Junior School Picnic

Next Tuesday the Junior school will be having our annual school picnic- fun day. It will take place at school and each class will move around a rotation of fun activities for the morning. The children will be able to wear mufti for the day, but we do ask that you think about what the children are wearing in relation to the suddenly very hot days we are having- we will have sunblock available but if the children can wear either a rash suit top, or a t-shirt that covers shoulders and arms to avoid sunburn. We will be having a shared lunch after the morning's activities.

correction

In this week's Blog I said that the children need to be in their school uniform for the two nights of the production- actually they may come in mufti- just make sure they are tidily dressed.

Morning Tea

Could, parents please bring a plate for morning tea for the Grandparents Mass on Friday, if you are able to do so, could you please have it in the Hall Kitchen before Mass (9.00). If you want your plate back, please name it..

addresses

I would like to do an activity about where the children live in Rotorua- and was surprised yesterday that there are several children who don't know their address!! Could you please make sure your child(ren) know what your address is and maybe even your phone number..
Thanks..

Friday Golden Time

Just a reminder that we are having a Teddy Bear's picnic for our Golden Time this week - I have asked the children to bring healthy food, as we are having it at lunchtime, and for most children this will be their lunch for the day. Thanks..

Week 10 Golden Time

Just an advance warning that Room 8 will have a shared lunch next week - we plan to make it a Teddy Bear's picnic and would love to have a fine day, so that we can eat outside!! We will say some prayers - I will put something in the weekly notices  at the weekend.

Maths Evening

Just a reminder that this Wednesday evening there is a Maths Evening. We would like as many of you as possible to come to the evening- it starts at 5.00 and runs for an hour. If you are unable to leave children at home, there will be facilities to have them looked after.

Photos of the edible art created a couple of weeks ago

Five plus a day competitions

5 a day – Edible art competition
Rules:

Create a piece of edible art using a minimum of 5 pieces of fruit and vegetables.

Everything on your plate must be edible. You can include up to 2 pieces of food that are not fruit or veges.

Your piece of art must be created at school – it cannot be made at home and brought into school.

Winners:
The Health Promoting team will come around the classes at 12.00 on Thursday 14th August to judge the art.

There will be a prize for the best piece of artwork in the Junior, Middle and Senior classes.

Golden Time Week 9

This week's Golden Time will be a Shared Lunch- we will have it at Lunchtime rather than at 1.30-I would like the children to bring 'healthy food' - we have discussed this afternoon some of the food that the children could bring....

CROSS COUNTRY POSTPONED!!!!

There will be no Cross Country tomorrow due to the weather.  We will be holding the Cross Country on Monday the 30th June at 11.00 instead.

Updating phone numbers

Just a reminder that if your phone number changes (cell phones and land lines) could you please let Maggie know at the office, also please update any changes of address.

Lego competition

MATARIKI

MATARIKI

In class this week we have been learning about Matariki.   We listened to a story a called the The Seven Stars of Matariki. 

 (Click the purple writing to listen to the story)

After listening to the story we created stars to remind us of Matariki.

We hung 7 little stars underneath to remind us of the 7 stars.

MATARIKI is the Maori name for the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades.   When it rises in the north-eastern skies in late May or early June, it signals to Maori that the New Year will begin.  It's exact timing varies from year to year, but it usually occurs during the month of June. Traditionally, Matariki was used to determine the coming season's crop. A warmer season, and therefore a more productive crop yield, was indicated by how bright the stars were.

SPELLING

Your child will be bringing their spelling notebook home this weekend to practice all of their words for the term.  They will be tested on Monday on all the words they have had throughout the term.  It is really important that they can read/recognise and write these words, in order to write them quickly in story writing and to recognise them in reading.   Without these basic high frequency words children find it difficult to read and write.  That is why it is so important that they learn these words so they are just known.

Thank you for all the support you give your child at home.

Thank You

A big thank you to all the parent helpers who provided transport and spent their day with us at Ohinemutu Marae today.  We are very lucky to have such a supportive group of parents, without you, trips like this would not be possible.  So a very big THANK YOU to you all.  Also thank you for your donations of food and money.

Mufti Day

Don't forget Mufti Day- Friday 4 April- bring 50c and it will go onto the coin trail to raise money for Caritas.

Wedding

Mrs Tootill is out for Thursday, Friday and Monday, our daughter has some home from the Netherlands to get married this weekend out at Lake Okataina on Saturday - we are hoping and praying for fine weather -there is a cyclone forecast!! See you all on Tuesday morning with photos!!

Ash Wednesday Liturgy

The Ash Wednesday Liturgy will be at 10.00 (not 11.00) next .

No Bought Lunches

There are are not bought lunches tomorrow (Thursday), please send your child's normal lunch with them in the morning.

