Welcome
Hello and welcome back to our Te Rapa families and those joining us in Term 4. Our Year 5 and 6 team teachers hope that you have all had a wonderful time with your family and friends over the term break!
The weather is warming up, summer is on the way with athletics, swimming and long hot, summer days.
Our inquiry this term will be about the Living World.
Year 5 & 6 Team - Teachers
Room 12 – Mrs Shannon Runciman - srunciman@terapa.school.nz
Room 13 – Mr Shaun Wright - swright@terapa.school.nz
Room 14 – Ms Penny Jackson (Team Leader) - pjackson@terapa.school.nz
Room 15 – Miss Isabel Buckhurst - ibuckhurst@terapa.school.nz
Room 16 – Mr Mike McCurry mmccurry@terapa.school.nz
Part time teachers: Mrs Amy Johns and Mrs Abby Ritete
Becoming an Independent Learner
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.
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 be able to 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.
Know the best way to learn is to ask questions of others.
Work 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.
Activities
Term 4 Activities
Written Language – Information Reports, Topic Sentence and Paragraph Development, Proofreading and Editing Skills.
Reading – Guided Silent Reading (Non-Fiction and Fiction) providing responses and reasoning to demonstrate understanding.
Maths – Developing Mathematical concepts and understanding with a focus on Problem Solving and Knowledge Development through the PR1ME Mathematics Programme
Inquiry/Big Idea- Adaptation - All living things have needs in order to survive and adapt to changes in their world
Health & PE – Athletics, Swimming (when weather permits), Fitness Games, Food for thought (Nutrition)
Competencies & HEART – Learning Logs – Reflection on learning, HEART values and expectations reviewed
Events
Up and Coming Events for Term 4
10 October - Super Smash Cricket Sessions Room 12 and 13
11 October - Super Smash Cricket Sessions Room 14, 15 and 16
17 October - TIMMS Assessment Rooms 12, 14, 15
19 October - WFPS Kapa Haka
19 October - NZ Shake Out
23 October - Labour Day - No School
25 October - Amazing Race
10 November - Full School Assembly
13 November - Year 5/6 Athletics Day
14 November - Book Day
15 November - Year 5/6 Athletics Day PP
22 November - Whanau Performance Evening (Kapa Haka)
24 November - Teacher’s Only Day
29 November - Interschool Athletics Day (Venue - St Paul’s)
6 December - Year 5/6 Big Day In
15 December - Full School Assembly
18 December - Prize Giving
19 December - Reports going home
20 December - Last Day of School for 2023
Stationery
Please continue to ensure that your child continues to have all stationery requirements. It is expected that students have the required stationery at school every day and if certain items run out, break or go missing, students must organise to have these replaced as soon as possible.
Team Behaviour Process
This is the procedure we will follow as a team for unacceptable behaviour. This rarely applies to most students but it is important to recognise the procedure we follow.
Minor Issues
Reminder of expected behaviour
First warning Name on board
Second warning 1 beside name
Third warning 2 beside name
Fourth warning 3 beside name and sent to Team Leader
These steps can be reversed if a child is able to bring about positive change in their behaviour.
Major Issues Sent to Team Leader or Mrs Ritete/Mrs Franklin
PRIME Mathematics Programme
This year, our team will continue to use the PRIME Mathematics Programme during cross-grouping.
The PRIME Mathematics Programme is sequential, revisiting concepts and building on these, so your child is confident to move to the next step. The programme builds a solid foundation in Mathematics, developing a conceptual understanding with a strong focus on problem solving.
The programme is aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum and will support your child to meet the expected curriculum level.
On your child’s stationery list you will see a cost of $11 for this programme. This covers the cost of one new Pr1me Practise Book that your child will use in this programme. However when your child starts in their second new book within a school year another $11 will be charged to your account. At this point your child’s Mathematics teacher will also send home a notice to remind you that this additional cost will occur. This allows us to run the programme in the most cost effective way for you and your child.
Home Learning
We continue to have ‘Home Learning Activities’ which are done over a fortnight. This will consist of activities which are the priority activities (Must Do) to be completed. The other activities on the list will be optional (Can Do).
Reading for Home Learning
Within these activities will be reading at home. Your child is encouraged to read regularly at home, record this on the Home Learning Activities Sheet and have it signed by a parent or caregiver after each time.
Reading regularly is about encouraging reading mileage and helping your child to develop vocabulary and comprehension knowledge. Reading a variety of materials such as newspapers, comics, magazines, novels and recipes helps to develop a broader understanding of texts. Part of the activities will be having your child read aloud to someone to practise this skill. It is important that this is encouraged to support their learning at school.
Reading aloud can be included as a part of reading activities.
Maths for Home Learning
Learning Basic Facts will also be an important part of the activities. The number of times per fortnight your child practises these will depend on their ability to recall basic facts in all four operations with speed and accuracy. Some suggestions of ways to learn these are:
Using dice or counters
Apps that can be downloaded onto your child’s device
Flashcards (can be purchased from $2 shops or printed off the internet)
Time tables poster
Rock/Paper/Scissors activity
Practising with an adult, saying the answer or question out loud
Other Home Learning
Along with these two focus areas there will be other optional activities on the Home Learning Sheet. In some fortnights there will be a little competition within the activities for an optional task.
Those children who complete the required tasks, with signatures and evidence if required, at the end of each fortnight will be rewarded.