Weekly notices

Week 10

• Well here we are in the last week of 2015, we are so pleased with the progress the made over the year, it has been a real pleasure watching the development of all the children.
• Thanks to Monique Scholte for doing such a wonderful job of making lunch for our class on Wednesday for the class picnic, it was a real treat!!
• This week we have the school prize-giving at nine o'clock on Monday morning, and then after morning tea on Monday we have the school tryathlon- all children are expected to participate, an outline of the day was sent out last Wednesday. If your child needs to borrow a scooter or a bike you will have sent back a note, otherwise they may bring their own bike or scooter. The children will need to come to school in their uniform and then they will change into their P.E. gear at playtime. They will also need their togs for the swim section of the Tryathlon. At 2.15 on Monday afternoon the children will go to the class they have been placed in for next year to meet their new teacher and to familiarise themselves for 2016.
• On Tuesday it will be a 'normal' day in our room, basically tidying up and doing Christmas activities.
• Wednesday morning will be in our class till morning tea, and then we have the commissioning of the Year 6 children, and then school will close at midday on Wednesday. If you are unable to pick up your child at 12.00, could you please make arrangements for them.
• Have a lovely blessed Christmas with your families, and we will look forward to catching up with you next year as we watch how the children progress through the next stage of their schooling..

Week 9

• The year is beginning to wind down towards the end of the school year and Christmas-this is a very important time in the Church Year, Advent. Advent is a time of waiting for the birth of Christ. We have been talking about Advent and Christmas and family traditions.
• END OF YEAR MASS-This Thursday at 1:00pm in the church. All most welcome come and celebrate a year of learning!
• The children have made wonderful progress with their swimming, thanks so much to Mr Parker for sharing his skills with Room 8, Isabella is a lucky girl to have him as a granddad.
• We have our Year 2 picnic on Wednesday 9 December, a letter went home this week with all the details, please refer to that for the details.
• On Tuesday we have a Dance workshop, a letter has gone home about this as well, please sent $2 with your child to help to pay for this (if you haven't done so already).
• Undoubtedly there will other things happening during the week, so please keep  an eye on the Blog and the school website.
• The school Tryathalon is on Monday 14 December, all children are able to participate, please remember to send Togs, and Bike to school on that day.

Week 8

• Wow week 8 already- and as it is an even week, we will be swimming at 12.00 every day-please send your  children's togs with them every day, the children will need a note from parents if they are not swimming.
• Remember to make your booking for a time slot for the Student Led Conferences on Monday afternoon/ evening. We have been preparing the children for the afternoon, and it is a great opportunity for you to celebrate their learning.
• There will be lots of things happening at probably rather short notice in the next two and  half weeks, so please keep an eye on the Blog and on the school website for any updates.
• We are trying our best to keep routines as normal as possible, and keeping the children learning for as long as possible, so could you please make sure they are still in bed nice and early at night, and they have a lovely big breakfast and lunch. The days are finally getting warmer and the children need to drink lots-preferable water.
• St Mary's has entered a float into the Christmas parade next Saturday, the children are welcome to join the float, they need to dress up as: Angels, Shepherds, Stable animals or Wise Men. Details of where to meet will be put out later in the week.
• Thanks to the parents who came to the Museum, it was a busy morning, but well worth it, the Museum is a great asset for Rotorua, and well worth a visit, if you have some time to fill in, it is free for local people.

Week 7

• I hope you go the message that the working bee scheduled for this morning has been postponed till next Saturday 28 November.

• Well done to the children who brought their togs every day last week! Having Mr Parker with us has meant that the children have made wonderful progress with their swimming.

• We are going to the Museum on Friday morning, we are going with Room 9, and the children and teachers will be transported in a bus. We will need parent help, and you will need to travel to the museum in your own cars. There will be a letter going home on Monday with details, and a return slip on the bottom so you can let us know if you are able to help. Thanks in advance.

• On Monday the 30 November, we will be having Student Led Conferences, from 3.15 till 7.00. There were instructions in last week's school newsletter for making an appointment for you child's classroom. You are able to do it on online.

• Week 6

• We are now halfway through the term, wow, the time is flying, we must be having fun!!

