Thursday, 7 December 2017
Wednesday, 6 December 2017
Totara Team 4 – Term 4 week 8 ending 8 December 2017
Hello
parents and caregivers can you believe it! It is week eight almost the school
holidays!
By Stella
In week ten
on Monday morning, we will be going to assembly to welcome Kerri our new
principal with a powhiri. Please come
along to meet her.
By Max W
We are
trying to get all our library books back to win chocolate fish we have only got
9 more books to return please parents help your child’s book return to the
library or else you will get a bill.
By Tamsin
This Friday
(December 8th) the Totara team will be going on a trip to the Aotea
Centre to watch NYTC Peter Pan. Lucy and I will be performing in it. We have
been rehearsing for four months now. The Peter Pan cast has over two hundred
children ranging from 7 to 18. Lucy and I will be singing and dancing, Lucy is
a bunny and I am a flamingo. We have seven performances and each show is fully
booked.
By Francesca
Today, Thursday
7th of December, we did play ball. We went from 9-12.40pm. We did
lots of ball activities and learnt new skills.
By Will
Friday week 9
(December 15th) we will be having a Christmas House day. You can
dress up Christmas themed but try to get your kids creative and don’t buy a
costume! Dress up in tinsel, santa hats and reindeer horns. We will be fundraising for City Mission so
bring a gold coin, canned food and toys if you can. Its Bayfield’s mission!
By Skye
We have
really been enjoying our passion project workshops, now we need you to look at
our Sways, as they show you what we have been doing. Most importantly we need to be ready and
organised for our workshops. Nearly the
whole team has had a turn.
By Casper
A big thank you to all our families for all their support this year!
Wishing you all a wonderful end to 2017, great holidays and a happy New Year.
Steph & Trish
Tuesday, 5 December 2017
Monday, 4 December 2017
Thursday, 23 November 2017
Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Totara Team 5 - Term 4 week 6 ending 25 November 2017
Dear Parents
and Caregivers,
Week 6 has arrived and so has the sun,
finally! We are enjoying doing more fitness and sport rotations with the Year 3’s.
Typed by Joe
Library
Hi just a
reminder that the library is closing and we need all the library books back. There
are no more issues from November 27. The
library will be open again at the start of next year. I hope you have met the
lovely new librarian Isa.
From Annabel
Kelmarna Gardens
Every
fortnight the Year 4’s go on a walk to Kelmarna Gardens. Both classes go
individually. Steph’s after morning tea and Trish’s class after lunch. At Kelmarna
the children learn how to take care of plants.
We work in two groups while we are there. One group picked salad greens
to sell. The other group planted sweet corn and watched the chickens while they
roamed free. They also gathered a few
eggs. Please can you come and help out
or make sure your child has a hat and shoes or else they won’t be allowed to
go!
By Zoe
Music with Mary
This year
had been my favourite year in music because we have been learning brand new
chords and songs on the ukulele. Year 4 really enjoys music with Mary because
we learn new songs and games. Mary has taught us how to read music, also at the
start of the year she taught us how to play the marimbas.
By Chloe
Scooter Safety
This Friday
on 24 November, we are doing scooter safety with Constable Rob a police
officer. Do not forget to bring a scooter and helmet if you have them. We will
be doing this at 1.35 pm on the bottom court.
We will be split into 2 groups for the afternoon.
By Ben
St Mary’s Band
On Tuesday
the St Mary’s Year 8 band came and played different songs to the whole school. At the end they played Jingle Bells and
everybody was singing along, it was very entertaining. Fun Fact:
Did you know that the French horn can stretch out to 14 metres long.
By Max De Mari
Daily 5
In daily five,
we have been doing a 4-block rotation. The things that fill in our blocks are
reading eggs, high frequency spelling words, SRA comprehension cards, buddy
reading, free writing, story starters, guided reading with a teacher and more.
We are in charge of our learning choices and really enjoy it.
By Finn
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Sunday, 12 November 2017
Wednesday, 8 November 2017
Totara Team 4 – Term 4 Week 4 ending 10 November 2017
Week 4 has arrived and the sun is starting to shine!
