Makoura College Technology with our Year 7 & 8's

Our Yr 7 and 8 Students focused at Technology today

What's on this week - Week 3

What’s on this week - Week 3 Term 1

Monday - Small group of leaders putting up posters about our Gala around town with Mrs MacGregor.  Maths P.A.T testing all years. Swimming at 1.10 to 2.45 at the town pool.  Bring your hats, sunblock and togs/towel plus suitable walking shoes.

Tuesday - Technology at Makoura College.  Covered shoes is a must and long hair tied back.  Bring a pen / pencil. Year 6’s to Matua James for Science. South Wairarapa Super Whānau Advisory Group Hui: SWSWAG: Tuesday 16th February: Kuranui College 4pm. (This Week) - all whanau welcome.

Wednesday - First day of Breakfast Club. [ any whanau that can help please let us know] Reading comp / vocab PAT testing. Swimming at 1.10 to 2.45 at the town pool.  Bring your hats, sunblock and togs/towel plus suitable walking shoes.

Thursday - Usual day, P.T.A. picnic at school - all whanau welcome to come along to school at 5.30 with your family and bring along you dinner.

Friday - Team Assembly. Swimming at 1.10 to 2.45 at the town pool.  Bring your hats, sunblock and togs/towel plus suitable walking shoes.

Wow what a busy start to this term.  Thank you for taking the time to come into the hall and touch base with us.  We will be sending out home visit times as soon as we have completed testing, so we can meet with you and discuss your child’s next steps.  In the meantime however, please feel free to come in at any time and join us in class.

Dates for you to remember for our busy week next week

Swimming sports - 24/2, Balloon Festival begins 25/2, Gala 26/2

Lesley and Mel

A great start

We are all working hard in our new environment and can't wait for our renovations to be completed.
The Chromebooks are awesome and its been a great start to the term.

What's on this week - Week 2

What’s on this week - Week 2

Monday - Waitangi Day public holiday

Tuesday - First day for Technology at Makoura College.  Covered shoes is a must and long hair tied back.  Bring a pen / pencil

Wednesday - Jump Jam. Get on Your Bike day - spot prizes for all those riding bikes to school.  Mrs Mac will be at the gate to give out any prizes.  Swimming at 1.10 to 2.45 at the town pool.  Bring your hats, sunblock and togs/towel plus suitable walking shoes.

Thursday - Jump Jam. Nurse Judy will be speaking to the Yr 7 & 8 girls about their immunisations. The grand opening of the Millennium Park with a secret guest [ someone important who rhymes with sees!] This opening will be at 1:30pm.  some of our students will be going, and the Kapa Haka group will be performing.  

Friday - Whole School Assembly outside the hall weather permitting.

Swimming at 1.10 to 2.45 at the town pool.  Bring your hats, sunblock and togs/towel plus suitable walking shoes.

A great start to the term and the new year.  We are working successfully in the hall and things are going very well.  This week we hope that all students have their stationery, plus we will be 1-1 ASAP.  If you want to purchase a Chromebook see the office as they do have some just come in at the old price.

Please remember that your child’s fees for Makoura College are due [all yr 7 and 8 students] so we would appreciate it if these were paid as soon as you can.  

Please feel free to pop in at any time - we would love to see you all

Lesley and Mel

What's on this week - Week 1 Term 1

What’s on this week – Week 1 Term 1 2016

Monday – First day at school, Powhiri for new students and Staff 9:30am outside the Hall [weather permitting] Newsletters, stationery list, homework etc to go home. Please check your child’s bag for these.

Tuesday – Team Assembly in the Hall

Wednesday – Swimming leaving school at 1.10 and returning by 2.50pm

Thursday – usual timetable

Friday – Swimming leaving school at 1.10 and returning by 2.50pm

Monday Week 2 – Swimming leaving school at 1.10 and returning by 2.50pm

If your child has a device, they are welcome to bring it along to enhance learning, however please ensure that it is ‘school compatible’ so it will need Google drive and Docs, plus any games need to be age appropriate. The device would need to be IPad mini size or larger.  IPods and Smart Phones are not suitable for working on in the class.

We expect to be 1-1 Chrome Books by the middle of week 2 so if you are considering purchasing a device for your child, we would encourage a Chrome Book as they are the most suitable for school.  Noel Leeming has a great deal on them at the moment.

Room 13 and Room 14 are working together in the Hall and Library at the moment until the new build has been completed sometime this term.  We will be combining both of our expertise [Mel and Lesley] to provide your child with a fantastic year of learning.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to speak to either one of us.

