Welcome+to+Room+2

Tuesday 2nd February Welcome to Room 2

Hi, my name is **Mrs Tracey Galloway** and I’ll be your child’s teacher this year. I’m looking forward to an __exciting__ and ‘full of learning’ time in Room 2. I want you to know how pleased I am to have your child in my class. I feel that good communication between home and school is of utmost importance. With your help we will be partners in your child’s education. My teaching begins with making your child feel at home in my classroom and helping them  to develop their independence.I have gone to great lengths  to make our room a comfortable, welcoming place that will  facilitate a safe and secure feeling to ensure academic success. ** My priority is that your child is happy and settled **  ** into school and learning. **  __ Reading Homework __ **__ Everyday __** your child will bring home a reading book to share with you, please make sure that you record this in their reading log. On the days that they don’t see me they will choose a book from their book basket that they have already had. Sometimes they may have the same book more than once. Even though they may know all the words, or most of them, the second day we will have gone into more depth about the story and may have done a written activity about it. When children re-read known texts, they develop fluency and confidence with the print. This also helps to promote **‘__reading for understanding’.__** Ask your child questions about the text, as it is important that they comprehend what they are reading. On Fridays they will bring home their poetry book, which has the poem we have been reading in class together, it would be great if you could read these together at home. __ Swimming __ The children are fortunate to have lessons with the qualified instructors at Freyberg. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Swimming lessons will be starting in Term 2. __ Numeracy/Maths __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">As required, they will bring home their ‘Maths Communication’ notebook. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">This notebook will be used as a place for revision of the activities from our guided class lessons. They are targeted to meet the learning needs of your child at their particular numeracy stage. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">You are most welcome to ask them further questions on the same theme. __ Spelling Homework __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">In term two or when they are ready, the children will bring home their <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">spelling notebooks. <span style="color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt;">Each week they will have a list of 5 words to learn  <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">and on Friday they will be tested. Ideas will be given in that book about <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">how to help them learn these words. If your child is reading at an early <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">level they won’t be given spelling lists to learn until later on, as it is  <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">more important to master ‘**reading**’ high frequency words. __ Headphones __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">We use headphones in class for a variety of things. If your child would like to bring some to school for them to use, please feel free. They will need to be labeled and your child’s responsibility. They will only be used by your child and stored in our class. Headphones that cover the ears are the best. __ Toys at School __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Children love to bring their ‘toys and treasures’ to school to show their friends. Unfortunately these things can become lost or broken resulting in disaster. We have a ‘no toys’ rule in Room 2 to prevent this from happening. However, each Friday they can share something during ‘Circle Time’ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">and then it can be left in my cupboard until home time. __ Teacher Aide __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">We are very fortunate to have **Mrs Helen Hardy** working with us in Room 2. She is a valuable resource to me as a teacher and she is also a great help and support to your child in the classroom. We are able to have more reading groups, smaller individualized programmes and extra help to extend your child where needed and also extra support for those that need it. __ Library Day __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">We have a fantastic library to use. Your child will issue 2 library books on a **Friday** and these books can be left at home until the following Thursday. Please ensure your child brings these books back so they can issue new ones. __ Mobile Library Bus __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">The bus comes to Kairanga every 3 weeks, books issued from the bus will  **__ stay at school __** and will be returned to the bus when it returns to Kairanga. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">I will send home the form for a library card, if you already have a card <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">could you please send it along to school so that I can photocopy it,  <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">for your child to use on the bus. <span style="display: inline !important;">__ Theme __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Our theme for Weeks 1-3 is **‘Our NZ Flag’**. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Week 2 the **‘Life Education Trust’** will be visiting with Harold the Giraffe. We will be focusing on Healthy Eating. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Weeks 4-11 is a Science based topic around the idea of **‘At the Pool’** developing science skills in the capability of **‘Gathering and Interpreting Data’**. __ Meeting with Me __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">I encourage you to contact me at anytime with any questions you might have, as I will definitely contact you if I need to. Please communicate with me in regards to anything; your child’s happiness at school is exceedingly important and directly related to their success at school. We may need to arrange an appropriate time as mornings can be quite busy preparing for the day. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">You can email me anytime at ... **tracey@kairanga.school.nz.** __ Parent Help __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">There may be times in the term when I will need a few more pairs of hands. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">It would be great to have a few parents that I could ring to come in <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">for the odd lesson to help out, such as an art activity. <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Let me know if that might be you. __ Couch __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">If you have a couch in good condition that you no longer need or use, please feel free to let me know. Our classroom couch has seen better days. __ Wiki __ <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Please feel free to look at our developing wikipage … http://kairangaroom2.wikispaces.com/ **__ Your Help __** ** Your help and support are needed in making your child’s time in school a successful one. I am looking forward to teaching your child in Room 2. I consider it a great privilege and responsibility ** ** to be your child’s teacher and look forward to working closely with you and your child. Please feel free to email me anytime to update me on anything or if you need to organise a time to meet. **

__tracey@kairanga.school.nz__
<span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Thank you for your support <span style="color: #262626; display: block; font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Tracey Galloway