Weekly notices

Week 10

• Thanks to all the parents who brought their children to the fabulous school production of Cinderella- it was certainly a wonderful show, and something for our Junior School children to aspire to.. the children who were playing the main characters were outstanding.

• It is the Junior School Picnic/Fun Day on Tuesday. As it is our swimming week, the children will have their togs, there will be a rotation of various activities during the day, including swimming. We will have a class shared lunch so could all children please bring something for everyone to enjoy.

• As mentioned it is our swimming week, and hopefully we will be able to use our normal swimming time for at least Monday and Wednesday (bearing in mind that there will be interruptions with practices for Mass etc.

• School finishes at 12.00 midday on Thursday, please make sure your children are picked up then, we will be having the missioning of the Year 6 children at 11.00, so school will finish after that.
• It is the Final School Mass on Wednesday at 5.30. It is expected that all children will attend the Mass. There will be more details early in the week about where you are to bring the children to before the Mass.

• Please keep an eye on the Blog during the week, in case I need to add anything and make any changes to what is already here.

• Welcome to week 9- hard to believe isn't it!! This is production week, so the week will be focused around practices and the actual production. The performances are a Matinee on Wednesday at 1.00, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.00. The children need to be at school by 6.30 for the evening performances and earlier if they have a part in the play.All children are expected to be here for the evening performances and they come in their school uniform, please. The tickets on sale as of Friday 5 December, they are $10 for adults, and $5 for pre-schoolers and school age children. St Mary's students are free. On Thursday and Friday morning the children do not have to be at school until 11.00. If you are sending them to school earlier, please make sure they are here at the normal time- we do not want children 'dribbling in' between 8.45 and 10.30.

Week 9

• In between the production rehearsals etc we will be running our programme as normally as possible.

• Don't forget to put the final school Mass into your calendar- 5.30 at St Mary's Church- all children will be expected to be at the Mass- it is a lovely celebration of our year at school.

• Please remember to send non-perishable food along with your children for the Young Vinnies food drive- the class with the most food will be winning a prize in the last week.

Week 8

• It is our swimming week this week, so please make sure that the children have their togs every day. The weather is a little warmer finally, thank goodness.

• There is still a little testing to be done, but we should be over and done with this week, so we will be able to enjoy the season of Advent.

• It is hard to believe that it is less than a month till Christmas.

• The Young Vinnies are running a non-perishable food drive and they are offering a prize for the class that brings the most food. The food will be taken up at the Offertory at the final school Mass- ideas for the children to bring are cans, packets of stuff like rice, pasta etc. The children can bring it to class and we will count it at the end of next week. Thanks in advance.

Week 7

• Well the weather certainly doesn't feel like it will be summer next week!! It is amazing how cold it has been lately.
• We will be doing a lot more practicing  for the upcoming production from now on, I hope you have got the dates marked on your calendar for the production.
• We now only have four weeks till the end of the year, but we will still be running our normal programme and keeping routines going even though the end of the year is getting closer.
• We are going on a class trip to Kuirau Park on Thursday morning. A notice went home on Friday, please fill in the bottom part if you are able to help us on that morning, we will be walking down to Kuirau Park and will be back at lunchtime. Hopefully the weather will be fine!!
• Have a good week.

Week 6

• The Grandparents Mass was lovely, and the show afterwards in the Hall was great, I was so pleased to meet several lots of grandparents.

• We will be swimming this week, hopefully the weather will be better that the last week we were swimming- the children even got hailed on..

• We are doing lots of talking and learning Rotorua, it would be great if you could discuss some of the places we have talked about in the class, and may be visit them as well.

• I will put some photos of the grandparents in our room on the photos page over the weekend. Our classroom is lookikng really great at the moment with displays of the children's work, please feel free to come in and admire your child's work.

Week 5

• Hopefully we are in for a few fine days in week 5, last week was certainly interesting weather-wise, it felt like winter at times!! The children were all fascinated with all the hail.

• There is still some testing being done, nearly over!! The testing that we have done so far has shown that all the children have made progress in everything this year.. And after this week we will be on the downward slide till the Christmas holidays.