Thanks

Lesley Kennedy and Mel MacGregor

Welcome to Room 14

Room 14 Newsletter Term 1 2016

‘He waka eke noa’

We are all in this waka together

Dear Students, Whanau and Parents

Kia ora and welcome back to school after a wonderful Christmas break.  I hope you’ve had a lovely holiday and are eager to be back at school. I have put together this newsletter to provide you with some key information about what’s happening in Room 14 this term and across Team Kahikatea. 

For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Lesley Kennedy and I have been working here at Carterton School since 2008.   I have worked throughout the school at most levels however I especially enjoy working with our most senior students, preparing them for college.  I am currently the staff trustee for our school Board and I am Team Leader for our Team. 

Team Kahikatea

Our team this year consists of me [Lesley Kennedy] in Room 14 with 26 - Year 7 and 8 students, Melanie MacGregor in Room 13 with 25 - Year 6 and 7 students, James Church in Room 12 with 25 Year 6, 7 and 7 students and Raewyn Harnden in Room 11 with 27 -Year 6 and 5 students.  We are fortunate to have such a variety of skills and knowledge within our team which will benefit all of our students as we prepare them for their senior years and moving onto college.  We all have high expectations for our students so they can all be the best they can be.

Stationery

You would have received our class stationery list and the packs are available from the Room 7.  If you do not require all of the stationery, just cross off those items.  The list also has our other costs such as Technology.

Swimming

Team Kahikatea’s swimming blocks are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1:30pm—2:45pm from Week One to Week Six.  Remember that togs, towel and sensible walking shoes will be needed on these days as we are walking there and back.  Our school swimming sports are being held on Wednesday February 18th and those who qualify will go on to participate in the South Wairarapa Swimming Sports.  You are more than welcome to attend these swimming events.  We will also be having our school Triathlon and more on this will follow.

 Team Sleep Over and Whanau get – together

We will have a team sleep over on the 10^th March followed by our Big Day Out in Masterton on the 11^th of March.  This is an informal whanau get together and a chance for our Team to get to know each other in a fun way.  Everyone is welcome to come along and join in with fun games and a chance to have a chat with your child’s teacher.  Further information on times, venues, cost and parent support will be following very soon.

Term Inquiry

Curiosity is the title of the Term One inquiry topic with a Science focus.  This inquiry topic is about developing our curiosity for learning.  We will be integrating this theme across all curriculum areas and include the Treaty of Waitangi and ANZAC as part of this inquiry. 

Younger Buddy Classes

This year Room 13 and 14 are joining together to be buddy classes with Room 9 and Room 10.  We are calling this session Tuakana/Teina (Big kids helping little kids).  We will read, write and develop friendships with our buddies every Friday before lunch for about 20 minutes.  This helps our older students develop leadership skills and gives the younger children great role models and a sense of belonging. 

Technology at Makoura  College  - Designcraft

Year 7 and 8 students attend technology sessions at Makoura College (Masterton) every Tuesday, during the morning session beginning in Week 2.  They all travel by bus to Makoura College and are taught by the Technology teachers there. The Technology sessions at Makoura cost $80 for the year and this cost is already added onto your stationery list.  This cost is for materials only as Carterton School covers the teaching costs from Makoura.  If you are unable to pay this in full, you can make part payments.  This can be paid to the office or by automatic payment. If the fee is not paid, then your child will not be able to take home anything they make at Technology.  The stationery needed for Technology is also on the Stationery List. 

Please be aware that students are required to wear covered shoes at Technology for safety reasons. If they do not have the suitable footwear, they are not permitted to attend the session and will remain at school.   We have spoken to the students about these points and we trust they will take responsibility for themselves. 

Homework and Communications to whanau

Homework will be given every week on a Monday and be expected to be returned by the following Monday.  Your child has a communications book that will be brought home regularly with information from school to home.  Please remind your child to keep you informed of what is happening at school plus anything else you need to know about.

We will be working on Google docs again this year using Chrome books in all our teams’ classes.  This means that your child will be working most of the time on a computer and you will be able to access your child’s work from home.  There will be times however when we will still use pen and paper, plus your child will have their ‘Taonga Book’  to share with you.

Please remember that we are a ‘Sunsmart’ school and all students are expected to wear a wide brimmed hat in Terms 1 and 4. 

Lastly, please feel free to pop into class at any time throughout the day as we have an open door policy here at Carterton School. Remember that both Room 13 and 14 are in the hall until the renovations are completed and we are working together to provide your child with excellent learning opportunities across our team.  If you would like to catch up with me on a one to one basis you can email me here at school lkennedy@carterton.school.nz or leave a message for me to phone you back.  I’m happy to give out my cell number if you need to text me for any reason, so just ask me for that.  Also if there is anything you are not sure about, just let me know.

Regards

Lesley Kennedy