Learning about prepositions

Alana is practising the prepositions "in" and "on" by playing a matching game.

She is getting really good at them!

Recount Writing

Primary students are learning to write recounts.  Recounts are written in the past tense about an event that has already happened.  Children are learning to sequence ideas and link these ideas with time words, such as "next", "then", "after that" and so on.

Here are some children from Room E writing a recount about a boy eating a banana.

Swimming Sports

Our Year 4-10 students recently participated in our school swimming sports at Halswell Pool.  Students raced in competitive and fun events,  Many parents were involved as spectators and helpers.
Winners from these swimming races go on to compete in local events against other schools.

Garden Club

On a very hot Tuesday lunchtime, over 20 students met to weed and harvest in our school garden. 

We had lots of fun!

Learning classroom nouns

We have welcomed Haruki to the ESOL programme this year.  Here is a picture of him playing a matching game to help him to remember classroom words.

Saying of the week

Thanks to those of you who posted on last week's Idiom of the week.
"Over the hill" generally means that a person is too old to do some things anymore due to their age.

This week's saying is "What's good for the goose is good for the gander".
What does this mean?  Please post your ideas . . .

Rice Cube

Further to the earlier post about the Hangi night, here is some more information about Rice Cube.  This ministry is a community for international people and kiwis who love connecting with people from other cultures.  Check out this link for more information about this local initiative: http://www.swbc.org.nz/ministry/multicultural/rice_cube

Hangi and meet the teacher

Thanks to an amazing group of parent volunteers, we had a first hangi as a school community last night.  The food was delicious and a great opportunity for many of us to try something new. 

This was followed by a welcome from Mr Richardson and the Parent Association AGM. 

After this parents could meet the child's class teacher and hear about programmes of learning for 2014.

Idiom of the week

Following discussion at the Meet the Teacher hangi last night it was suggested that I could post an idiom of the week for parents to ponder and discuss.
So, here is our first one (as suggested by Aeny!)
What does "over the hill "mean?
Post your ideas as a comment in the comment box.
Enjoy!

Hangi and Maori Cultural Night

See below the details of this event.

Notes from parents' meeting

Six parents met today in our lovely sunny staffroom.  We introduced ourselves, discussed ideas for future meetings and shared tea and baking.

Here are the dates and topics for meetings this term.

Tuesday 25 February - no meeting as Parent Teacher Interviews
Tuesday 11 March - Learning model (trees) discussion with Mr Richardson
Tuesday 25 March - Helping with homework.  Please be prepared to offer your ideas of how your family manages homework.
Tuesday 8 April - Social event to be arranged.

Powhiri

Last week we welcomed new students and teachers to our school family with a powhiri.  Follow this link to learn more about a powhiri http://www.korero.maori.nz/forlearners/protocols/powhiri.html

Karanga

Mr Richardson welcomes the manuhiri

Waiata

Mr Ferguson responds

Hongi - now we are joined

Hakari - food is shared

International Parents Meeting

Our first International Parents meeting for 2014 will be held on Tuesday 11th February at 2.30pm in the staffroom.  This will be an informal meeting to welcome new parents and plan for future meetings.  Tea, coffee and some baking will be provided.  Preschoolers are welcome.