• We have swimming again in week 6, so please make sure that the children have their togs every day. They will need a note to explain why they are not swimming if they don't have their togs. Our swimming time is 12.00
• I haven't out any photos on the Blog this week, my apologies, I will make up for it next week!!
• The testing is going well, it is great to see all the progress that the children have made. Bernie and I will then be completing reports for the children's portfolios.
• There is a meeting in Room 14 on Monday night about Chrome Books for the Middle school, all the children in Room 8 will be Year 3s next year, so it is a good idea for you go along and find out what the technology is all about.
• WORKING BEE
  On Saturday the school is having a working bee to complete a few jobs around the school. A list of jobs that need to be done was sent home last week. If you are able to help, please indicate this on the form and have your child return it to school.
  
  Museum trip- Friday 27 November
  Friday the 27th we are going on our Museum trip by bus, so we need at least 5 parent helpers. Each parent will have a small group of children to work with while we are there.
  Please let us know if you are able to help. A note will be coming home Tuesday.
• Room 8 Assembly is also on the 27th..parents welcome to come and watch (2:15-2:45 in the hall)
• We have Student Led Conferences coming up in a couple of week as well, a letter went home on Thursday about them, please make a time to come and celebrate your children's work.
• Have a good week.

Week 5

• Thanks to all the grandparents who came to our Mass this morning - we had a great  turnout and the grandparents who came to our class enjoyed the morning tea and looking at the children's work.
• As mentioned before we are doing lots of testing at the moment, so we are ready to report back to you at the end of the year.
• We have had a great week of swimming with Mr Parker helping out again..
• There is a Mufti day on Friday (13 November) to raise money for the Special Children's Christmas party.
• Hopefully the weather is going to warm up soon, and it will feel more like summer.
• Have a good week.

Week 4

• Well here we are already into week 4- the weeks continue to fly past, Christmas will be here before we know it.
• It is our swimming week again this week, please send your children's togs every day, the children will need a note if they are not swimming. Our swimming time is 12.00 till 12.30.
• We are doing the All Soul's Liturgy in the Church on Monday morning at 10.00 a.m and several children from Rooms 8 and 9 are reading, you are welcome to come along and join us.
• All the children are in summer uniform now, thanks, just a little note, please make sure they have the correct sandals on.

Week 3 Term 4!

GO THE ALL BLACKS!!! 
Yey, we are in the final!!!
Sorry Mr Volschenk the Springboks came so close....it could have gone either way!!!

 Mr Macmillan and Mr James had our own little all blacks teams playing at lunchtime on Friday! 

A message from our AP  Anne Cato: If you can help on the day please let Anne or Heather or myself know.

On Friday 30 Oct there is a special event being held at school called Discover China Day. We will have 8 Mandarin Language Assistants at school and they will run a rotation activities in the hall over the course of the morning and have a slot at Assembly.

• 11.05- 11.45 Junior Team Year 2 and Room 12
  
  I have organised some parent helpers but would be keen to get three more parents who can assist over the morning. Could you please advertise this on your blog and ask anyone who would like to assist to contact me at annec@stmarysrotorua.school.nz or at school. Thanks for your help with this.

• Some more testing will be happening this week.
• We have our Rosary Thursday 8:45 in the school hall- all welcome.
• Please remember all school children must be in correct summer uniform from now on...and this includes wearing hats. 
• The Health Promoting Team are on the lookout to reward those children who are wearing hats. 
• A huge thank you for the return of the reading logs...again Room 8 had top returns...and Room 8 enjoyed hot chips on Friday as a reward for this.
• Please keep up the reading at home and the spelling practice.
• Thanks to all the children who brought their swimming togs every day last week- as mentioned last week on the blog, our time has changed to 12.00-12.30, we will be swimming again in week 4 (next week).

