Term 3 Newsletter

Term 3 2011

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Welcome back to the new term. Hopefully everyone had a relaxing holiday.

The Year 5 and 6 Team had another successful term in Term 2. The highlights would have to be our Solar System Inquiry and the Speech Competition where the quality of speeches from everyone was very impressive. Our T.G.I.F programme was also a huge success with children learning to play the ukulele, taking part in cooking, art and even tie dying lessons!

Thank you to everyone who came to visit us for parent conferences at the end of the term. It was great to have a catch up with you all and report back on the successes your children have made.

The teachers are all looking forward to getting stuck into a solid term of teaching in Term 3. Here is the run down on what is happening.

Inquiry

Our theme for the term is ‘Celebrate!’ In this unit we are looking at how different cultures remember the past through festivals and celebrations. We start by looking closely at a couple of unique festivals then the children will have an opportunity to inquire about a festival of their choice.

Art

A big term for Art this term where with our bi-annual Wearable Arts Performance in week 10. This involves every child designing and creating a wearable piece of art and then presenting this during performance week. You should have received a paper copy of an overview for the term, which outlines our expectations for the children and how you can assist at home. All children have now decided on a category to enter and have started their initial designs. Week 7 will be dedicated to ‘Making Week’. We will be asking for parent help to come along and help out with the construction. Sewing machines and operators will be in hot demand!

Literacy

In writing and reading we will be focusing on narrative writing. This unit will really give the children an opportunity to experiment with descriptive and creative story writing.

Maths

Cross grouping will continue this term and commence in week 1. We start the term looking at Algebra, exploring spatial and number patterns. We then move into Number, exploring fractions, decimals and percentages.

Physical Education

This term we focus on large ball games. We will be looking at working as a team and game strategy along with continuing to build on large ball control.

Homework

The homework programme is unchanged from last term. A large component of homework will be centred around wearable art preparation. For a lot of this we will be encouraging the children to discuss ideas and designs with you at home. The conversations you have with your child at home regarding their design process is vital. As you can imagine it is a very complex process getting their piece of art from paper onto their bodies!!

As always we understand the weeks can be very busy and many children have a lot of after school activities to attend. If for any reason your child is unable to complete their homework, please write a brief note in their book or email your classroom teacher with an explanation.

Other things to notes….

Slippers: These need to be worn throughout the winter term. Please ensure your child has a pair of slippers that are left at school.

Blogs: Thank you to everyone who has visited the blogs and left comments and feedbacks for the children – they really appreciate your feedback. We will endeavour to keep the blogs updated regularly so make sure you visit frequently! The children are also becoming increasingly confident in publishing work on the blog.

Finally…. Please remind your child to check they have everything they need each morning and they are at school in time for the first bell at 8.40. Students should see that being organised is part of growing up and an important life skill to be developing. Term 3 usually sees the supply of pencils, rulers and rubbers start to dwindle. It would be a good idea to ask your child if there is anything they require.

As usual, if you need to contact your child’s classroom teacher please feel free to drop by the classroom before or after school or make an appointment for an interview at the office. The easiest way to touch base with us is email e.g. teacher’s surname@muritai.school.nz

Thank you again for your support

Stu Devenport

Year 5 and 6 Team Leader.