Room 8 St Mary's Rotorua: Weekly notices

Week 9

Well its hard to believe that here we are in the second to last week for this year- the weeks have just flown by, haven't they!!!

The special assembly for the PTA raffle draw is at 11.00 NOT 9.00 as mentioned in the newsletter last week.

We have got our Middle School annual picnic at school on Friday, please send togs with your child, as we will have swimming in the pool, plus a couple of other water activites. Also please send something for the children to share for lunch, we will be having a class shared lunch as part of the day. It would be great if it was healthy food, and it is necessary for the children to be able to eat it with their fingers.

Don't forget the school prize-giving at 9.00 a.m. on Tuesday 17 December and the final school Mass that evening at 5.30 in St Mary's Church. All children are expected to attend this Mass. All parents are invited to both the prize-giving and the Mass.

School will close at 12.00 on the 18 December, so if you are a working parent, please plan ahead with getting your child picked up at 12.00 noon on that day.

Have a good week.

Week 8

Swimming this week, remember to bring your togs every day, if you are not swimming you will need a note from your parents.

We are still running our normal programme even though it is nearly the end of the year, so I would like all the children to still be in bed nice and early each night.

All Library books are due back now, so Mrs O'Leary can do a stock take, please look under beds and other funny places to see if you have any books at home..

There are a lot of things happening between now and the end of the term, so please continue to look at the Blog to see any updates that there may be

Don't forget that the school prize-giving will be 9.00 on the 17 December and the final school Mass for this year will be at 5.30 that same evening, we would like all children to be at the Mass, and you are more than welcome to attend as well.

Week 7

The Athletics sports went off really well on Friday, weren't we lucky with the weather! I got wet in the thunderstorm while I was walking through the Redwoods at about 4.30 on Friday afternoon!!

Ishwari will be in again on Thursday afternoon and she will be doing some cooking with Room 8, I am looking forward to seeing and tasting what can be produced.

All Library books are due back on Wednesday this week, so please look under beds, on your bookshelves and other funny places around your homes for books that belong to the school library. Mrs O'Leary spends a lot of time making sure we have a wonderful selection of books in our Library every year, and I know she appreciates it when she gets them all in at the end of the year.

Please make sure that the children have their sunhats at school, the school policy is 'no hat, no play', so children have to sit under the shade if they don't have a hat on while they are outside. The children also need plenty of water to drink with this sudden onset of very hot weather..a good idea is to freeze a bottle of water over night and then the ice defrosts during the day.

Week 6

Remember to bring your togs every day this week, we will be swimming at our normal time of 9.00 a.m. every day. Remember that if you are not swimming you need a note from your parents..

We will have Ishwari (Gargi's Mum) in again on Thursday afternoon, she is going to start teaching us some Indian dances.

Bring your Library books on Thursday, it will only be a couple of weeks till the Library is closed for the year, so we want to make the most of the fantastic selection of books in our Library.

It was lovely to see so many grandparents at our Mass and concert on Friday, the children love showing them around.

Week 5

Goodness isn't this term just flying past!! Hard to believe that we are in Week 5 already- it will be Christmas before we know it..

The children have done some wonderful work with Gargi's Mum, on Indian Symbols, please feel free to come and look at our art work.

We will be continuing our normal programme for the rest of the term, with lots of reading, writing, and maths, most of the testing has now been done, and I am pretty pleased with the progress the children have made.

Please remember to get your children to bed nice and early during the week, I know it is sometimes a little difficult with Daylight Saving, but I often find that the children do get tired at this time of the year, and need lots of sleep. Remember to read with your children every day- bedtime is a good time for this..

We are training for the Athletics on Monday and Tuesday mornings, in preparation for the Athletics Day on the 22 November. Please send your child' P.E gear on these days.

Don't forget to invite Grandparents to our Mass on Friday morning- it will be at 9.00 at the Church. After Mass there will be a morning tea in the school hall with performances by children.

Week 4

Remember we have swimming at 9.00 every day this week, please ensure that your children bring their togs every day.

We will be continuing our work with the Indian symbols, Gargi's Mum would like us all to bring flowers to school on Monday as we are making a rangoli pattern that requires flowers and flower petals.