Speeches
Year 4 have been writing persuasive speeches of their choice. We
have been inspired by some wonderful year 5 and 6’s speeches. We have started to research our topics and
are looking forward to presenting them to each other. By Annabel
Scooters and bikes
It is wonderful to see kids riding bikes and scooters to
school but they need to remember to wear a helmet. It is a school rule that we need to get off
bikes and scooters at the gate or crossing and walk through the school. By Ben
Sports
On Tuesday afternoon’s the year 4’s and 3’s are now doing
sport rotations. A reminder that
children need to bring a hat to school every day. We have too many students who do not have hats
at school for break times and outside activities. By Max De
Maths
In maths both classes are focusing on multiplication and
division. A reminder to practise times tables and division at home, and to keep
up the good Mathletics work.
Everybody enjoys the problem solving middle block on Friday.
Totara team has been doing so well in their independent maths (basic facts,
number investigation, and basic facts speed test, problem of the week and Mathletics
tasks). By Finn D
Kids for Kid’s Choir
Year 4, 5 and 6 sang at the Bruce
Mason Centre on Monday night. The two conductors were Chris and Brook the other
two were the hosts Jackie (my favourite) and Nathen. A favourite song of the
whole night was “Forever Tuesday Night”, because we just got to let loose with
the actions. Everybody had a great time! By Chloe
Passion Project
Every Wednesday the Year 4 children do a workshop run by the kids. Eight children are selected to do one. Each child who is chosen is to get everything prepared before the following Wednesday. Steph and Trish are proud of how organised the children have been and how good the whole team have been at listening to the people running it. If you child is chosen please can you help them prepare for it. Thank you. By Zoe HPassion Project
Typed by Joe.
Check out Francesca and Skye's Sway about our Passion Projects.
https://totarabayfield.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/passion-projects.html
Check out Francesca and Skye's Sway about our Passion Projects.
https://totarabayfield.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/passion-projects.html
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Totara Team 4 – Term 4 week 2 ending 27 October 2017
Hello Parents and Caregivers, here we are already in Week
2!
We have started the term with our wonderful Book Bonanza. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Grandparents
and Special Friends’ Assembly, especially having us perform again! We’ve had lots of book activities and are
finishing off this Friday with our House Activities Morning and optional dress
up and Book Bonanza Buddy reading picnic on the top court (if the weather is
fine) at 12.15pm. Parents you are most
welcome to join us. Children please come
dressed as your favourite book character for some fun!
Learning in Totara
Reading
We are
focusing on identifying the author’s purpose.
Whether the text is to persuade, inform or entertain (PIE). Next we will evaluate and respond to texts. The children will give their opinions and
explain why they liked a text, or what they didn’t like and how it could be
improved.
Writing
Speeches are
our next focus. We will ask the winners
of the Year 5 and 6 to come down and inspire us with speeches. We will aim to write 1.5-2 minute speeches to
share with one another.
Maths
We have been
working hard on decimals and fractions and are now coming to the end. Next we will focus on multiplication and
division strategies. Please remind your
children to practise their times tables at home so they have quick recall and
also keep using Mathletics at home as well.
Reminders
Kelmarna Garden odd weeks, starting Week 3. Steph=11.30-12.30, Trish=1.30-2.30
Hats to be worn outside Term 4 and Term 1.
Children should not be at school before 8.20am unless for
sports practise.
Check out the pictures of our activities…
Regards
Steph & Trish
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Monday, 25 September 2017
Totara Team 4 - Term 3 Week 10 ending 29 September 2017
Dear Parents and Caregivers
We cannot believe it is nearly the end of term and what a
busy term we have had! We loved the
production and we couldn’t have performed it to such a high standard without
Sonja’s incredible dancing choreography.
She sure made us work hard. The
children absolutely loved being on stage in front of an audience. The shaking and the nerves all added to help
them perform their very best. We loved
all the other acts as well. Joanie did a
fabulous job of writing a fun script.
It is Sheryl’s last week, again hard to believe. We are having her farewell assembly 1.30pm on
Thursday for those that can make it. We
have been making huge colourful shoes to decorate the hall. Sheryl often talks about wearing new shoes
when starting something new, so we felt it appropriate to remind Sheryl about
wearing her new shoes at Owairaka and hopefully they will be comfortable in no
time at all.
