Last week of Term 2!

I cannot believe it is already the last week of Term 2! Time really does fly when you are having fun (and learning lots together!) I just want to say a huge thank you to our Room 12 community for being so welcoming and supportive of me joining this term. We have built such a positive learning environment that is supportive, respectful, collaborative and all built upon our school values. I am incredibly proud of the progress our children have made this term, especially in terms of their confidence, learning attitudes and supportive team mindsets in our classroom. If we are all happy, confident and positive about our learning, then we can guarantee we will see progress in our academic results. So thank you for all of your support and I cannot wait to see what next term will bring!

Just a few notices for this week...

Next term we are going to be having a Prayer focus within Room 12, where we will be learning how to be effective Prayer Monitors who plan daily prayer time around a focus or theme. As part of this, our Prayer Monitors will be responsible for designing our Prayer Table to match their focus/theme for the week. If you have any bits of fabric, material, ornaments, candles, plants etc that you do not want anymore, we would love to add them to our class Kete of Prayer Table items (no pressure at all with this, only if you have items that you are wanting to get rid of and think would be appropriate for our Kete). Can you please send them with your child this week so we can have it all set up ready to start next term. Thanks!

WEARABLE ARTS ON FRIDAY! Our show will be at 1.30pm in the hall. If anyone is available to come into school and help our class with their creations (Monday 1.30, Wednesday 1.30 or Thursday 1.30) then please let me know. Our Whanau are also welcome to attend our show on Friday...we hope to see you there! Our creations are starting to come together and are looking really neat! There has been a lot of learning in terms of how to adapt recycled items, which recycled items will be the most effective, and a lot of problem solving and debugging to change our designs as we create them. This is a great creativity activity and it has been neat seeing our class trying to think outside the box to make their creation completely original and different from anyone else's.

Don't forget about our DISCO on Thursday night!

Friday we are having our MUFTI DAY! The proceeds of this will go towards support Caritas to help those in need. Have a look at this website to get an idea of how our donations will support those in need. Caritas - Mufti Mania

THIS WEEK: WEEK 10

TUESDAY 3RD JULY

1.30pm Rhapsody Rotorua: Doncaster Secondary College Band

WEDNESDAY 4TH JULY.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

THURSDAY 5th JULY

8.45am Singing

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

5.30-7.00pm School Disco

FRIDAY 6th JULY

9.00 am Totara Wearable Arts Rehearsal

1.30 pm Totara Wearable Arts Show

Looking forward to a super fun last week of Term! Wishing you all a relaxing and safe holiday filled with quality family time.

God Bless,

Nicole Hunter

Disco!

Golden Time Preparation - Making Ice Cream

For golden time this week we are going to be eating homemade ice cream. Today the wonderful Mrs McCashin helped us to make it so that it will set in time for Friday. Have a look at what we did :)

Week 9 Notices

Welcome to week 9! 2 more weeks to go until mid year holidays...wow this term has gone fast! I hope you have all had a lovely weekend :)

This week we begin our planning, designing and creating for our Totara Team Wearable Arts Show! This will be held on the last day of term. All creations are to be made out of recycled items and need to fit into one of our 6 categories (animals, space, cultures/kiwiana, under the sea, food, the past/future). Children will either be working on their own to create 1 wearable item, or with a buddy to create 2 wearable items. These MUST be created at school - nothing can be completed at home (except for coming up with the ideas and collecting resources). Children can start bringing their resources into class from tomorrow and we will find somewhere to store them. We are really excited to begin this challenge and cannot wait to see the designs that get created!

On Thursday there is a NZEI meeting that school staff need to attend. Due to this, school will be closing at 1.30pm. Please make arrangements to pick your children up at this time, otherwise contact the office if you need your child to be looked after. Thank you for your support with this.

Enjoy your evenings and I look forward to having another great week with our class :)
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Manuka Team Fundraiser

Pizza for sale!

Tuesday 26th June at 10:30 a.m.

Manuka Team are selling pizza outside Room 5.

$2 a slice.

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THIS WEEK.

TUESDAY 26TH JUNE

10.30am Manuka Pizza Fundraiser

WEDNESDAY 27TH JUNE.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

3.15pm Indian Community meeting

THURSDAY 28TH JUNE

8.45am School Singing

11.00am Junior Cross Country

1.30pm School finishes for NZEI mtg.