Have a fantastic week,

Bernie and Heather





Week 2 Term 4

• Thanks so much for returning the reading logs! It has been an outstanding effort! Some lucky person will win a chrome book...hopefully someone in Room 8!
• Swimming next week, please send togs and towel in a named bag. 
• A good idea to apply sunscreen from now on as the days are getting hotter!
• Reminder we have children in our class with food allergies.  Peanut and egg based goods are what we need to avoid-A Big Thanks again for your understanding and co-operation.
• This week the class will be doing a writing assessment. This is used to help provide recent school wide and national data on our students.
• HATS..these can be purchased fro m the Warehouse for a good price. All children must be wearing hats.
• A number of our students in Room 8 are doing summer sports...good luck with these and have fun out there!

God Bless,

Mrs Hall and Mrs Tootill.

Week 1 Term 4

• Welcome back to Term 4- wasn't the weather fantastic for the holidays. Spring has certainly sprung! I hope you have all had a relaxing time with your children.

• We will be swimming at 2.30 p.m. in even weeks, so will start next Monday afternoon. The children will all need to bring their togs and a towel, and they will need a medical reason if they are not swimming.

• The children can now wear their summer uniform, or their winter uniform, but not a combination of both. After Labour Weekend they will need to be in full summer uniform.

• Please remember to send back the children's reading logs, Mrs Hall and I will do the same as last term and provide a treat when the whole class has returned their reading logs.

• This is a busy term, so keep watching the Blog for updates for things happening.

We can see your child is ready and rearing to go for another great term of learning!

This term we have swimming in the even weeks, we will swim at 2:30-2:50pm.

This term our Concept is SYMBOLISM and how we see and interact with different symbols in our daily lives.

In Literacy we will be covering different genre to expose the class to a variety of ways to respond to many different language experiences we have organized for the class.

In Maths we continue to focus on numeracy and we will also be looking at TRANSFORMATION.

RE-October is the month of the rosary so we will be talking to the class about the history and importance of the rosary. We will practice reciting some of the rosary also.

Week 10

• Wow the last week of term already. And I think the days are beginning to get warmer.

• Thanks for all the work you have done with your children this term.\

• We will have our Junior School Cross-Country race on Wednesday afternoon, weather permitting. Please come along and support your children- we will be starting at 1.30.

• Just a reminder that the children can start next term in their summer uniform, but if the weather is inclement, the children can still wear their winter uniform, but will need to be in summer uniform after Labour Weekend.

• Enjoy the holidays with your children.

Week 9

• Another week over-the Mufti Day outfits were great- we have raised money for schools in the Solomon Islands
• The weather is slowly beginning to warm up as the days get longer, please remind you children to collect their belongings after school each day and make sure your child's clothing is named.
• Remember that our school day starts at 8.45, so it is a good idea to get your children to school bu 8.30, so they can prepare for the day. 

• Your child's calendar art is ready to order. Please send $ and order form to school. 
• $10 a calendar....$12 for 8 cards...$12 for note pad..$15 for diary....$13 for mouse mat.
• See samples of your child's art below!

Week 8

• We are having a Mufti Mania Day on Friday- all Catholic Schools do this particular Mufti Mania and the money raised goes towards a good cause.

• Please make sure your children's clothes are named, as mentioned last week, there are often Jerseys and polar fleeces lying around at the end of the day unclaimed.

• Our children read beautifully at Mass this morning, we were very proud of them!!

• As we are nearing the end of the term we will be doing lots of assessing once again to check that the children are progressing at the right pace.
• Please remember not to send peanut butter or nutella sandwiches for you children's lunches, also could you check the labels on muesli bars to see if there are nuts in them.

Week 7

• Mass is this Friday-Marys Birthday, all welcome starts at 9:00. Some of our room 8 children will be reading at mass this time!
• The P.T.A are selling Father's Day gifts this week -$3.00 each, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

• Thanks for sending the children in correct uniform for the photos on Monday- if you have ordered photos they will be a few weeks away yet.

• The weather is showing signs of spring being on the way- if your child wears their jersey to school in the morning, please make sure that the jersey is named, as I am finding that they are taking the jerseys off during the day and we have a pile of unnamed clothing hanging around.

• Remember to look at all the pages on this Blog, as we put photos on each week of various things we the class, and the children love seeing themselves online!!

Week 6

• Hopefully now the weather will start improving as we are only ten days away from the start of Spring.

