Dear Parents
and Caregivers,
Welcome back
to Term 1 and to Muritai School for those families joining us for the first
time this year.
We have a
great team of creative and inspiring teachers working within Year 3 and 4 this
year. As we take a collaborative approach to learning, your child is likely to see
all teachers during various rotations throughout the year.
Year 3 (upstairs this year):
Room 10 -
Annabel Smith / Ruth Holmes on a Wednesday
Room 11 –
Jess Savage / Richard Dobson on a Friday
Room 12 –
Hayley Skilton
Year 4:
Room 7 –
Hayden Ray
Room 8 –
Karen Chao
Room 9 –
Carol Algar
On Tuesday
afternoon you have the opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher and
provide a little bit of background information about your child. We find these
meetings invaluable and it is very helpful if you take a few moments to look
through and fill out the form that has been emailed to you. We do value your
perspective from home.
Our
classroom CARE programme will be closely linked to our school values this year:
Kindness, Respect, Curiosity, Self-confidence, Commitment, Excellence and
Integrity. We will be unpacking these values as the year progresses.
Homework
Will begin properly next week. Each
night’s homework comprises of 15-20 minutes work of practice in Reading,
Spelling and Mathletics/Basic Facts. Each week there is an optional ‘extra’ to
be completed as well, which may take additional time, spread out over the week.
We are aware of the busy out-of-school lives our children lead. For this
reason, it is perfectly acceptable for out-of-school activities to count as ‘homework’.
All we require is that the activity is recorded in the spaces where the ticks
would normally go. For example, if your child has Ballet on Monday after
school, write ‘ballet’ in the Monday slot for reading, spelling and basic
facts.
Teaching and Learning in Years 3-4 in Term
One
There is lots of great learning happening
this term. Below is a quick outline of what you can expect your child to be
learning this term:
Integrated Studies and Literacy
"Life According to Me" is a term
long inquiry unit into what is important to us. We will begin with a personal
inquiry into the history of our names before we ask the children to look
outside of themselves and investigate the role each person plays in their
community. This links very nicely with the Treaty work we are covering in class
at the moment. Our reading of ‘Piano Rock’ ties in very nicely with this and
during this topic we will also be focusing on covering a range of writing
genres and encouraging children to plan their ideas in a variety of ways before
writing. Children will be editing their own work by proof reading to check for
meaning and by using dictionaries to correct spelling. Keep checking the
classroom blogs to see what each class is doing.
Maths
The majority of the term will be spent on number
knowledge and strategies, particularly Place Value. This will include a focus
on problem solving and algebra. Cross-grouping of students during Maths time,
where the children are grouped across the 6 classes according to need, will
begin in Week 6 and continue for the rest of the term.
Swimming
Swimming is the main PE focus for the
first 6 weeks, followed by cross-country later in the term. We are lucky to
have the skilled instructors of Swimming NZ again taking each class for 8 lessons
over 2 weeks. Their focus is on 'Water Safety and Survival', as well as
fundamental swimming skills. Your child’s teacher will be in touch with the days
they are swimming over the next 4 weeks. Please ensure that all togs, towels
and goggles are named. We ended last year with over 20 pairs of goggles in Lost
Property.
Art
Keep popping in to class over the next few
weeks to see your child’s artistic talents shine through as the classrooms and
corridors spring to life.
Housekeeping
Please ensure that your child has a sunhat
and a drink bottle with them each day for the remainder of this term. The first
bell at 8.40am signals a start to the learning day and it is important that
your child is here by then.
Upcoming
Events
School photographs take place during the
week beginning 17th February. Your child should have brought home an
order form and envelope with details earlier this week. A schedule will follow
shortly.
Swimming
Sports for Y3-8 will be held at Huia Pool on the afternoon of Thursday 13th
March. The Y3s and Y4s will be using the smaller pool. You are most welcome to
come and watch or if you are keen to help out please let your child’s class
teacher know. Further information will follow closer to the date.
We welcome
Harold back to school as The Life Education Bus arrives on Wednesday 26th
March for a week.
Cross-country
will be held towards the end of Term One this year on Tuesday 15th
April. Again, further details will follow.
Getting
in touch
As always, your first port of call is your
child’s teacher. We can be contacted by our email address
(surname@muritai.school.nz), or feel free to pop in before/ after school for a
quick chat. If you wish to talk about your child’s learning at any stage of the
year, you do not have to wait until parent interviews to do so! Your child’s
teacher will be happy to talk with you - however be aware that Monday and
Tuesday after school are usually staff meeting times.
We all look forward to a great year. Our
thanks for your support, as always.
Jess Savage, Hayley Skilton, Annabel
Smith, Karen Chao, Hayden Ray and Carol Algar.
