Term 3 Week 5
Principal's Message
Mercy Values
At whole school prayers this morning we spent some time looking at our school charism. We talk to the children a lot about our Mercy Values and I decided it was time to recap who the Sisters of Mercy were. I also shared a couple of photographs from my time being taught by a Mercy sister in England. (I'm the one with the yellow cardy and ribbons)
Strategic Plan
Thank you to those parents who have already completed the survey I sent out last week. As well as using the information gathered for preparing our strategic plan, the responses may also bring up questions I can answer or things we can put in place straight away.
Visiting Performer
We were so lucky on Tuesday afternoon to have a visit from Justin Rogers. We use his site, onlinekapahaka, and he was touring in Wellington so asked if he could pop in to work with the children. Justin is an actor and singer and he is the voice of Ernesto de le Cruz in the Maori version of Coco.
Justin emailed after the session and wrote: Thank you again for this afternoon- I had a blast with the kids and I'm blown away by how sweet and well behaved they all were!
Lisa Small,
Principal
Te Reo Māori Words of the Week
āmaimai (a) nervous Kei te tino āmaimai ahau. I'm feeling really nervous.
āritarita (a) excited Kei te āritarita te kuri, he kite nāna i tana taura. The dog is excited because he saw his lead.
hōhā (a) fed up, boring, annoying Kua hōhā au. I'm fed up.
mataku (a) afraid Kaua e mataku. Don't be afraid.
Faith News
Assumption
The Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, was taken up body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life. As a Church we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15 each year. The belief that Mary’s body (as well as her soul) was “assumed” into heaven was defined as a dogma (core belief of the faith) by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, but belief in the Assumption of Mary dates back to the earliest centuries of the Church. What is the difference between the Ascension and the Assumption? Jesus ascended. Mary was assumed. Because Jesus is God, He went up into Heaven by His own power. Mary, however, is a creature. She is not God. Thus, she could not ascend to Heaven by her own power. Thus, she was assumed – taken up into Heaven.
Wednesday Mass
Please come and join us as a school, along with members of our parish to celebrate Mass for the Feast of the Assumption in the school hall at 9am this Wednesday 16 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: 15 August 05 September
Room 2: 22 August 12 September
Room 4: 29 August
Room 1 Learning
Room 1 maths has been geometry based recently, looking at shapes, both 2D and 3D. We've been counting sides, corners, faces and vertices. Using 2D shapes we created these pictures and wrote about them. We are planning some 3D art as well! ( A surprise for later in the term...)
In Te Reo we have been learning to ask and answer questions about the weather.
" Kei te pehea te huarere i tenei ra? " How is the weather ( feeling) today?
" kei te makariri" it is cold.
Room 2 Learning
A huge thank you to Joanne, Daniel and Yuna who visited Room 2 to share a bit of Korean culture with us, as part of our Culture of the Fortnight. Jacob shared his holiday slideshow of his recent trip to South Korea. Joanne and Daniel wore traditional outfits and we learnt that pink was originally a colour males wore. They gave us yummy treats to taste. We have learnt how to greet each other and say the Sign of the Cross in Korean.
For Pūtaiao/Science the students learnt about potential kinetic energy. They made a playground swing to demonstrate their understanding.
For Te Reo Matatini the students have finished off their persuasive writing. Here are a few examples:
Joshua’s Persuasive Text
Without a doubt, Room 2 should have a class pet! If Room 2 had a class pet we would become more responsible. We would set up the cage on our own. We would also clean up the cage. Pets are good for wellbeing. Money is a problem, right? Well, here is a solution: Students WILL raise enough money to buy the pet and its food. Students will surely buy pet toys, too! You see, problem solved.
Some students don’t know what having a pet is like, but with a class pet they will. Students can learn how to care for the pet. If students are sad or stressed, the pet can cheer them up. The students of Room 2 can practise reading aloud to the pet without interruptions. Now do you think Room 2 should have a class pet?
Joan’s Persuasive Text
Why should animals be kept in zoos?
Animals should be kept in zoos because people can see them up close. If animals were in the wild, some of the big animals would hurt the little animals. So, having a zoo, the smaller animals can safely recover from their injuries. If poachers and predators are killing endangered animals, like tuatara, they can be kept safe from the poachers and predators, being kept in zoos. If animals hunt their food, the animals they want to hunt, over time, will no longer be there. Instead, the zookeepers will give them the food that they actually need. It is good to keep the animals in zoos because they can live much longer (which is called: extend their lives!). If there are more animals in the forest or jungle, some of the wild animals may come to the city and eat all the people and destroy everything. Now do you think zoos should exist?
Quinn’s Persuasive Text
Without a doubt, I think Room 2 should have a class pet. First of all, Room 2 students could raise enough money to buy the pet toys and food. Also the pet can cheer up people who are sad. Another reason is the teachers don't have to set up the cage, the children can. Also the children can learn how to take care of the pet. Finally the pet can make Room 2 more responsible. It's obvious that Room 2 should have a class pet.
Annabel’s Persuasive Text
Everyone knows Room 2 needs a class pet! Firstly, pets can be good for wellbeing, like when we can practise reading aloud to them without interruptions. Also we could become more responsible because we would be taking care of the animal every day. Secondly, I foster cats so if the animal is a cat or kitten (which it needs to be) I could take it home every night. I also have lots of cat food at home so Mrs Tiller wouldn’t have to pay for food until the cat food ran out. Lastly, the SPCA wouldn’t be as full if we got one from there. So as you can see, Room 2 definitely needs a class pet!
Room 4 Learning
This week in Room 4 our focus was on 3D shape properties and the Wonder Project. The children have been identifying the properties of 3D shapes - faces, vertices and edges as well as constructing models of 3D shapes. The Year 6s used 2D nets to make specific 3D shapes - triangular prism, square based pyramid, rectangular prism, cube and a tetrahedron. They also arranged the nets in a different formation to see if they could still make the same 3D shape.
For the second session of the Wonder Project, the children learnt about the steps involved in designing blades to turn their windmill. In their groups the children planned the shape, length and width of their blade designs and the materials they will make them out of. The next step is to make the blades and attach them to the windmill to start generating electricity.
Birthday Wishes
Happy Birthday to Toby who turns 13 tomorrow, and to Quinn who turns 9 on Friday. We hope you have a wonderful, fun filled birthdays.
Community News
Vaping: Understanding the Issues
Scot’s College are running a community information evening “Vaping: Understand the Issues” on Monday 21st August at 6.30pm at Scot’s College Chapel Hall.
Tickets are $5.00 each. Snacks and non-alcoholic drinks at the event and all the net proceeds will go to the Life Education Trust and Asthma Foundation.