Anu

What an awesome performance in the Talent Quest.

Masterchef

Looney-Lympics Finale

Top team action

Senior Dance group in action at Assembly

More Jellie Park action

Jellie Park slide - what fun!

Class Celebration

Kia Ora Whanau

Please could you send your child to school on Monday with their completed 'Class Celebration' form.

I look forward to catching up with you all at the learning conferences this week and then at Jellie Park on Friday.

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

End of Year Learning Conferences

Kia Ora Whanau

I'm really looking forward to catching up with you all at the End-of-Year Learning Conferences during Week 7 (21-24 November).  For parents of all ESOL students you will be receiving a letter with the time of your conference.  The ESOL conferences take place on Monday 21 November and Tuesday 22 November.

All other parents please go to the www.schoolinterviews.co.nz website, enter the school code (which is on the letter that was brought home today) and press GO.  Please e-mail me at nigel.marsh@ilam.school.nz if you do not have the school code.

The week will culminate with our End of Year Class celebration at Jellie Park swimming pool on Friday 25 November.  Please could you get your child to the pool at 4.30pm.  You are welcome to stay.  If you do have to head off please could you return at 5.30pm with a plate of food so we can have a shared kai together at 6pm.

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Week 3 Update

Kia Ora koutou

Although it will be sad saying good-bye to the Year 6's at the end of the year I'm delighted that the Year 5's will be returning to Room 1 next year.

We were blessed with a fantastic Canterbury day for our Athletics Sports on Tuesday.  Everyone really enjoyed themselves and tried their best.  There will be a big cricket focus over the next 3 weeks before we start our swimming programme in Week 7.

We have been learning about statistics in maths.  We have looked at the worldometer and discussed the impact of the statistics.  We have also discussed the impact of the number of cars passing the school.  Yesterday we measured ourselves and compared our heights to our heights in February. There was discussion around the amount we have grown and we made predictions about how much we will grow in the following year.

We have finished our readers and begin a unit on persuasive writng next week.  There was a great deal of excitement as we designed our kites which we will be building later in the term.  Our Puberty unit starts on Monday.  We have a question box in the class which has been well used.  We will be having some fun and interesting discussions in the next couple of weeks!

Reminders:  Parent/Teacher interviews take place in week 7 and our class celebration takes place at the end of week 7.

Have a great weekend
Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Athletics Sports Day - Parent help

Kia Ora Whanau

The children have been training exceptionally hard on their Athletics skills and their fitness.  We are all looking forward to a great day next Tuesday (25 October).

We really do need some parent help please, even if you can just manage a couple of hours.  If you can assist in any way please let me know.

Nga mihi nui

Nigel

Bouncing Raisin experiment

Week 1 Update

Kia Ora koutou

Well we are back up and running!  We are enjoying preparing ourselves for the Athletics Sports Day on Tuesday 25 October.  I hope that many of you will be able to support the children on this day.

This week:
Maths - we have been learning all about time.  We are now a lot more aware of the time.  Next week we are going to move into the fun strand of maths which is Statistics.
Literacy - half the class have been reading novels.  One group has been reading and discussing 'Coat of Arms'.  Our ESOL learners are back into their programmes.
Puberty -  We will be covering this topic as part of our Health programme this term.

I'm pleased to confirm that we will be having an End of Year Class Celebration from 4.30pm to 6.30pm on Friday 25 November at the Jellie Park Outdoor pools and slides.  The children will play from 4.30pm and then at 6pm we will have a picnic.  I will pay for the children's entry to the pool. You are most welcome to join the children in the pool.  If you decide to join in the action then you will need to pay for yourself ($6).  Spectators do not have to pay.  Please could you bring along a picnic or fish and chips and we will all eat together at 6pm.  I will say a few things around 6.20pm and we will all go home after that.

School swimming will start in Week 7.

Homework (continues as has been the case for the whole year)
1.  Read at least 4 times a week for 20 minutes at a time
2.  Do at least 40 minutes of Mathletics during the week

It's great to be back with the children and I'm looking forward to a wonderful fourth term.

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Wheels day - Week 9 Term 3

Feeding the Giraffe at Orana Park

Important Dates for Term 4

Kia Ora Whanau

I hope everyone is having a restful holiday.  Here are some important dates for Term 4:-

Tuesday 25 October               Athletics Sports Day
Wednesday 9 November        Ilam Cultural Festival
23/24 November                    End of Year Learning Conferences
Wednesday 7 December        6pm  Leavers Dinner at Lone Star
Thursday 15 December         End of Year Assembly

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Week 9 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

We were incredibly well looked after by Elaine at Orana Park today.  We learnt a great deal about the animals and had a wonderful day.  It was awesome to have the Cheetah keepers chat to us.  Their talk was very informative.  Interesting that Story, from TV3, ran a piece on their programme tonight about Orana Park's 40th birthday!

At the start of next term we will continue our unit on 'time' in maths and we will move to reading in literacy.  We are going to be constructing, decorating and flying kites in Art next term.  Should be lots of fun.

Please could you ensure that your child works on their fitness over the holiday period as the Athletics Sports are on Tuesday 25 October!  There will also be some cricket on and at the end of the year we will be going swimming.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this term.  It has been wonderful seeing the growth and development in the children and in particular seeing their self-confidence increase.

It is with sadness that we say good-bye to Farnaz tomorrow.  She is such a positive person and her English has improved out of sight.  She will be missed.  We wish her all the best in the future and hope that she remains connected with her friends from Ilam.