We had a great time at Herne Bay Tennis with Mr
Mustard. It makes it feel like summer
when we start playing tennis.
This Friday we are having our final House Day for the term
in the morning. Please remind your child
to wear their house t-shirt or colours.
They can dress up if they feel like it.
Check out the photos of Totara Team dancing…
Sunday, 24 September 2017
Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Monday, 11 September 2017
Totara Team 4 – Term 3 week 8 ending 15 September 2017
We are on the countdown now to Production in week 9. Your child will be asked to bring a coloured
t-shirt in a named plastic bag to wear or provide an extra one for someone else
if they can. We must have these by this
Friday, as we are having a dress rehearsal.
We are really struggling to find orange and purple t-shirts. Please let Trish or I know if you don’t have a
t-shirt of your colour and we will hopefully be able to sort something out.
Learning in Totara
Reading
We are really enjoying using the website www.Kiwikidsnews.co.nz for our
summarising during guided reading time.
The children are loving the variety of articles from New Zealand, the
world, animals and science.
Writing
The clever children have now turned their myths and legends
into comic strips and have decorated our hallway beautifully with them. Please pop in and have a read.
Maths
We are coming to the end of our addition and subtraction
strategies and will focus on fractions till the end of the term. Children need to know their times tables to
help with these.
Reminders
Children should not be at school before 8.20am unless for
sports practise.
Production 19th,
20th, 21st September
Children to be in their team space at 6.00pm. Show begins at 6.30pm. Should be over by 7.45pm. Children to be signed out from their team
space by Steph. We are the last act so
will be there till the end.
Tennis
We will have tennis at the Herne Bay Club in week 10 on
Wednesday 27th September.
Book Bonanza in week
1 of Term 4
Special Visitors
& Grandparents morning – Friday 20 October
Kind regards
Steph & Trish
Take a look at our 'Learning in Totara Team'
https://totarabayfield.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/blog-post.html
Monday, 28 August 2017
Totara Team 4 – Term3 week 6 ending 1 September
We are in full swing with practising for the production in
week 9. Please can you remind the
children to practise the two dances at home (they are also on the blog), as
soon we will only have the music and no video to help us.
Awataha Marae visit
We had a great visit to the marae with lots of
learning. From how to walk on to the
marae grounds and be welcomed in a powhiri to eating delicious Maori bread,
learning about their ancestors and their art, viewing the new carvings to be
placed inside the wharenui, learning ti rakau sticks games, weaving harakeke
and finishing with the haka!
Dance
The Auckland University Dance students finished their 3
weeks with us, culminating with a dance routine shared in the hall amongst the
Years 0-4. We loved having Kiritina and
Kim teach us learn more about ourselves and aspects of diversity in our dances.
Disco
The disco was great fun and a riot of colour, dancing and
noise. Thank you to all those that
helped with the set up.
Learning in Totara
Reading
Summarising and finding key words in texts – fiction and
non-fiction. Lots of silent sustained
reading. Great to see the children
choosing their own chapter books and really enjoying the quiet reading time
after lunch as well as Trish’s Chapter Chat and novel time.
Writing
The children are finishing their myths and legends and have
published them into booklets. Please
come along and read them with your children.
Some of the children have started on beautiful poems expressing
themselves through the senses.
Maths
We are still continuing with addition and subtraction
strategies. Keep reminding the children
to practise their x tables at home and basic facts to 100 and beyond with fast
recall.
Reminders
Children should not be at school before 8.20am unless for
sports practise.
Class, individual &
sibling photos – 5th September
Production 19th,
20th, 21st September
Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Totara Times – Term 3 Week 4 ending 18 August
It’s already Week 4 and this term is racing by. We are doing lots
of learning and everyone is focusing on their next steps and how to achieve
them as they prepare for Learning Conferences next week.
Learning in
Totara
Reading
The children are continuing to make and explain inferences in the
texts that they are reading. They are learning to use the clues in the text to
help them have a deeper understanding of what they are reading. Our next focus
will be on finding key words and summarising texts.