Students are invited to bring a piece of fruit or raw vegetable to the collection box (outside the hall by the Junior Playground) before school on Friday. Some of the parents on the Health Promoting Schools team will then prepare the fruit and veges for shared platters which will be available outside the hall at morning tea time. Please send a piece of fruit or a vegetable that can be eaten raw (e.g. carrot/ celery/tomato/broccoli/ cauliflower) to school on Friday if you are able to. Thank you.

Room 8 will be doing Assembly on Friday, all parents are welcome to come and watch us.

We are continuing with our testing this week, so it will be interesting to see how the children have progressed over the year.

Week 3

Have a lovely day on Monday with your children.

Thanks to all those parents who sent togs with the children every day, a great start to our swimming for this term. We will be swimming again in Week 4, at 9.00 every morning.

There will be the final Rosary celebration on Thursday morning, it will be run by the senior school and will be a procession. Please feel free to come along and join us.

Please remember to read to your children every day.

Remember that all children should now be in their correct summer uniform.

Week 2

What a great start to the term we have had..everyone is focused and ready to learn.

Thank you for all the lovely fruit for our Kebabs for Golden Time.

We start swimming on Monday morning at 9.00 a.m., swimming is part of the curriculum, so it is expected that all children will bring their togs daily. The pool is heated to 30 degrees, so is quite warm.

Remember that after Labour Weekend it is expected that all children will be in the correct summer uniform.

Please continue reading to your children and make sure they are in bed early each school night, as we have a lot of testing to do this term and we want them to be as fresh as possible for this.

Week 1 Term 4

Wow haven't the holidays flown by, as I am writing this the weather is pretty awful, but on the whole the weather has been good. I hope you have all had a great break and that the children have been able to get outside and also have been doing lots of reading..

Remember to bring your reading logs back to school next week,they need to be in by Thursday, so that we can have a draw for the prizes at Assembly on Friday.

We will be straight into our normal programme on Monday, this term the focus is Symbolism, and we will be looking specifically at Dance and how dance can reflect different cultures.

Remember to be at school by 8.30 ready to start the day at 8.45 on Monday morning..

Week 9

Well done to the six children who are the Room 8 finalists for this year's middle school poetry finals which will be held on Wednesday this week- those children were told on Friday who they are, they need to practice their poems over the next few days, as they will be performing in front of the whole middle school and probably lots of parents. The poetry finals will be in the Hall at 11.00 a.m.on Wednesday 25 September. Parents are welcome to attend, and then stay and view the work that the children have done this term with their Enterprise-Dream Big and Make it Happen- programme. The work will remain in the Hall till about about 4.00 p.m., in case you can't get to school at 11.00.

Woohoo, we are into the last week of school for this term, gosh, hasn't it gone so fast, the children have been working so hard and I can see lots of progress being made in Literacy and Numeracy, well done to all the children.

Don't forget that the children need to be in their summer uniform at the beginning of next term, the uniform shop hours are advertised in the newsletter in case you need to buy a new uniform for your child.

Please remember to keep up with the children's reading during the two week holiday, I know the weather hopefully will be warmer and the days longer, so the children will want to be outside, but remember a story at bedtime is a great way of winding down after a lovely day!!

Most of all enjoy your children for the two week break before we head on the downhill run to the long summer holidays.

Week 8

Firstly an update on the Enterprise programme running, it is going so well that we have extended it for another week, so the launch will be tied in with the poetry finals on the 25th September. All children should be learning their poems now and all will be marked on certain criteria in the class. There will be four children from Room 8 chosen to go through to the middle school poetry finals which will be held on the 25 September at 11.00 in the Hall. The artwork, books, fishing flies, cooking demos and music recordings will be ready to be viewed at this time as well. They will stay in the Hall after school till about 4.00 that afternoon as well. Please feel free to come and view what your children have been enjoying creating this term.

There are two weeks left this term, we will be working as normal up until the last day of term, so please make sure the children are in bed nice and early each night, as I have noticed a lot of them are really tired at the moment.

And again, don't forget to read to your children every night, this is a great wind-down activity just before they go to bed...

Have a lovely week, spring is showing signs of getting into full swing, my garden is looking pretty good at the moment!!