Have a great holiday everyone.  I look forward to seeing the children again on Monday 10 October (....after I have had a little rest!)

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Indian Dancing at Assembly

We are learning to use Fotobabble

More dancing with Gemma

Dancing with Gemma

Week 8 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

A huge highlight of the week was the running of the School Assembly.  The class ran an excellent show.  We also had three Inquiry performances on Wednesday.

We have loved learning about the Festival of Eid.  We were most fortunate to have Monali (Jubaer's Mum) pop in to tell us more about Eid.  Fauzia ably backed up the words from Monali.  We wish our Muslim community 'Wa 'alaykum salaam'!

In maths next week we are going to learn about time.  In Literacy we will complete our character descriptions of a character out of 'The Power of One'.  There will be no art on Wednesday as we will be having an extended Team Time where 'Excellence Awards will be handed out.  We will have our final Turbo touch on Monday and there will definitely be some cricket somewhere in the mix. Athletics Sports Day is on Tuesday 25 October.  Something to look forward to.

The excitement is now really building for our trip to Orana Park on Thursday.  A big thank you to the following parents who will be driving us out to the Park and spending the day with us.  They are:- Phillip Walker, Tjun Blaikie, Caroline Chapman and Kaye Wolland.  We are extremely fortunate to also have Marilyn with us.  We will leave from school at 10.30am and we will be back at school by 3pm.  It promises to be a very enjoyable day.  It will be great to meet our cheetahs.  I can't wait!

Monali, Jubaer and Ozaar - Eid presentation

Art

Just one more week before the holidays are upon us!  Enjoy the weekend

Nga mihi nui

Nigel

Week 7 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Thank you very much for signing the Wednesday Teachers meeting and Orana Park notices this week.  I really appreciate your support for these two events.

The next important form is the digital learning agreement form which should have come home this afternoon.  Please could that be completed and returned with your child tomorrow (Friday).

Thank you for all the photos of 'People the children know'.  We are learning to write a character description at the moment and these pictures form the starting point for this part of the writing programme.  For those people who have not sent a picture in please could you do so tomorrow.  The easiest and best way is just to e-mail me a picture.  I will print it out at school.

We will keep going with fractions next week and then will move into learning about time.  Our Eric Carle art is making good progress and most children should be finishing their art project next week.

Proud
This week each child in the class received a special certificate from 3plearning who administer Mathletics.  The certificate was for Exceptional Effort this year.  Thank you for supporting your child with their Mathletics.  Since the inception of the Senior Team Mathletics award in Week 10 of Term 1 Room 1 has won the award every single time except on two ocassions.

We received our Cheetah Certificate of Adoption today.

'We' have produced 8.2 litres of worm juice so far which we have given to the school.  We will be sending worm juice home in the near future to those families who wish to fertilise their plants and veggies.

Room 1 also won the Walk/Wheel to School trophy this week.  Thank you for supporting your child with this healthy lifestyle initiative.

Upcoming events
3 groups will be performing their respective Inquiry 'productions' at 2.30pm on Wednesday 14 September.  You are most welcome to pop in to the hall and watch the stunning performances.

The school disco is on Friday 16 September

The Orana Park trip is on Thursday 22 September.

Have a great weekend

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Football Star

Georgia won the 'Player-of-the-Season' trophy for her Club Football team this year

'Person I know' - Week 7 Writing

Kia Ora Whanau

Reminder to please get your child to bring, in on Monday, a picture of someone they know well. We are going to write a descriptive piece about this person.

Thank you for getting the Wednesday afternoon letter and Orana Park letter in to me.  There are just a couple more Orana Park letters to come in.

Have a great weekend

Nga mihi nui
Nigel

Week 6 update - Important info re: Notices

Kia Ora Whanau

Important notices
1.  There is a Teacher's Union meeting on Wednesday 7 September at 1.30pm.  We encourage you to collect your child from school at 12.30pm.  If you cannot collect your child then the children left behind will be looked after by Mr Dolan in the hall until the usual school closure time of 3pm.
Please could you sign the letter that came home on Monday and let us know who will be collecting your child, or if your child will be staying at school.
Your childs safety is of paramount importance to us so please could you get the signed letter back to me by tomorrow (Thursday 1 September).

2.  Thank you to all the parents who have offered to help with our Orana Park trip on Thursday 22 September.  A letter will be coming home tonight regarding the trip.  The cost for this great day out will be $8 which will be charged to school accounts.  Any supervising adults will get free access to the Park.  Please could you sign the consent slip and return that to me. (Ideally if you can do that with the Wednesday collection letter - that will mean less double handling!)

3.  School photos will be taking place next week.  Information regarding the photos also came home on Monday

4.  Reminder about the ART EXTRAVAGANZA on Friday (2 September).  Please pop in to the hall and take a look.  If you have not seen the printmaking in the class feel free to have a look at that.  Our Collage will be finished in a couple of weeks so we will have a new display going up soon.

5.  All sports uniforms are to be returned to school on Friday 2 September.

Other info

• We are enjoying our Computer Science with Mrs Dudley and our Turbo touch with Logan on Monday afternoons.
• Kelly Dombroski (Imogen's Mum) will be delivering a presentation on our New Zealand history on Tuesday.  We are all looking forward to that.
• We will be returning to writing in literacy next week but with the same continued focus of developing our creative writing.
• We will have another week on fractions in maths
• The Inquiry projects are well on their way and we are hoping to see some performances in the next few weeks.