Writing
Most children have successfully completed their myth or legend. We
are going to use these narratives to create comic strips and tell their stories
in a different way.
Maths
We have started our work on strategies for adding and subtracting.
Alongside that focus, we are continuing our independent activities and problem
solving. Learning times tables is an important part of our work too.
Inquiry
We are moving into our Production work now. The children have
chosen the music for their part of the performance and have contributed to the
writing of the script. We are beginning to choreograph our dances and think
about our costumes.
Reminder:
Children should not be at school before 8:20 am unless they have a
sports practice.
Important Dates
School Disco: Thursday this week. 17th
September – starts at 6:00pm for Year 4’s
Learning Conferences: Tuesday 22nd August –
2:00-6:00pm
Thursday 24th August -3.30-5.30pm
Awataha Marae visit: Wednesday 23rd August
– we leave school @ 9:30pm and will be back by 2pm. Parents are welcome to come but would need to
provide their own transport. It is at 58 Akoranga Drive, Northcote. Please let us know if you would like
to come.
Class and individual photos: Tuesday 5th September
Production: 19th ,20th
and 21st September – details to follow
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Monday, 7 August 2017
Welcome to Term 3.
I’m really excited and am enjoying my new role in Totara Team, working
alongside Trish and back with the children.
We have a very busy term ahead.
I’m doing a lot of learning as well as the children!
Learning in Totara
Inquiry
Our focus was Keeping Ourselves Safe in an elearning
environment with Constable Rob. It was extremely valuable and the children were
very engaged with their thoughtful comments and questions. He strongly encourages an elarning safety
chat with your children at home.
Art
We have started the term with an art focus, culminating with
the Mini Art Exhibition this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please come along with before school or after
to view your child’s art. Thank you so
much to Sarah and Creghan who helped with the framing, it was much appreciated.
If anyone would like to help Annette set up the screens and art on Monday, or
take down on Thursday, please could you email her on Annettem@bayfield.school.nz
Reading
Our new goals in reading are:
I can look
for clues to confirm my predictions and inferences and I can make and explain
my inferences using information
in the text. The children are enjoying
being detectives and working the questions out using the text.
Maths
The first two weeks we had a Measurement rotation, with
Trish teaching weight/capacity and Steph Length. Now we are focusing on Addition and
Subtraction strategies.
Writing
Term 3 we are learning how to write a myth or a legend using
a narrative format. The children’s
narrative will be about how an animal got its feature or how a natural feature
was formed eg rain, volcanoes erupting, snow.
Dance Students
Once again we have the dance students from Auckland
University coming to teach the children for 6 sessions over the next 3
weeks. We are very excited and
privileged to have them.
Important Dates
Disco
The school disco is on Thursday this week, more details to
follow.
Learning Conferences
for Year 4: Week 5 or 6, details
to follow.
Monday, 19 June 2017
Totara Times - Week 8
Totara Times – Term 2 Week 8 ending 23 June
We have begun handing out our Relating to Others key competency cards to students who show consistent team work skills and kindness to others. We have been acting out role plays to help us with this key competency to solve conflicts in the playground. We are super impressed with some of the solutions students have been coming up with.
Learning in Totara
Maths
We are moving into Multiplication and Division strategies for the last three weeks of term. We have a big focus on problem solving at the moment and students are showing their growth mindset development by challenging themselves to complex word problems.
Reading
The Daily 5 has undergone some changes this week with the addition of free writing time and a few changes to enhance spelling lessons. Students have adapted to these changes with ease and are super excited about their free writing time.
Writing
Our last information reports this term are focused around Matariki, with our field trip to the Stardome coming up we are interested to see what aspects of Matariki students are able to report on.
Inquiry
Our science inquiry is progressing wonderfully, Trish's group are observing the changes happening to their mould over time and adding interesting insights to their sways. Feel free to pop into the class to see what they are growing. Jordan's group have been looking at the molecular changes that happen inside a chemical reaction and are now thinking about how they can enhance the chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar by changing the variables.
Headphones
A reminder that students need to be bringing a set of headphones to school each day to ensure they have access to all learning opportunities.