• We have school photos on Monday, please send your children to school in their correct uniform and with the regulation school jersey, as all the children will have that jersey on for the photos, not the polar fleece.

• Our Maths evening is this Wednesday evening from 5.00 till 5.45, you are very welcome to attend and find out how you can help the children at home with their maths and there will explanations of what we do in our maths programme at school.

• This Friday is Daffodil Day and Mrs Russell has organised a fundraiser for the day (we all have someone close who has been effected by Cancer)- the children will be able to vote for which teacher they would like to be 'dunked' with an ice bucket- to vote the children will need 50c per vote and they can vote as many times as they like. There will be tables set up outside the Hall before and after school every day this week for the children to cast their votes.

Week 5

• Well at the end of this week we will be halfway through this term already. The time is flying.
• Please remember that Monday is a Teacher Only Day- if you need care for your children Mary-Anne Roling will be running a programme in our school library.
• The Maths evening which was going to be this Wednesday evening will now be the following Wednesday evening (26 August.) from 5.00 till 5.45. We would encourage you all to come along and get informed about how you can help you child with Maths at home.
• We are encouraging parents and older siblings to read to children, as this really helps with modeling how reading should sound and helps with fluency. If you read to you child each night, that is as good, or even better than getting them to read to you.
• Have a good week.

Week 4

• What a lovely day we had on Friday for the Mary MacKillop feast day- it was just a shame that it rained at lunchtime as we had planned to have our shared lunch outside with the other year 2 classes. However, the lunch we had in Room 8 was fantastic, thanks so much to everyone who put so much time and effort into sending along something healthy.

• This week we have the Assumption Liturgy in the Church at 9.00 a.m. You are very welcome to attend.
• 
  
• Parents can access information about our school through the ‘find us’ App, which parents can download onto their phones. Parents can also notify a child’s absence through this app. 
  St Mary's Catholic Primary School.pdf
  
  
  
  
• As usual the term is flying past, the children seem mostly to be over the winter bugs, we will look forward to some warmer days now that the days are getting longer. This fits in perfectly with our focus this term- Cycles- and how the seasons change.

• Please keep with reading at home, we are pleased with the progress that the children are making in all areas, and we know that the support that you give at home really helps this progress.
• There is a Disco on Thursday night at 7.30- the theme is Funky Fluoro Fiesta. Please support the P.T.A. with this event.
• Next Monday is a Teacher Only Day, and then on Wednesday evening 19 August the Year 2 team are having a Maths evening for Parents from 5.15 till 6.00

• Have a good week.

Week 3

• Well done to all the children who returned their reading logs- we had a 99% return in Room 8, far better than last term's effort, and especially well done to the children who's names were drawn out of the box at Friday's assembly and they got to choose a prize off the table..Mrs Hall and Mrs Tootill also got prizes because we had so many children return their logs. Let's keep this up for next term. The hot chips went down a treat yesterday!!

• A notice went home on Friday about Mary MacKillop day on Friday, this is a very special day for our school as Mary MacKillop started our school over a hundred years ago. The day starts with a Mass, then various activities throughout the day, and a shared lunch for the all the year 2 classes.

• As usual the rest of the week will be busy with lots of learning- the children have all had a great start to the term, and we are impressed with the progress that is being made.

Week 2

• It was lovely to hear all about all the exciting things that the children did in the holidays, thanks for all the Reading Logs- there was certainly a lot of reading done in the holidays, well done. Mrs Hall and Mrs Tootill have promised the class that if everyone can bring back their reading log by Tuesday, we will have hot chips for lunch on Friday as a treat!! 
• All the reading that was done in the holidays meant that the children maintained the level that they were at last term, so we are on track for meeting standard with most of the children.
• Parent interviews are this Monday and Tuesday, please make a booking online if you wish to see Mrs Hall and Mrs Tootill on these days, the interviews are 10 minutes long. The instructions on how to make an interview were in last week's newsletter. 
• Please remember that school starts at 8.45 every morning and it would be great if your children were at school by 8.30 to prepare for the day.

Week 1 Term 3

• I hope you have enjoyed the two week break with your children- the weather has been erratic to say the least!! At least now we are heading into spring, and the days are beginning to show signs of getting longer.