• Please keep reading to your children, your reading to them is almost more valuable than their reading to you, let the children hear your reading and how it sounds and that gives them a good model for how reading should sound..

Week 4

• Wow week 4 already..we will be on the countdown to Christmas before we know it!
• As it is an even week, we will be swimming every day at 2.25, thanks to you all for sending the children's togs in week 2, we had a fabulous turnout of swimmers most days, don't forget the pool is heated and the weather is slowly warming up as well.
• The testing of all the children is going well and it is really pleasing to see the progress that they have all made, well done everyone.
• Have a good week.

Week 3

• I hope you are all enjoying the long weekend with your children, the weather today is not that great, so I guess it is indoor activities.

• We are already into the third week of the term, as you would have read in the newsletter last week the Production has been postponed till early December, so that does give us a little more time in the classes to do our testing etc.

• Thank you to you all for sending togs with your children all last week, we will be swimming again next week.

• With the testing we have done so far, the children have all made significant progress over the year, which is really pleasing.
• Just a couple of reminders:- there is a Google Apps meeting in Room 14 on Tuesday night for Year 2 children's parents, also there will be a working bee on Saturday at school, please come along and help out if you can spare some time during the day on Saturday.

• Have a good week.

Week 2

• Further to the query I put on the Blog one day last week, I would like the children to know where they live -i.e. their address, and maybe even their phone number - we are focusing our learning around our town of Rotorua, and it would be great to have a little map of Rotorua made up with all the different areas where the Room 8 children and teachers live.

• This week is our swimming week, our time is 2.25 till 2.55, please send your child's togs and towel with them every day.

• The weekly newsletter put out by the school is no longer printed in hard copy- it is emailed to everyone. It may pay for you to check that the school office has the correct email address for you. It will also be on the school website each week.

• Just a reminder that our school day starts at 8.45, it is great if the children can be at school by 8.30, so they are ready to start the day as soon as the bell goes.

• Have a good week.

Week 1 Term 4

• I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday with your children- the weather hasn't been terribly good for a lot of the time, but I guess that gave the children some 'down time' and hopefully they were able to read, read, read and then fill in their Reading Logs - just a reminder to get the Reading Logs into the class as soon as possible.

• We will 'hit the ground running' this term, there is a lot of work to get done and of course there is the production as well. There will be lots of practices for the production during the term, so there may be a little interruption to some class time.. but we will attempt to make this as little as possible.

• Swimming starts this term as well- the Room 8 time is even weeks, 2.25- 2.55. So in Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 the children will be expected to have their togs at school every day.

• Our Library Day remains the same- Thursday at 11.45, please make sure your children remember to bring their Library Books each Thursday so they can change the books.
• Also a reminder that the children need to be in their full summer uniform from Monday.

Week 10

• Well here we are into the last week of Term 3 already - the September/October holidays are coming and then it is the countdown till Christmas and summer. Lovely, I can't wait..

• The Literacy team are having an amnesty on books, e.g the books that your children bring home each week to read to you - could you please look in all the 'odd places' around home and see if you have any books that belong to St Mary's and return them with the children. We are having a stock take in the holidays.

• Our Golden Time for this week is a Teddy Bear's Picnic- we will probably have it at lunchtime, so it would be great if you could send healthy food along with your children -thanks. Hopefully the weather will be fine and we can have it outside.

• Remember that at the beginning of next term the children need to be in the correct summer uniform, the hours for the uniform shop at school are on the website.

• Have a great week and enjoy the holidays with your children.

Week 9

• Another busy week of learning coming up- the children are all getting a little tired as we approach the end of term, we will be doing some testing and end of term analysis in the next couple of weeks as well as continuing with teaching and learning as usual. 

• We have been adding a few photos to this blog over the last few weeks, don't forget to look under the various headings at the things we have put on.

• I have been impressed with the really  healthy lunches that our children are getting every day- the focus we had in class a couple of weeks ago was really great with all the children able to say what would be great in their lunchboxes.

• Hopefully the weather will warm up over the next couple of weeks, don't forget that after the September/October holidays the children will need to be in their correct summer uniform. It may pay to check that your child's summer uniform still fits!!
• Just a reminder that there is an Art competition based around Mary and the celebration of the Rosary, the children can do it at home, and use any type of art they like, crayon, paint, collage. The due date is the last day of term. There will be prizes.....