Week 7

The Enterprise programme is nearing the end, remember to book in Thursday 19 September from 4.00 till 5.30 for our launch of the projects that the children have been working on.

Please keep up with your reading at home- remember that even if you don't do any other homework, you can enjoy reading with your children- your child will enjoy you reading to them more often than not.

There are three weeks left this term, and hopefully the weather will start to get warmer, please remember that the children still need to be in their winter uniform.

There is a lot of last property in the box outside Room 6, especially lots of jerseys, please come and check the box if your child has lost any item of clothing..

Week 6

It has been great to get several homework books in today, lots of you are doing really well with your homework.

Thanks to all the parents who came to the Maths and Reading workshop this week, I hope you managed to take something away from that which will help you with your children's learning.

The seniors have a food tasting expo next week, children are able to buy special foods for various prices - usually 50c or $1.00

The Enterprise - Have a Dream programme is going very well for all the middle school, it is going to be an exciting day when we share all the wonderful creations we have produced, well done everyone.

Week 5

Everyone seems to be really enjoying their Enterprise 'Live a Dream', the children and the teachers are all 'buzzing' after each session. Parents remember to ask your children what they have learnt each day.

The Young Vinnies have organised a 'Wacky Hair' (and socks) for this coming Friday- they will be coming around on Friday to judge - children need to bring a Gold Coin for their entry fee.

Remember that all children should be still in their full winter uniform, I know the days are trying to warm up, but it is winter uniform til the end of this term.

Please keep Mrs Deakin, Robyn and Samantha in your prayers, as they grieve for a much loved father and husband.

We will be having our information evening this Wednesday from 5.15 till 6.00 p.m., the middle school teachers will be giving tips on how you can help your children with their reading and maths at home. We look forward to seeing you in Rooms 14 and 15 on Wednesday.

Week 4

Wow this term is flying past- we barely seem to start the week and it is Friday already- they say the older we get the faster the time goes..

We started our Enterprise 'have a dream' sessions last week- the children all came back after each session absolutely buzzing, I had a taste of the pancake stacks that the Master chef group made on Thursday, all I can say is Wow, well done..

This week we will have the Enterprise sessions on Tuesday afternoon and then Thursday between morning tea and lunchtime, we will have another Pass-it session on Wednesday, it would be great if the children could bring their P.E gear for Wednesday. The Thursday Enterprise session will take up our normal Library time, so we will probably go to the Library on Friday at 11.45, like we did last week. Please remember to bring back your library books so you can choose another one to take home over the weekend.

We have been deeply saddened to hear of the sudden death this weekend of Alistair Deakin, beloved husband of Louise on our teaching staff and father of their two daughters Robyn and Samantha. Please keep Louise and her family in your prayers at this very sad time. We will pass on information about Alistair's funeral as it becomes available.

Week 3

Thank you to all the parents who came to parent interviews, it is really good to be on the 'same page' with regard to how to get the best for your children.

This week we start our Enterprise programme in the middle school- the children have all found out what they will be doing for the next six weeks, unfortunately not all the children got their first choice, but I am sure they will learn and have a wonderful experience with whatever they are doing. The programme will run on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings from 11.00 till 12.30.

I will be continuing to put homework on the Blog each week, but part of the homework may be to help with household chores, help with the cooking etc, as I feel that this helps you to have quality time with your children.

Thursday morning we will celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven- the middle team will be running this Liturgy, please feel free to come and joining us in the Hall at 10.00.

Week 2

We have had a great start to Term 3, the children have settled back into their learning really well.

We are starting a really exciting part of our Enterprise Topic in Week 3, the children have chosen something that they would like to be dream and make happen. It may be a Master-chef, an author, an artist - the children will have an opportunity to work on their dream and then have a finished product to launch.

We have parent interviews on Tuesday and Thursday from 3.00 till 6.00- I would like to see everyone please. Instructions on how to make your appointment are in the the week one newsletter.

This term's homework is going to include lots of things like getting your children to help you with cooking, housework, shopping etc, as this often means they have to read instructions, labels etc and also encourages oral language as you are discussing what you need to do for the cooking or what you may need at the supermarket..