Homework

• The compulsory homework remains the same:-  4 days of reading a week (at least 20 minutes at a time) and at least 40 minutes of Mathletics a week.
• Any child who wishes to do more homework may do the Maths and Science badges
• Please could you assist the process by checking in with your child regarding their homework to make sure that they are getting into good learning habits.

Nga mihi nui

Nigel

Practising our Inquiry

This group is rehearsing an Indian dance they have made up

Doing your job makes a great team

Turbo Touch

The next BIG thing!

Kia Ora Whanau

I'm delighted that our trip to Orana Park is now very much on!  We will be leaving school at 10.30am on Thursday 22 September and we will be getting back to school at 3pm.

Sarah, from Orana Park, who presented to us last week has said that she will try to get the cheetah keeper to meet with us and share his insights on the cheetah.  This will be very special.

I have already had two parents put their hands up to transport and assist with supervision on the day, which is awesome.  I will require another 3 parents please to assist with transport and supervision.  If you are able to help please let me know.  All assisting parents will get free entry to the Park.

This trip promises to be one of the highlights of the Year

Nga mihi
Nigel

Cats and Kittens presentation

We were treated to a special presentation today by Sylvia on Cats and Kittens.  Well done Sylvia!

Heaven on Wheels plus Sports Stars

Our car enthusiasts were in heaven when this beauty turned up at school

Friday's Player of Day recipients

Immensely Proud

Kia Ora Whanau

We set some hefty goals in Week 3 and I'm immensely proud of what the class has achieved.

Firstly all 6 of the students on the Lexia literacy programme achieved their weekly goal.  This has only happened on half a dozen occasions this year.

With regard Mathletics we set ourselves the target of making the Top 50 in the World, beating our record number of points of 87 803 and for everyone to achieve a certificate.

Well I'm very proud to announce that for the FIRST time this year every student in the class received a certificate, we are currently 29th in the World and it is extremely likely that we will remain in the top 50 and we are now only 786 class points behind our all time weekly record.  What an achievement!

I do however want to stress that we have had a bit of a 'push' on Mathletics this week and that while it is fun to beat classes from Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA, Canada, Guatemalo, Argentina and Peru (to name a few) the main and continued focus is not on achieving a vast amount of points (this week being an exception) but rather on forming regular and consistent work habits which lead to a sound knowledge and understanding of the maths curriculum.

Students are required to do 40 minutes of Mathletics outside the classroom each week.  Should they wish to do more they are welcome but that will be their own decision.

During the week we also read the poems we had written to Room 2, completed our art design and chose our Inquiry 'project' for the term.  We had some fun games of 'Capture the Flag' as well!

I feel very privileged to have such a wonderful class

Nga mihi
Nigel

World domination in Mathletics

Kia Ora team

Great start for our quest for World domination!  We are currently 18th in the World!  Having a 12 hour start on Europe and America has given us an early advantage.

Well done to the 22 class members who have logged in to Mathletics today and also to the 13 who have already achieved a certificate.  To reach our goal we are all going to need to do our bit.

Lets go Room 1....we can do it!

Kia kaha

Vases required please

Kia ora Whanau

Our Inquiry this term is 'How can art have a positive impact on a place?'  In line with this I have acquired some 'realistic' plastic flowers so we can practise doing some flower arrangements. However we do require 3 or 4 vases.  So if you have an old vase or two at home please could you ask your child to bring it in.

I hope you remain warm this weekend

Nga mihi
Nigel

Adopting a Cheetah

The children have decided to adopt a cheetah!  They will be making a contribution towards the 'flagship' species at Orana Park.  Their money will go towards the feeding, vetinary bills and enclosure of the cheetahs.  Orana Park is a Charitable Trust.

Well done Room 1 we are very proud of you

New learning area - looking awesome

The Worms are here!

Start of Term 3 news

Kia Ora Whanua

Well its almost time to prepare school lunches again!

Some important information regarding the start of the new term:-

1.  Thursday 28 July - Winter Sport Tournament in the morning
2.  Friday 29 July - Cycle Safety from 9am to 12.30pm and then Winter Sport in the afternoon. Please let me know if your child cannot bring a bike and helmet to school on Friday.  The Council does have a few spares.
3.  Monday 1 August - Art Tour of the City which includes a visit to the Art Gallery.  We will require parent help for this trip.  Please let me know if you can join us.
4.  Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 August - Learning Conferences.  Please book an interview time online if you have not already done so.

We will be doing some Gym during our PE time this term.  I'm looking forward to a great term

Nga mihi
Nigel

Learning Conferences in Week 2

Kia Ora Whanau

Reminder about the Learning Conferences which will be taking place in Week 2 of next term. Please go online and book your interview time.  The interviews are for all parents who do NOT have ESOL children.  The ESOL interviews were completed at the end of the second term.

Worms
The children have decided to donate $100 to Orana Park.  This excess money was made at the Fundraiser.  They have already donated $50 to the Enviroteam.  I will be purchasing the two worm-farms during the holiday.

I look forward to seeing all the wonderful children of Room 1 again on 25 July

Nga mihi
Nigel

Week 9 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

The children are so proud of their achievements last Friday.  There has been a lot of debate in class as to how the excess money is to be spent!  Hopefully you will have received your formal invitation to the Class Celebration Party which will take place at 2.45pm on Friday 1 July in Room 1.  We will be finished soon after 3pm.

