Term 1 Weekly Updates

Week 11 - Term 1 

A2 have nearly made it through their first term of school. Well done for all of your hard work you've put into your learning and getting to know each other. 

For our final week of school this term our learning and activities will be based around Easter.  Our Big Book is called Eggs, Eggs, Eggs and we are focusing on comprehension, punctuation and word families. We will continue with our reading groups until Wednesday and will be working collaboratively during maths. For word work we will be reviewing the th, ch, sh and wh digraphs. 

We are still going to visit the Library on Wednesday afternoon but will not be issuing new books out until we return to school next term. Remember we have a brilliant Public Library that is open in the weekends and during the holidays so you could issue books out from there. 

On Thursday at 2.20pm we will finish off the term with a whole school assembly. All whanau are welcome to come along. 

Thank you to all of the whanau that made it to our Learning Celebration last Thursday. It was a successful day where we got to share our learning and view the learning across our team. Check out some of the photos snapped from the day.








Remember to keep up your fantastic reading during the holidays, have a good rest and spend lots of time with your family. 


Miss Maxwell-Brown :)



Week 10 - Term 1 

Learning Celebration
A2 are so excited to be sharing their learning with our community and whanau.

When: Thursday 6th April.
Where: 9.00am-10.40am     - A Team classes open and learning shared
             10.40am-11.10am    - Shared morning tea /Pool Party (whanau invited to as well)

Where: Whangaparaoa School, Rooms A1-A6/Pool and Field

  Please bring a plate of food for the Shared Morning Tea. 



Literacy


Our big book this week is called 'A Rumble and a Grumble'. We will be focusing on making predictions, punctuation and retelling the story. In Word Work we are focusing on th, ch, and sh digraphs. In writing we are focusing on using capital letters A,  full stops . and sequencing our ideas. 

Maths
In Maths we are focusing on basic facts to 10 - addition to 10, doubles to 10 and subtraction within 10 as well as revising our Number Knowledge to 100. 

Reminders:
  • Thursday is our last day for swimming this term
  • Remember to bring your book bag every day
  • Bring back your library book on Wednesday so you can issue a new one

Have a lovely week A2 and whanau, 
Miss M 

Week 9 - Term 1 

Inquiry
We are continuing to investigate 'How people make friendships?' and 'What makes a good friend?'  A1 and A2 have come up with many great qualities and now we are thinking about how we can show these qualities so we do have good friendships in our community. 


Literacy
Our big book this week is 'The Fun Bus' and we will be looking at comprehension, rhyming and punctuation. In Word Work we have been focusing on hearing the number of sounds in words - sometimes we get confused when we know a word has 4 letters so think there is 4 sounds - for example like l/i/ke we have to stretch out the words and listen very carefully. In writing we are focusing on using capital letters A,  full stops . and only one and  in each sentence. 


Maths 
We are continuing to look at positional language for Strand Maths. In Number we are looking at numbers before and after to 100, counting on or back from a given number and basic facts to 10. We have been doing a activity called Target Number in class. Ask your child to do it with you. 

Swimming
As you can see in the picture, there are less and lesser children bringing their togs to school each week. So we have decided that Week 10 (next week) will be our last week of swimming. So please bring your togs this week and next so you can make the most of our last few days of swimming. 

Have a wonderful week,

Miss M



Week 8 - Term 1

Wow! It's already Week 8! 
What a fabulous day we had on Saturday at the Gala. Thank you to everyone who supported our school by helping out, sending along donations or coming along to the Gala. 


This week our big book is one of my all time favourites -  'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. We are reading this story as it ties in with our strand maths focus - positional language. Today we noticed words in the story that can describe the position of an object - under, over, through, across.
Get your child to describe where objects are in your home.


Inquiry with A1 - Last week we had a big discussion about the types of friends we want in A1 and A2. The children came up with a big list of qualities they want their friends to have. This included friends who are kind, collaborative, respectful, caring, gentle, nice and make/draw cards for each other. The children then shared their questions they had to do with friendships. The two common questions asked were - How do people make friends? and What makes a good friend?
Over the next few weeks the children will be looking into these questions to find out the answers to their wonderings.


