Welcome
Hello and welcome back to our existing Te Rapa families and those joining us in the 2023 school year. Our Year 5 and 6 team teachers hope that you have all had a wonderful time with your family and friends over the Christmas holidays and have enjoyed the summer sun when it came out!
This term is already turning out to be action packed with loads of opportunities for learning and reflecting…and of course, CAMP.
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 Tania Wood 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
Written Language – Recount and Instructional Writing, consolidating basic writing skills
Reading – Guided Silent Reading and questioning and Shared Reading
Maths – Maths knowledge (basic facts, place value, fractions), PRIME Mathematics Programme
Inquiry/Big Idea – Under review
Maori – Mihi, Powhiri, Greetings and Classroom Objects
Arts – Portraits and visual art related to camp and Inquiry
Health & PE – Swimming and Triathlon
Key Competencies & H.E.A.R.T.– Learning Logs – Reflection on learning
Assessment – Running Records, Journal Reading Assessment, Writing Samples, PAT’s, Basic Facts, IKAN
Events
St John in Schools - Clued Up Camper: Tuesday, 14th and Wednesday, 15th February
Meeting for parents going to camp: Wednesday, 15th February
Orientation Evening: Thursday, 16th February
Yr 5/6 Camp Mt Maunganui/Papamoa: Tuesday, 28th February - Friday, 3rd March.
Class Photos: Wednesday, 8th March
Year 5/6 Swimming Sports: Thursday, 9th March
Year 5/6 Triathlon: Tuesday, 14th March
Celebrating Cultures day: Friday, 24th March
Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences: Tuesday, 4th April and Wednesday, 5th April
Camp
We are in the final planning stages of our Week 4 (28th Feb - 3rd March) Camp to Mt Mounganui and Papamoa. A gear list has been sent home, via the app and email, a few weeks ago and is also attached to this page. A paper copy will also come home that you can use to tick off items when packing to ensure your child is prepared with the necessary gear for their time away. Also please ensure the parent contribution of $220 is paid to the school office by Friday 17th February.
Camp 2023 Gear List
Stationery
The Stationery list should come home with your child, today. Please ensure that all stationery requirements are at school as soon as possible. The sooner we have stationery items in class the sooner we are able to have everyone working to their full potential. 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. You child’s teacher may send home a How To Organise Your Stationery guide to ensure all stationery is labelled correctly.
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
Testing
In Week 2 and 3, we will be completing some very important testing.
If students are away for this, it can be difficult to catch up. Please ensure your child is ready to start the day at 9am.
Stationery
The stationery list should come home with your child, today. Please ensure that all stationery requirements are at school as soon as possible. The sooner we have stationery items in class the sooner we are able to have everyone working to their full potential. 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. You child’s teacher may send home a How To Organise Your Stationery guide to ensure all stationery is labelled correctly.
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.
Swimming
Please make sure that your child has swimming gear at school every day. If they are not swimming they must bring a note explaining why they are not swimming and how long this will last. If possible, we also ask that your child has a pair of goggles; these really help them to become much more confident in the water. We ask that girls swim in one piece togs and boys in swimming shorts, not other sports shorts, please. This year’s Syndicate Swimming Sports will be held on Thursday 9th March.
Triathlon
On Tuesday 14th March, our students will take part in a syndicate triathlon. All students will take part in the individual event as we are encouraging a ‘Have a Go’ attitude. They will swim 4 lengths of the school pool and then cycle and run around the council fields. It would be advised that they practise riding their bike on grass as this can be quite a challenge if they are not used to it. A notice will come out shortly with more information.
Sun Smart
We would like to see all students being sun smart in the summer months and encourage them to dress appropriately for the sun, bring a sun hat and also apply sun block at home before coming to school. All classes will have sunblock available for students to re-apply when they need to during the day. We also encourage all students to have water bottles in class to keep hydrated.
Home Learning
This year, in the Year 5/6 Syndicate, we will have ‘Home Learning Activities’ which will be done over a fortnight and will begin in Week 2. This will consist of activities which are the priority activities to be completed. The other activities on the list will be optional.
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.