The class is having a music session with Mrs Blatchford this afternoon and the Year 6's go to Kirkwood tomorrow morning.  We are all looking forward to the presentation by Alex Reese at 2.15pm tomorrow.  Alex is the Founder of the Cricket Live Foundation and I know the children will be inspired by what he has to say.

We have two lessons on Life Education in the next week.  Our focus will be on how to be 'cyber safe'.

The class continues to enjoy the Mathletics programme.  We are currently 38th in the Country for this week.

Current Curriculum Focus:
Reading - Stories on the Vege Car and The Water Cycle
Writing - Writing about a Fictitious Animal    (developing our descriptive language and learning how to structure a paragraph)
Maths - Multiplication and Division
Art - Printmaking

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday afternoon

Nga mihi
Nigel

Fundraiser letters from parents

Kia Ora Whanua

Thank you to those parents who have responded to the Fundraiser letter.  We really appreciate your support.  If you haven't had a chance yet please could you send your child along with the letter on Monday morning (20 June).

On Monday afternoon we will be planning for Friday's Fundraiser.  We will base our planning on the letters we have received.

Thank you very much for assisting our children so that they can assist the community.

Kia kaha
Nigel

Week 7 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Worm Farms
A letter will be coming home tonight to inform you about the Fundraiser for the Worm Farms.  Please can you support the children with this venture.  It is not only a great learning opportunity for them but they will be contributing towards a healthier local environment.

Please could each family produce some home baking which we can sell at the Fundraiser on 24 June. Other ways to assist will be:-

a)  Provide some resources for the class bake on 23 June.  Items such as flour, sugar and eggs will be most welcome.
b)  Help with the bbq
c)  Provide assistance on 24 June with packaging and general supervision.

The 'cake' sale on 24 June will take place from 2.45pm to 3.15pm.  It promises to be a fun day.

Additional Learning Space
The children have requested that we turn the old cloakroom into a learning space.  The intention is to get carpet and couches into the room to make it cosy and a welcoming place for learning to take place.  The plan is to put hooks up outside the classroom, under the awning, so that the children can hang up their bags.  We are currently running a trial to see how it all works.  Hence we have not as yet put the hooks up.  We will be checking in with the students towards the end of term and a long term decision will be made collectively.

Next week
The Year 6's go to Cobham on Monday.  Wear a Wig day on Wednesday in support of the Cancer Foundation and then it's our big fundraiser on Friday.

Looking forward to a really exciting week 8

Nga mihi
Nigel

The worms have grown legs...!

Kia Ora Whanau

Room 1 is very excited about their eco project.  They will be fundraising to purchase two worm farms.  The fundraising event will take place on Friday 24 June from 2.45pm to 3.15pm.  Please could you assist with some home-baking.  Please could you involve your child so that they do the 'lion's share' of the work.  Families are welcome to make more than one item.  Ideas range from Cakes, pop-corn, bananas in chocolate, sherbit to biscuits.  Any further creative ideas are most welcome.

Tim Price has offered to donate some vegetables to sell and he has also made his BBQ available for a sausage sizzle.  I will require 2 or 3 parent helpers on the day please to assist with labeling, packaging and with displaying the produce.  I will also need someone to purchase the ingredients for the sausage sizzle and 'man' it on the day.  We will need a float as well.  I'm sure there will be other bits and pieces that we require...

If you can help on the day in any way please let me know.  Happy baking

Nga mihi
Nigel



Worm-farm we wish to purchase

Week 6 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Thank you once again to all those attended our 'Whanau Open Night'.  It was great to see so many of you there.

I had the pleasure of attending the North West Choir Festival practise at the Aurora Centre on Tuesday.  8 students from Room 1 are involved.  The show takes place on Tuesday 21 June.  I'm sure it will be a huge success.

The class continues to excel in the Mathletics programme.  It is not only an excellent vehicle to learn maths but it is also a great way for the students to learn to self manage.  Since the Senior team Mathletics Awards were introduced seven weeks ago we have won the Award for the most certificates in a class every week!  We have also consistently featured in the New Zealand Top 50.  Great effort.

Room 1 has also won the Walk/Wheel to class now 3 weeks in a row.  I thank you for your support in helping to foster a healthy lifestyle amongst our tamariki.

Through our Inquiry the call for a class Worm Farm is gathering steam.  We are in the throws of the final part of planning and will hopefully be diving into this project officially very soon.  This is a huge learning opportunity, not only teaching the importance of looking after and 'growing' the planet but it will also be an excellent opportunity to work collaboratively.  Please watch this space re the next move.....!!!

We have completed our unit on measurement and move into multiplication and division next week. Our focus for writing over the next fortnight will be 'switch' animals!

We loved our cooking on Wednesday and we also enjoyed learning about Matariki during the week.

Upcoming dates:
Monday 20 June  - Year 6's go to Cobham for the morning
Wednesday 22 June - Mufti and Wear a wig day (Gold coin donation for the Cancer Foundation)
Thursday 30 June - Alex Reese, Founder of Cricket Live Foundation, will present to the children

Nga mihi
Nigel

Whanau Open night

Thank you to everyone who came along to our whanau open night. It was awesome to see so many families. I was pleased that the Matariki star biscuits were such a hit!

Bees to 'fly' back

Please could all the clay bees be returned to the class on Tuesday so we can set up for Wednesday's Open Night.

Week 5 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

The big event coming up is 'The Room 1 Open night' on Wednesday 8 June.  You should all be receiving a handwritten formal invitation to the event.  The invitation is extended to the wider 'family'.  ie Grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles are most welcome.

