Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome back to the Year 3 and 4 Muritai Team for our Year 4 parents and a warm welcome for those families joining us for the first time this year. We trust you have all had a lovely Christmas and have enjoyed the beautiful sunny days we have been experiencing while on holiday - what a summer we have had!
Once again we have a very experienced team of creative and inspiring teachers working within Year 3 and 4 this year. As we take a collaborative approach to teaching and learning, your child is likely to see all teachers during various rotations throughout the year.
We have a few staff changes to our team this year. Jess Savage remains on Maternity Leave with her gorgeous daughter Freya and I will continue to do her role as Associate Principal in her absence. Annabel Smith will also be on Maternity Leave this year, after giving birth to a handsome wee boy on Christmas Day no less! Richard Dobson is returning to classroom teaching this year, after completing a year of Reading Recovery teaching last year. Gabrielle Heath returns to our team as my Management Release Teacher on Fridays, as well as fulfilling the role of Muritai's Reading Recovery Teacher. As many of you know already, Briana Lee got married over the holidays and returns as Briana Treder - congratulations Briana! Many of you will know Mikaela Cody and Trish Theobald from our Junior Team and we are very excited to have them join us this year. We also welcome Sandra Blair, Romy Anderson, Lorna Anderson and Narelle Ferrier who will be supporting us in their Teacher Aide roles.
Year 3:
Room 10 - Mikaela Cody and Trish Theobald on a Friday
Room 9 – Hayley Skilton / Gabrielle Heath on a Friday
Year 4:
Room 7 (Year 3/4 Composite) – Richard Dobson
Room 8 – Karen Chao
Room 11 - Briana Treder
On Wednesday 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. We will be unpacking these values as the year progresses as follows: Kindness and Respect in Term 1, Curiosity and Excellence in Term 2, Self-confidence and Commitment in Term 3, and Integrity and Resilience in Term 4.
Homework
- Each night’s homework comprises of 15-20 minutes of practice in Reading, Spelling and Mathletics/Basic Facts. Please tick the appropriate section/columns to ‘prove’ that homework is being done. Older siblings may do this if necessary.
- Our children lead very busy out-of-school lives. For this reason, it is perfectly acceptable for out-of-school activities to count as ‘homework’. All that is required 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.
- Tick the spelling words and math facts as they are practiced, even if they are yet to be learned correctly. This is supposed to be practice time- not a test time. It is perfectly acceptable for children to write in their home reading themselves.
- Teachers will run the testing at the end of each week, in class. This is the time when teachers will assess the mastery of words.
- Each week there is an optional ‘extra’ piece of homework to be completed, which may take additional time, spread out over the week. Feel free to email the teacher if anything about this needs clarifying. There are no consequences for children not completing this part.
- Homework books are returned to school every morning. This allows children to use their spelling words during classroom
practice time. If the book is left at home, then the child misses this
practice time. Teachers may also wish to check home reading and the homework
book for messages from home.
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 mini inquiry unit into what is important to us, how we learn and our role in our classroom and community. This links very nicely with the Treaty work we are covering in class at the moment and of course Waitangi Day.
"Carnival of the Animals" is an integrated Music inquiry unit that ties in with one of the shows we will be viewing later on in the term, at the Capital E Festival of the arts in Wellington. The children will be learning in, through and about the arts and will have opportunities to express and interpret their ideas through drama, dance and music. Keep checking the classroom blogs to see what each class is doing.
Maths
We will begin in our home-room classes for maths this year, to enable us to get to know our children as well as assess the children and group them accordingly. 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 5 classes according to need, will begin in Term 2.
Swimming
Swimming is the main PE focus for the first 5 weeks, followed by cross-country later in the term. We are lucky to have the skilled instructors of Kiwisim again taking each class for 8 lessons over 2 weeks. Their focus is on 'Water Safety and Survival', as well as fundamental swimming skills. Please ensure that all togs, towels and goggles are named.
Here is our swimming timetable:
Week 1:
All Year 3 and Year 4 classes will be swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Weeks 2 and 3:
Rooms 9 and 10 - Monday and Wednesday
Rooms 7, 8 and 11 - Tuesday and Thursday
All Year 3 and Year 4 classes will be swimming on Friday.
Weeks 4 and 5:
All Year 3 and Year 4 classes will be swimming everyday.
Swimming Sports will be held at Huia Pool on the afternoon of Thursday 26th February (Week 4)
Art
We have a drawing focus this term and will of course be completing self-portraits - it's always a treat to see the finished products and how the children see themselves! 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
As mentioned above, our Swimming Sports for Y3-8 will be held at Huia Pool on the afternoon of Thursday 26th February. 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.
Cross-country will be held towards the end of Term 1 this year on Tuesday 31st March. Again, further details will follow. Cross Country training will begin in Week 6 once swimming has finished.
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.
Kind regards,
Hayley Skilton, Karen Chao, Richard Dobson, Mikaela Cody, Briana Treder, Gabrielle Heath, Trish Theobald and Ruth Holmes.
Hayley Skilton, Karen Chao, Richard Dobson, Mikaela Cody, Briana Treder, Gabrielle Heath, Trish Theobald and Ruth Holmes.