Reminders - 

  • Library on Wednesday
  • Book bags everyday please!!!
  • Monday & Thursday classroom swimming
  • Thursday VLC lunchtime swimming (last day of the term) 
Have a lovely week. 

Miss M 

Week 7 - Term 1 

Welcome to Elaine

This week we welcome our Learning Assistant Elaine to our class. Elaine will be working with us to support children and their learning. We are very excited to have Elaine join A2. 

ORCA - Own- Rangititratanga 

Our word of the week for week 7 is OWN. We will be having conversations about what OWN means in relation to our learning, actions and community. What does OWN mean for your family? 

Literacy

This week our big book is called Mrs McFee, a funny story about an lady who goes to the park and some squawking magpies keep stealing her bright, colourful hat. Mrs McFee had not been a very good at noticing the 'BEWARE' sign. 

In word work, we are focusing on the short vowel sounds - e, i, o

Writing - A2 has some superb writers! It is definitely one of our favourite parts of the day. In writing we will be looking at including 'WOW' words and using our checklists to make sure we've included capital letters, full stops and a 'WOW' word. 

Maths

We will continue to get to work in our small groups, focusing on our Number Knowledge to 20 and 100. 
Throughout the rest of the term we will be looking into Positional Language used to describe where something is e.g. - under, next to, above, between. Talk to your child about these words. Can they describe to you where an item in your house is?

Reminders

  • Swimming days are on Monday & Thursday
  • GALA is now this Saturday (18th)
  • Library day is Wednesday - please bring your book bag and book to return 
  • Passion Fridays - bring the correct equipment and/or change of clothes for your class 
Have a great week!
Miss M 

Week 6 - Term 1 

ORCA - Collaborate - Whanaungatanga

This week we are going to unpack the C (Collaborate) from our ORCA values. We will talk about what collaboration looks like in the classroom and in different environments around the school. Please talk to your child about how you collaborate and work together as a family. 






Last week, we spoke about Respect and came up with some Role Plays to show what it does and doesn't look like around our school. We had lots of fun doing this even though some of us were a bit nervous to perform. 



Check out our photos of A2 planning their play and getting ready to perform. 

Maths

In Maths we have been looking at statistics. We found out which month had the most amount of birthdays and the least. We also drew our eyes onto a piece of paper and made a graph to show which colour was the most and least common. 

Over the next couple of weeks A2 will be getting to know and feel comfortable in our maths groups. Please note that groups will change a bit throughout the year as we focus on different aspects of numeracy. 


Bike Track

Last Wednesday we had such an exciting afternoon celebrating the opening of our bike track. It was fantastic to see the children join in with such enthusiasm for the offical bike/scooter/walk. 
Children are allowed to bring their bike/scooter to school for morning tea and lunch time use. All children must wear covered shoes and a helmet while using the bike track and are not allowed to share their wheels with other children. 

                          


Reminders

  • Swimming on Monday & Thursday - Please label your togs, towel, goggles and bag. 
  • Cake for Gala - only 5 more days until the School Gala! Remember to bake a cake and drop it into school on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. 
  • Library on Wednesday - bring your library book back so you can issue a new one.

Have a fantastic week!

Miss M

Week 5 - Term 1 

What's happening in A2?

Friendships
Last week we focused on positive friendships. We read books about friendships and spoke about how to be a good friend to others and what a good friend does. A2 also came up with a list of 'ingredients' that friendships could have. Some of our favourite ingredients were FUN!!, trust, happiness, respect and safety. 



ORCA - Respect- Manaakitanga- Thank You  
This week we are going to unpack the R (Respect) from our ORCA values and learn about what Respect looks like in our classroom and different areas of the school. To tie in with this, our Word of the Week is 'Thank You', so please encourage your child to use this phrase at home too. 


Reading
Our guided reading programme is underway now. Thank you to all of the children who've remembered their book bag and reader each day. Also ka pai for rereading your reader at home. I understand that some children may be reading at a different level than they were end of last year. This may because over the Summer Holidays children are not always exposed to as much reading as they would be during the school year, so can slightly fall back. Keep persevering, practising your sight words and rereading your readers to help with smooth, fluent reading. 