Week 1

Welcome back to school for Term 3 - I hope you have all had a lovely holiday and are ready for lots of leaning this term. The days are beginning to get longer, a sure sign that spring is on the way.

Our concept this term is Enterprise - and during the first two weeks the children will be able to choose one particular enterprise they would like to work on- watch this space for more info..

Please remember to bring your reading logs in this week, we would like them back by Thursday, so somebody's name can be drawn out to win the prize.

Week 10

Yay!! Its the last week of this term. Let's hope that the weather is fine, so we can have a great week.
On Wednesday afternoon the middle school will be putting on a show about Sustainability- all parents are invited to attend the performance in the Hall at 1.30, each class has been doing artwork and practicing an item to show what we have learnt this term about Sustainability.
Please come and check the Lost property and our cloak bay for any items of clothing, we seem to collect more and more each week, there are a lot of jerseys and polar fleeces among other things.

There will also be steam pudding for sale on Wednesday- $1.50 per serving the children can bring the money to me in the morning and we will order it first thing in the morning.

Enjoy the holidays with your children, I hope you have a lovely restful holiday, and the weather is kind to you all- I will be in Rarotonga for seven nights for the first week of the holidays..

Please remember to bring back the permission form for the Fonterra Milk in Schools programme this week

Week 9

On Wednesday the whole middle school will be involved in a Kaupapa Maori activity day, each class will be rotating around various activities that fit really well with Matariki and Maori Language week.
You may like to practice some Maori words and phrases at home to celebrate Maori Language week.
We have had lots of children with 'bugs' in our class, please remember that if your child is not feeling well in the morning it is best to keep them home if possible. Hopefully the recent heavy frosts will help to kill some of these bugs.
I have been really happy with the work that all the children in Room 8 have been doing this term, we have all done lots of learning.
Don't forget the school/parish Mass on Sunday, the Parish community are looking forward to seeing all the St Mary's children at the 10.00 Mass..

Week 8

We have now had the shortest day, so we should soon notice that the days are beginning to get longer!!Yay!! Lets hope that it doesn't get too cold..
On Monday the Room 8 children will be going to the Starlab with the other middle school classes, some of the Year Three children will be going with Room 5, Mrs Tootill will be staying at school and running my normal programme, the children will find out first thing Monday mornign which class they will be with.
We have three weeks of this term to go, so there is a lot of assessing and reflecting of what we have been doing over the term, I am sure that this will show that we have worked really hard and everyone has made good progress..
Please make sure that your children are well wrapped up against the cold, and if they are not feeling well in the morning please don't send them to school. There are a lot of bugs going around at the moment.
We have our annual class/school photos on Wednesday, please make sure that all children have the correct uniform on and have their jersey with them (not the polar fleece)..

Week 7

We are learning about Matariki and what we can do to celebrate the Maori New Year. It would be great if you could look up things that you could do with your family to celebrate Matariki.
We have been using bottles to make miniature hanging gardens, we will be planting seeds and seedlings into these over the week, find out what sorts of things your family likes to eat and talk about a vege garden that you could create at home.
Think about some interesting things that you and your family can do on these cold, wet, and dark winter days over the weekends-maybe find some board games, or find new books to read together.

Week 6

We are half way through this term, and I have been really impressed with the way that everyone has been working really hard over the last few weeks..
With all the wet and cold weather that we will have over the next few weeks, I would like all children to remember to cover their mouths when coughing and to use the tissues we have in the classroom whenever you need to blow your nose.
Mrs Tootill is learning some new skills on the ipads so will be sharing them with Room 8 over the next couple of weeks, it would be great if parents could come and see what our children are learning
Please remember to hand in your homework books on Friday morning, it doesn't matter if you haven't managed to finsish all the homework, I like to see what you have done.
The disco that was postponed a few weeks ago is on Wednesday lunchtime-gold coin donation to get in, and you are allowed to wear Mufti just for lunchtime on Wednesday(so long as you are at the Disco)