Week 8

• Spring is officially here and as I write this it is a beautiful spring day with the sun shining and birds singing - long may this weather last (somehow I don't think it will-spring is notoriously temperamental in NZ).

• We have the Mass for the Birthday of Mary on Friday at 9.00. You are all welcome to come and join us at St Mary's Church.

• A lot of children have filled up books that you bought at the beginning of the year, so Miss Andrews and I will be requesting that you purchase one or two more to see them through till the end of the year- there are still three weeks left this term and next term is a ten week term, so I am sure they will be well utilised.

• Thanks to you all for being pretty vigilant with keepng up with reading to your children, we are noticing some significant progress across the board in the class in all areas of the curriculum, well done.

Week 7

• Thanks to all the parents who came to our Maths Evening on Wednesday, I am sure you all took something out of it.

• There is a mufti day on Friday, the Young Vinnies are raising money for the Christmas Party for special children- the children can dress up as their favourite book of movie character. They will need to bring $1 if they are dressed in mufti.

• There is still a month of this term to go -please ensure your children are wearing the correct winter uniform every day.
• The Whanau group are selling raffle tickets - $3.00 each, make sure you buy one!!

Week 6

• Another busy week coming up - starting with school photos on Monday, please make sure that your children have the correct school uniform on, and they need the school jersey, not the Polar Fleece on for the photos. If you haven't already sent your envelope with the money in it to pay for the photos, please do so on Monday morning. The people doing the photos take the envelopes with them when they leave.

• We have a Maths evening on Wednesday evening from 5.00 till 6.00 - you should have received the letter about it last week. We would prefer you not to bring children with you for the evening, but if it is impossible to leave them at home there will be something in the Library to keep them entertained.

• Please remember that if you have any concerns about your child, come and see Miss Andrews or Mrs Tootill - you are able to make an appointment with us via the emails if necessary.

• Enjoy your weekend with your children.

Week 5

• Nearly halfway through the term already - I can see the beginnings of spring in my garden which is always a lovely sign after winter-

• Please remind the children to return their reading books and spelling notebooks every day. They are all making great progress with the amount of homework they are doing.

• Well done to Denzel for winning the Junior section of the Edible Art competition on Thursday.

• We are continuing our work with different types of food from around the world, the children appear to be enjoying learning about different foods and now we are looking at how food changes as it cooks and when you add different ingredients.

Week 4

• We had a really great Feast Day on Friday- lovely to see the children behaving so well in Church and then enjoying all the activities for the rest of the day.

• On Thursday this week there will be an Edible Art competition put on by the school Health Promoting team -the children have to create a piece of art using a minimum of five pieces of fruit and vegetables, they may also use two pieces of other food as well. The Health promoting team will come around and judge the edible art. The piece of art must be made at school, it can not be made at home. The children will need to bring a plate and a small knife to cut up their fruit/vegetables and we will create the art work in class time. This should be fun!! I will print off the poster that Mrs Todd has sent to the teachers on Monday. Any questions please ask Miss Andrews or Mrs Tootill.

• The children are all working really well, and we are really pleased with the progress that the children are making with their reading and writing and maths. 

• Enjoy the lovely weather we are having at the moment.

Week 3

• It is hard to believe it is already August - the days are getting longer and hopefully we will have a settled spring to come soon.

• Friday 8 August (Friday of this week) is our school feast day - Mary MacKillop Day, we will start the day with a Mass over at St Mary's, and the rest of the day will be activities related to Mary MacKillop and her life. There will be a shared lunch, we will be with Room 4, one of the senior classes. Could you all send something with your children to share for lunch. Parents are invited to attend the Mass, and you will be welcome to stay for part of the day if you want.

• Just a reminder that we have a Parent Interview evening on Wednesday, when I checked on Friday, there were a lot of you who had made appointments. Thanks!

• We are really pleased with the progress the children are making in all areas of the curriculum- thanks for all the work you do with your children at home.

