Week 9 Term 4

 Week 9 Term 4

This is our last few days together in Kakano 1-3. We have lots going on this

week. It has been a sheer pleasure teaching your little cherubs this year and we will all be sad on Thursday when they leave us. We will be keeping an eye on

them next year to see how they are getting on!

Duathlon

Tomorrow we have our Duathlon. Due to Covid restrictions, we will not be

allowing any spectators at the event. We will try to take some photos and put a post on Educa.

Your child will need their togs and towel. They will be running around the astroturf

and field. They may want to wear their sneakers too. They can wear their House

colours or their P.E. kit for the event.

Meet the Teacher

Tomorrow your child will have the opportunity to meet their new teacher. This is an awesome and exciting opportunity to see their learning space for next year. 

Prizegiving

Prize giving is on Tuesday at 11:15 a.m. Those children who will be receiving a prize

have been notified in their reports. Due to Covid restrictions we will not be allowing any spectators at the event. We will try and take photos from the event.

Thursday 12pm finish

Our last day of term is on Thursday. We finish early at 12p.m. Please can you pick up

your child by this time. If you require child care you can ring Maryanne Roling from Glenholme Afterschool Care. Mary Anne’ s contact number is :

347 0709 or 0211 215599

Swimming

Kakano 3 are back in the swimming pool this week at 8:45 a.m. Kakano 1 & 2 are

welcome to join them. As it's the first slot your child can come in at 8:30 a.m. with the

older kids. Remember to bring your swimming gear every day. 

Readers and Resources

There are still a few books that need to be handed in. Please, check at home for any

readers, library books or school resources and return these asap. Your Sunshine books

online logins are still active for anyone wanting to use this instead. https://www.sunshineclassics.com.au/ 

Thanks for your understanding and support.

Magazine

We still have copies of the school magazine available. Only 100 magazines have been

printed. It will be a great memento of 2021. Orders are taken now with the cost for the magazine being $10.00.

Save Our Babies Annual Christmas School Bag Kaupapa

 Kahira Olley, the founder of Save Our Babies Charitable Trust, runs an annual Christmas school bag kaupapa. This means that children get a school bag full of gifts.

If any of the St Mary’s community would like to support this she is hoping for some

school bags for 12-16 year olds.

You are welcome to donate a bag full or just a bag or just something to go in the bag.

Some ideas are - a dress (to wear Christmas Day)

- a pair of shorts and a t.shirt

- a pack of underwear

- toiletries and nice smellies

- game

- chocolates/lollies/goodies

- Lastly, don’t forget the school bag.

If you would like to see some of the other wonderful work that Kahira does please look

at her facebook page.

Any questions please phone Rachel Schuster on -027 446 1351

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE ITEM/ITEMS PLEASE LEAVE

THEM IN THE SCHOOL RECEPTION.

This week

Monday 

- 11:30 a.m. Duathlon

- Meet the teacher 2 p.m.

Tuesday

• Prizegiving 11:15 a.m.

Wednesday

Thursday

• Early finish 12 p.m.

Week 8 Term 4

 Week 8 Term 4

Our last full week for 2021. Wow! That went fast. Kakano 1 and 2 have swimming

this week BUT there are Big Day In events all week so it’ll be a bit topsy turvy. Bring

your togs everyday - just in case. 

Readers and Resources

Our resource room is in desperate need of an overhaul. To allow our incredible support

team to get this done we are trying to collect and shelve all of our readers and we will

not be sending books home. Please, check at home for any readers, library books or school resources and return these asap. Your Sunshine books online logins are still active for

anyone wanting to use this instead. https://www.sunshineclassics.com.au/ 

Thanks for your understanding and support.

Hour of Code

St Marys is participating in the Hour of Code this week. Computers are everywhere!

We use them for work, to take photos, to keep in touch with our families and even to

do the grocery shopping. Computational thinking helps nurture problem-solving skills,

logic, and creativity. Anyone can learn  the basics of coding and you don’t even need technology. https://www.csunplugged.org/en/ 

Big Day In

On Thursday, the Year 2 CREW will have a whole day of fun to celebrate a fabulous

year of work and play. Children can come to school in mufti but, please make sure that

they are dressed for a day in the sun - t-shirt with shoulders covered, sunhat… They will also need their togs and towel. 

End of Year Mass

Due to Covid restrictions, our end of year celebrations are happening in-house. Our

end

of Year mass will be attended by our Totara Team (year 5/6) and, we hope, will be

shared online. Next week's prize giving has also had to be made Red light friendly -

stand by for more information about this, later.

Food Bank

The Young Vinnies are collecting food for the food bank. Thank you to the whanau who

have already contributed. We welcome any donations of non-perishable food.

This week

Monday 

- Kahikatea Big Day In

Tuesday

• Year 0-1 Big Day In

Wednesday

• Year 6 Big Day in

Thursday

• Our Big day In

Friday

• End of Year Mass

Next Week

Monday 

- Duathlon (no bikes needed this year). 

- Meet the New Classes (Don’t panic - we’ve got your backs)

Tuesday

• Prizegiving (sorry, no parents but we’ll find a way to share)

Wednesday

• Scrub down and pack up (This should be a fun day)

Thursday

• Missioning of the Year 6s 

• End of school

Advent Liturgy

 Today Kakano 1, 2 and 3 celebrated Advent with a liturgy.

We learned some interesting things about Advent and the Advent Wreath. 

- Advent is the time before Christmas. It begins four Sundays before Christmas day.