Important dates
Wednesday 21st June – Stardome trip
Friday 23rd June - Sausage Sizzle day
- orders need to be placed via Wrap it Up by 9:15am NB: popcorn no longer available
Black out mufti day - gold coin donation to KidsCan
Wednesday 28th June - Skip-a-thon 9:10am first performance
Friday 23rd June - Sausage Sizzle day
- orders need to be placed via Wrap it Up by 9:15am NB: popcorn no longer available
Black out mufti day - gold coin donation to KidsCan
Wednesday 28th June - Skip-a-thon 9:10am first performance
Links to other Year 4 work examples :-)
Art Inquiry 1
Art Inquiry 2
Science Molecules
Sunday, 18 June 2017
Thursday, 15 June 2017
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
Monday, 12 June 2017
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
Totara Times - Term 2 Week 6
Totara Times – Term 2 Week 6 ending 9 June
The term is racing by and
everyone is hard at work. Self-management
is an on-going focus while working in flexible learning spaces. Our other Key
Competency is ‘relating to others’ with an emphasis on collaborative teamwork.
Learning in Totara
Maths
Our current focus is on Addition
and Subtraction strategies with booster workshops in Place Value. Our work on
growth mind-set maths is continuing and we have added another activity into the
independent work that everyone completes each week. This activity is a times
table challenge with the children competing against themselves to improve their
accuracy and speed as they work through all the times tables. It is important
that the children learn the times tables by heart.
Reading
Non-fiction texts comprise
the bulk of our guided reading sessions now as this complements the work we are
doing in writing. Children should be reading at home every night and doing some
Reading Eggs work.
Writing
We have been doing some
excellent research and writing this term. We are writing information reports
with a focus on putting capital letters and full stops in the right places. The
success criteria includes grouping ideas into paragraphs and expressing our
thoughts precisely.
Inquiry
We have successfully
concluded our inquiry into art in the community and have moved on to a Science
inquiry. Jordan’s group are looking at
chemical reactions and Trish’s group are studying mould. We are using ‘Sway’ (accessed
through Office 365) to record our investigations and keep a note of our
observations.
Headphones
Many of our reading
activities require the use of headphones. Unfortunately, many of the school
headphones have been broken so we are asking if children can bring a pair from
home.
Important dates
Wednesday 21st
June – Stardome trip
Totara Times Week 4
Totara Times – Week 4
We had a wonderful cross county last Friday, we had all been training hard and each student competed well. We congratulate all students for their individual achievements in the cross country and to our overall winners.
Learning in Totara
Our key competency of 'Relating to Others' is progressing well and we are seeing some wonderful team work in different activities. Some students are still working towards earning their self-managing tokens which we will continue to hand out with our new relating to others tokens each Friday.
Maths
We are continuing to develop our Math program and are adding more workshops into the mix. Bevan will come in for a workshop on Fridays to promote problem solving whilst we will continue to run workshops on number knowledge and strategy work. We all so have a new program called 'Khan Academy' running in the classroom to further extend our high achievers.
Reading
We are working on non-fiction texts and information reports to tie in with our writing focus. We will continue to reinforce strategies to help with our decoding and comprehension. We are adding a sight word spelling program to run alongside our weekly phonics lessons.
Writing
We have begun to look at information reports in writing, we will be continuing on with non-fiction writing to fit with our science topic. We appreciate parents showing an interest in writing and seeking to see the final product that we publish on 'Kid Blog'.
We have also completed a self assessment for handwriting and are going to start running handwriting workshops alongside our literacy program.
We have also completed a self assessment for handwriting and are going to start running handwriting workshops alongside our literacy program.
Inquiry
This week we presented our Sway power points about our learning journey in the art inquiry. We had some wonderful presentations and have some fabulous pieces of art. We are moving now into our science inquiry section where we will be running two different science topics that students can self elect into.
Alongside our Inquiry we are running a Maori rotation in collaboration with year 3 to explore Matariki from different aspects. The groups will explore Matariki art, Maori star navigation, Matariki drama, dance and the significance of the seven Matariki stars.
Alongside our Inquiry we are running a Maori rotation in collaboration with year 3 to explore Matariki from different aspects. The groups will explore Matariki art, Maori star navigation, Matariki drama, dance and the significance of the seven Matariki stars.
