Term 3, Week 7
Principal's Message
On Friday morning, I taught both Room 1 and Room 2 for the first session. It took me back to me first year of teaching where I had a class of 36, four year olds. As a beginning teacher it was all I knew, class sizes were large and I just got on with it. The children learnt to read and write but it was really hard going. I asked our children to imagine what it would be like if that was our class every day and to think about how they would feel. By the time we had added in another table or two, another trolley of desks and thought about the amount of noise plus how little time they would get with the teacher, they were all grateful for the norm to be returning. We have had some new friends join us this week and everyone could see the happiness that brings but we were all still glad to be part of our little family where everyone is known and has the attention they need.
Lisa Small,
Principal
Te Reo Māori Words of the Week
tau waea (n) phone number Kei a koe te tau waea a Hana? Do you have Hana's phone number?
tīmata (v) to start, begin Toru, rua, tahi, tīmata! One, two, three, start!
toa (v) to win Ki te toa koe, māku te haute. If you win, it's my shout.
tuhi (v) to write E tuhi ana ahau i tētahi rārangi hoko kai. I'm writing a grocery list.
Faith News
Wednesday Mass
Please come and join room 4, along with members of our parish to celebrate Mass in room3 at 9am this Wednesday 30 August.
Parish Newsletter
This week’s Parish newsletter is available here
School Admin
Lost Balls
A reminder that our neighbour will return any lost balls on a Friday. Please do not enter the property without permission, particularly now that they have a dog, or knock on their door during the day as one of the ladies works nights.
Absences
If your child is sick or unable to attend school for all or part of the day, please either send a notification via the school app (skool loop), email the school office on office@stbernards.school.nz or phone 3899377 by 9.00 a.m. so that your child's absence can be accounted for.
Children who are late need to report to the office in case they have been marked absent by the teacher who takes the roll first thing in the morning.
If an absence is planned for a special reason, a note or telephone call to the school in advance is appreciated. In cases of prolonged absence, e.g. a family trip, a written note is required.
Brooklyn Library Visits
This term we will resume our termly visits to Brooklyn Library. If your child wishes to borrow a book during the visit they need to bring their personal library card with them. We will return books on the next visit if they are brought back in time. Books not brought on the day of the visit will need to be returned by yourselves. If you would like to leave your child's card in the classroom between visits then teachers will find a safe place to keep them.
Room 1: 05 September
Room 2: 12 September
Room 4: 29 August
Room 1 Learning
For writing in Room 1 last week ( and continuing this week) we are using our imaginations to write creatively. We are making up our own story and trying to use adjectives ( describing words) to 'paint a picture" in the reader's mind. We have written our description of the setting and this week we will be thinking about our characters, the problem in our story and how it gets solved for a " Happily Ever After " ending.
We have been planning our story in a creative way, and incorporating maths into this as well! We drew our setting on a cone net, and then folded it to make the 3D shape.
For maths this week we are learning about fractions, and will be looking in our lunchboxes to see if we can find halves, quarters, thirds, and whole items!
It was International Dog day on Saturday, so Room 1 is going a little bit to the dogs today!! We have many toy dogs in class and have been reading lots of dog stories to them.
Room 2 Learning
In Mātauranga Whakapono/Religious Education we have started learning about 'The Church' Strand. To kickstart this strand I posed the question, "What or who is The Church?". These are the students' replies:
A place where people gather to celebrate (BO) The church is a place where you can reflect. (CB)
“The Church” is a song. (JH) The church is where you learn about the bible. (DA)
The church is a place where you read the bible. (TK) The church is God’s house. (JA)
The church is a holy place where you can meet Jesus in presence. (LE) The church is where we have Mass.. (EE)
The church is a place where you can learn more about Jesus. (IE) The church is where you pray (DL)
The church is where you light the candle to show Jesus’ presence. (AG) Part of our Parish community (IE)
A place where you gather together to praise the Lord and sing (QM) Church is where you worship God. (AF)
The church is where Jesus is present. (ED) The church is where people learn about God. (KF)
At this point, I pointed out that we don’t have a church building but we have all of the above. So I asked again, “Who or what is The Church?”
God (TK) Me (DL) Jesus (CB) Us (JA) Mary (IE) Joseph (IE) Holy Spirit (JH) Everyone (KF) The Saints (EE) The priest (AG) Christians (MO) Catholics (DA) Anglicans (CB)
We are the Church.
The students will learn more about how to be 'The Church' over the coming weeks.
On Monday we celebrated the feast day of St Bernard. In Room 2 the students learnt The Memorare, the prayer written by St Bernard, in honour of Mary, the Blessed Mother of Jesus. As St Bernard is the patron saint of beekeepers the students made a hexagonal prism, decorated it with pictures of Mary and glued in the Hail Mary and The Memorare.
Room 4 Learning
This week, Room 4 built their windmill blade designs and tested them on Thursday afternoon. They had to decide on the blades' shape, length and design features and build the windmill structure. After the windmills were completed it was time for each group to test their designs. The windmill blade's effectiveness was put to the test using wind from a fan a few centimetres away. It was great to see the blades turning and then see how much windpower they created. The electric circuit board connected to the windmills tested how many lights lit up depending on the amount of electricity generated by the windmill blades. The next step is to test their second blade design and then make modifications to try and make all the lights on the circuit board work!
It was St Bernard's Feast Day on Monday. Room 4 researched and found out about the life of St Bernard. They learnt about his devotion to Mary and the special prayer he wrote for her - The Memorare. They used links from a research document to sketch and colour drawings of Mary. Below are Clara and Riley's drawings. We also rewrote some lines of the Memorare so it could be understood more easily. Here is what Room 4 came up with:
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
That never was it known that
Anyone who asked for protection,
To be cared for, shown aroha,
To speak and pray to God on our behalf
was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I come to you, O Virgin of Virgins,
My Mother, to you do I come,
To ask forgiveness for our sins;
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
Hear my prayer and in Your mercy
Guide and answer me.
Amen
Birthday Wishes
Birthday wishes to Danny, Marco and Hawaiki who all turn 8 this week! Danny on Tuesday, Marco on Wednesday and Hawaiki on Friday. We hope you all have wonderful, fun filled birthdays.
Community Notices
This Father’s Day is Sunday 3 September and DADS ARE FREE at Ngā Manu!
Bring your family to Ngā Manu this Father’s Day and Dad’s get in for free (adult admission normally $15). Quote DADISFREE at the counter.
Please visit https://ngamanu.org.nz/education-visits/ for more information.
We look forward to seeing you all at Ngā Manu soon.