Please book a time if you have not done so already - Thank you

Kia ora and welcome to week 9!

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend and enjoyed the extra days off with your family. 

I have updated our team blog so there is a lot of important information on there but just wanted to remind our children that they have tech tomorrow. I have already had some on to it people email me to confirm they were all ready for their new tech class which begins first block tomorrow. It is imperative that cookers and woodworkers have covered shoes and their hair tied up if it is long. Although there are some spare shoes in the cooking room I do not want the students being reliant on those - Great self managers have all of their equipment that they need organised. The children also have tech on Thursday during the last block.

I have just emailed a learning conference booking sheet for Tuesday and Wednesday of week 11. Please complete this booking as soon as possible so you get the best time for you. It is my goal to see all whanau so we can celebrate your child's progress to date. Look forward to seeing you all soon. Please also pencil in Friday the 15th at 11am as we will be having a Turanganui shared lunch and showcase day to share some of our term one learning and performances. More info will be shared in our team blog in the near future. 

Last week we started some poems entitled 'If I were the...'. The students chose a natural phenomena for this piece of writing and they used this very special poem above by the late Kyle Maynard for inspiration. Kyle was a popular and awesome young man who attended Gisint in 2007 and 2008 and sadly he passed away unexpectedly whilst in year 8. Earlier that year Kyle created this piece of writing which is now proudly displayed in our Turanganui area next to room 19. One of the major end of year awards for leadership is the 'Kyle Maynard' award which is pictured below in our trophy cabinet. This very special taonga was carved by Kyle's uncle Hiwirori Maynard to remember Kyle and to acknowledge a student or students who demonstrate exceptional leadership. Here are some examples of our poems below and a picture of the Kyle Maynard Award (Black Taonga).

Kapa Haka and Kapa Haka Extension are on again this Friday and the students are outstanding. All of Turanganui have been attending this term so we can support the rest of the school and it is our highlight on Friday. The students will get to decide if they wish to carry on with extension at the end of this term but they need to remember that a full year commitment to this will enable them to receive a leadership badge in this area. If your child has their own poi at home could they please bring these in every Friday.

Homework

I would strongly encourage all of our class to be completing the following tasks regularly for homework. We monitor our times tables in class and I am already seeing a lot of progress from those students who are investing time into their learning. A strong foundation in basic facts makes Maths so much easier for our children so please encourage your children with this. There are grid sheets in class that the students can take home and they can also use their Mathletics accounts if they have the internet at home. If you do not have internet access then al students have access in their break times and before school. Besides Maths I would also encourage the students to.....

1: Read - either their library books or the newspaper, magazines, online sites like the NZ or Gisborne Heralds, our team and class blogs, research for their influential person project or other books.

2: Current Events - Check out the newspapers or news to keep up with the goings on in the world and in NZ. We will discuss these in class regularly.

3: Influential person project. Due at the end of next week. Research and prepare your finished products to present to the class at the beginning of week 11.

4: Maths - Mathletics Workshops and Times tables. Complete unfinished tasks - ask for extra.

5: Unfinished Class or Tech work - keep on top of things by taking unfinished class tasks at home. Developing great habits for high school and beyond. 

Lost Property and Uniform.

There are still children coming to school with unnamed items. Please ensure everything is named and that your child brings their PE gear to school everyday. PE ger is totally black shorts and the school shirts. A reminder that girls socks must be Navy Blue and that shoes need to be totally black. There is a lost property bin in our cloak bay that our syndicate leaders fill everyday. Please encourage your child to check this if they are missing anything. 

If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to email.

Have a wonderful week.

Ana

Welcome to week 7

Hi everyone,

The weeks are flying past and I am loving every moment with my awesome 22'ers. Last weeks visit to the Mindlab was really enjoyable and myself and our class thank all of our parents as well as Matua Quentin for transporting us there and back. We have decided to postpone our impending Marine Reserve trip until term 4 so that we can have warmer weather and so that we do not have to ask for further transportation this term. 

This week the children will be receiving their first project of the year which is going to be on an influential person of their choice and whanau taonga. All students will be given a success criteria sheet and we will be covering the different skills needed to complete these inquiry projects during class time. I will give the students at least one research project a term as these skills are very important in preparation for high school. I would encourage you all to take an interest in what your child is doing and support them with finding information if you are able. The influential person could be someone in their whanau, a coach, an idol, someone famous or someone who has had a huge influence on history both in NZ and abroad. These projects will be due in week 11 and we will have a whanau day where you can come in and celebrate your childs learning for term 1 - this will coincide with our week 11 learning conferences. Your child should also be focused on reading each night, completing set and self selected mathletics workshops (Ideally around statistics and Number at this stage) and taking an interest in current events. We still have a few assessments to complete but are definitely settling into normal work routines. We also have tech twice this week so the children will need to ensure they have all of their gear this Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Congratulations to Amorangi Standish and Lena Baty-Akurangi who received our class awards at assembly on Friday. Both Lena and Amorangi are making the most of the opportunities at Gisint, are focused on their work and are helpful and kind to their peers. 

We also congratulate Tamati Ingram and Kia Manuel who are our first students to be inducted into our syndicate leadership group. Both Tamati and Kia are excellent role models who practice our school and syndicate values. They are excellent role models for their peers. There are a number of other students in our room who are actively working hard toward being a member of this leadership group. 

I am really impressed with the amount of students in our room who are trialling for various teams across the school. Many of the teams are named this week so fingers crossed we have some favourable results. Whatever the outcome I am proud of every 22'er who gave it a go. 

Congratulations to Sonny who is our first leadership badge recipient for 2016. Sonny received his badge on Friday for being our first student of the week recipient. Who will be next?

A number of our class indicated that they were keen to sign up for the have a go at sailing lessons next week - if your child is keen they must have these notices and money back tomorrow. 

If you have any queries please email me.

Have a wonderful week

Ana