Year 3 Graduation

This morning we held a Graduation Ceremony for the 2013 Year 3 children. They have all been great role models, with a positive attitude towards their learning. 

Here are our Year 3s with their certificates:

Congratulations to: 

(Back) Rheubyn, Jonathan, Xavier, Daniel, Conor, Ruaridh and Erin

(Front) Eve, Libby, Rebecca, Won Jeong, Amelia K and Harriet

Term 4 Week 9

On Friday we presented the last of our plays for 2013. I am very impressed with what the children have learnt through preparing for and presenting plays. The enthusiasm, creativity and energy that has gone into this part of the curriculum is amazing. The highlight has been the growth in their confidence in being in front of an audience.
Ka pai, Room 5! You are all awesome.

Rebecca, Won Jeong, Eve and Erin

Thea, Poppy, Daniel and Liam

Rheubyn, Xavier, Elspeth, Harry, Jack, Conor and Asher

Jonathan, George, Rata, Sienna, Amelia K, Amelia M, Libby and Ruaridh

We now look forward to the last week of the 2013 school year. It will be a busy week with assembly, Year 3 Graduation, prize giving, school mass and farewells. Please note the following dates and times:

Tuesday 17 December 9:15am for Year 3 parents only - Year 3 graduation in the school hall (please bring a small plate of food to share for morning tea)

Wednesday 18 December 6:30pm for all - final school mass in the church - children wear uniform and sit with their parents

Thursday 19 December 12:30pm School finishes - reports (for some), 2014 class placements and stationery lists are handed out

Term 4 Week 9

At today's school assembly Libby received a certificate.

Ka pai, Libby, we are proud of you.

Xavier was named 'Player of the day' for his cricket team. Well done, Xavier.

Remember to keep learning your spelling words for Friday's test. 

Please have a hunt around home for any school readers you may have (even if you have had them for over a year) and return them to school this week - no questions asked.

Term 4 Week 8 'Stars of the Week'

Today we had two 'Stars of the Week' - Xavier and Harriet.

Ka pai, Xavier and Harriet, it's great to have you in our room.

It has been nice to get back into some sort of routine this week. We have been working on plays and will present them next week. We are now in the season of Advent where we wait for the coming of Jesus as a baby on Christmas Day. We are creating a Jesse Tree, to remind us of the relationship of Jesus to Jesse and other biblical personages. Check out this link for details of what we are doing in class.

Next Friday we will be having a big spelling test - on Lists 3 - 7. If you cannot find your copy of these lists, please ask for one on Monday. Normal spelling lists will not be sent home.

Next week we start the count down to the end of the year - where has 2013 gone?! There are a few dates for your calendar: 

*Monday 16 December - final school assembly when we farewell staff who are leaving.

*Tuesday 17 December - Year 3 graduation - for Year 3 parents (more info will be sent home next week)

*Wednesday 18 December - final school mass 6:30pm in the church (children are to wear uniform and sit with their class)

*Thursday 19 December - school finishes at 12:30pm; reports (for those who received reports at the end of Term 2), 2014 class teacher and stationery lists will be sent home

Term 4 Week 6

At today's school assembly Elspeth received a certificate.

Ka pai, Elspeth, we are proud of you.

Jack also received a certificate - his second Gold Mathletics certificate for 2013. This is an amazing achievement and represents Jack's dedication and commitment to working on Mathletics regularly. Congratulations, Jack, we are proud of you.

This morning's swimming went well - we all got on the bus and made it to the pool in time for our lessons. Thank you for your support with this. Check out these photos:

Daniel, Eve, Rebecca, Conor, Libby,
Harriet and Xavier

Ruaridh, Erin, Won Jeong and Amelia K

Tennis Lessons and Poems

Today we had another tennis session. We loved playing crabs and having competitions to see who could bounce the ball, using the tennis racquet, for the longest. We also stood in a circle and passed two tennis balls around our racquets. We managed to do this in under a minute. Check out these photos:

 

Liam

Asher

Won Jeong

As part of our Eric Carle topic study we have been reading 'All About Arthur'. Arthur is a lonely ape who visits different places to find friends. We have written our own poems using the same formula. Here's some for you to enjoy ... (All our poems will be displayed in the classroom next week)

In Timaru I saw a toothless, ticklish, trained tiger who loved turkey on toast for tea. His name was Tim Tam Tiger. He was terrifying. Rooooar! Harriet

In Edinburgh Eslpeth saw an enormous elephant. Her name was Ella. Ella was eating an electric eel.

In Bangladesh Xavier met a buffalo. His name was Benny. He had a bear. Benny built a beautiful bunk for them. 

In Russia Rebecca ran into a rowdy rhino. Her name was Ruby. She had a rude rabbit. Ruby ate red radishes with raspberry rocky road.

Term 4 Week 5

At today's school assembly George received a certificate.

Ka pai, George, we are proud of you.

On Sunday Rata and Sienna competed in the Fun Triathalon at South Hagley. They each received a certificate. Ka pai girls.

This morning Simon from the Burnside Tennis Club taught us some fun games using a tennis racquet and a tennis ball. Check out these photos of us playing the games. We will have another tennis session tomorrow. Bring sports shoes to change into and girls might like to bring shorts to wear during tennis.