Week 5

Parent Evening - Thursday 6 June 6.30pm in Room 15 ( Mr James Room - one of the new classrooms by the school office)
Tessa Gray is our guest presenter at this meeting looking at "What is the value and impact of using technology in our classrooms and what are some of the things we need to consider and think about as we try and prepare our students for the world they are living in?
Tessa works with schools nationally around eLearning and Digital Citizenship and is both a very interesting and informative presenter. She presented at a Parents Evening we held in 2012 and we received very positive feedback about this session - and requests to have her present again.
I hope you have all had a lovely long weekend..and feel refreshed and ready for the next six weeks of learning.
The Middle School are doing the Sacred Heart Mass on Friday morning, parents are very welcome to come and help us celebrate the Mass.
Please remember to hand in your homework books on Friday morning so Mrs Tootill can mark them.
Could parents please make sure that jerseys and polar fleeces are named, there is a huge pile of jerseys in our cloak bay that need to be claimed.
Please make sure you are at school by 8.30 every morning, so you can get organised for the day, have your pencil sharpened, your desk tidy and anything else you need to be prepared for the day..

Week 4

Room 8 children have been doing heaps of really great work recently, it would be great if parents came in and had a look at all this work.
Please remember to bring your homework books back at the end of every week, so Mrs Tootill can see what you have done.
Remember that the Disco that was going to be held on Wednesday will now be held at lunchtime on the 12 June..
Please keep Tara Chapman in your prayers- everyone will receive a special prayer for Tara that you can say together as a family.
Friday 31 May is a Teacher-Only day, if parents need help with child-care please get in touch with Maryanne from the Glenholme after school care programme, our school office has her number.
Please remember to check the Blog regularly, as whenever there is something you need to know,we will post it on Blog.

Week 3

Our Golden Time on Friday is races - everyone needs to bring a spoon and something to carry in the spoon, e.g. a hard-boiled egg, a potato, or something else that is not going to break if it is dropped..
The Disco that was going to be held on Wednesday at lunchtime has been postponed until June 12, so don't bring money or mufti to school on Wednesday..

We are back into our normal routines - with lots of hard work and great learning going on every day..
It is really important that all children bring back their homework books for me to mark on Fridays, I really like to see how you are getting on with the homework that we are doing..
I want everyone to think about what things they can do at home to help with our Sustainability topic.

Thursday the 23 May is a Teacher only Day, so children do not have to come to school (the Following Friday 31 May is also Teacher Only Day)- if your parents need to have you looked after, they can make arrangements with Maryanne from the Glenholme after school care programme..
Well done to the Year 3 children with the Cake Stall this week..
There is a disco on Wednesday at lunchtime, it is being run by the Young Vinnies, and all money raised will go to Caritas - you need to bring a Gold Coin so you can get in, and you can wear Mufti for just lunchtime!!
Friday is a Mufti Day, you need to bring a Gold Coin, we are raising money to help a little girl from our area who is very sick in Starship Hospital.

Week 2 (Term 2)

Mrs Tootill is BACK, after a fantastic four weeks in Europe visiting two of our 'kids'. I am looking forward to seeing all the children in Room 8, and I hope you haven't missed me too much!!!
I hope you have all continued with your fantastic reading over the last few weeks.
We will be straight back into our normal routines this week, and keen to get going on this term's focus of Sustainability.
As usual we will put this week's homework on the blog on Monday at some stage during the day.
We will going to the Redwoods on Wednesday afternoon, for the annual St Mary's inter-house cross country, I hope you have been doing lots of training for this event. We need lots of transport out to the Redwoodsm and parents to help with the supervision of children while we are there- please let me know ASAP, if you are able to help, thanks..
On Friday morning we will be going over to the Church for the Pentecost Mass at 9.00. Remind your parents that they are most welcome to come to the Mass.

Week 12

There are now two new Blog sites which can be accessed through the school website- they are a Sports notices and a Maori Whanau blog- the sports one will have up to date sports notices each week and the Maori Whanau one will have songs and Maori words and phrases that you can practice at home with your family-please share these blogs with your family
It is the last week of term, it has been a busy learning term, but everyone will enjoy the last week.
Remember to get your winter uniform out and ready over the holidays...
Here is a list of Maori words with the correct pronunciation in brackets-you can practice these at home over the holidays

Māori (Mar-or-re)

Rotorua (Raw-tour-roo-a)

Poi (Paw-e)

Kapa Haka (Car-pah Hah-car)

Waiata (Why-a-tah)