• We have a teacher only day on Monday, so we will look forward to seeing the children all ready for a new term on Tuesday morning.

• Please remember to fill in your children's reading logs for the holidays and send them back to school this week, every child who brings a reading log back to school goes in the draw for a prize at assembly. The teachers are also filling in a reading log.

• We are looking at Cycles this term, how the Sun, and Moon affect our daily lives and seasons.
• See you on Tuesday..

Holidays!!

• What a privilege it was to meet Bishop Steve yesterday- he related so well to the children and we all thoroughly enjoyed listening to him describe what his job is, and Mrs Hall and I were so impressed with the questions that the children asked him. Well done!!

• I reminded the children yesterday to keep reading over the holidays and to fill in their reading logs. Last term we had a very poor return of the reading logs so no-one was really in with a chance of winning any of the lovely prizes in the cabinet in the hall.We would like a 100% return of the reading logs in the first week of next term please.

• I hope the weather improves for the two weeks of the holidays, and that the children manage to get outside and enjoy winter outdoor activities.

• Enjoy having your children with you over the two week break.

Week 11

• Gosh, finally here we are in the last week of this long term, the children have done really well with staying so focused for so many weeks and during some pretty dreadful weather. Well done.

• For week 11, we are focusing our week around the Matariki celebrations, with a Maori theme, we will be reading and re-telling lots of different Maori Legends. We will be tying our reading, writing and maths into all of this.

• As part of these celebrations, we will be having a Hangi for lunch on Tuesday. There has been a note come home on Friday about this - each child will need to bring $5.00 to school to go towards the cost of the Hangi. Also could each child bring a name plate, bowl and some cutlery in a plastic bag. If any parents are able to help with the preparation for the Hangi please meet Mrs Tabuteau in Room 10 at 9.00 on Monday morning.

• Also this week we will be having a visit from the Fire Service, so we will be focusing on Wednesday on what they do, what to do in an emergency. It would be really helpful if all the children are able to say what their address and phone number is. Perhaps you could talk to your child about this over the weekend..
• We want to make the last week of the term as pleasurable as we can, so it would be great of some of you are able to come and join in the festivities during the week, and you never know- you may get a job!!
• Enjoy the holidays with your children and let's hope that the weather is fine for most of the time.

Week 10

Junior Cross Country Thursday 25th June.
This will be on our school field at 11am. Children to wear their PE gear and have plenty of water with them. 
All parents and caregivers are welcome to attend.
See you there!!!

 Room 8 are busy over the next couple of weeks learning to correctly spell all the words from the essential word lists. (see literacy tab)
We did this in term 1 but there are still children who do not spell a lot of basic words correctly!
Please practice at home. Your child needs to know these words in order to help them in reading and writing. We will practice daily in the class, but they still need to know all the words  in lists 1-4.
Practice....  Practice...... Practice.
Spelling tests on Fridays!




Week 9
    Matariki starts this Thursday. Matariki is the cluster of stars that is also known as Pleides and it comes around late May, early June. For Maori it symbolises the start of a new year. Some of our learning over the next week will focus around Matariki!

The Whanau Group would like to extend an invitation to all staff and their families to a pot luck dinner on Thursday the 25th of June at 5.30pm. The dinner is to celebrate the cultural diversity we have in our school. EVERY FAMILY IS INVITED.

Come along for some fun conversation and get to know our community. Last year was great fun.

•  We now have two more children in the class with chicken pox, and one of the children had been immunised against chickenpox, so lets hope that means it is a 'minor dose' of the spots! I know from my experience with our own children we didn't know when the children were infectious, and it tool six weeks for it to go through all three children!! What a pain!

• We had a lovely Mass on Friday celebrating Sacred Heart, the children sang beautifully and were well behaved.

• Don't forget to check this Blog during the week, as we have been taking some great photos of the children and posting them on the Blog, the children love seeing themselves featuring!!

• Enjoy the reasonably fine weekend.

Week 8.

• The children are managing to cope with lots of wet and cold days. It is much easier and more pleasant for everyone if they can get outside at playtime and lunchtime, maybe the good weather will happen next week..