FRIDAY 29TH  JUNE

Mufti Day.

11.00am Junior Cross Country (back up day)

2.05pm Assembly: Brigitte and Nikki

FINAL WEEK FOR TERM 2.

WEDNESDAY 4TH JULY.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

THURSDAY 5th JULY

8.45am Singing

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

5-7.00pm School Disco

FRIDAY 6th JULY

1.30 pm (Incorporating Room 12's Assembly) Totara Wearable Arts Show

Hei Tiki Museum Trip

We absolutely loved our Museum Trip today. We learnt all about 'Hei Tiki' including:
* The difference between 'tiki' and 'hei tiki'
* What 'hei tiki' originally meant to people - it was given to females as a sign of wishing healthy children upon them.
* How 'hei tiki' has changed over time - we looked at how it was used in the past and how it is used now.
* What is appropriate and not appropriate to use 'hei tiki' in association with.

We were lucky enough to look at some special 'hei tiki' that the Museum looks after, look at different artwork people have created that include 'hei tiki' and also able to create our own artwork of a 'hei tiki'.

We had a great learning experience today and hope to build on this learning over the coming weeks in our classroom. Here are some photos from today.

  

Pizza Fundraiser!

Pizza for sale

Tuesday 26th June at 10:30 a.m.

Manuka Team are selling pizza again outside Room 5.

$2 a slice

Week 8 Notices

Welcome to week 8 and our Matariki celebration week! Matariki is officially on the 15th of June and marks the Maori new year. This week we will be having a few different events and activities to celebrate Matariki.

Firstly, I want to thank you and your child for being so understanding of my absences last week. I had 3 really worthwhile learning days and I will now be able to bring that into our learning in our classroom. I have heard lovely comments from the relievers about their experiences with our class, so I want to thank you all for supporting this.

Tomorrow Totara classes are having our Matariki celebration day. This will consist of 5 different activities that our classes will rotate around. There will be lots of fun experiences, including edible food creations, salt dough taonga, string games, weaving and 3D constellation art. We are also very fortunate to have the JPC band coming to perform for Matariki at 9.30am tomorrow.

Tuesday we have our Matariki cultural dinner celebration in the hall. This is a celebration of the many cultures we have in our community and is a great way for us all to come together. The event begins at 5.30pm and every family is welcome, so it would be fabulous to see you all there. If attending, please bring a plate of food that represents your culture. I hope to see you all there!

Thursday afternoon we will be going on a Museum 'Hei Tiki' trip from 12.30-2.30. We will be travelling via bus and the session will be run by the Rotorua Museum team. It should be a very exciting and informative learning experience for us all!

Below are a few more notices for the week. Looking forward to seeing your smiling faces tomorrow morning! It will be a fun and exciting Matariki week!
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Manuka Team Fundraiser

Manuka Team are selling pizza tomorrow Monday 18th June (bought from Domino's) to raise transport costs to visit the Hamilton Zoo.

The choices are cheese, Hawaiian and Pepperoni. The cost is $2 a slice.

All orders are to be made through your classroom.

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School photos

These are scheduled for Friday 22nd June and information/envelopes have been sent home with your child. Please do not leave the ordering of these photos to the last minute. Orders must be with the school office by Wednesday 20 June. Last year we had lots of parents bringing their envelopes in on the day. The organisation on the day is already hectic enough without having to contend with a large number of late orders.

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MATARIKI WEEK.

MONDAY 18TH JUNE

Senior School Matariki Fun Day

Manuka Team Matariki Celebration

9.30am JPC School Band visiting

TUESDAY 19TH JUNE

9.30am-2.30pm  Central Bay of Plenty Cross Country Event

5.30pm Matariki Cultural Dinner

WEDNESDAY 20TH JUNE.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

THURSDAY 21ST JUNE

8.45am Matariki Liturgy in the Hall

9.30am Museum trip Room 1

12.30pm Museum Room 12

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

FRIDAY 22ND  JUNE

School Photos

12.30pm Museum trip Room 4

2.05pm Assembly

NEXT WEEK

TUESDAY 26TH JUNE

9.30-11.30am Room 3 Museum visit

WEDNESDAY 27TH JUNE.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

6.00pm Indian Community meeting

THURSDAY 28TH JUNE

8.45am School Singing

11.00am Junior Cross Country

1.30pm School finishes for NZEI mtg.

