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