Hello and welcome back to our Te Rapa families and nau mai, haere mai to those joining us in Term 4 of the 2020 school year. We hope you enjoyed the holidays and managed to find some warm weather to soak up when the sun was out. Term 4 promises to be another busy term with a lot going on in the classroom and many school events scheduled.  We continue to encourage all children to be independent learners and are seeing evidence of this in many of the children and how they approach learning each day.                           

A major goal for the students in the Year 5 and 6 Syndicate is to work towards becoming an ‘Independent Learner.’ This encourages them to take charge of being ready to learn and also helps them to monitor their own learning.  This learning will help to ensure that they will be prepared for future years of learning. 

Criteria for being an Independent Learner: 

An Independent Learner would do these things: Ask these questions frequently, ‘Do I know what I am supposed to be doing?’  ‘Am I doing it?’   An independent learner would answer ‘Yes’ to both questions. 

 Plan time on a task carefully so that it can be finished on time. Look after all personal learning resources. If I misplace something, it is my own learning that suffers. 

 Is ready to start at the beginning of the day, with a clear and organised desk as well as a clear and organised frame of mind. 

 Knows the best way to learn is to ask questions of others when unsure.  

 Works quickly and quietly on set tasks to maximise learning but is also conscious of the learning needs of others.  

 Set realistic goals and work hard to achieve them as it is clear that education plays a very important part in my future. 

Term 4 Activities

 Written Language – Narrative and Poetry - Structure, descriptive and figurative language and general grammar and sentence structure 

Reading – Guided Silent Reading (Non-Fiction and Fiction) providing responses and reasoning to demonstrate understanding and Novel Studies. 

Maths – Developing Mathematical concepts and understanding with a focus on Problem Solving and Knowledge Development through the PR1ME Mathematics Programme 

Inquiry/Big Idea – Health and PE - WELL BEING - The choices we make affect our well-being   

Maori – Numbers and Marae/Maori Art - Kapahaka 

Friday Rotation – Involving Dance, Drama, Music-singing, Technology and Simple Coding 

Health & PE – Athletics and fitness games, Swimming (when weather permits) 

Competencies & HEART – Learning Logs – Reflection on learning, HEART values and expectations reviewed

Up and Coming Events for Term 4

 Amazing Race - Selected teams to participate on the 21st October at Hamilton Gardens 

 Hamilton Cricket Sessions: Thursday 22nd  and Friday 23rd October 

 Labour Day - No School: Monday 26th October 

Parent Camp Meeting for Term 1, 2021 (Year 5’s only): Thursday 29th October, 6.30pm in school Staffroom 

 Year 5 and 6 Athletics Day at school: Thursday 12th November  

Book Fair: Week 6  

Food for Thought: Week 6 

Whanau Evening: Wednesday 25th November  

Interschool Athletics: Wednesday 2nd December 

Year 5 & 6 Disco: Wednesday 2nd December 

Syndicate Big Day Out: Thursday 10th December, more information to come later in the term 

Prize Giving – Wednesday 16th December 

Final Day - Friday 18th December