Mid Term Newsletter

Kia Ora Whānau,

I noticed recently that very few parents from Room 6 are signed up to receive weekly Maths Buddy reports about what your child has been up to. I strongly suggest checking in on a weekly basis with your child and working through some of the tasks with them. This will give you a good idea of where they are at and provides them with the opportunity to consolidate and expand on learning we’ve been doing in class. If you’d like more information on this please check out the Room 6 blog and view the video I’ve posted which was created by our Maths Buddy facilitator. The blog address is: http://room6paroa.blogspot.co.nz

Secondly, in the past I’ve run a BTB points auction at the end of every term. BTB points are part of our in class reward system where the students receive points for general outstandingness. The auction runs by students making small donations of unwanted toys, small items of stationery or other similar items that they think their classmates might want to bid on (nothing overly large or expensive please). They bid using the points that they’ve accrued during the term. What with one thing and another, I’ve missed the auction on both terms one and two. Because of this I’m planning to run a mid term auction next Friday so I’m calling for any donations for the students to bid on. This is always a lot of fun and keeps the students motivated to accrue more BTB points throughout the term.  

Thirdly, as part of our camp preparation and also linked in with our writing programme, we’ve been looking at making small Hobo Stoves out of tin cans. These are a classic Scout style cooking device perfect for a safe outdoor pikelet making experience. Mr Sinton-White (outdoor education instructor extraordinaire) demonstrated how to make one for us, and we wrote some instructions based on his demonstration. I would really like the students to be involved in making a stove and cooking on it at school as it gives them some follow up to their writing experience. If we are going to construct the stoves ourselves at school I’ll need a few keen parents to come in and help out for an hour or two. The construction process is really easy and a lot of fun. If you’re keen to come in and help could you please let me know via email or send a note in with your child. I’m looking at doing this in week 8.

Lastly, speaking of writing, next week we are going to be working on character descriptions. Could you please talk with your child about who they might like to write about. It should be someone significant in their lives and is best if they have met them. I’ve seen great character descriptions of grandparents, parents, well known neighbours and family friends - anyone significant that your child would like to write about is perfect. If you have a picture of the person they can bring it in and I can photocopy it for them to look at as they write.

Nāku noa, nā

Thomas McArthur