Week 2

• We had a great start to Term 3  with everyone on deck and ready to learn. Well done to the children who have brought back their Reading Logs, if you haven't done so, please remember to return it by Wednesday this week.

• This term our focus is Globalisation, how we are connected to the world. We will be looking at food and where food comes from. During the term we will do some cooking and sharing of different foods - if your child has any allergies, could you please let us know ASAP, so we can work around these. We will probably need parent help for some of these sessions, I will keep you posted.

• Please remember to check the Blog during the week, at least a couple of times, some weeks there will be updates put on the Blog during the week, and this is the easiest way of communicating for us.
• The Whanau group are selling Steam puddings on Thursday for $1.50 per serving, the children will need to bring the money to school and give it to Miss Andrews in the morning - she will send the orders to the office and the steam puddings will be delivered to the class at lunchtime.

Term 3-Week1

• Hi there, welcome back to another term in Room 8- I hope you have all had a fabulous holiday and have spent some lovely time with your children. At least this second week has been fine, even though a little cold!! Apparently the first week's weather was pretty dreadful.
• There will be a Farewell for Father Mark in our school hall on Wednesday morning, at 10.00. All are welcome to join us and then share morning tea.

• Remember to keep up the reading logs and to fill in the chart. Bring that chart back next week and we will hand them all in to Mrs O'Leary, I have been filling mine out as well, and if we get enough returns the teacher gets an afternoon off school!!

• Remember that Monday is a teacher only day and the school starts for the children on Tuesday morning at 8.45 - it is great if you can get the children to school by 8.30 as this is a good chance for them to be organised for that day.

• We will be starting each day with Jump Jam in the Hall, so if the children could bring their P.E gear to do that in, that would be great.

• Please do remember to check the Blog regularly, as if there is anything that Miss Andrews or I want to tell you, we will put it on the Blog.

• Thanks to everyone for the shared lunch on the last day of the term, we had a fantastic response to the Healthy Food call, and there are some treats left over to share in the first couple of weeks this term,

• We will be having our normal Library time on Thursday, so please remember to send back your child's Library Book, so he/she can change it.

Week 9

• Please remember to send back Library books on Thursday, so that the children can take a book home for the holidays to enjoy. I do encourage you to use the Public Library as well, they have a wonderful selection of children's books and it is free to borrow them.

• Just a reminder that Term three starts for the children on Tuesday 22 July- as there is a teacher only day on Monday the 21 July.

Week 8

• It is the shortest day as I sit here and write this - I always think that once we are past this milestone in the winter, things get more pleasant weather wise as the days get longer again..(some sun would be nice, even if it is bit chilly when we have the accompanying frost..)

• Please remember that Monday 23 June is a Teacher Only Day, so please make arrangements for your children on that day-last week's newsletter had the contact details for Mary-Anne from the Glenholme after school care programme.

• Also this week it is our Junior Cross Country - we will be holding it on Thursday at 11.00 on the school field. Come and watch your children run the race of their lives.
• Also on Thursday the Young Vinnies are having a fundraiser - it will be a Mufti Day with the theme that the children come dressed as their favourite sports star-think Richie McCaw, Steven Adams,any of the soccer stars in Brazil at the moment......

• Have a good week.

Week 7

• We had a great week with the Student Led Conferences - thanks to all the parents who came along and celebrated their child's learning. It was lovely to see the children leading their parents around all the learning they have been doing this year. Well done.

• We have another busy week of learning in Room 8 this week, hopefully it will be fine and we can get out and do some cross-country training all ready for the cross-country next week (Thursday the 26 June).

• Just a reminder that we have a Teacher Only Day next Monday 23 June, please make arrangements for your children for that day. The contact details for Maryanne from the Glenholme after school care programme were in last week's newsletter (in case you need to have your children looked after).

Week 6

• We had a lovely celebration of Pentecost yesterday with St Michael's and some JPC students.It was lovely being able to share the Eucharist and then our lovely school with them.

• Thanks to all the parents who came to the Reading Evening last week- from the feedback that we got everyone got a lot out of it.

• We have our Student Led Conferences this week- Wednesday and Thursday. Remember that school closes at 12.30 on Wednesday. We have a 100% turnout for Room 8-you have all made a booking to come and celebrate your children's learning. We look forward to seeing you all this week.

