different dances.
Physical Education
Along with daily fitness the students also do physical education lessons. This term they will be focusing upon large ball skills involving passing, dribbling, catching and bouncing. They will also be learning a range of skipping skills using a rope so they need to wear suitable shoes for these activities. We will be doing a 'Jumpoff' on Monday September 7th if it is fine and we will be fundraising for the New Zealand Heart Foundation. Details about this will be sent home at a later date.
Other items
Last term we had visits of groups of pre schoolers from East Harbour Kindergarten, Barnardos Early Learning Centre and Day's Bay Playcentre and these will continue this term.
Our successful 'Hooked on Books' programme will continue each week this term. Thank you so much to the adults who have volunteered to listen to our students read. You are making a difference and the students look forward to working with you.
The next 'Starting School at five' Parent Information evening for those who have preschool children will be held on Wednesday September 2nd in room 3 at 7 p.m.
We will be having parent conferences later this term and this will be an opportunity for you to meet with your child's teacher for an update on their progress. If you have any questions before then please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.
Each class has a blog. Please visit them regularly to get a snapshot of some of the learning that is occurring. Please also leave a comment as the students love to read the feedback.
Looking forward to another great term.
Yours in partnership
Maureen Buckley
Deputy Principal
on behalf of the Junior School team -
Mrs Barbara Ryan, Mrs Liz Sullivan, Mrs Margs Mills, Mrs Janelle McKay, Mrs Sue Steele, Ms Morag Roberts, Mrs Jo Salisbury, Mrs Gabrielle Heath, Mrs Rachel Cope, Mrs Brenda Anderson, Mrs Hannah Watkins, Mrs Hilary Beadle, Mrs Pauline Davies, Mrs Carolyn Murphy
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