The programme will be:-

5.20pm   Milo and biscuits will be served  (Biscuits made by the children)
               You are welcome to then have a look around the classroom
5.35pm   Animal Kahoot   - This is an online quiz which is heaps of fun
5.45pm   Live Mathletics  - Basic Facts quiz online which again is heaps of fun
5.50pm   Ma te Mahi Ka Ora  - The class will sing a Kiwi favourite.  You are welcome to join in

The Matariki evening in the Hall starts at 6.15pm

We all enjoyed the Charity event.  Thank you to everyone who contributed towards these two charities.  Some of the children presented their Garageband piece at Team time

Upcoming focus:-
Art - Completing the crayon printmaking.  In week 7 we will be using dye with our printmaking
Reading - Matariki
Writing - Fictional Animals
Maths - Completing measurement and moving onto multiplication and division
Music - Final Garageband session tomorrow
Drama - We will do Theatre Sports from Week 6
PE - Invasion games.  We will be playing end ball on Tuesday and having a Tug-o-War.  Girls beat the Boys last time so it is time to turn the tables!

Have an enjoyable long weekend.  I hope to see many of you at our Open night on Wednesday.

Regards
Nigel

Room 1 Whanau and Friends Open Night - 8 June

Kia Ora Whanau

The students are very excited about the opportunity to share their learning with you.  They have decided to host you in their classroom from 5.30pm to 6pm on Wednesday 8 June, just prior to the Matariki event.  Milo and biscuits (made by the students) will be served from 5.20pm.

They will have on display the learning they have been involved in and they will also put together a few presentations. The proceedings will culminate with a song and a dance!

All family and friends are welcome.  Please can you diarize this event.  I look forward to catching up with you over a cup of Milo!

Nga mihi
Nigel

Charity Run - Final few days for sponsorship

Kia Ora Whanau

The Ilam School Fundraiser for the SPCA and for Alzheimers Canterbury takes place on Thursday 2 June.  All sponsorship forms are to be in to the office by Tuesday 31 May.

I will sponsor $1 to any student in Room 1 who gets 3 or more other sponsors.



Please could you assist us in delivering the message of 'caring for our community'.

Other reminders:
Winter Sport goes through to the end of August.  Practise is every Tuesday and matches take place every Friday.
No school on the 'Queens Birthday' - Monday 6 June
Matariki Evening 6pm on Wednesday 8 June

Regards
Nigel

Netball Stars

Well done to Nancye and Sylvia on their Player of the Day awards

Week 4 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Update on current happenings:-
Winter Sport - Started on Friday.  Great to get underway.  We have teams playing Football, Netball and Hockey.  Football reminder - all Footballers must have a pair of shin pads to play on a Friday.
Museum - was an awesome visit on Monday.  The highlight being the 'interactive' floor.  When you walked on the floor leaves flew away and bugs scrambled for cover!
Strike Percussion on Tuesday was great.  They introduced us to all sorts of Percussion instruments from the Marumba through to the High hats and everything inbetween.  We are enjoying creating our own music on the garage band app and hopefully we will let loose a couple of our compilations on the next Team time.
Football - we are half way through our Football programme with Mainland Football.  The children absolutely love these sessions.
Maths - we are learning about measurement at the moment.  We have been trying to work out the length of our paces using various methods.
Literacy - we are getting closer to completing our Bee stories.  Some children will be presenting their stories using devices.
Art - we have completed our plates and our next step will be to use crayon to develop our screens.  in two weeks time we will use dye and rollers.
Inquiry -  we are looking at how seeds grow.  The seeds will be coming home in about a fortnights time.

Happening soon:
A big focus next week will be the Fundraiser for Alzheimers and the SPCA.  Please could you encourage your child to get some sponsorship.
Queens Birthday is on 6 June
Matariki evening is on 8 June at 6pm

Have a great weekend
Regards
Nigel

Week 3 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Thank you to the parents who have offered to join us on our trip to the museum on Monday.  Thank you too in getting your consent forms back to me at such short notice.  Much appreciated. The forecast is for rain on Monday so please could you send your child to school on Monday with a raincoat.  Hopefully the bus will park outside the museum but with regular roadworks one is never too sure!

We loved having Dougal, the Worm Man, come into the class today.  We are now a lot wiser about all aspects of tiger worms from their appearance all the way through to their reproduction process!

Our clay bees are complete and the last few should be coming home tomorrow.  We have planted our bean seeds and are growing them under various conditions.  If all goes according to plan those seeds should be going home around Queens Birthday weekend!

Our printmaking has shown good progress.  Most children have made their design and are now completing their plate.  We will finish this process next week and then go onto our first crayon prints. Once we have mastered that we will then progress onto the dye.

We are all very excited about Winter Sport starting tomorrow.  All teams train on Tuesday lunchtimes and then matches take place each Friday afternoon.  It is anticipated that matches will go through to around week 4 in Term 3.

Some awesome bee stories have been written and we have also produced some bee stories on the i-pads.

We are looking forward to the Strike Percussion show on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend.  Wrap up warm
Nga mihi
Nigel

Museum trip - parent help wanted please

Kia Ora Whanau

Thank you for sending your children to school with a jar today.  The seeds have been planted.  We eagerly await the germination process!

A wonderful opportunity has arisen.

We are going to the Museum on Monday (23 May).  We will be leaving school on the bus at 9am. We attend a 'Minibeast' (bugs and insects) presentation from 9.30am - 10.30am.  We will then go into the Botanical gardens for morning tea and have a good look round the gardens.  The bus will collect us at Noon from the gardens and have us back at school at 12.15pm.