• We are in the middle of testing the children for their reading, writing and maths- it has been interesting to see how much the children have progressed.

Week 5

• Here we are at the official beginning of winter, and if last week's frosts were anything to go by I think we may be in for a cold winter.

• We missed our Library time last week as there was some training going on in the Library, but we will be going this week.

• The Junior Teachers are hosting a Reading evening on Wednesday from 5.15 till 6.00- we would like to encourage as many of you as possible to come along, as it will be a very informative session with lots of ideas on how you can help your children with their readi.ng. Please mark it on your calendar.

• On Friday morning we will be having a really special Mass-it is the Pentecost Mass and the children and staff from St Michael's Catholic School will be joining us for the Mass and then a shared lunch in our our playground followed by some fun activities. You are welcome to join us for the Mass and then lunch afterwards.

• I hope you are enjoying the extra day with your children today. Have a great week.

Week 4

• Another week over, and as usual we are really happy with the effort the children are putting into their learning. We had a couple of parents ask last week if their child should be bringing home a book to read every night, simple answer is YES, at the end of every day, the children are given their spelling notebook and then told to get a book out of their group's browsing box to take home.

• Cross country training will continue this week.

• Please mark the Wednesday and Thursday of Week 6 on your calendar for the Student Led Conferences- these are a celebration of your children's learning.

• Have a great week.

Week 3:

• The children are continuing to work really well this term, and thank goodness we are having some settle weather. The colder mornings are worth the lovely sunny days.

• We are training for the Junior school cross country which will be held on the 26 June at 11.00, the children are running around the field every day.

• The children will be bringing home invitations for the Student Led Conferences, the will also be practicing in class how to run the conferences- watch this space!

• Have a good week, everyone.

Week 2:

• What a fantastic start to the term we had in Room 8 - everyone was well rested and ready to learn, thanks to everyone for reading with the children and to those of you who have remembered to return your reading log to school, good luck for the draw for the big prize at this week's assembly. There is still time for those who haven't returned their reading log to do so, Wednesday is the last day.

• We have decided that we would rather the children don't bring their 'Bay Blades' to school, as there is often disagreements with which belongs to who and also parts of them do go missing. Thanks for your cooperation.

• Our assembly on Friday was fine- the children who read snippets about respect did very well, as did the children who introduced the different parts of the assembly - well done.

• There will be more information about Student Led Conferences coming home in the next few weeks, also an invitation for you t make an appointment.

• Library Day is Thursday, most children are pretty good at remembering to bring their books back.

• Have a good week.

Week 1- Term 2

• Welcome back to Term 2, it is nice short term with only 9 weeks. I am sure the time will fly, just like it did last term. I hope you have all had a great holiday with your children, the weather hasn't been too bad..

• Remember that the children need to be in their full winter uniform, if you don't have all the uniform, check the school website for the uniform shop hours.

• Our concept this term is Structures- the organisation of many parts. We will be looking at how parts of a 'whole' depend on each other to be able to maintain the structure.

• Our Library time will be back to 11.45 on Thursdays this term, we have had it at 11.00 for the first term to fit in with our swimming time. I hope the children have been doing heaps of reading over the holidays, and have filled in their Reading Logs that went home at the end of last term, remember to bring those Reading Logs back this week and everyone who brings them back will be in the draw for prizes at a assembly.

• This term will see out first Student Led Conferences- they will be held in June, and you will be receiving lots of information about them over the next few weeks- please put the dates on your calendar and come a long and celebrate your children's learning.

• Room 8 is on Assembly this week, our focus in Respect, you are more that welcome to come along and watch the assembly on Friday at 2.15.

Week 11.

• Here we are in the last week of school for term 1 2014, goodness me it has gone so fast. We are very proud of the way the children have settled to work and adapted so well to having two teachers. Well done.

• This week is our swimming week, and as I write this the weather is still very mild, so please send togs to school with your children- there will be some days when we will have 'Leg-it', and quite possibly we won't have swimming on those days, but is the children have their togs we will be able cover all bases..