FRIDAY 29TH  JUNE

Mufti Day

11.00am Junior Cross Country (back up day)

2.05pm Assembly

Manuka Pizza Fundraiser

Manuka Team are fundraising for a team trip and need our support!

They are selling pizza on Monday (bought from Domino's).

The choices are cheese, Hawaiian and Pepperoni. The cost is $2 a slice.

In the newsletter we said orders should be in tomorrow but we will accept orders on Monday.

All orders are to be made through your classroom.

Thank you for your support :)

Week 7 Notices

Kia ora Whanau and welcome to week 7!

This week is the start of our Matariki celebrations, with week 8 being our official Matariki week. Our class will have a mini inquiry challenge around Matariki where they will have different challenges focused on different stars in the Matariki cluster. We have been incorporating more Te Reo and sign language in Room 12, so I am excited to see how we grow and learn together through our Matariki celebrations.

Over the weekend there were quite a few students from St. Mary's who received their First Holy Communion and Confirmation, including Emma from our class! Congratulations Emma, what a very special and blessed thing for you to have celebrated.

Just a few notices for this week...

Music and Drama classes continue on Wednesday for 45minute sessions each. It sounds like everyone had a brilliant time last week so I am sure this week will be just as fun! We are very lucky to have 2 expert teachers coming in to run these classes.

Homework Club – Every Thursday

The Homework Club is specifically set up to offer extra learning time and support for our students after school.

Every Thursday from 3.00pm-4.00pm students can meet in room 15 to complete any home reading or homework they would like support with.  Parents are also welcome to attend, to gain tips and ideas on how to support learning at home.

*If you would like your child to attend but they are not Pasifika they are still welcome to attend.

A message from our Young Vinnies...

I would also like to inform you that this week I will be out of the classroom on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday as I have some courses to attend. We will have a lovely reliever that the children are familiar with in on those days and I will make sure everything runs smoothly.

Lastly, please remind your child to bring their homework book (or spelling sheet) back to school tomorrow. A new sheet will be sent home tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for your support with this.

Let's have a fabulous week! See you all tomorrow :)

THIS WEEK:

WEDNESDAY 13TH JUNE.

9.00am ICAS Spelling and Writing

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

3.15pm Filipino Whanau meeting

THURSDAY 14TH JUNE

8.45am Student Council

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

FRIDAY 15TH  JUNE

2.05pm Assembly

NEXT WEEK:

MATARIKI WEEK.

MONDAY 18TH JUNE

Senior School Matariki Fun Day

9.30am JPC School Band visiting

TUESDAY 19TH JUNE

10.00am Matariki Liturgy in the Hall

5.30pm Matariki Cultural Dinner

WEDNESDAY 20TH JUNE.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

THURSDAY 21ST JUNE

8.45am School Singing

8.45am Student Council

12.30pm Museum Room 12

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

FRIDAY 22ND  JUNE

School Photos

2.05pm Assembly

Pizza Extravaganza!

This week we have been focusing on fractions by planning and creating pizza! We worked in groups to adapt a pizza dough recipe so that it only made 1 pizza base rather than 4. We then had to negotiate with our group members to decide on toppings for our pizza because each fraction of our whole pizza had to be identical in topping quantities. This meant we had to equally share them across each slice. On Thursday, we finally got to use our planning to make the dough and then on Friday we finished them off and ate them! We want to say a huge thank you to Louise Blundell for coming in to help us with the cooking on Friday...we couldn't have done it without you!

            

Arts in Motion

Sorry, slight mistake in the previous post....there is no Arts in Motion Practise this week due to our leaders having examinations at JPC this week. Practises will continue as usual from Week 7. Thank you for your support with this.

Week 6 Notices

We have had a busy term so far so a three day weekend was a well deserved break for all of us. I hope you had a lovely break with your whanau and enjoyed the extra day with your children at home on Friday as well.