• We have our Sacred Heart Mass this Friday at 9.00, you are welcome to come along and enjoy the Mass and the lovely singing.

• There are still some children who are not bringing back their Library book on a Thursday morning, getting a new Library book each week is an important part of the children's reading programme.

• Just a reminder that if your child is not going to be at school please ring the school office and let Maggie know. Also our school day starts at 8.45, please get your child to school before then, so they can prepare for the day. Thanks.

Week 7

• I hope you are all enjoying the extra day this weekend, despite the weather!! We flew to Wellington on Saturday and our flight was delayed by two hours by fog!! Unheard of in Rotorua. There were a lot of very frustrated passengers at the airport.

• Today is officially the start of winter, please be aware of sniffles and sore throats at this time of the year, and of course there is chicken pox going around as well. We have had a couple of cases already in Room 8, so I guess inevitably there will be more..

• The children are generally all making good progress, please keep up the reading at home, if your child does't bring home a book to read to you, the best thing you can do is to read an extra story to him/her- children love being read to. Older brothers and sisters can do this as well.

• Mrs Hall and I are busy testing the children at the moment. 

Please comment using the padlet
http://padlet.com/room8stm/pxd6g6qe0nwl

Week 6

• We had a lovely Mass celebrating Pentecost yesterday. The singing was lovely. The afternoon tabloid sports were fun as well, the children always enjoy doing something different, and it was great to share the day with St Michael's children.

• This Friday is Room 8's turn at assembly, please put it on your calendar and come along and join us.

• Also this Friday we have a Mufti Day- the Young Vinnies have organised this to raise money for the earthquake victims in Nepal. Part of the Mufti Day will be a wacky hair competition, which the Young Vinnies will judge and give out prizes for.

• Please remember to check the Blog at least a couple of times each week, as we are putting up photos of the children's learning and often we put on notices about things happening at school.

Week 5.
  We celebrate Pentecost mass this Friday at 11:00 with St Michael's school.
      All Welcome. 

This will be followed after lunch by tabloid sports for the junior school here on the school grounds. (weather permitting). We will need helpers so if you are available please come and help us set up and/or oversee with the teachers the sporting fun!
Children will need to wear their school PE uniform for this.
Thank You!

• Another wet few days-maybe we are getting all the winter rain in May (probably not!!)

• Remember to keep reading to your children, and then to fit in with our Oral Language programme talk about what happens in the story you have just read.

• I talk about what we have done at school at the end of each day- so each of the children should be able to tell you what they have learnt each day at school.

• Library day for room 8 is Thursday, please remind your child to put their Library book in their bag, so they can get a new one to take home.

• Have a good week.

Week 4

• Gosh there was a lot of rain on Thursday and Friday, well done to the children for being so sensible on those wet days with having to play indoors at playtimes and lunchtimes.

• We are well into our programme of learning for this term, don't forget the focus in Sustainability and how we can care for God's creation. We will be looking recycling and re-using in the next few weeks.

• We are doing a lot of work with Oral Language at the moment, and will be asking the children to explain how they solve a problem and various other aspects of oral language, we will be also expecting the children to listen to others and repeat back what has been said.

Week 3

• It was lovely to be back last week and be so warmly welcomed back by all the children and parents. Thanks.

• I have been doing some sorting out of the groups in the class and while the majority of the children will remain with the same group in reading and maths, all the groups have moved 'up' in levels which is a good sign. Thanks for all the work you do at home with reading with the children. Don't forget that if your child doesn't always bring a book to read at home, don't worry, just read something that you have at home, or better still you read something to your child.

• This week we will be getting our Smart Words spelling programme up and running, it will take a couple of weeks for the children to get used to the way that Smart Words works, and as such the children will not be bringing home a spelling list each week to learn.

• The Move-it P.E. programme begins again this week, we will be having it on Tuesday, please could you send P.E gear with the children.

• Have a lovely weekend and week.

A reminder to please try not to send, nutella, peanut butter and egg samwhiches for lunches!
We have children with allergies to these products, thank you in advance for your consideration. 

Te Ariki has been working on persuasive writing. He is beginning to self edit his work..well done Te Ariki!

