Y7&8 Syndicate Newsletter
Term 3 2023
Welcome to Term 3, it is shaping up to be an exciting and entertaining term. A reminder that we have our Parent/Student/Teacher Mid Year Conferences in Week 2, where you will receive your child’s progress statement and their learning goals will be discussed. Ensure that you have made a booking through School Interviews www.schoolinterviews.co.nz.
Exciting events and learning we have to look forward to are outlined below:
Production 2023
‘A Lesson In Time’
Performances will be on the nights of
Wednesday 23rd August and Thursday 24th August.
All our actors and dancers have been busy practising during Term 2. All students need to continue to show a commitment to all rehearsals. We are all looking forward to being involved in this exciting production either backstage, onstage or in the audience.
Learning in the Classroom ...
Mathematics - ‘Connecting the Strand’ classes continue to focus on Statistics, Measurement and Geometry. We also have students beginning their training for the Waikato Waimath competition in week 4 this term.
Writing - Speeches will be a focus for the first few weeks preparing for our Syndicate Speech competition in Week 5. Classes will also continue to work on specific writing and recrafting skills through persuasive writing.
Grammar - We continue to develop knowledge of spelling patterns, word origins, sentence structures, spelling rules and new vocabulary.
Reading - Our focus for Guided Reading is Inference and Evaluation and later in the term we will combine our reading and writing through discussing and discovering common themes, sophisticated plots with hidden messages and meanings, and comprehending unfamiliar texts.
Inquiry - We are completing our Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Inquiry. Once this is completed, if time allows, we will look to do something that is focused around the Arts.
Physical Education and Health - The focus for Term 3 will be building stamina and endurance through running to prepare for our Whole School Cross Country. Team building fitness sessions will also be activities that we will use to develop the students' fitness.
‘The Sexuality Road’ will be our health programme for Term 3. We will be having these lessons on a Thursday in our Year Level Rotation classes. Information regarding this programme was sent home last term.
ICT- A range of activities to develop skills using Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Forms within our classroom programmes. All classes are using technology as a tool to assist our learning on a daily basis. We will also continue to use our ePortfolios to share our learning.
Science Fair - The first few weeks the students will spend time researching and completing a Science Fair entry. The students will be either completing a photography, video, wall chart or observational drawing project.
Key Dates for Term 3
Week 1- Technicraft new sessions - Year 7 (8.45-11.45am) and Year 8 (11.50am-2.50pm)
Week 2 - Mid Year Conferences (Wednesday and Thursday)
Week 3 - Ham-West Sports/Looking to Lead
Week 4 - ICAS DIgital TechnologiesI/Waimaths/ICAS Writing/Sports Photos(all day) / Classroom speech finals
Week 5 - ICAS English/Syndicate Speech Finals / Full School Assembly/School Cross Country
Week 6 - ICAS Science & Spelling/ Production Night - Wednesday & Thursday
Week 7 - ICAS Mathematics / Netball Prize Giving (3.30pm) and Hockey Prize Giving (3.30pm) WFPS Speech Finals
Week 8 - PTA Meeting- Wednesday Evening
Week 9 -
Week 10 - WFPS Cross Country / Full School Assembly and end of Term 3.
Term 3 Reminders
Stationery - Please ensure that your child has replenished their stationery supplies such as their pens, pencils and rulers ready for another term of learning.
Technicraft - Year 7’s need to be at school before 8.30am so they do not miss the morning bus. Year 8’s will attend the afternoon session leaving Te Rapa at 11.45 am and returning at 2.50 pm.
Students are also reminded about our “Shorts for Sports” policy when playing out on the fields during interval and lunchtime.
Review classroom homework requirements and establish this routine for the term.
Camp is coming up Term 4, Week 9 - Camp Raglan. Permission slips and health forms etc will be coming home soon, please return these promptly to school.
2023 Year 7/8 Swimming Sports
The Year 7/8 syndicate had sunny but chilly weather for our swimming sports on Friday 17th March. All swimmers gave it their best efforts and everyone walked away proud of their achievements.
Room 19 won the class relay with Room 17 close behind. Matai were the winners of the house relay and Rimu second. The student vs Teacher/Parent relay was also a very close run battle with the teachers/parents eventually coming out on top.
Thank you to those parents and siblings who volunteered and helped our day run smoothly (and got in the pool for the relay).
Tech Arts @ Hamilton Junior High School
Tech Arts will begin on Thursday 9th February. The students receive specialised teaching in the following areas:
*Food - Design and Evaluation; *BioTech - Body Products, Digital Imagery & Product Labelling; *Hard Materials - Design Process; *Visual Art. *Electronics - DV
This year Tech Arts will be split into year groups. Year 7’s will be the first group to attend, leaving school at 8:45am. Your child will need to arrive at school by 8:30am for the daily roll each Thursday from Week 1 Term 1 and 2. Students travel by bus to Hamilton Junior High School for classes and Year 7’s will return by 11.45am.
Then the Year 8’s will leave at 11.50pm for Tech Arts and arrive back at Te Rapa at 2.50pm.
While your student is not at Tech Arts, they will be in one of the Senior Classrooms (it may not be their own) here at Te Rapa. They will be doing a variety of activities such as learning basic Spanish, Coding, Science, Music and Speech Craft.
If your child is absent on a Tech Arts day, please ring into the school office before 8:30am.
The first day of Tech Arts is Thursday the 9th February. Students will get further information from HJHS during this session. A Bus Code of Conduct will be sent home today with this notice, please discuss with your child and return to their homeroom teacher before Thursday the 9th February 2023.
Please make sure your child comes to school in covered shoes for Tech Arts. This is a health and safety requirement.