Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Well, it has been a long time since I've posted on our class blog, so here it goes...

There's been so much to celebrate. Hopefully we will be celebrating the America’s Cup very, very soon. Yachting has never been so exciting, fast paced and challenging as it is today and this reminds me of education. 

Today we had our Team Speech Final. Kiera, Will, Mya and Zoe represented Room 11, and did an brilliant job. A special 'That's Gold' needs to go out to Zoe who was awarded 2nd place overall and Mya who was awarded 3rd place. The speeches were judged my Mrs. Ussher and Mr. Dent. Zoe will go on to represent Russley School in the Rotary Speech Competition next Wednesday at Isleworth School. Orlando from Room 10 was awarded first place. Mya will act as the reserve.

Our Urban Trail was a massive success on Tuesday. Thank you so much to Helen Sidaway, Emily Coppard, Lindsay Hodder and Zoe's Nanny, Sue for supervising. 

The tamariki have all been working hard to improve the speed of recall with their times tables. Have a look at '3 of the best':

Music has been blasting from the wall of the classroom each Monday. Our sessions with Musical Mary are amazing and the kids are learning so much.

Also, a good friend of mine has been working away for the last few weeks raising money for children living with cancer by setting challenges for every thousand dollars raised. He is doing an AMAZING job. So far he has raised just over $12,000. All of the money will be going to Camp Quality which funds kids with cancer to have a week of being spoilt after the rough road they've been on. If you can, please get behind him and donate a small amount of money. Every dollar counts. Have a wee look at the link: 

http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/kbsoddshoeday

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Mr. Ish

Congratulations to this week's certificate recepiants...

Sato, Kelly, Emily and this fortnight's Super Kid, Corban!

Also, well done to Samuel and Tess for earning a Principal's Award - Ka mau te wehi! (awesome!)

And the winners are....

This afternoon we had our class Poetry Recital Competition. I was very impressed with some of recitals. Most of the kids delivered a funny poem with confidence.  

I am proud to announce that Mya and Arien will be representing our Year 4's, and Oli and Tess will be flying the flag for the Year 3's at tomorrow's Team Assembly. 

Mr. Isherwood

Poetry Recital Competition...

Room 11's Poetry Competition will take place on Wednesday, the 21st of August. Please make sure your child has a poem ready to recite! The best boy and girl from each year level will represent Room 11 at the Team Poetry Recital Competition on Thursday afternoon.

Here is the rubric I'll be using to assess the tamariki:

Stuck for motivation and ideas? Click on the links below...

Giggle Poetry

NZ Poetry Box

The Marshmallow Challenge

On Friday, Room 11 and Room 8 got together for 'The Marshmallow Challenge'

Check out the photo's below:



Mr. Ogston will be choosing the winning tower first thing tomorrow morning.

Keep thinking kids. We will have another 'Marshmallow Challenge' in the last week of the term. 

Nau mai to Term 3!

Kia ora and welcome to Term 3. A special shout out, and welcome to Tess Wolf. Tess has come with her mum, dad and brother  all the way from Delaware, USA. I know that the fabulous tamariki of Room 11 will make her feel really welcome. 

The holidays were great - just what we needed after a hectic 10 weeks of hard work. It's now time to get stuck into a really busy term - in the next 9 weeks (yes, just 9 weeks!) we'll be covering:

• Keeping Ourselves Safe with Constable Meg
• Russley - Then & Now
• Proportion & Ratio (Fractions & Decimals)
• Geomerty (YESSSSSS!)
• Letter Writing
• Newspapers
• Māori - Mihi and whakatauki
• Art - drawings
• Music sessionswith the fabulous 'Musical Mary'
• Speeches

Times Table Challenge

Hi all, 

I introduced this wee initiative at the beginning to the term to motivate the fantastic tamariki of Room 11 to learn their times tables. It has been great to see so many of the kids keen to improve the recall of their times tables and 'battle' one another. The kids compete against one another in a tennis type of tournament with the aim of becoming a 'Terrific Times Tabler'.

Please do pop into Room 11 and have a look at our Time Table Challenge wall and even compete against someone! Below is a picture of McKenzie, Mac and Jacob (Room 8). 

All three boys have the most amazing recall and have at one stage or another held the Times Table Championship Trophy. Yesterday, McKenzie defeated Mac at Team 2 singing. 

Have a great weekend everyone.

Ka kite ano, 

Mr. Isherwood

Hello everyone...

Welcome to Week 8! This week we have Student Led Conferences. I look forward to meeting with you all and discussing your child’s learning. Just a reminder that school will finish early on Tuesday. Also, congratulations to Mya who is the ‘Super Kid’ for this fortnight! Here's a picture of Mya with her sister, Ella. They spent Sunday afternoon up in the snow just past Springfield.

Check out the dugong!

As part of our Inquiry Unit, GOING GOING GONE, we looked at the dugong today.

Jump Rope for Heart!

Yesterday, we participated in the Jump Rope for Heat Skip-a-thon challenge. It was organised by Team 3 to raise money for the Heart Foundation. Check out some of the action shots...

Fakalofa lahi atu...

Hi all, 

Fakalofa lahi atu! (great greetings to you)

Welcome to Week 6 of Term 2. We have another fab-tastic week ahead of us with our learning, gymnastics continuing at Olympia andschool assembly on Friday. Who will be awarded a Principal's Award this week?????