- Advent means 'coming' in Latin. we prepare for the coming of Jesus.

- The Advent wreath is a circle - there is no beginning or end to God's love in the world.

- The first candle is purple. It is called the Prophecy Candle. It is for hope. Jesus is our hope.

- The second candle is purple. It is called the Bethlehem Candle. It is for peace. Jesus reaches out and brings peace to the world.

- The third candle is pink. It is called the Shepherds Candle. It is for joy. We think about the joy in the world with Jesus birth. 

- The fourth candle is the final purple candle. It is called the angel candle. It reminds us of the angels words "Peace on Earth and goodwill to Men"

- The white candle goes in the middle of the wreath. It is lit on Christmas Eve. It is called the Christ Candle and it is for the life of Jesus.

 

 

Thank you, James, Vincent and Dominic for your photography work. 

 

Advent wreath

 Today we went over to the church this morning to see the beautiful Advent wreaths that Fr Thomas and his parishioners have set up. As K1-3 is on Advent Liturgy this week I thought it was a great idea to show the children what they look like and to explain about each one.

Ask your children if they can tell you any information about what we looked at and learned about while we were there. We said a few quiet prayers at the end to say hello to God.

Week 7 Term 4

 Week 7 Term 4

We have some very tired little workmates, at the moment. The changes in

weather, the heat, the excitement of the coming holidays and a few niggly

worries about moving to Year 3 are playing havoc on our emotions. We are working really hard with our Zones of Regulation but some days it’s really hard

to stay in the green zone. We’ll probably need a little extra TLC and a few early nights over the next few weeks. Please, make sure your child has a water bottle

at school - it really helps.

Magazine

We are publishing a school magazine again this year, and this will be available during the last week of this term. At this stage there are only to be 100

magazines printed. It will be a great memento of 2021. Orders are taken now

with the cost for the magazine being $10.00.

Library

The library is now closed for stocktaking. Once the stocktake is completed,

any outstanding books will be issued with an invoice to replace the book. We

have just been issued with a list of outstanding books - we’ll be in touch if there

are any books for you to keep an eye out for.

Swimming

Kakano 3 are swimming this week. K3 are swimming bright and early so feel

free to come in the gates with the big kids at 8:30am.  

Liturgy

Kakano 1, 2,3 are organising the Advent Liturgy, this week.  Unfortunately, we

still can’t have an audience but we will share this with you all on Educa.

This week:

Literacy: We will be focusing on using simple and complex sentences, and different sentence starters in our writing. In our reading we will be focusing on noticing where the beginning and end of sentences are, and reading completely

to the end of each sentence so that we understand what we are reading.

Numeracy: We will be focusing on division. We will explore how we can share equally to solve division problems.

Religious Education:  The bible is a holy book that helps us get to know God.

It also tells the story of Jesus' life.

Play: We have a Technology focus for the next 2 weeks. There are all sorts of exciting things planned.

Coming Up:

The organisation for some of these events may change due to covid restrictions

2 Dec:  Advent Liturgy

7 Dec: Celebration of Learning Day

10 Dec: End of Year Mass

13 Dec: St Mary’s Tryathlon

14 Dec: Prizegiving

16 Dec: Missioning of Year 6 / School closes at 12midday for the year

Week 6 Term 4

 Week 6  Term 4

It has been great to see our children happily playing in the sun with their

hats on. The days are certainly getting hotter and many water bottles are

being refilled from classroom taps. Lots of water helps keep us hydrated so

that we can learn and play to our full potential.

Library Books

There is no more issuing of books for the rest of this school year. This week classes will visit the library as normal, and will be returning books only. Please have a good hunt around the house for any library books from school. From

week 7, the library will be closed for stocktake. Once the stocktake is completed, any outstanding books will be issued with an invoice to replace the book.

Swimming

Kakano 1&2 are back in the swimming pool this week. Remember to bring

your swimming gear every day. 

Assembly

Kakano 1&3 are on assembly this week. Unfortunately due to our level 2 restrictions, we are unable to invite parents and family to join us. We will endeavour to get a link sent out so that you can join us virtually - and so the

kids can see themselves performing.

This week:

Literacy: We will be focusing on using simple and complex sentences,

and different sentence starters in our writing. In our reading we will be focusing

on noticing where the beginning and end of sentences are, and reading

completely to the end of each sentence so that we understand what we are reading.

Numeracy: We will be focusing on skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to solve number problems. You can help me at home by skip counting with me. See if

you can get all the way to 50 in 2s, 100 in 5s and 500 in 10s.

Religious Education: We are looking at how God is fair and just to everyone,

and wants us to live like that too.

Mon: 

Tues: Kakano 2 Library

Wed:  Kakano 1 Library

Thu:   Kakano 3 Library  

Fri: 

Coming Up:

The organisation for some of these events may change due to covid restrictions

2 Dec:  Advent Liturgy

7 Dec: Celebration of Learning Day

10 Dec: End of Year Mass

13 Dec: St Mary’s Tryathlon

14 Dec: Prizegiving

16 Dec: Missioning of Year 6 / School closes at 12midday for the year

Drum, Drum, Drum

 This week we caused a bit of a stir in the school. We made way too much noise for the 

Senior classes and were asked to keep quiet. I think you know me well enough by now

whanau-I am most certainly not quiet and don't believe the children should be either.

We got some buckets and drum sticks and were learning to play a host of rhythms on them.

It was such fun.