Playing 'Crabs'

Harriet

Elspeth

Makahni and Xavier

Looking ahead to Week 6 - we will be swimming every morning. A yellow notice was sent home today. This has all the swimming details you need. Please ask if you have any questions. The bottom piece of the notice only needs to be returned if you are able to help with swimming. We do need Dads/Grandads/Uncles to help the boys get dressed after their swims as the (female) teachers cannot go into the male change rooms. Of course Mums/Grandmas/Aunties are welcome as well.

There is no spelling homework this week, but there are Basic Facts to learn for a test on Thursday.

Term 3 Week 7

At today's School Assembly Rata was awarded a certificate.

Ka pai, Rata, we are proud of you.

This morning we celebrated the following awards: Poppy - gymnastics placings; Rata - dancer of the day; Jack - most improved player in Touch Rugby; Jonathan - participation in Soccer; Xavier - participation in touch Rugby.
Congratulations to you all.

This will be our last week in our Room 13 Portacom. The move will happen after school on Friday and on Saturday. We will start Week 8 in our new room, at the south end of the hall. It will be good to be back in this building after two and a half years.

On Wednesday we will be having our Knowledge-a-thon 'test'. The children all know the answers as we have practised them in class. Our Room 8 (Year 7/8) buddies will write our answers (we need to tell them what to write) so don't worry about the spelling. Please return your white sponsorship form tomorrow. The number of correct answers will be recorded on each sheet, which will then be sent home for children to collect the money.

This week is Social Justice Week and the theme this year is: Justice at Work. As part of this week we will be sharing lunch with our Room 8 buddies on Thursday. They will provide the food for us, so we will only need morning tea that day. Please let me know if there is any food your child cannot eat.

Please put Sunday 22 September in your diary as the Junior School will be attending the 9am Mass.

Ferrymead Trip

On Tuesday Room 13, Room 12 and Room 4 went to Ferrymead. While there we experienced what life was like 100 years ago. We had to dress up in costumes and wear them all day. The girls' dresses made walking and playing tricky as they were long. We had a great day. A special THANKS to the mums who helped us.
Here's some photos:

Harry, Daniel, Jack

Elspeth, Eve and Poppy

Chris wrapping soap

Amelia K counting blackballs

George spinning a wheel

Asher making a bed

Lachlan doing the dishes

Harry ironing

Xavier and Conor doing the dishes

Poppy and Rata on the tram

Jonathan on a hobby horse

Our teacher - she is not allowed to smile!

Term 3 Week 2 'Star of the Week'

This week's 'Star of the Week' is Poppy.

Ka pai, Poppy, it's great to have you in Room 13.

Today Liam turned 7. We sang 'Happy Birthday' and wished him all the best for the coming year.

In our Religious Education lessons we have been learning about creation. We compared the bible story of creation with the Maori story of Rangi and Papa. We have drawn our own pictures of creation. Check out our painting and some of our finished art works.

Rata, Jonathan, Erin and Xavier

Libby, Liam and Conor

Poppy, Won Jeong and Harry

Sienna

Amelia K

Conor

Have a great weekend - all the best to our sporting stars.

Room 13 News

Today Sienna brought in the gold medal and certificate she won at a recent ballet competition. Congratulations Sienna.

Today we learnt about what transparent, translucent and opaque mean. Transparent means that light can shine straight through, translucent means that light can shine through, and opaque means that light cannot shine through.
We looked at different materials and predicted whether they were transparent, translucent or opaque. We then tested each one by holding it up to the light to check our prediction. Most of our predictions were correct but there were some items that tricked us.
We now have another question: Do some colours let more light through than other colours?

Chris, George, Makahni

Harry, Conor, Xavier, Amelia M and Eve

Term 2 Week 8

Today Rheubyn received a certificate at the School Assembly.

Ka pai, Rheubyn, we are proud of you.

This weekend Poppy went to Blenheim for a gymnastics competition. She received a certificate for placing 5th in her grade. Well done, Poppy.

The top three Mathletes for last week are Won Jeong, Xavier and Jack. Ka wani ke.

At writing time today we were able to write about anything we liked. Here's some of our efforts:

Leaves are cool, for my pool

Leaves are red, like my bed

I can see my hair, it is furry like a bear

I am so strong, my beard is so long

There is a cat in the hat

I can see something fat, it is a rat

     By Makahni

Spring

Spring is when the sun comes up

Spring is when our flowers bloom

Spring is not when trees go boom!

Spring is when it is nice and peaceful

I like spring because it makes me happy

Spring is when bees come near us!

Yay, I'm happy spring is here

     By Libby

Look over there

Look, look, look

That purple flower's in a book

     By Thea

Flowers

Cool colourful flowers blooming out side

Purple poppies prancing around

Red roses sitting on the ground

How pretty they look after the flowers pop their heads out of the grass

I wish I had some in my little jars

But in the winter they curl up to their stump

I wish they would just come up.

Red and orange and yellow and green, blue and indigo and violet

I love flowers!!

     By Rebecca

On Saturday I thought I was going to hockey but it was too wet to go to hockey. So I got dressed and I got snuggled up on the couch and watched TV. I got a pink blanket and a cushion and lay down. I took a sleep. When I woke up I had a snack and played with my sisters.

     By Elspeth

In three week's I am going to my Grandma's and Granddad's. I will go with my two little brothers. Their names are Alex and Nick.

     By Daniel