Term 2 Week 2
Principal's Message
Parent Portal
As you may have heard on the news last night, the Ministry of Education announced the creation of a Parent Portal. Some areas the Portal aims to supprt parents with are :
*information about what their children will be learning at each year level
*ideas for how parents may help their children at home
*ideas for preparing for parent/teacher interviews
The Portal will be added to over time. Below is an information sheet for parents.
Lisa
Faith News
Wednesday Mass
Please come and join Room 2 for Mass this Wednesday morning at 9am in Room 3.
Parish Newsletter
This week’s Parish newsletter is available here
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: 08 May 29 May
Room 2: 15 May 05 June
Room 4: 22 May 12 June
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
Room 1 continued their learning about measurement , focussing on " tall" . How tall am I ? was the question and last term Mrs Small had measured everyone on the height chart. We stood beside a 100cm ruler and discovered we are ALL taller than 100cm!! WOW! exciting. We then looked at the height chart and found out how much taller we were and wrote a caption to go with our pictures we did of ourselves. Our drawing skills are improving and we are adding more details and colour to our work. Check out the display in Room 1 cloakroom.
Room 2 Learning
Welcome back to Term 2! Room 2 has had a thoughtful and engaging start to Term 2.
Last week, we acknowledged the recent passing of Pope Francis and spent time learning about who the Pope is and his role within the Catholic Church. We also explored how a new Pope is chosen, introducing the class to the process of a conclave. This has sparked some meaningful discussions and questions from the students about leadership and faith.
As ANZAC Day was commemorated in the holidays, we explored the significance of this day for New Zealanders. The class reflected on the values of courage, sacrifice, and remembrance, and took part in related activities to deepen their understanding of why we honour this day each year.
In maths, we revisited our learning on rounding numbers, helping to consolidate our understanding of place value from Term 1. We have now begun exploring different subtraction strategies, focusing on building confidence and flexibility in problem-solving.
Room 4 Learning
Science Box Activity: Dynamic Duo:
Last week, Room 4 returned to school and settled well into their learning routines in numeracy, reading and writing. On Wednesday, Room 4 had a lot of fun with our science activity called ‘Dynamic Duo”. For this activity, the children acted out the natural defense mechanisms of the respiratory tract, mucus and cilia. These mechanisms play a crucial role in protecting the lungs from particles that carry allergens, infectious microbes or air pollutants. In the activity two children were lungs, four children mucus and another four children cilia. The other children had piles of different sized scraps of paper representing air particles.
When the instruction was given, children with the air particles started throwing scraps of paper at the lungs. The children acting as mucus and cilia had to stop as many of the air particles as they could by catching or blocking them! It was loud, manic and lots of fun! The children swapped roles after each round.
We observed that it was easier for the smaller air particles to evade the cilia and mucus. We also learnt that our body’s cilia and mucus are always prepared to protect our lungs against air particles. Any allergens, infectious microbes or air pollutants that enter the respiratory tract are trapped in the sticky mucus changing its colour. We usually see this when we catch a cold and have to blow our noses!