This week we are going to be doing 2 challenges in Room 12. As part of mathematics we are beginning a short focus on Fractions, so I thought this was a great way to include some cooking...PIZZA WEEK! We will be working in groups to adapt a pizza dough recipe to make ONE base instead of 4 and design toppings and slices so that each person in their group gets an identical slice of their pizza. We will be making the dough on Thursday and then adding toppings and cooking them on Friday so we can eat them for Golden Time. I will provide all of the dough ingredients, but it would be really helpful if each child was able to provide some topping ingredients for their group. Your support with this will be greatly appreciated :)

Our second challenge is based on adapting a classic board game to have a maths focus suitable for our age group. We realised we have minimal maths games in our room so this provides a great collaborative opportunity for us to create our own ones through incorporating ADAPTATION! We will start this challenge this week and depending on how long it takes we may carry it over into next week as well.

For the rest of the term we are fortunate enough to have two specialist teachers in Dance and Music coming into our school to take sessions with our children in these areas. Our class will be attending a 45min Dance session and a 45min Music session every Wednesday between 11 and 12.30 for the rest of the term. This is a great opportunity for our children to experience the Arts in school with expert facilitators!

Also, don't forget Mrs Wallbank is running a homework club for Pasifika students on Thursday afternoons....

Homework Club – Thursdays

The Homework Club is specifically set up to offer extra learning time and support for our Pasifika students after school.

Every Thursday from 3.15pm-4.15pm students can meet in Room 15 to complete any home reading or homework they would like support with.  Parents are also welcome to attend, to gain tips and ideas on how to support learning at home.

On Friday we have Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart. This starts at 9 and should go for appx 45 minutes. It would be great if you could discuss this celebration at home with your child. Here are some key questions Father may ask on Friday at Mass:

What is so special about the Sacred Heart of Jesus?

What is on the outside of the stature?

What is Jesus saying to us?

This week children will be bringing home new spelling words and a spelling worksheet at their level. This goes on a two week cycle - please help them to learn these words and complete the spelling worksheet. Please make sure they bring their spelling book to school tomorrow to add new words in, and then they will need to bring it back by Thursday next week. Thank you for your support with this.

It is going to be an action packed short week! Looking forward to seeing everyone's smiling faces tomorrow!

THIS WEEK:

TUESDAY 5TH JUNE

Lunchtime Gymnastics

WEDNESDAY 6TH JUNE.

8.45am School Singing

Lunchtime Ping Pong Club

THURSDAY 7TH JUNE.

Lunchtime Gymnastics

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

FRIDAY 8TH JUNE

9.00am Sacred Heart Mass

11.00am Pasifika Practice

NEXT WEEK:

WEDNESDAY 13TH JUNE.

9.00am ICAS Spelling and Writing

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice Jazz and Lyrical

8.45am School Singing

Lunchtime Ping Pong Club

3.00-4.00pm Arts in Motion Practice Hip Hop

THURSDAY 14TH JUNE

8.45am Student Council

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

FOLLOWING:

18th Matariki Week

19TH JUNE Cultural Dinner

Week 5 Notices

Wow we are nearly halfway through the term already! Hope you have all had a lovely weekend and made the most of the beautiful sunshine yesterday! This week is Samoan language week; the theme this year is “Alofa atu nei. Alofa mai taeao – Kindness given. Kindness gained”.

We have a few reminders for this week...

Cross Country is on tomorrow! All details are the same, below is the information sheet if you need a reminder. Please contact me if you had said you could provide transport but not longer can. If you are helping with transport, please meet us in Room 12 at 12.20 so we can organise groups and be ready to leave at 12.30.

On Monday there will be a crane in the Church Carpark helping with the renovations by Room 16. This means part of the carpark will be closed. Please find somewhere else to park when arriving for cross country transport or picking your child up at the end of the day.

Also a reminder that Friday is a teacher only day...

Also a reminder that Homework Club starts this Thursday afternoon for Pasifika students.

THIS WEEK:

MONDAY 28TH MAY

SAMOAN LANGUAGE WEEK

Cross Country

3.20pm Team Mtgs Focus Area Maths or writing.

TUESDAY 29TH MAY

9-10 ICAS Science

WEDNESDAY 30TH MAY.

7.30am Arts in Motion Practice

Lunchtime Ping Pong Club

3.15-4.30pm Arts in Motion Practice

THURSDAY 31ST MAY

8.45am Student Council

2.05pm Kapa Haka

3.15pm Pasifika Homework Club

FRIDAY 1ST JUNE

TEACHER ONLY DAY.

NEXT WEEK

MONDAY (QUEENS BIRTHDAY)

FRIDAY 8TH JUNE

9.00am Sacred Heart Mass