• Once again please remember to send Library books to school on Thursday, so that the children can change their books and have a book home for the holidays.

• As mentioned last week this week is a very busy week in the Church calendar, please remember to talk to your children about all the things that are happening. On Tuesday we have the Stations of the Cross over in the Church and on Thursday we have the washing of the feet in the school hall. Parent are, of course, invited to these Liturgies.

• Enjoy the holidays with your children, and I hope the weather holds, I think the drought has broken with the rain we had last week!!

Week 10

• We have a busy couple of weeks coming up before we can relax and enjoy the Easter break.. lets hope that the weather stays fine especially over the holidays, I can remember vividly the school holidays where it rained and rained and our kids were stuck indoors for days on end. Not pleasant!!

• On Tuesday we will be going to Ohinemutu Marae for the day- could all children please bring a Koha for the Marae- this can either be a can of food or a gold coin. Thanks in advance. Also if you are one of the wonderful parents who is helping with transport and help on the day, could you please bring any extra booster seats you may have, and could all other children please bring their own booster seat so it can be used if necessary.

• On Friday we have the Palm Sunday Parade at 10.00 - as always this is a very special procession with the donkey and 'Jesus'. Parents are more than welcome to join us on Friday.

• Please remember to send the children's Library books on Thursday, I would love it for all the children to have a lovely book to read over the holidays, and I am not sure if we will get to the Library the following Thursday.

Week 9

• Another week has come and gone already, we are halfway through Lent, I hope you are all remembering your Lenten Promises.

• This week is our swimming week, so please remember to bring your togs - we are lucky that our swimming time is 12.00, as the outside temperatures have got warmer by then.The autumnal cooler mornings are beginning to kick in.

• Also this week we have our Rice Day on Tuesday - at this stage we only have one helper, so it would be great if you could come along -and help with cooking the rice and then dishing it out. The children can bring something for morning tea to help keep them going for the day, the Rice Day is really to give the children an idea of what it is like for a lot of the children in the world who only have a bowl of rice for the day.
• Please remember to bring Library Books on Thursday, as if the children don't return their books, they are unable to get a new one out for the following week.
• We have lots of helpers and offers of transport for the Marae trip on the 8 April, remember that if you are able to take children in your car, you need to have enough booster seats for the children to sit in - we will ask parents to bring their child's one to school if necessary.

Week 8

• Another week has flown past, the days are beginning to get shorter and a little chilly in the mornings. We are very lucky to have a heated swimming pool, so we are able to continue our swimming lessons through till April. We will be swimming again in week 9.

• My daughter's wedding was lovely despite the Cyclone, it was a really happy and joyful occasion shared with about 110 friends and family- we are very blessed with our new son-in-law, he is a lovely young man and they are very much in love..
• The Junior School Athletics will be held on Thursday at 11.00 till 12.30. You are welcome to come along and watch your children participate in the events. There will be prize-giving in the Hall immediately afterwards.

• Miss Andrews and Mrs Tootill will be doing lots of testing between now and the end of term, so we will be able to communicate your children's progress to you by the end of the term.

• We have the Annunciation Liturgy on Tuesday morning in the Church at 10.00, everyone is invited to come along - Room 8 will be sharing in some of the preparation. It was lovely to see so many parents and other family members at the St Joseph's Day Mass on Friday.
• Just an advance warning on Tuesday the 1st April, we will be having a Rice Day, where the children will get a bowl of rice for lunch. There will be a notice going home on Monday with the details, as we will need some parent help with this event.

• Have a great week, and remember that you want to meet with Mrs Tootill or Miss Andrews please contact us through our email addresses which are both on the blog.

Week 7

• As I write this I (Mrs Tootill) have just got back from the hairdresser and have had my make up done ready for our daughter's wedding this afternoon, Bride and Bridesmaids are still there, so next thing is getting dressed / photos etc.

• Week 7 will be our swimming week, so please remember to put your togs in every day, remember our pool is well heated, and the children get dressed quickly, so they don't get cold.

