Class+News+For+Parents

Dear Parents,

the term has begun with an all-hands-to-the-pumps frenzy of preparation for the Senior School production. Our class story to tell, is of the trials and tribulations of Maui who yearns to find his lost mother, after he was cast into the sea by her when she thought he was stillborn. Depressing? Not in the least! It is a story of triumph over adversity - and it does involve that naughty trickster, Maui. We see Maui learn some of his trademark trickery in our dance.

Auditions were held for the key roles. Using success criteria for the parts, students voted for the person they felt could best portray the action.

In the first week, we maintained our regular numeracy and literacy programmes, but from from weeks 2 - 4, maths will be the only curriculum area covered every day, as it is very easy for new understandings in this subject to slip if not carefully monitored and maintained. Homework will continue as normal, though there may be no spelling homework while the children are not writing as much due to the demands of our rehearsal schedule.

Week 6

Dear Parents,

after the runaway success of our production, we are all a little weary and worse for wear in health department! Teachers and children have fallen victim to a particularly nasty flu virus that is doing the rounds.

Many thanks to you all for supporting your child by getting them to performances on time, helping with make-up and crowd control, and of course costuming. I would like to pay special tribute to Marilze Charles, Samuel's mum, for creating the magnificent costumes that made such a fabulous impact on our piece.

New homework tasks have been set this week. Now that production is done and dusted, and that the children are rested, it is crucial that they make an effort to complete at least ONE homework task per week in preparation for the demands of intermediate school. While our school policy dictates that we cannot punish a child for non-completion of homework, we do our best to insist that it is done regularly. I try to set a variety of tasks which support our learning programmes - there should always be a little something of interest to everyone (outside of the usual basic facts/reading/spelling tasks!). Students thoroughly enjoy our homework sharing sessions, and those presenting outstanding homework are sent to Mr Pearce or Mr Jackson for acknowledgement of their effort.

Last week, Mr Whitford, DP at Glen Eden Intermediate, visited the senior school with some ex-Titirangi students. The purpose of this visit was to assist our students with the transition to intermediate school, by hosting a Q & A session covering burning issues for our anxious Y6s. One of the hottest topics was indeed homework. Our students got the message loud and clear that there was lashings of homework, and that failure to complete it resulted in detention - a thought that struck fear into the hearts of some!

There will be another visit to GEIS in term 4. On this visit, the students continue their orientation to their new surroundings, while teachers share information with Mr Whitford about each child re class placement - including suggestions for the two accelerated learning classes. Please watch for notices about sitting the selection test for these classes. However, it is important to remember that you should only put your child through this testing process if they are already achieving above national standards in reading and maths.

Finally, our P.E focus for this term is gymnastics, culminating in a trip to a local gym. The notice about this was sent home today, please complete the permission slip, and indicate if you are able to assist us on the day.

As always, if you have any concerns about your child, please let me know at your earliest convenience so that we can meet to address the presenting issue.