Aotearoa (A- oar-ti-a-raw-a)

Whakaue (Far- co- uu-wea)

Te Arawa (Te Arar-waa)

Hata Maria (Hah-tah Mar- ri- aa)

Atua (A-too-aa)

Week 11

The important notice for this week is that there is a parent information evening on Wednesday evening from 5.30-600. It would be great if we could get lots of your parents to come along and find out all about the wonderful ways you can enjoy reading.
We will be spending lots of time this week making sure we have learnt heaps over this term, we will be reflecting on all the things we have been learning about.
There is no more swimming for this term, we will be starting practicing for the winter sports codes, learning skills for Big Balls and other related games.
Remember to bring your Library book on Thursday.

Middle school teachers will be holding a reading information evening on Wednesday 10 April from 5.30 - 6.00pm. At this meeting, we aim to give parents tips and advice on how to help their child read at home. This meeting is especially beneficial for parents who have a child that finds reading challenging.

Week 10

Have a wonderful, joyful and Holy Easter, it would be extra special if you could go and see Mr Beckham being received into our Church on Saturday night at St Marys (Mrs Tootill will be in Whitanga, so I will go to Mass up there)
Week 10 is a lovely short week, remember to come back to school on Wednesday, and we will be having the joyful Resurrection Liturgy at 10.00 on Wednesday morning..
It is our swimming week, so bring your togs each day - we will see if we can fit swimming in sometime on Wednesday as the Lturgy is at our swimming time..
We will be spending the next two weeks of school finishing off lots of the work that we have been doing this term, so that when Whaea Annette is in Room 8 for the last week of this term, she can do fun, arty things with the class.

Week 9

It is Holy Week this week, please remember Jesus last journey into Jerusalem, and look forward to the special services that will be at St Mary's and St Michaels over Easter
Please remember to bring your Library Book on Thursday - that way you will have a lovely book to read over the long weekend
Could you also remember to bring your homework book back to school at the end of the week, as Mrs Tootill likes to mark the books.
Room 8 children have been working really hard this term and there are lots of samples of our work that parents can come in and have a look at - Mums and Dads can come in any time to see what you have been doing this term.
We will have a Stations of the Cross Liturgy at 10.00 on Wednesday morning, once again parents are welcome to come and join us in the Hall.

Week 8

We will have swimming at 10.00 every day, please remember to bring your togs each day.
We will have Life Education on Tuesday at 9.00
Our Library Day is Thursday - please remember to bring your books back that day.
You all need to check the Homework page on a Monday - and then remember to bring back your homework book on Friday for Mrs Tootill to mark.
Please remember to pray for our New Pope - Francis the first, this is an excting time for our Church.
We are continuing to learn about Jesus in our R.E lessons, think about your Lenten Promises and what you are doing to keep them.
We are having our the Palm Sunday Parade on Friday, the donkey will be at school at 10.00.

Notices

Weekly notices

Room 8 will be doing Assembly on Friday, all parents are welcome to come and watch us.

Yay!! Its the last week of this term. Let's hope that the weather is fine, so we can have a great week.

On Wednesday afternoon the middle school will be putting on a show about Sustainability- all parents are invited to attend the performance in the Hall at 1.30, each class has been doing artwork and practicing an item to show what we have learnt this term about Sustainability.

Please come and check the Lost property and our cloak bay for any items of clothing, we seem to collect more and more each week, there are a lot of jerseys and polar fleeces among other things.

There will also be steam pudding for sale on Wednesday- $1.50 per serving the children can bring the money to me in the morning and we will order it first thing in the morning.

Enjoy the holidays with your children, I hope you have a lovely restful holiday, and the weather is kind to you all- I will be in Rarotonga for seven nights for the first week of the holidays..

Please remember to bring back the permission form for the Fonterra Milk in Schools programme this week

On Wednesday the whole middle school will be involved in a Kaupapa Maori activity day, each class will be rotating around various activities that fit really well with Matariki and Maori Language week.

You may like to practice some Maori words and phrases at home to celebrate Maori Language week.

We have had lots of children with 'bugs' in our class, please remember that if your child is not feeling well in the morning it is best to keep them home if possible. Hopefully the recent heavy frosts will help to kill some of these bugs.

