Start of Year Notice

Dear Parents & Caregivers,

We would just like start by saying a big thank you to all for ensuring your child has the correct stationary, this is a fantastic way to begin the year

We have made a very positive start to the year in Room 18.  It is wonderful to see the children starting the day with a smile and their enthusiasm for learning is very encouraging.

A goal for the children in Room 18 this year is to develop their self management skills, it would be great if you could please support children with this by encouraging them to be responsible for their own belongings.

Library

Room 18 visits the school library on Wednesday afternoon.  Your child can issue books during this time, however. We also use these sessions to teach library and information skills. 

Swimming

We visit the school pool every Tuesday afternoon. The first session starts this week then the following 2 weeks we will not be able to use the pool. However the pool will be available for our class to use by week 5.  It is expected that all children will swim with the class unless they have a legitimate reason and a note written by your self. 

Homework:

Maths: Your child will need to practise knowing and recognising numbers 0-20 as well as counting forward, back, knowing the number that comes before and after, and learning basic facts within 5 and 10.

Spelling: Your child will start off with having a ring of cards that have the alphabet on them. We will test your child on these every Friday to see if they recognise and know the sound the letter makes. When they know all their letters they will then have an essential list attached. Your child needs to practise them each night and will be tested at the end of each week. A new list gets attached when they recognise all the words on the given card.

Reading: Your child is expected to read to a parent/caregiver/sibling each night. Every day your child will take home a book that they have read with us during a guided reading session. They will also take home 1 other book of their choosing that will already be familiar to them. These books are designed to increase your child’s fluency in reading.  Please sign your child's notebook each night to show that they are reading.

Hats

It is important that your child brings a named brimmed hat to school everyday.  Children that do not bring a hat are required to play in the shade at break times.

Teacher Classroom Release

Throughout the term every teacher has CRT (Classroom Release Time).  This means that we will be out of the room at various times.  During this time your child will still be with one of us as we take this release time in separate parts of the day.

Class Blog

We have started our class blog and will be updating it often.  Please make sure you check it out when you can.  We will also use it as another medium to remind everybody of upcoming dates and other important information.  The blogs address is http://mrstonkinandmisswatson.blogspot.co.nz/

Email

Email is a great way of communicating with each other.  Should you wish to contact us at any stage our email addresses are katherinew@arahoe.school.nz and jennifert@arahoe.school.nz . Attached to this notice is a slip for you to return with your email details so they can be stored on file.  If you could please get these back to us as soon as possible it would be much appreciated.

Making a positive start and end to the day

Following morning and afternoon routines can be an important way of starting and finishing school on the right foot.  Your child is expected to do the following when they enter Room 18:

Ë Say “Good morning Miss Watson and Mrs Tonkin”

Ë Hang up their school bag.

Ë Put their lunch box and drink bottle in their given cubby hole and put book bag in their groups rack.

Ë Return any old reading books to their book box

Ë Put name up on 10s frame up on the board.

Ë On fine days go outside to play otherwise do a quite inside activity.

Please note that the classroom doors are not opened before 8.30am, if you require before or after school care please contact SKIDS in the school hall.

At the end of the day it would be appreciated if you could please wait for your child to be released outside the class to ensure that our end of day routines run smoothly. Your support is much appreciated.

Regards

Katherine Watson and Jennifer Tonkin