If you can help please let me know by e-mail:  nigel.marsh@ilam.school.nz or text me on 021 054 2616.

The Worm Man will be at school on Thursday talking to us about setting up a Worm Farm.  We are currently baby-sitting a Worm Farm.

Regards
Nigel

Pet Day - Wednesday 11 May

Kia Ora Whanau

On Wednesday 11 May we are going to introduce our pets to the class!  The two key conditions for this to happen are:-

1.  You must be happy that your child brings their respective pet or pets to school
2.  You will take the pet home at 9.15am!!!!!

I will place a couple of tarpaulins on the floor.  I look forward to meeting our 'wider' family on Wednesday

Regards
Nigel

Example of a Rich Maths task

Week 1 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Welcome back to Term 2.  I hope everyone is now back in the groove of school lunches and checking in with reading and Mathletics!

Inquiry
Our Inquiry for Term 2 is in it's infancy but we have started by looking at 'Living and Non-Living things'.  We then progressed this onto 'What does Man need to survive'.

Our Literacy and Art programmes are linked to our Inquiry topic of 'The Secret Lives of Living Things'.  With regards to our writing we are writing about 'My pet'.  With the children who don't have a pet I have asked them to focus on a relative or neighbours pet or else write about a trip to the zoo or a wildlife park.  Please could you send your child to school with a picture of them and their 'respective' pet/animal.  If you don't have access to a printer please just e-mail the picture to me and I will print it out at school.

Pet day
For those students who have pets, and you are comfortable the pet comes to school for 10 minutes, we are going to have a Pet 'day' next Wednesday (11 May).  I will bring a couple of tarpaulins from home so nothing unwanted is left on our carpet!  Please could you take the pets home again at 9.10am!

Art
With Art this term we will be doing printmaking.  We started today with crayon rubbings but will be moving onto the real thing.  The theme will be in keeping with our Inquiry topic.

Maths
The students are loving their 'rich' tasks.  Sue Graham, who is an expert Maths practitioner, will be sharing her experise with the class on Friday.

Reading
As part of our Literacy programme I am reading 'The Power of One' to the class.  They are loving the story.

Co-teaching with Room 2
After the successful start last term with PE, Science and Drama Marcus and I have teamed up for Inquiry and Art as well.  We will be asking the children for their feedback on this new 'teaching style' in a couple of weeks but it would be great to get your feedback as well - hopefully there is some discussion about this around the dinner table!

Sport
Our first matches are on 21 May.

Nga mahi
Nigel

Week 11 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

What an amazing first term!  It has literally raced past.

This week we enjoyed writing about 'The Best moment of my life'.  The cross country was a huge highlight.  I was very impressed with the effort everyone put in.  The students who are likely to go onto the Zones are Gracie, Lily, Natasha and Micky.  The final selection is subject to confirmation by both Sport Canterbury and the Ilam School Sports Co-ordinator. Well done to those 4.

We had an awesome cooking session baking ANZAC biscuits.  There was a lot of talk about taking biscuits home but I'm not too sure if that eventuated!  A big thank you to Hillary for organising everyone and being so helpful.

The team has completed their Tree-ty.  It is something they can be very proud of and it has certainly set them up with some positive class 'behaviours' for the year.

The class continues to enjoy their Mathletics.  We won the inaugural 'Class of the Week' Award and we are well on our way to another successful week again this week.  Ngoc was the inaugural winner of the Girls Mathletics award.

We are very sad to say goodbye to Charlotte.  We wish her all the success with her learning in the future.

Have a great holiday folks.  I look forward to seeing the wonderful children of Room 1 again on Monday 2 May.

Nga mihi
Nigel

Skittles Science Experiment on PhotoPeach

ESOL activities. Looks like fun

Week 10 Mathletics Update

Kia Ora Whanau

We are currently sitting in 21st position for Week 10 in Mathletics in the Country and we are the leading class in Canterbury! What an amazing achievement.  Well done Room 1.  Keep up the effort and the learning.

Mr Marsh

Mind maps

We had 3 sessions looking at 'how we learn best'. There was some awesome discussion. There are a few in the class who prefer to learn on their own but the majority like to work with a buddy or in a small group.

The Mindmaps will be coming home and hopefully will form some good discussion around the dinner table!

Week 9 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

I hope you all had a restful Easter break.

We have achieved 4 Top 50 finishes in the Country for Mathletics in a row!  An absolutely amazing achievement.  Thank you for encouraging your child.

We also received the Walk/Wheel trophy for the first time this week.  Thank you for dropping your child off a few 100 metres from school as this will continue to develop the importance of being physically active.

The Cross Country is less than 2 weeks away.  Year 6 Boys will race first at 1.15pm on Wednesday 13 April.  We have had two good training runs and we will run the full course as a practise run next week.

We have enjoyed our mixed ability maths groups on Thursdays.  We will continue that for the rest of the term.  If it continues to work well I may move to 2 days of mixed ability groups per week.

We are investigating how we learn and what is the best way we learn.  There is some really interesting stuff coming from the children.  Good round the dinner table discussion!

Our Inquiry for Term 2 is 'The Secret Lives of Living Things'.  This is going to be heaps of fun and I know there will be lots of learning taking place.

