Term 3 Week 2
Principal's Message
Teacher Only Day Learning
At the teacher only day on the last day of Term 2, we gathered with staff from our 13 Kāhui Ako schools. Our keynote speaker was Jolene Stockman who is Māori, an author, a TEDX speaker and autistic. Her talk was really thought-provoking. Here are some key things I thought I would share with you:
*70% of the population are neurodiverse - autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, tourettes, anxiety, giftedness and many more. That would equate to 35 children at St Bernard’s.
*a neurodivergent brain works differently, it has different software than a neurotypical brain, a bit like running on Microsoft when everyone else is Apple.
* a diagnosis of one of the conditions above should be seen as a diagnosis- not a prediction of what that person will be able to accomplish – everyone is different, for example, one autistic person will be very different from another.
*choosing affirming language can save lives – the language we use when talking to and about neurodiverse people can affect what is possible for them and affect their mental well-being.
Māori have interesting terms that describe neurodiverse people in a better way. Autistic people are called takiwātanga which means ‘in their own time and space’. People with ADHD are called aroreretini which means ‘gives attention to many things’. When we think of these definitions it has a more positive tilt and can help to change the way we can understand others.
Jolene shared this quote, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This is something we hope we model to the children at St Bernard’s.
If you would like to listen to Jolene, she has lots of TEDX talks that you can Google.
Lisa Small
Principal
Faith News
Wednesday Mass
Please come and join room 4, along with members of the parish, for Mass this Wednesday morning at 9am,
in room 3.
Parish Newsletter
This week’s Parish newsletter is available here
Welcome to St Bernard's School
We are delighted to welcome Olivia and her family to St Bernard's. Olivia started last Thursday in room 1. We hope she had a great start to school.
School Photo Orders
Our school photos were taken last Thursday.
Photolife will email every parent with each childs shoot key code, and instructions in a couple of weeks time to enable on line orders. Please see Katrina if you do not receive an email.
Lost & Found
Blue House Key
A blue house key has been handed into the school office. If you think it maybe yours, please see Katrina in the office.
Polar Fleeces
There are a number of children with missing polar fleeces. Could everyone please check to ensure their child has not accidently brought another child’s fleece home with them, and that all fleeces are clearly named so we can easily identify and return them. Thank you.
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: 31 July 28 August
Room 2: 07 August 04 September
Room 4: 14 August 11 September
Birthday Wishes
Happy Birthday to Dara who turns 11 today! We hope you have a wonderful, fun filled birthday.
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.
Room 1 Learning
Well Room 1 seemed all pretty excited to be back at school, and it was lovely to see them all! We have got straight back into our learning routines, (with a few changes) and everyone is settled and ready to continue the learning. Our writing was all about our holiday activities and we are making little booklets this week. Last week we started the Moo to You science box. The children remembered the five groups of animals: mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and could give examples of animals that belong to each group. They also remembered mammals give birth to live young rather than lay eggs, have fur or hair, are warm-blooded and make milk for their babies. We talked about one group of mammals, called ruminants, who only eat plants and have four stomachs. Cows are ruminants and we have lots of dairy cows in NZ. In small groups, the children planted pastures (fields of plants for grazing animals) for our 'cows'. They chose from four types of microgreens' seeds to plant single crop and mixed crop pastures in trays. We are excited to watch our pastures grow over the next few weeks.
Room 2 Learning
Last week Room 2 did an awesome job at jumping straight back into their regular school routines. This term one of our main topics will be on the history of Aotearoa, New Zealand. We have begun by learning about how early Māori lived in New Zealand before the arrival of Europeans. We will soon be learning about their voyages across the Pacific and the significance of the waka they designed and utilised to make this journey.
We have two final sessions of basketball this term. I have seen lots of improvement during these sessions and I'm sure the class has had lots of fun! Daniel won in a shooting competition last week, and got to keep a basketball as a reward. Well done Daniel!
Room 4 Learning
Last Wednesday, Room 4 observed and analysed three small water containers. One container was mixed with sand, one with salt, one with sugar. The purpose of this experiment was to observe what happened when the sand, salt and sugar combined with the water, and if they created a solution or a mixture. The children worked in pairs, recorded their observations and predicted which substance had created a solution or a mixture. In their observations, the children described the sugar and salt combinations as ‘disappearing’, ‘becoming clear’ and ‘evaporating’ when they created a solution. It was clear that the sand sample was a mixture because the sand sunk to the bottom and remained separate from the water.
In addition to science learning last week, Room 4 also worked hard on their Religious Education activities. One of the lessons was about The Church as The People of God, Te Whanau a Te Atua. The children created images to show how people are ‘the Church’, its life and heart - coming together to pray to God and serve others. The three images below show how the people of God are 'the Church' (Clara, Riley, Quest).