Sausage Sizzle
There will be another Sausage Sizzle on Friday this week.
Important Dates
Wednesday 21st June – Totara Team trip to Stardome
Monday 26th June - Friday 7th July - Trish away on leave
Monday 26th June - Friday 7th July - Trish away on leave
Wednesday, 10 May 2017
Totara Times - Term 2 Week 2
Totara Times – Week 2
Term 2 has started really
well with everybody feeling rested and refreshed after the holidays. During
Week 1 we had our swimming sports – this was a very exciting day with lots of
enthusiastic participation and fun. Then, there was the very successful House
Day with different games for everyone to enjoy. In between these two events, we
got straight back into learning and working hard.
Learning in Totara
We have added in a new Key
Competency goal this term and that is ‘Relating to Others’. We are working on
co-operating in teams and being kind to each other. This will lead to another
token that we can add to our kete.
Maths
We are continuing with
work on Basic Facts, Number Investigations and Word Problems, and we have a new
focus on Fractions for the next two weeks. We also have one session a week on
Growth mind-set Maths where the children are encouraged to look at maths
problems in different ways. We are continuing to run workshops to meet the
differentiated needs of students. Mathletics is always an option for some extra
work at home.
Reading
We are working on
non-fiction texts and information reports to tie in with our writing focus. We
will continue to reinforce strategies to help with our decoding and
comprehension. Don’t forget that Reading Eggs can be done at home.
Writing
For the first three weeks
of this term we are focusing on procedural writing and expressing ourselves
clearly and precisely. Then we will move onto writing Information Reports to
fit in with our Science Inquiry.
Inquiry
We are coming to the end
of our Inquiry into Art in the Community and are working on the ‘Action/Celebration’
part of our Inquiry cycle. This takes the form of printmaking and recording our
journey digitally through the medium of ‘Sway’, which can be accessed through
Office 365.
Sausage Sizzle
Tomorrow will be the first of our fortnightly
sausage sizzle. Every two weeks the councilors
will run a sausage sizzle for Bayfield students. It will always be the same day
that we have assembly.
Important Dates
Wednesday 17th
May – School Cross Country
Wednesday 21st
June – Totara Team trip to Stardome
Thursday, 6 April 2017
Totara Times - week 9
Thank you to everyone who supported and helped to organise Music on the Field, its was a wonderful day enjoyed by all.
We have now finished with Kelmarna gardens for the term, the students have had wonderful learning experiences from their time at Kelmarna and we would like to thank you for all the parent support we have had. This program will run again in Term 4.
We have now finished with Kelmarna gardens for the term, the students have had wonderful learning experiences from their time at Kelmarna and we would like to thank you for all the parent support we have had. This program will run again in Term 4.
Learning in Totara
We are continuing to work towards our self-managing goals. We are proud to announce that some students have earned their self-managing tokens to add to their kete, these are students who are continuously showing the attributes of a self manager. We will continue to hand out these tokens as students meet their goals.
Maths
Maths
We have been working on fractions over the past week and running workshops on a needs basis. Students have been thriving in these workshops and are ticking off their goals as they master them with practice. Next weeks focus is place value where we will be running workshops to meet the differentiated needs of students.
Reading
The Totara team is becoming more confident with our daily 5 routines and we are now able to add more options into the mix. We have spelling lessons and practice running now along with listen to reading and responding to writing on the blog. We are super proud of the self management displayed by our students during the daily 5. Part of this self management is to meet time deadlines and therefore students might bring home tasks sometimes to complete them for these deadlines.
Writing
We are wrapping up with our narrative topic and have some wonderful narratives to share. Students creativity has definitely shone through with this writing topic. Our topic for the beginning of next term is procedures to align with the procedures we using for our art inquiry.
Inquiry
We have begun to explore the different art features that reflect our community so that we can make good choices for our community print making. We have been asking the community their opinions and have been sketching out some brilliant ideas ready to make into prints at the beginning of next term.
If anyone is an art enthusiast and would like to help with the print making process please let us know.
If anyone is an art enthusiast and would like to help with the print making process please let us know.