Have a great weekend
Nga mihi
Nigel

Week 8 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Amazing that Easter is upon us!  It feels like just yesterday that we were at Camp!  It has been a very busy week:-

Achievements:
1.  The highlight of the week was Assembly which the class ran extremely professionally.  The MC's were Anu, Natasha and Neha while we also did a short play.  The actors were Conner, Kanye, Sylvia, Hillary, Gracie, Fauzia, Sarah, Lily, Imogen and Charlotte.
2.  We ran the Cross Country Course for the first time.
3.  Most students are getting close to finishing their Pirate Stories
4.  We wrote some awesome limericks

'There was was a truck
Which was loaded with muck
It wanted to tip
But couldn't quite flip
and ended up with hard luck'
Gracie

'There once was a girl called Butterbuys
She was always catching flys
And she loved to eat butter
but she didn't like to flutter
and she cries buy butterflies'
Nancye

5.  Sadly we had our last swim of the season, however it has been a great summer for the pool.
6.  We made some very creative leaves with Mrs Knowles.  These leaves will compliment our painted leaves and will go up on our Tree-ty.
7.  Our music with Mrs Robson was a great experience.  Mrs Robson will definitely be back in Room 1 to provide some more music guidance in term 2.
8.  We achieved a hat-trick of Top 50 places in the Mathletics programme.  I'm very proud of the class for this collective achievement.

Next week:
1.  We will complete our pirate stories
2.  We will begin to lift the intensity of the training towards the School Cross Country.  The official race takes place on Wednesday 13 April.
3.  We will complete our painted leaves and take the pictures of the 'branches'.

Homework:
Please could you keep checking in with your child that they are doing their 40 minutes a week on Mathletics.  Children must also read at least 4 times a week.

Have a relaxing and enjoyable long Easter weekend with your family.  I look forward to seeing all the wonderful children of Room 1 again on Wednesday.

Kia kaha
Nigel

No swimming on Tuesday

Kia Ora Whanau

The students will be doing an e-asttle reading test on Tuesday afternoon next week when we normally have swimming.  We will do some PE during the day but we will not swim.

Our final swimming session for the term will be Thursday 24 March.

Have a great weekend

Regards
Nigel

Week 7 Update

Kia ora Whanau

Happenings in Room 1
1. The maths groups are working well.  We are experimenting with 3 stations each maths lesson this week.  Next week we will have 2 stations each day.  I will then review and see what best suits our children.  Advantage of having 3 means I see all my groups every day.  The advantages of 2 are a) less transition time and b) when with the teacher the children will have more time which will allow more in-depth conversations.
2.  We did some great art today.  I have posted some pictures.  The leaves will form part of our Tree-ty.  The students will be the branches and the trunk of the tree will contain the 2 or 3 things which we as Room 1 will value most highly.
3.  Our pirate stories are really taking shape.  We will publish them next week.
4.  What would St Patricks Day be without a Limerick!  We have learnt about limericks, read a number of them and have had a go at writing some ourselves.
5.  The Swan reading group are rehearsing a play as their reading activity at the moment.
6.  Mathletics continues to be enjoyed.  We are currently in 33rd spot in the Country.  If we can hold onto a Top 50 place for week 7 then we will have achieved a hat-trick!  Mr Marsh is very proud of Room 1.
7.  Our ESOL programme is in full swing.  We are very grateful to the wonderful work our ESOL department do.

What's about to happen
1.  We are very excited about Mrs Robson coming into Room 1 on Monday 21 March.  We will break a little from our normal programme and have some focussed instruction on music.
2.  Next week is our final week for swimming.  After Easter we will do PE on a Tuesday afternoon from 2.15pm.  This will be a mix of skills and modified 'invasion' games.  On Friday afternoons we will get into our winter sport.  It's great to see a number of our children sign up for the Future Ferns programme.
3.  Once we are finished writing about pirates we will write about 'teams'.  This is linked to our Inquiry.
4.  I will post a couple of our limericks

I'm running the City to Surf on Sunday so I won't be taking part in Cross-Country practise on Monday...!

Nga mihi
Nigel

Week 6 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

Recent Highlights:
1.  We finished 42nd in the country in the Mathletics programme for Week 5
2.  We are currently in 20th position for this week
3.  Ngoc Le was our first student to receive a Gold Mathletics certificate
4.  Nicky Coles (Olmypic Ambassador) presented her inspirational story to us.  She spoke about resilience and being committed to achieve your goal.
5.  The Smile Couch was a fun initiative
6.  Kahoot's and Storybird were used in the class for the first time this year.  (Please ask your child to tell you about these online programmes)

Maths Groups
After two lessons this week I made a minor tweak to the Maths Groups.  We are now divided into 5 Maths Groups.  One group goes to Mr Barnes, one group goes to Marilyn Hore and I teach the other 3 groups.  Jo Le Gros is in the class from 9am - 9.25am each morning and she will provide teaching assistance.

Important dates:
1.  Thursday 24 March is our last day of swimming.  Thank you for sending your child to school with their togs each Tuesday and Thursday.
2.  School will be closed on Tuesday 29 March (as well as Good Friday and Easter Monday)

Class Focus
Maths - Place value
Writing - We are writing a pirate story
Reading - Reading groups are reading from the School Journals and are doing related reading activities
Inquiry - 'What makes a good team?'

Have a great weekend

Nga mihi
Nigel Marsh

Room 1 Teacher

Winding up Pudding Hill Camp

The students all wrote a thank you letter to Aaron, the organiser at the Camp, and also to the parents who gave them a lift to the Camp.  As a final summary of Camp the students did a PMI.  They also put forward solutions to the the items that they listed in the minus column.