At writing time the class know how to look for the words they need in their story and are using a self checker card to refer to. Well done Room 8 for also making sure your group have followed their group goals!

Week 2

• Hello there- it is lovely to be home again after a fabulous three weeks in Europe. I was very lucky with the weather, I only had one day where there was intermittent rain! It was lovely to see our (adult) children and spend quality time with them. 

• It sounds like the school and Room 8 have had a great start to the term, with lots of things happening- it was lovely to see so much work done to commemorate Anzac Day. Our son who lives in London was flying to Turkey on Friday morning to be part of the 100 year commemoration at Gallipoli, he and his girlfriend were really looking forward to the experience.

• I am looking forward to a great term with Room 8, and judging by the progress that was made last term, I am sure there will be lots of learning happening.

• Please remember to check the Blog regularly, we will putting samples of the children's work on the Blog at least twice a week.

Week 9

• Please read the information below about the reading evening on Monday night- we would love as many of you as possible there, it will be very informative I am sure

• This week is a very important week in the Church calendar- on Tuesday we will be having the Stations of the Cross Liturgy at 10.00 in the Church and then on Thursday we will have the Washing of the Feet Liturgy at 10.00 in the Hall. You are very welcome to attend these Liturgies.

• This week is our last swimming week for the term, so please remember to send your child's togs each day, if your child is not swimming they will need a note to explain why- I would like to assess where each child is at during the week, so that we can be ready to start where we finished off in Term 4. 

• Also please remind your children to bring their Library books back on Thursday so they can get something out to read over the holidays. We encourage everyone to make use of the Public Library over the holidays as well, they have a wonderful selection of children's books to choose from and it is a free service.

• Have a great holiday with your children.

Week 8



  Just to keep you all updated. Rooms 8, 9, 10 and 12 are holding a reading evening 
NEXT MONDAY in Room 10. We strongly encourage you to attend. 
This is an opportunity to hear what we do in our reading sessions and how we assess your child's reading. Lots of 'at-home-tips' to help your child in reading. 
PLEASE come along.

What: Reading Information Evening
Where: Room 10
When : Monday 23 March, 5:15-6:00pm

• Here we are into the second to last week of this term already- the term has flown by, and the children are all working very well and we are seeing the results of this hard work.

• Thanks again to Isabella's granddad for coming in every afternoon to help with the swimming, the children have all responded well to Mr Parker and have made enormous progress with their swimming particularly in the last week. He has promised to be back in week 9. Despite the cooler mornings, with the heated pool the children are still enjoying the swimming lessons.

• Thanks to all the parents and grandparents who came to our St Joesph Mass on Friday morning, it was a lovely Mass with some great singing by the children.

• We are nearing the last week of Lent, and all that it entails with this very special time in our Church calendar -this week we will have two Liturgies, the first one is Wednesday at 10.00 in the church, it is the Annunciation Liturgy then on Friday morning at 10.00 we will have the Donkey Parade - remembering that next Sunday is Palm Sunday.

• Please keep up the reading at home, if your child would rather be read to that is OK, If you are reading to and with your children, you can talk about the story as you go and afterwards, as this helps with their comprehension.

• Have a great week.

Week 7

• We have been pleased with the way that the children have settled into their work in the last couple of weeks. I have been checking their reading levels and the children are all starting to move up levels, great news!!

• It is our swimming week this week- please remember to send the children's togs along each day. If for some reason your child is not swimming, please send them a long with a note.

• We are changing the way we do our lunch and play times this week for a week's trial- at 10.30 the children will go out to play and then at 10.50 the children will come in to eat, and then resume classes at the normal time of 11.00. At lunchtime the children will go out to play at 12.30 and then a bell will go at 1.15 for the children to come in and eat and then resume classes again at 1.30. This should mean that the children are not rushing and not eating all their lunches before going out to play, also it will alleviate problems with rubbish in the playground.

Week 6

• What a great success the Gala was, apparently we have raised a lot of money and as usual we were extremely lucky with the weather.

• Thanks to Isabella's granddad who came and helped with our swimming lessons last week- he was a great help and got heaps out of all the children.