I have been really happy with the work that all the children in Room 8 have been doing this term, we have all done lots of learning.

Don't forget the school/parish Mass on Sunday, the Parish community are looking forward to seeing all the St Mary's children at the 10.00 Mass..

We have now had the shortest day, so we should soon notice that the days are beginning to get longer!!Yay!! Lets hope that it doesn't get too cold..

We have three weeks of this term to go, so there is a lot of assessing and reflecting of what we have been doing over the term, I am sure that this will show that we have worked really hard and everyone has made good progress..

Please make sure that your children are well wrapped up against the cold, and if they are not feeling well in the morning please don't send them to school. There are a lot of bugs going around at the moment.

We have our annual class/school photos on Wednesday, please make sure that all children have the correct uniform on and have their jersey with them (not the polar fleece)..

We are learning about Matariki and what we can do to celebrate the Maori New Year. It would be great if you could look up things that you could do with your family to celebrate Matariki.

We have been using bottles to make miniature hanging gardens, we will be planting seeds and seedlings into these over the week, find out what sorts of things your family likes to eat and talk about a vege garden that you could create at home.

Think about some interesting things that you and your family can do on these cold, wet, and dark winter days over the weekends-maybe find some board games, or find new books to read together.

We are half way through this term, and I have been really impressed with the way that everyone has been working really hard over the last few weeks..

With all the wet and cold weather that we will have over the next few weeks, I would like all children to remember to cover their mouths when coughing and to use the tissues we have in the classroom whenever you need to blow your nose.

Mrs Tootill is learning some new skills on the ipads so will be sharing them with Room 8 over the next couple of weeks, it would be great if parents could come and see what our children are learning

Please remember to hand in your homework books on Friday morning, it doesn't matter if you haven't managed to finsish all the homework, I like to see what you have done.

The disco that was postponed a few weeks ago is on Wednesday lunchtime-gold coin donation to get in, and you are allowed to wear Mufti just for lunchtime on Wednesday(so long as you are at the Disco)

I hope you have all had a lovely long weekend..and feel refreshed and ready for the next six weeks of learning.

The Middle School are doing the Sacred Heart Mass on Friday morning, parents are very welcome to come and help us celebrate the Mass.

Please remember to hand in your homework books on Friday morning so Mrs Tootill can mark them.

Could parents please make sure that jerseys and polar fleeces are named, there is a huge pile of jerseys in our cloak bay that need to be claimed.

Please make sure you are at school by 8.30 every morning, so you can get organised for the day, have your pencil sharpened, your desk tidy and anything else you need to be prepared for the day..

Room 8 children have been doing heaps of really great work recently, it would be great if parents came in and had a look at all this work.

Please remember to bring your homework books back at the end of every week, so Mrs Tootill can see what you have done.

Remember that the Disco that was going to be held on Wednesday will now be held at lunchtime on the 12 June..

Please keep Tara Chapman in your prayers- everyone will receive a special prayer for Tara that you can say together as a family.

Friday 31 May is a Teacher-Only day, if parents need help with child-care please get in touch with Maryanne from the Glenholme after school care programme, our school office has her number.

Please remember to check the Blog regularly, as whenever there is something you need to know,we will post it on Blog.

Our Golden Time on Friday is races - everyone needs to bring a spoon and something to carry in the spoon, e.g. a hard-boiled egg, a potato, or something else that is not going to break if it is dropped..

The Disco that was going to be held on Wednesday at lunchtime has been postponed until June 12, so don't bring money or mufti to school on Wednesday..

We are back into our normal routines - with lots of hard work and great learning going on every day..

It is really important that all children bring back their homework books for me to mark on Fridays, I really like to see how you are getting on with the homework that we are doing..

I want everyone to think about what things they can do at home to help with our Sustainability topic.

Thursday the 23 May is a Teacher only Day, so children do not have to come to school (the Following Friday 31 May is also Teacher Only Day)- if your parents need to have you looked after, they can make arrangements with Maryanne from the Glenholme after school care programme..

Well done to the Year 3 children with the Cake Stall this week..

There is a disco on Wednesday at lunchtime, it is being run by the Young Vinnies, and all money raised will go to Caritas - you need to bring a Gold Coin so you can get in, and you can wear Mufti for just lunchtime!!