Gala Countdown

Monday 17th	Tinned goods or bags of lollies e.g. baked beans, peaches, Mackintosh’s, jet planes, licorice allsorts.  If you have any preloved baskets or platters that you no longer require - these would be handy for the quick fire raffle.
Tuesday 18th	Nacho Day.  Corn chips, tinned tomatoes, chilli, baked or kidney beans, onions.
Wednesday 19th	Bathroom Day. Soap, hand wash, tissues, shampoo, conditioner, toilet tissue, etc
Thursday 20th	Books.  A packet or box of something, e.g. chips, sultanas, cornflakes, handee towels.  Plastic bags and ice cream containers (with lids) would be appreciated.
Friday 21st	Bottle Day.  Please bring to school a bottle or jar of something, e.g. shampoo, Coke, sauce, perfume, jam. (no alcohol allowed to be bought to school by children)
Monday 24th	Books, toys,  Baby Elephant (board games, children’s sporting equipment, CD's DVD's, videos, play station games, jigsaws),corn chips, tinned tomatoes & beans. CHILDREN'S PRELOVED CLEAN QUALITY CLOTHING
Tuesday 25th	Tinned goods or bags of lollies e.g. baked beans, peaches, Mackintosh’s, jet planes, licorice allsorts, BABY elephant, soccer boots, and books.
Wednesday 26th	Grocery and Fresh Fruit and Vege Day.  Please bring to school any grocery items, tinned goods or fruit/veges from your garden e.g. tomatoes/feijoas/lettuce etc
Thursday 27th GALA DAY!!!	Cakes, biscuits, muffins, sweets, fudge, coconut ice, lollies, toffee apples and any fresh produce. YR 5 & 6 bring in your cakes for the cake competition.

Reminders

• Remember to check the weekly notices page each week on our Blog, there will be updates every week.

Room 8

3 February 2014

Dear Parents / Caregivers,

Welcome to Room 8 for 2014. This year Mrs Heather Tootill and Miss Racheal Andrews will be teaching your child. Miss Andrews will be in the room from 8.45 till 10.30 every day while Mrs Tootill takes Reading Recovery. Mrs Tootill will be in the room from 11.00 till 3.00.

This term our concept is Citizenship, and we will be focusing on Me/You/We in the context of Volunteers. The Concept is integrated throughout many other curriculum areas.  Our Religious Education Programme will be integrated throughout our daily programme; we will be working to maintain the Catholic Character of our school.  This term we will be focusing on the Fruit of the Holy Spirit of JOY.  We are also having a term focus on manners.  This term we are highlighting PLEASE and THANK YOU.

Our school motto is 'With Christ as our centre we strive for excellence’; we will be reminding the children of this and will be expecting the best from them.

This year we are going to do most of our communication with you via our class blog. Our blog address is: room8stmarysrotorua.blogspot.com . We will be putting something on the blog each week to keep you up to date with what has been happening and what will be happening in the following week.

Here are a few “Need to Knows/Reminders” for the term:

• Class Library:  Thursday 11.45am-12.30pm Children will be able to issue a book for the week.
• Whole School Singing: Wednesday 8.45-9.00am
• Class Swimming:  Everyday 12.00-12.30pm on odd weeks (1,3,5,7,9,11) Children are expected to participate, as swimming is part of the Physical Education programme. Please ensure that your child brings their togs on these days.

·         Uniforms: Children are expected to wear correct summer uniform, this includes a hat.  It is compulsory for all children to wear their sunhats while they are playing outside during the first term.  (No Hat, No Play)

Uniform Shop Hours:  Monday and Friday 8.30-9.00am

                                  Wednesday 2.30-3.00pm

          PLEASE name your child’s belongings clearly so they can be returned if lost.

• Newsletters are sent home every Wednesday to keep you informed of school happenings.  You can also visit the school website for more information. www.stmarysrotorua.school.nz.
• Absentees:  Please contact the office if your child is absent for the day on;

          348 1701 (a message can be left if it is outside of the office hours)

Office hours: 8.30am-3.30pm

Upcoming events:

Parent Information Evening:

Thursday 13 February 5.30pm-6.00pm

School Gala

Thursday 27 February

This term we will be having our Junior School Athletics on:

Thursday 27 March 11am-12.30pm

We will be practicing skills for this event in the weeks that we don’t have swimming.

Homework:

Reading

Your child will bring home reading every night.  Could you please set aside a few minutes to listen to them read.  If they are struggling with a word just tell them it.  We want to make reading as enjoyable and stress free as possible so your child develops a positive attitude towards reading. The expectation is that they will return the book each morning.

Spelling

Your child will bring home spelling words to learn each week. They will be tested on these words on Friday mornings.  

Here are a few suggestions on how to help your child learn their words:

·         Write them again and again.

·         Find the words in books, magazines etc.

·         Make the word out of dough.

·         Write each letter a different colour (Rainbow words)

·         Use a paint brush and water to paint them on concrete.

We look forward to meeting you and getting to know your child.  A Home-School Partnership is very important to help your child’s learning, and the key to this is a good parent-teacher relationship.  If you have any queries about your child’s learning or you want to tell us something about your child that may help us to get the best out of them PLEASE contact us.  Our email addresses are: heather@stmarys.rotorua.school.nz racheala@stmarys.rotorua.school.nz or you can pop in for a quick chat before or after school.

We look forward to meeting you this term.

Yours Sincerely

Heather Tootill and Racheal Andrews.