• Also thanks to the people who sent along some great food for our Teddy Bear's Picnic on Friday, the children had quite a feast.

• The children have all settled into routines well, and it is great to see some fabulous learning taking place. We only have 4 weeks left this term, so it is going to be a really big push to get in lots more learning.

• Do remember to ask your children what they have done at school each day- most days I will remind them of all the things we have covered that day, so hopefully they can repeat it to you when they get home.

• Have a great week.

Week 5.

• Welcome  to week 5, halfway through this short term already..

• The children have settled into the routines pretty well and the learning is happening nicely, well done everyone.

• This is our swimming week, so remember to bring your togs every day, the weather is certainly favouring swimming.
• Remember to talk to your children about Lent - we have been looking at what life is like for people living in the Philippines, as this year we are contributing to the Caritas appeal for the Philippines
• There were several children who had 'forgotten' their Library books last Thursday, please remind your children to put their Library book in their Book Bag ready for Thursday, so that they can change their book.

Week 4

• Well the weeks are certainly flying past- I always think it is a bit of a worry when the children start saying how fast a day and a week have gone by!!

• Last week's ceremonies for our Promises and Ash Wednesday were lovely, please remember to talk to your children about their promises and how they can keep them, also the meaning of Lent, and why it is such an important part of the church's calendar.

• If you want to talk to Mrs Hall or Mrs Tootill about your child please call and see us, or make an appointment  via email - if we have any concerns about your child we will be in touch with you.

• If you want us to have your email address please submit your email address on the home page of the Blog.

• And do remember to check the Blog every week and a couple of times during the week as well, there will be some weeks when we don't put anything on during the week and then there will be others when we will put heaps of stuff on to it..
• Remember to send your child's spelling notebook to school each day.

Week 3:

• It is our swimming week this week, please send your children's togs each day.

• Our reading, writing and maths programmes will be in full swing from this week on, this means that the children should be bringing home books that are near their reading level. Please encourage and help your child with their reading every day. If they bring home a book more than once, that is OK!!!

• You may send a water bottle with your child and if they want to have it in class they may do so, as a lot of the children are getting thirsty in the afternoons.
• It is the beginning of Lent this week, we will be having our Promise Ceremony on Tuesday afternoon in the Hall and then the Ash Wednesday Liturgy on Wednesday morning over at the Church. Please talk to your children about what Lent means, and the promises that we will make in class on Monday afternoon. I like to get the children at this age to think of something good that they will do over the 6 weeks.

Week 2-9-13 February

• It was a busy first week back at school for Room 8- Mrs Hall and Mrs Tootill getting to know the children and checking on what everyone can do..

• We will be having Leg-it in Week 2, so if your child has a P.E uniform could you please send it along to school each day.

• It was great having everyone with their togs for most of the week, it was certainly warm enough in the afternoons to be enjoying the pool. Remember we will have swimming again in Week 3.

• We have started the spelling programme and the children have already had spelling homework each night. Each week your child will get a new list of words, please help your child to learn to spell those words each night and then tick the appropriate box when you have done that.

• The children have also been bringing home a book to read each night- at this stage this book has been their choice, and will continue to be so for week 2, however, by week 3 I should have the reading groups up and running and I will be helping the children to choose a book each day that is close to their reading level. In the meantime, please read the book to your child if you feel they have chosen a book that is too difficult for them to read on their own.

• There is a Diocese Mass at St Mary's Church on Tuesday evening at 6.00, to welcome our new Bishop- you are welcome to attend.

• On Thursday there is the school opening Mass in the Church at 2.00 p.m. Once again you are very welcome to attend.

• Also on Thursday is the Meet the Teacher afternoon- it is at 3.05 for the Juniors, so when you come to pick up your children please stay and meet Mrs Tootill and Mrs Hall, we will give you a quick run-down of expectations for the class for this year.

• Have a good week.

• Welcome to Room 8 for 2015- this year it will be a Year 2 class, with Mrs Bernie Hall and Mrs Heather Tootill combining our talents to teach your children. 
• Mrs Tootill will have an hour a day doing Reading Recovery and Mrs Hall will be in the class during that time. Mrs Tootill will be in the class for the remainder of the day.