Friday is a Mufti Day, you need to bring a Gold Coin, we are raising money to help a little girl from our area who is very sick in Starship Hospital.

Mrs Tootill is BACK, after a fantastic four weeks in Europe visiting two of our 'kids'. I am looking forward to seeing all the children in Room 8, and I hope you haven't missed me too much!!!

I hope you have all continued with your fantastic reading over the last few weeks.

We will be straight back into our normal routines this week, and keen to get going on this term's focus of Sustainability.

As usual we will put this week's homework on the blog on Monday at some stage during the day.

On Friday morning we will be going over to the Church for the Pentecost Mass at 9.00. Remind your parents that they are most welcome to come to the Mass.

It is the last week of term, it has been a busy learning term, but everyone will enjoy the last week.

Remember to get your winter uniform out and ready over the holidays...

Here is a list of Maori words with the correct pronunciation in brackets-you can practice these at home over the holidays

Māori (Mar-or-re) Rotorua (Raw-tour-roo-a) Poi (Paw-e) Kapa Haka (Car-pah Hah-car) Waiata (Why-a-tah) Aotearoa (A- oar-ti-a-raw-a) Whakaue (Far- co- uu-wea) Te Arawa (Te Arar-waa) Hata Maria (Hah-tah Mar- ri- aa) Atua (A-too-aa)

The important notice for this week is that there is a parent information evening on Wednesday evening from 5.30-600. It would be great if we could get lots of your parents to come along and find out all about the wonderful ways you can enjoy reading.

We will be spending lots of time this week making sure we have learnt heaps over this term, we will be reflecting on all the things we have been learning about.

There is no more swimming for this term, we will be starting practicing for the winter sports codes, learning skills for Big Balls and other related games.

Remember to bring your Library book on Thursday.

Have a wonderful, joyful and Holy Easter, it would be extra special if you could go and see Mr Beckham being received into our Church on Saturday night at St Marys (Mrs Tootill will be in Whitanga, so I will go to Mass up there)

Week 10 is a lovely short week, remember to come back to school on Wednesday, and we will be having the joyful Resurrection Liturgy at 10.00 on Wednesday morning..

It is our swimming week, so bring your togs each day - we will see if we can fit swimming in sometime on Wednesday as the Lturgy is at our swimming time..

We will be spending the next two weeks of school finishing off lots of the work that we have been doing this term, so that when Whaea Annette is in Room 8 for the last week of this term, she can do fun, arty things with the class.

It is Holy Week this week, please remember Jesus last journey into Jerusalem, and look forward to the special services that will be at St Mary's and St Michaels over Easter

Please remember to bring your Library Book on Thursday - that way you will have a lovely book to read over the long weekend

Could you also remember to bring your homework book back to school at the end of the week, as Mrs Tootill likes to mark the books.

Room 8 children have been working really hard this term and there are lots of samples of our work that parents can come in and have a look at - Mums and Dads can come in any time to see what you have been doing this term.

We will have a Stations of the Cross Liturgy at 10.00 on Wednesday morning, once again parents are welcome to come and join us in the Hall.

We will have swimming at 10.00 every day, please remember to bring your togs each day.

We will have Life Education on Tuesday at 9.00

Our Library Day is Thursday - please remember to bring your books back that day.

You all need to check the Homework page on a Monday - and then remember to bring back your homework book on Friday for Mrs Tootill to mark.

Please remember to pray for our New Pope - Francis the first, this is an excting time for our Church.

We are continuing to learn about Jesus in our R.E lessons, think about your Lenten Promises and what you are doing to keep them.

We are having our the Palm Sunday Parade on Friday, the donkey will be at school at 10.00.

1 comment:

Māori (Mar-or-re)

Rotorua (Raw-tour-roo-a)

Poi (Paw-e)

Kapa Haka (Car-pah Hah-car)

Waiata (Why-a-tah)

Aotearoa (A- oar-ti-a-raw-a)

Whakaue (Far- co- uu-wea)

Te Arawa (Te Arar-waa)

Hata Maria (Hah-tah Mar- ri- aa)

Atua (A-too-aa)