Spelling/Sight Word Book
It has been fabulous to see some children practising and learning their words already. Well done!! This book must be kept in your child's school bag as we will be using it in the classroom too. In the front of the book is a tic tac toe sheet, full of different ideas to learn their list. There is no set day as to when words are tested, if they feel confident they've learnt them then they can let me know and we'll check them. You get 3 stickers for each completed spelling list!! 

Dance/Singing
We will continue with learning our Moana song and dance! I've loved hearing children all around the school sining it. 


A Team Time!! 
Most Fridays we will be having one block of A team time where we mix up with all the other children in our Vertical Community and take part in a range of activities. Ask your child what Trust Games they did last Friday. 




Reminders

  • Library on Wednesday afternoon - your child must have a book bag
  • Bike Track Opening Ceremony - Wednesday afternoon, 2:30pm. 
  • Vertical Learning Community Water-fight - Thursday lunchtime, bring togs, towel, a water gun or drink bottle. No water balloons. 
  • Gala Mufti - Less than 2 weeks until Gala! Please check your timetable to see what item your child needs to bring in exchange for mufti. 
  • Cake Boxes - these went home today to the oldest/only child. Thank you for your support in baking a cake for our Gala. 


Week 4  - Term 1 


Library 


Yay! On Wednesday we get to visit the Library for our first time this year. Please make sure your child has their book bag so they can issue a book out.





Peaches & Pickles
On Friday, Charlotte from Peaches & Pickles came to speak to us about Passion Fridays. This is going to be slowly introduced throughout the year, beginning with dance/drama/music options. Whangaparaoa School are very excited about this and are encouraging tamariki to get involved or find out about their passions. The eldest and only children should have received information outlining Passion Fridays and associated costs.


Singing 
The whole school are aiming to learn the song 'You're Welcome' from the movie Moana by the end of Term 1. Sing the song a few times this week with your child :)



Dance
We're also going to learn a dance to another Moana song. Boys and girls have seperate movements, see the video below to boogie away with your child.



Gala Mufti Day

On Friday we have another mufti day to support our fabulous Gala. Please bring along a bottle for your mufti contribution.

Have a fantastic week.

Miss M :)


Week 3 - Term 1 


What's happening in A2? 



This week we begin our guided reading programme, so keep an eye out for readers coming home. It is extremely beneficial that the reader is read again each night to help improve fluency and reinforce what they've learnt at school. Please note I am unable to send readers home if children don't have their book bag or have not returned their book.

Whanaungatanga  in A2 - We will continue getting to know each other this week, and creating our classroom environment. Thank you to everyone who brought back their All About Me Bags, I really enjoyed learning 4 special things about you.

Spelling - Later in the week your child will receive a list of spelling words to learn. The pink book is to be kept in their book bag and may be practised at home. There will also be activities in the classroom to help your child learn these words.

Important Reminders for Week 3


- Swimming: Every Monday and Thursday - please bring togs, towel and goggles in a named bag.

- Waterslide & Pool - Our vertical learning community get to use the waterslide and pool on Thursdays at lunch time.

-Uniform - Wow! everyone is looking so smart in their bucket hats and black shoes, thank you to the children who have been showing up in correct uniform. Ka pai!

ICT Forms: There are still a few forms that need to come back, please return them to me asap.

- Powhiri: On Friday at 10am there is a powhiri being held for new staff, students and families.  Following the powhiri there will be a shared morning tea, it would be greatly appreciated if you could send your child to school with a small plate of to share with our community. Whanau are welcome to come along too.

Have a fabulous week.

Miss M :)






Week 2 

Whanaungatanga - Connectedness 

Thank you to all of the whanau who came along to meet the teacher interviews last week. I really enjoyed learning about you and your family. We will now be spending the next 2 weeks getting to know all of the children in our class so we can have a fabulous year together.

Reminders:

All About Me Bags 
Please bring these back to school by Friday 10th February.

Label Everything 🏷 👕
Could you please make sure everything is named clearly with your child's name - lunch box, drink bottle, book bag, uniform, shoes, hat.

Bucket Hats 
All children must have a school bucket hat to be able to play outside this term.

Swimming!!! 🏊
This will start in Week 3, 13th - 17th February. Our swimming days are Monday and Thursday. Each child needs to bring their togs, towel and goggles in a named bag.

Miss M :)


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