Kia Ora Parents and
Caregivers,
Welcome to Room 1. I look
forward to teaching your wonderful children this year and can not wait to watch
them grow and succeed as individuals. In this notice I will outline some of my
expectations and a few reminders to make 2014 a smooth year. My door is always
open and I am more than happy to discuss any matter with you.
Roll-
The roll will be taken
everyday. If your child is sick call the office to let them know. If you are
late to school pop into the office to let Mrs. Strange know you are here.
Blog-
The majority of this
information is found on our classroom blog. The address is www.room1stj2014.blogspot.com
I update it regularly. Feel free to leave comments-the children love reading
what others have to say. You can comment by leaving your name or by logging in
with a Google Account.
Reading Recovery –
This year I have been
given the great opportunity to train as a Reading Recovery Teacher. This will
mean I am out of the classroom for 2 hours every day and will have other hours
out of the classroom while I am at the Reading Recovery courses. Louise Hobbs
will be teaching the children at this time. She will be teaching the children
reading for the year and she has been working closely with me to ensure that
the children’s best learning interests are at heart. Louise is a fabulous
teacher and we are very lucky to have her in the classroom for the year.
Homework-
Some nights your child will
bring home a worksheet in their Early Words book. These are the high frequency
words that make up the majority of words in a book. Your child would have read
the worksheet with Louise or myself in class and practiced learning the word
before they take it home. For homework they are to read the worksheets,
sometimes there is a book that goes with the learnt word for the day, encourage
your child to read this book and find the word they have been learning. Please
remember to go back over the previously learnt words.
Other nights
your child will bring home a book that they read at group reading time. Your
child can read the book to you or other members of the family (brothers,
sisters, aunties, uncles etc.) once your child has read the book you are to
record the date, the name of the book and write a lovely encouraging
comment to your little one about how they read into their reading notebook
(e.g. I love how hard you tried to sound out tricky words, I enjoy listening to
your reading, you really are a clever reader etc.) Louise or myself will then
read the lovely comment back to the child at reading time the next
day.
Please remember
to return all books and the notebook into the reading folder and make
sure it is sent back to school every day for a new book!
On Fridays your
child will bring home their poetry book; this is a collection of all the
wonderful poems they have learnt throughout the year. Each week they add a new
poem.
Your child will
also bring home their phonics homework. They are to read the letter and
share the sound with you; you might also like to read the words to your child.
They can practise writing the letter also. If they have time they can
colour in their picture. Remember to go back and look at other ones they have
learnt. Phonics is important when learning to read and write. The more
time you spend on revising phonics learnt the easier your child will find
reading and writing. They might get the same letter more than once, this is a
good chance to recap and practise some more.
These two
homework activities are meant to be stress free and won't take a lot of your
time.
If you have any
questions or problems, please don't hesitate to make contact.
Prayers-
Prayer time is a very important
time of our day in Room 1. It is expected that all students participate and
show respect at all times. Parents and caregivers are welcome to join us on
their child’s first day at school and on Friday mornings. Every other day we
will enjoy prayers without visitors and as a classroom. Please remember if you
have younger children that they must also remain respectful throughout this
time.
Playtime and Lunchtime-
At playtime the children
are encouraged to go to the toilet and wash their hands, pick something small
to have for morning tea. All children wear school hats for the first and last
term.
At lunchtime the children
all sit together for at least 15 minutes. A duty teacher will check that they
have eaten enough healthy food before they can go off and play.
Assembly-
Assembly is every 2 weeks.
You are welcome to join us. If your child is receiving a Principal’s Award you
will get a phone call home from Mrs. Strange. It is nice to keep it a surprise
for the children. I will include the day and time in our classroom newsletter.
Classroom Newsletter-
This will be sent out
every Monday to every child in the classroom. It will talk about what is
happening in our classroom and outline any upcoming events.
School Newsletter-
The school newsletter
comes out every second Thursday. Please let the school office know your home
email address as our school newsletters are sent out via email. If you don’t
have access to a computer let Mrs. Strange know and she will send home a hard
copy.
Naming of equipment and clothing-
It is important to make
sure all your child’s clothing and school equipment is named clearly. If
possible it is also a good idea to name school shoes. It is very important that
you child has named clothing during swim week and athletics day. Remember if
your wee one is bringing something to school to show during class time it will
also need to be named. If an item goes missing and it is unnamed it is
generally very hard to find.
Parent Help-
Like any school we rely on
the help of parents for days and events to run smoothly. In past years it has
been extremely hard to find parent helpers. Without parent helpers events and
fun days will cease to happen. It would be encouraging if each family could
have one parent helper for at least one event during the year.
Friday Visits-
Visits are made by new
children on a Friday. The “older” kids are great helpers who so nicely settle
in the new children.
8.55 Start-
We start each day at 8.55;
it is good idea to be at school before the bell rings as this gives the
children time to get organised for the day and to catch up with their friends.
Encourage your children to bring their own school bag into school, hang it up
and bring their reading folder into their desk, put their chair down etc.
3.00 pick up-
We finish at 3.00; I
encourage your child to be as independent as possible. They can get their own
bag, fill up their bag and put on their own clothes etc.
Contacting-
My classroom door is
always open, please feel free to come and see me if a matter arises. I can
easily make an appointment with you where we will be free of distractions if
needed. I however do not use my personal cell phone as a means of communicating
or my home line, unless in an emergency.
I am looking forward to
this year, I enjoy watching young ones grow and mature as the year progresses.
It will be a full on year, as they always are, but no doubt it will fly by! I
look forward to meeting each and every one of you and working together to
ensure your child can develop into the best that they can be.
Take care,
Cathy Langley
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