• Also remember to bring your Library books on Thursday, so you can take a different one home

• We have the St Joseph's Day Mass over at St Mary's Church on Friday morning at 9.00. all parents are invited to join us there. Sister Carina still has association with our school, and she is a Josephite Sister (Mary MacKillop started the Josephite Sisters and they started our school over 100 years ago).
• Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Week 6

• Well done to all the children for making lovely promises for Lent. The two Liturgies we had last week were a lovely start to Lent.

• This week we will be continuing with lots of great learning- the children have been really great at doing their homework, well done. It is also great to see such good lunches which the children are enjoying, this is helping their learning.

• Please remember to use the Blog to check for any updates going on in the school. And if you want to contact Miss Andrews or Mrs Tootill via email - both our email addresses are on the Blog.

Week 5

• Gosh isn't the term flying past - we are nearly half way through this term already!

• This week is an important week in our Church calendar with the beginning of Lent on Wednesday. On Monday our children will be making up a promise for Lent, for our littlies this will mean something positive that they can do for the 40 days of Lent. On Tuesday it is Shrove Tuesday, traditionally a day when we 'feast' before the fasting of Lent. We will be having a Liturgy in the school hall at 10.00 on Tuesday morning. The children will be putting their promises that they will have done the day before into a basket ready to be made into ashes for Ash Wednesday. On Wednesday we will be having another Liturgy (in the Church) to mark Ash Wednesday. All parents/family are welcome at both Liturgies.

• As part of this very special week, a group from our Parish will be selling pancakes on Tuesday. A notice went home yesterday, it would be great if we could pre-order the pancakes on Monday, send the money with your child as you do for sausage sizzle - $1 per pancake- the pancakes will be delivered to our class at lunchtime on Tuesday.

• We will be having our usual swimming lessons this week, so please send your child's togs to school every day.

• It has been great to see so many of our children doing their homework each night, a big thanks to the parents are helping their children with reading and spelling.

• Have a great week, remember that if you want to contact Miss Andrews or Mrs Tootill please come and see us, or email, our email addresses are on the blog.

Week 4

• This week is Gala week, please refer to the list on the Home page of the Blog for what the children need to bring each day. Remember the Gala starts at 4.00 p.m. on Thursday, no matter what the weather is. If any parents are able to help on the night, please let us know or ring Maggie in the office.
• Just for this term we are going to the Library on Thursday at 11.00 instead of 11.45, this is so that when it is our swimming week, we will still be able to do both the Library and swimming on Thursdays. Please remember to make sure your child has their library book on a Thursday so they can choose a new book to take home for the week.
• The children are doing really well with remembering their spelling notebooks each day, they have brought home a book to read each night as well for the last week, this will happen from now on. Please encourage your child to read with you every night, and you reading to them is great as well.
• Don't forget the Gala on Thursday afternoon/evening!!

Week 3

• This is our swimming week, please remember to bring your togs every day. We will also be having Leg-it on Wednesday morning, so the children will need their P.E. uniform that day.
• The children need to bring back their book bags every day with their notebooks in them, they will also have a book for at least three days this week as well, remember to read with your children every night.
• Don't forget to put the school gala on your calendar - Thursday 27 February from 4.00 till 7.00, there is a list of things to bring on the Home page of the blog.
• Please remember to give your children big drinks of water in their school bags, especially important in this hot weather.

Week 1

• Please remember to bring your togs to school every day this week.

Week 2

• Welcome to our weekly update of things happening in Room 8. This page will be updated every week, so you will know exactly what is going on in the class and with your children.
• We will be having our first Parent Evening on Thursday, the Junior School time is 5.30. It would be wonderful to see as many of you as possible. It gives Miss Andrews and Mrs Tootill a chance to go over anything that may interest you about our room and gives you a chance to ask us any questions.
• We will have our first Library session on Thursday, the children will be able to take a book home - remember to send your child's Library Book back each Thursday so he/she can change it. This is often a good time for your child to bring home a book that he / she would like you to read to them.
• The school lunch orders start this week, if your child wants to buy a 'bakery lunch' please remind them to go to the school office from 8.30 on-wards. There will still be the weekly sausage sizzle on Fridays.
• Remember to mark Thursday 27 February on your calendar for the annual St Mary's School Gala. This is always a very successful evening and lots of fun.