Week 4 Update

Kia Ora Whanau

What a busy and exciting start to the year!  It has been absolutely non-stop with swimming, triathlon, mihi whakatau and the wonderful Camp.  I'd like to express my gratitude to all of you who made a contribution to the Camp, be it a meal, some transport or a chilli bin!  Thank you so much to those parents who actually slept over at the Camp.

I really welcome your suppport and encouragement of your child's learning.  Things that will be a major help are:-
1.  Asking them about what they are reading and if you can listen to them read that will be of huge benefit.  As part of their homework they must read 4 times a week (at least 15 minutes at one sitting).
2.  Getting them to show you what they are doing with the Mathletics programme.  They must do at least 40 minutes of Mathletics a week for homework.  I would expect most children to get a certificate at least 2 out of every 3 weeks.
3.  Ensureing they have the correct materials/clothing for the day.  eg Swimming togs everyday in February and on Tuesday and Thursdays in March.  Swimming will conclude at Easter.

Extension work
For the children who'd like to extend themselves there are some exciting options:-
1.  Science and Maths Badges
2.  Creative writing course
3.  Australasia assessments.  These are run by the University of New South Wales

The closing date for the Badges and Creative Writing is Friday 26 February.  If you would like your child to take part please see the office urgently to sign up.  There is a fee for each of these extension activities.

Current focus
Maths  -  mapping
Reading  - Reading and discussing stories from the School Journals.
Writing - Camp related and self related (ie origin of our names, our passions and 'the best part of me')

In a couple of weeks
We will start to develop our number knowledge in maths and also start to look at what makes a great team.  By the end of the term we will have developed a plan (charter) as to how Room 1 is going to become a great team this year.

Assistance in Room 1
We have some wonderful assistance in Room 1.  The very experienced Kirsten Aaron comes in from 11am to 12.30pm from Monday to Thursday.  The highly industrious Marilyn Hore is with us for about 15 hours a week.  We are fortunate to have the services of Karin Knowles who will be in Room 1 fortnightly on Wednesdays for the first term (while I find my feet!!!!)

If you have any questions about your child's learning please feel free to pop in either before or after school and if you can't get in please e-mail me on nigel.marsh@ilam.school.nz

I will update the Blog on a weekly basis before Thursday evening.  I will also post some pictures from time to time during the week.

I have loved my first month in Room 1 and am really excited about the year ahead

Regards
Nigel

Room 1 Teacher

As part of our Inquiry 'This is me' we have each done a Digital Mihi.  This is Micky's work.

Below are some more action shots from Camp.

The Room 1 and 3 Pudding Hill Camp Story

We arrived back on Friday afternoon after the most amazing camp at Pudding Hill, extremely tired and ready for an early night, but, with satisfied souls from all of the outdoor adventure we experienced.

Activities we took part in were abseiling, confidence building on low ropes, archery, mountain biking, river crossings, bush walks and a super fun water slide made all slippery with dish washing liquid. We (both us kids and the adults) enjoyed the slide in beautiful warm, sunny weather but also in murky, cold, rainy weather.

We also performed skits at a camp concert, played indoor 'spotlight' and 'sardines', made our own pizzas and roasted marshmallows! We learnt about search and rescue and carried our classmates on stretchers and found hidden safety items. We also played frisby golf. One of the activities lots of us found most fun was building bivouacs in the bush! We created huts from fallen branches and found ferns, bracken and dried grass to cover the walls of our huts. What's more, when we checked our huts the next day after a night of strong gales and heavy rain, they were still standing - pretty impressive!

There was a lot of risk taking on camp with people stepping outside of their comfort zones to try new things they were a bit afraid of. Some people were very unsure about abseiling, the low ropes and even the water slide, but many overcame the little voice of fear in their head and challenged themselves to try and keep trying. Many felt very proud and a real sense of achievement after doing what they had been fearful of.

Author:  Gretchen Cocks

2016 Room 1 and 3 Camp

Lunch after our first day hike

Aditya showing us that he has nerves of steel.  The first one to go over the edge!

The River crossing looked easy but was very tricky.

We had awesome parent support.  Nerida and Tony are giving instruction on Archery.

Jubaer is showing his balancing skills in the 'low ropes' course.

The whole team at the end of a wonderful Camp

Swimming

Kia Ora Parents

Please could you send your child to school with their swimming togs everyday in February.  In March we will swim on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A reminder that all children with medicines to see me at 8.30am on Wednesday.  Please have your child's medicines labelled in a plastic bag.  The rest of the children to arrive soon after 8.30am.

The 4 kind parents who will be driving us out please could you have your cars on the basketball court at 8am on Wednesday.

Looking forward to a great Camp.

Regards
Nigel

Camp update

Kia ora Folks

Reminder to bring the camp gear tomorrow (Monday) to be checked.

Please could you send your child to school with their togs everyday in February.

Insect repellant and sunscreen will be two very very important items to go into your child's pack on Wednesday.

Looking forward to a great camp.  Any queries please e-mail me or pop in and see me.

Regards
Nigel

e-mail:  nigel.marsh@ilam.school.nz

Camp and Learning Conference

Kia Ora parents

Thank you very much for the Camp notices I have received. If you have not had a chance to get yours through please could you send it through to me as soon as possible.

Thanks

Nigel Marsh

Introducing new Teacher

Kia Ora Whanau/Greetings Parents and Caregivers

My name is Nigel Marsh and I am the new Teacher in Room 1.  I'm really looking forward to meeting you and the students.

Regards
Nigel