Speaking of awards, each fortnight I'll be awarding a stash of funky certificates to children who have been 'successful, switched on learners'. Congratulations to Sarah, Zoe, Ollie M and McKenzie who all were awarded a certificate last Friday. 

Along with these certificates, I'll be awarding a special certificate to someone who will become the 'Super Kid of the Week' This child will be chosen at the end of the week to be my special helper/P.A and be able to sit on the mat in style amongst the cubes. This week Arien was awarded the 'Super Kid Award'. 

Week 5 blurb...

Kia ora everyone, I hope you all had a fab-tastic weekend! I could get used to these looooonnng weekends! This week we’re continuing with our learning, including, our procedural writing unit, "I Think That Means..." in reading and  our funky inquiry unit, ‘Going, Going, Gone!’ I’ve been so impressed with the children’s focus and enthusiasm for learning. A huge congratulations to Room 11’s first ever ‘Times Table Champion’, Mac. He successfully defended his title four times before the persistent McKenzie pounced. On Thursday, when Mrs. Fowler popped into Room 11, McKenzie was crowned the new ‘Times Table Champion’ of Room 11 by beating Mac in a closely fought match. Speaking of times tables, I can't stress how important it is for your child to know them. This knowledge is required across all strands of mathematics, so improving your child's accuracy and speed with them now will help them not only throughout the year, but their entire school life. I have many suggestions for helping you as parents so please, don't hesitate to ask. Also, below is one of many online numeracy resources (please click on the tab 'Numeracy Information & Websites' for more) that you can use with your child to support them with their learning.  Table Trees I'll always aim to put a summary of important news and information on the weekly home sheet (homework sheet). Have a great week, everyone! Mr. Ish

Hello Everyone...

Yes, siree Bob, we've had such a busy week in Ruma Tekau ma Tahi (Room 11):

• Finishing up our Addition and Subtraction Unit,
• Designing our Class Quilt,
• Learning how to write a procedural text,
• Getting stuck into our 'class play',
• Learning how to use "I Think That Means..." in reading,
• Learning about how the Habits of Mind can power up our learning muscles,
• Getting 'stuck' into the Glue Game,
• Starting our new topic/Inquiry, 'GOING, GOING, GONE!',
• Enjoying listening to our Class Novel, 'Ratburger'

Again, thank you to all of you who have come into Room 11 and introduced yourselves. I look forward to getting to know you all better as the year progresses. 

Also, I'm going to slightly 'revamp' homework. Please have a look at your child's book on Monday and talk to them about my expectations. If you've got any questions, or queries, please just pop into Room 11, or flick me an email: dean.isherwood@russley.school.nz

While I'm thinking about homework, here are a range of basic fact problems your child needs to be able to completed by the end of Year 4. If they can do these sorts of problems they will be achieving AT STANDARD.

Groupings within 100 35  +      = 100 45 +       = 100 85 +       = 100 19 +        = 100 58 +        = 100 100    –  75  = 100    -  15   = 100    -  95  = 100    -  26  = 100  -  64  =	Hundreds adding to 1000 300  +      =  1000 800  +      =  1000 100  +       =  1000 600  +       =  1000 500  +       =  1000 1000    -  700  = 1000    -  900  = 1000    -  200  = 1000    -  500  = 1000  -  400  =	Addition Facts to 20      16   +  3  =      8     +  5  =      6     +  8  =      7     +  9  =      8     +       =  15      13  +     =  17      4   +      =  11      9      +      =  15      14  +      =  19
SUBTRACTION FACTS TO 20 16   -  3  = 12  -  4  = 14  -  5  = 17  -  8  = 11   -  3  = 15     -        =  7 13  -       =  6 16     -       =  9 14     -       =  5 18  -       =  9	Multiplication Facts  (x2, x5, x10) 2     x  5  = 8  x  2  = 6  x  10  = 5  x  7  = 2     x  9  = 3     x  10  = 4     x  5  = 7     x  2  = 9  x  10  = 8  x   5  =	Division Facts (x2, x5, x10)         6    ÷   2  =        30  ÷   5  =        70    ÷  10  =        18   ÷   2  =       45   ÷   5  =        80       ÷  10 =       14       ÷   2  =       15   ÷   5  =       20       ÷  10 =       25   ÷   5  =

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Term 2!

I hope you have all had a fantastic holiday break and that everyone is refreshed, relaxed and ready to get stuck into learning.  As you'll be aware, this will be my first year teaching at Russley School. Prior to winning a position at Russley, I taught at Kaiapoi Borough, St. Albans, and a fabulous six years at Paparoa Street School as a classroom teacher and the Director of the Paparoa Sports Academy.  I love teaching all areas of the curriculum, but have a passion for Physical Education, Mathematics and Reading.  I am committed to providing a secure, caring and positive learning environment in which each child is encouraged to realise his/her potential and acquire skills essential for a lifetime of learning.

I've had a great holiday break with my son, Flynn and my wife, Tamsyn.  Flynn's 21 months old now! 

A huge passion of mine is surf life saving.  I coach and sweep the North Beach Open Men's Crew.  We won bronze at the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships earlier this year.  If you'd like to have a look at some surf boat racing, click on the links below:

Mr. Ish