February 3rd 2014
Dear Parents and
Caregivers
Welcome to 2014.
Hope you all enjoyed the lovely weather and had a relaxing holiday. Welcome to
our new families.
We would also
like to welcome Selena Sanson back from Maternity Leave. This year she will be
teaching a Year 1 class in Room 8. Maria
McDonald has been appointed to the Reading Recovery position.
The Kowhai Teaching
Team:
Room 6 Year 1
Mrs Kathy Keohane
Room 7 Year 2
Mrs Lee Norris
Room 8 Year 1
Selena Sanson
Room 9 Year 2
Mrs Heather Nees
Room 17 Year 2
Mrs McCann and Ms Brooking
Reading Recovery
Maria McDonald
Term 1 Topic
Our first topic
for 2014 is titled ‘Happy, Healthy and Safe.’ The deep understandings for this unit are:
We
live in a special place.
We
are special and we need to know how to look after ourselves at home and at
school.
We
need to manage ourselves so we can become independent learners.
Healthy Snacks
At 9.30 we give the children a short read and feed session. This is a
time to have a drink and eat a healthy snack. We encourage the children to eat
small pieces of fruit, (cut up apple, orange, banana, nuts, dried fruit are all
ideal) and drink some water. A named drink bottle with water can be sipped
during the day. They still need morning tea and lunch. Students will be
encouraged to bring their food to school in containers rather than use
wrappings. Student’s wrapping paper will be returned home for disposal as we
are trying to reduce the amount of rubbish at school.
Team Blog
We have a Team
Blog. This will have newsletters, sites for literacy and mathematics,
activities and fun stuff for the children. These are to be used to enrich our
class programmes.
This site can
also be accessed through the school website/blogs
Swimming:
Children need
to bring togs and towel (named) in a plastic bag or a swimming bag. If you
would like to be a parent helper for swimming please see the class teacher.
Homework:
The
Communication Book is to be brought home and sent to school daily. Please write
any messages in the book and remind your child to put it open on the teacher’s
chair. Notices and homework needs to be signed.
Reading
Set aside 15 minutes to hear your child
read to you. Discuss the illustrations, ask questions about the story. Children
also need to be read to, as often as possible.
During week one and two, class reading will
include Shared Class Reading. For homework, the children will bring home a book
for revision, which they may have had last year, or be at an independent (easy)
level. Teachers will be spending the first week or two testing children so they
can meet their needs and group them for instructional reading.
Please write the date and the title of the
book read for homework at the back of the Communication Book.
The book may be:
·
A new book we have been working
on at school. (Longer books or stories are worked on for a couple of days.)
·
A Browsing Box Book (This is a
book they have had before or a book at an independent level for enjoyment to
increase fluency.
·
A library book to share with
you.
·
Poetry book. Share all the
poems together.
Spelling:
Spelling will be sent home later in the
term for children who are ready to learn weekly lists of words.
Sunsmart
Children are issued with a school sunhat
and this needs to be worn while outside. Clothing needs to cover shoulders to
ensure they are safe in the sun. Sun block can be applied at home before
school. We do have sun cream available to apply during the day.
A named drink bottle for the water table
needs to be brought to school. Children are encouraged to drink water
frequently during the day.
Parent
helpers
We always
appreciate extra help in the class. If you would be able to help please let your
class teacher know.
Please do not hesitate contact the class
teachers if you have any concerns. We have our ‘Meet the Teacher Evening on Tuesday
25th February. This is a good opportunity to introduce yourself to
your child’s class teacher.
Regards
Kowhai Teachers:
Lee
Norris, Heather Nees, Fay McCann, Kathy Keohane, Jane Brooking and Maria
McDonald