Important dates
13th April: House event day
13th April: End of Term 1
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Totara Times - Week 7
Term 1 is racing by and we
are already in Week 7. Totara team is humming with enthusiasm and hard work.
Conferences went really well and everyone is clear about their learning
pathways and their goals.
Learning in Totara
Self-management is still
our focus. Each student has reflected on where they sit on this continuum and
has set a goal to work towards for this week. We will continue to self-reflect
and set new goals.
Maths
For the next few weeks we
will be doing workshops on Number Knowledge as well as continuing our weekly
work on Basic Facts, Number Investigation, Problem-solving and Growth Mindset
maths.
Reading
The Daily 5 programme is
running well with reading sessions and workshops happening every day. There
have already been workshops on spelling, handwriting and different aspects of
the writing process. Our reading focus has been on analysing narratives and
short stories to complement the work in Writing.
Writing
We have written some
exciting narratives and most of us are in the planning stages of our next
one. There have been workshops on capital letters and full stops, on planning,
on revising and reworking, on adding more detail and on using descriptive
language more effectively. Because we are all at different stages in the
writing process, we now book in a time to conference with Jordan or Trish when
we are ready to publish. We have now shared lots of our writing on Kidblog.
Inquiry
We are starting an Inquiry
into Art in the Community and we are looking at different art works on
buildings and structures in the area.
Our big questions are:-
·
How does art
influence the community?
·
How do artists
contribute to the community?
·
How can the
status of Maori as tangata whenua be displayed in community art?
Important dates
31st March:
Kelmarna Gardens
1st April:
Music on the Field
13th April: End
of Term 1
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Totara Times - Week 5
We are already half way through the first term and just look at
how fast it has flown by. We have another exciting five weeks ahead of us and
are moving into an ‘Art in the Community’ inquiry. We are looking for community
artists who might like to contribute and share their expertise. If you are an
artist or know of someone who might be interested please contact us.
Admin
Learning conferences are approaching quickly, please make sure you
have booked in for a 15 minute session. We look forward to welcoming you and
sharing learning progressions and goals.
Please remind students to bring a sunhat each day, even if the
weather looks cloudy, as the weather has a tendency to change quickly.
We have PAT tests running this week across reading and math.
BYOD
We are continuing to have more students bringing in their own
devices which is a great addition to the learning tools. Students are showing
great responsibility with devices and are adhering to the ICT agreement.
Learning in Totara
Our key competency continues on with self-management. As we unpack
self-management, students have begun self-assessing their self-management
abilities and making weekly goals to show their progress.
Maths
Our focus in now geometry, we are exploring shapes both 3D and 2D
and looking at ways of building, sorting and using shapes in the real world.
Alongside this inquiry, we have also been working on basic facts, number
investigations and problem-solving.
Reading
The daily 5 is running smoothly in the mornings now with each
student on their own timetable. The reading sessions are focused on short
stories and narratives to link into the learning we are doing in writing.
Writing
The focus of our writing sessions is now narratives, where we will
look at the problem, resolution model and how to develop a character. Students
are learning about booking in for workshops that meet their learning goals.
Technology
Students are becoming more and more confident with the use of
technology in our routines. We are all now able to make our own daily 5 timetable
on OneNote. This week’s goal is to begin exploring kid blog and publish our
writing on the blog. Once this is up and running we will send out a link for
you to view their writing as well.
Important dates
17th March:
Kelmarna Gardens
20th March:
Goal setting conferences – school closes @ 12:40pm
22nd March:
Goal setting conferences
31st March:
Kelmarna Gardens
1st April:
Music on the Field
Totara team
Jordan Meade
jordanm@bayfield.school.nz
Trish Fransham
trishf@bayfield.school.nz
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Totara Times Week 3 Term 1
We have had
a fantastic start to the year and Term 1 is now well underway. The Totara team
is humming with enthusiasm and hard work.
Admin
The swimming
programme at the Tepid Baths ends this Friday. The children have really gained
a lot from this intensive session.
A gentle
reminder that all children need a named sunhat every day and that they have a
small piece of fruit or vegetable for their brain break. Some children have
been eating their whole lunch at morning tea time so could you please check
with your child to ensure they have enough food to eat during the day.
