Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Year 5 Team Newsletter - Term 1, 2017

Kia ora, malo e lelei, kia orana, fakalofa lahi atu, ni hao, bula vinaka.

The Teachers in the Year 5 teaching team welcome you to the new school year and look forward to meeting with you over the year at either the Parent Information Evening, Student Led Conferences or School-wide events your children will participate in.

 

The Teaching Team is as follows:

Room 22: Miss Irene Jack

Room 23: Mrs Rochelle Bezuidenhout

Room 24: Miss Irma Hughes (Team Leader, Kiwilele Organiser and Teacher)

Room 25: Miss Jacqui Fisher (Digikid / ICT Leader)

 

Parent Information Evening

We invite all parents to attend an evening to meet their child’s teacher.  Please meet in the Auditorium on Thursday 16 February 2017 at 6.30 pm.  At this meeting we will discuss expectations for homework, behaviour, uniform and we will outline learning for the year.

Theme Focus:

The major theme for the entire year is on Social Science. We will be looking at Celebrations for each class this year as Elm Park School celebrates 50 years of ongoing dedication to serving the community of Pakuranga in Education. We will be doing things throughout the year to celebrate the 50 years of Education at Elm Park school from 1967 to 2017. Our classes will also focus on other celebrations important to Elm Park School, New Zealand and around the world.

We will also be maintaining our Enviro-school initiatives to take care of our environment and work consistently towards a sustainable school and community. As in the past, a focus will be having litter-free lunch boxes.  As always we will be developing the children’s understandings and insights over the entire year within a number of different contexts. As we go along, we will strive to meet children’s interests and develop their strengths with the aim of growing potential leaders for Year 6 positions in 2018.

At the beginning of the year we are starting with building a learning-focused community in our classrooms and working with the children on the school-wide programme PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning).   Research has shown that this is the basis for quality learning and well-being.

We will be discussing what learning and our 3 school values: Respect, Resilience, and Responsibility looks like, how we learn and what disturbs our learning.  We will build our Class Treaty and use the Cool Schools programme to help the children seek satisfactory solutions to problems they may have in the classroom or playground.  We encourage the children to be responsible for their learning and to talk about this and their next steps.  After testing in Weeks 6-9, we will be discussing the results with the students and parents in Week 10 at the 3-Way Conferences and determining the next steps in their learning.

Homework:

The Year 5 expectations:

Please test your child on their weekly facts and have them record this test in their homework google doc. Please mark it and add an encouraging comment in the table at the end of the worksheet.

Words not learned yet need to be carried over to another week, for re-learning. Your child will put their words onto the google homework doc to learn independently.     

Home learning tasks will be differentiated to take into account different learning needs. Spelling and Maths facts will be tailored to fit your child’s needs. Much of what they will learn in their homework is maintenance work and designed with visual learners’ needs in mind.

 

Elm Park students have homework that is manageable, enjoyable and not fraught with tension for either you or your child! We acknowledge that parents and caregivers have very busy lives and should not be expected to be “doing” their child’s homework. We have moved away from weekly homework sheets to save our forests and to avoid “busy work”. As the school is using google docs and blogs, it is expected that the homework becomes an extension of what the children are already doing at school. If your child does not have access to a computer at home, please let the classroom teacher know so that your child can use the school laptops in the morning, before school.

If your child wants more activities we encourage playing Maths games as this is an enjoyable way to develop mathematical knowledge. Research overseas shows that playing games has a very positive effect on learning in Mathematics. The permanent homework sheet also has ideas for doing more homework if children have the time, energy and self-motivation. We also encourage the use of the e-Ako Maths Learning Pathways on the NZMaths website. This will be explained at our Parent Information Evening on Wednesday 18th February.

Hats, Shoes, Hair Accessories, Jewellery & Property:

Hats must be worn in Terms 1 and 4 and this rule is enforced for your child’s safety. Please encourage your child to apply sunscreen and wear a hat outside. We would be really grateful if ALL property is named clearly. The school uniform requires solid black sandals or shoes without other colours. High tops are not acceptable. In Winter, black shoes with black laces are to be worn. Hair accessories must be a solid colour – white, blue or black. The uniform shop now stocks appropriate hair ties. Only small, plain studs are permitted – no hoops or dangly jewellery which can be dangerous at school. We thank you for your co-operation.

 

Swimming:

The Year 5 classes have their sessions in Term 4. However some children will be selected for the swimming team and will train with the swimming squad this term and compete for the school in an inter-school swimming competition later in the term.

 

IMPORTANT DATES FOR TERM 1

Week 3                Thur 16 Feb                Parent Information Evening 6:30 pm

Week 7                Tue 17 Mar                Interschool Swimming Sports        

Week 10                Thur 6 Apr                Principal’s Awards Assembly 10:00 am

Week 10                 Wed 5 Apr                3-Way Conferences  3:30pm

Week 10                Thur 6 Apr                3 -Way Conferences 3:30pm

Week 11                Mon 10 Apr                Te Tuhi Turangawaewae Rms 22 & 23

Week 11                Tue 11 Apr                Te Tuhi Turangawaewae Rms 24 & 25

Week 11                Thur 13 Apr                Term 1 ends (3.00pm)

                                

           

Lines of Communication:

If you have any concerns or queries about any issue, please make an appointment to speak to your child’s classroom teacher in the first instance as soon as possible. If you feel the issue still needs discussion please make an appointment to discuss your concerns with the Team Leader (Irma Hughes). Further discussion, if required, proceeds to the Head of the Yr 5-6 Team, Dave Borcher and, if necessary, the Principal, Mrs Plowright. Confidentiality, and correct lines of communication are of the utmost importance to us and we value your co-operation in using this communication channel.

 

We look forward to a partnership with you all that will enrich the learning of your child and to developing, nurturing and sustaining his or her natural curiosity. Our goal is to empower all learners to achieve their full potential.

Me ka moemoeaa ahau, ko au anake

Me ka moemoeaa a taatou ka taea e taatou

If I am to dream, I dream alone,

If we all dream together then we shall achieve.

Nga mihi nui,

Irma Hughes (Team Leader), Jacqui Fisher, Irene Jack and Rochelle Bezuidenhout