BYOD
Lots of
children are bringing their own devices which is great. We are working with
them to unpack the Internet agreement to ensure that they really understand
what they have signed and the responsibilities that go with using any devices
at school.
Learning in Totara
Our key
competency focus continues to be on self-management and the children are making
great progress with this as they get to grips with different ways of doing
things in a new environment.
Maths
The children
have become ‘Data Detectives’ as they planned an investigation into a problem
by posing a question, gathering data then analysing it before presenting their
information in graphs and then interpreting their results. Alongside this
inquiry, they have also been working on basic facts, number investigations and
problem-solving.
Reading
The focus in
Reading has been on building reading stamina so that the children can work
independently during the daily Literacy sessions.
Writing
The focus
will continue to be on the process of writing within the context of ‘recount’
writing.
Technology
Our focus
has been on setting up routines with devices and teaching the children how to
log in and use Onenote, Twitter (for our guided Chapter Chat sessions) and
Reading Eggs.
Important dates
24th
February: Kelmarna Gardens, 5 – 7pm School Picnic
17th
March: Kelmarna Gardens
20th
March: Goal setting conferences – school closes @ 12:40pm
22nd
March: Goal setting conferences
31st
March: Kelmarna Gardens
1st
April: Music on the Field
Totara team
Jordan Meade
Trish
Fransham
Wednesday, 8 February 2017
Totara Times Week 1 - Term 1
Totara Times
Welcome
Welcome
back to all our families, we hope you had a lovely holiday. We would like to
extend an extra welcome to Lacie Corlett and her family who are new this year
to the Bayfield family.
A few housekeeping points:
Please send students with a named sunhat each day,
drink bottles are also welcomed in the classroom during this hot season. We
also request that students have a small piece of fruit or
vegetable for brain break each day and have been very impressed with the
healthy lunch boxes we have seen so far.
Homework
Homework this year
will require students to be more self-managing. There will be less 'set'
homework however there is still an expectation that you will read every night
for at least 20mins. Below are some other possible tasks you could do
each night to enhance your learning:
· Mathletics Live
· Reading Eggs
lessons and also reading the vast range of texts in the Reading Eggs library.
· Chapter Chat
Questions and Tasks. If you get behind during the week you could catch up
by logging into your OneNote to access these.
· Writing on Kids
Blog. This should be quality writing rather than posting just
anything. If you would write it in your writing book at school then it is
probably going to be up to blog standard.
· Personal
Inquiries. You will have passions and interests that you will be learning
about throughout the year. Much of this will be documented on OneNote so
you can access this from home online
BYOD
The Totara team will be working with bring your own
device. We will begin introducing and teaching the IT component of our learning
on Monday the 13th February. BYOD allows your child the opportunity to work on
their own device and therefore not have to wait for their turn on the in class
devices. This access can greatly enhance learning. If you have any questions
about BYOD or would like more information, we will be holding an information
evening on Wednesday the 15th of February at 7pm.
Swimming
We will be swimming every day for weeks 2 and 3. As
the Totara team will be swimming first thing in the morning we request that all
students come to school with togs on and all their gear ready to go (goggles,
towels, swim caps, slip on shoes, and gear to change into afterwards). Trish
and her guardian class will be leaving school at 8:50, please make sure
students are at school by 8:40.
Highlights:
- · Swimming everyday for weeks 2 & 3.
- · BYOD meeting for parents, Wednesday 15th at 7pm
- · Meet the teacher, Thursday 23rd.
- · Garden to table, beginning Friday. Any parents interested in joining us for these trips please speak to Trish or Jordan.
Self-management is the key competency we will be focusing on for the
first three weeks of school.
Math
Our focus is Statistics at the moment so please check into the blog in a
couple of weeks to see how we have all become data detectives.
Reading
We are focusing on building stamina with reading to deepen and develop
our reading skills.
Writing
Writing has been focused on recounting a
‘slice in time’. We will start uploading writing once we have developed
our IT skills. Please remember to check in with the blog.
Totara team
Jordan Meade
jordanm@bayfield.school.nz
Trish Fransham
trishf@bayfield.school.nz
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