Cycle Safety

As is usual for the Year 6 students at St. Albans, the Y6’s in R27 will be taking part in this Christchurch City Council's Cycle Safety programme in Weeks 3 & 4. Separate information and permission forms have been sent home already. Thanks for the speedy return of these.

The children will need to bring their bikes and helmets on the following days:

- Monday the 7th of May

- Wednesday the 9th of May

- Friday the 11th of May

- Tuesday the 15th of May

Feel free to email me if you've got any questions!

The Botanical Gardens!

As you'll be aware, Room 27 is off to the Botanical Gardens on Monday as part of our biodiversity unit, 'Green Machine'. We'll be learning about the rich plant life and explore scientific terms around the life and origin of New Zealand biodiversity.


As stated earlier, your children will near to wear adequate shoes, bring their sunhats, water bottles and lunch.


A big thank you again to the following parents who are helping out with transport and supervision:


Megan Grant, 
Linda Leonard, 
Sharlene Nisbet,
Nadine Stechman, 
Vicki Millard, 
Fiona Vangioni




Watch this space for some great photographs of our trip!

Anzac Day...

The soldiers who died are remembered on the 25th of April because that was the day in 1915, when soldiers of the ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’ (ANZAC’s) landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula and under British command attacked the army of Turkey.

Anzac Day is closely linked to the war that both countries were involved in at Gallipoli, but these days Anzac Day is held to remember all Australian and New Zealand soldiers that were killed in all wars. This day is so important that it has been made a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand.

On April 25th each year, there are ‘Dawn Parades’ which many Australians and New Zealanders attend, especially the ‘Returned Service Men’ (RSL and RSA) who fought in these wars and returned home afterwards. The number of these important people becomes less and less each year. These parades are often held at a local ‘War Memorials’ where people are able to pay their respects, lay wreathes onto the monuments, place their poppies, listen to speeches and think about the soldiers that have died fighting for our country.

Have a look at this amazing website Zac's Mum, Nadia is using with her Social Studies Class at Papanui High School.  It's great!!

http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/gallipoli2.htm#

Welcome back to Term 2!

I hope you all had a great break. I had a blast with my wee boy, Flynn and wife, Tamsyn, and spent some time on the West Coast with my sister, brother in-law and my cute wee nephew, Mac (that's his name). Flynn and Mac loved playing together! Below is a picture on Flynn playing on Mac's flash firetruck and a picture of Mac acting all shy!

In regards to school, here are a few wee reminders:


- Children are not required to wear sun hats this term
- Our library day is now Wednesday
- Syndicate singing/assembly is Thursday morning, straight after morning tea
- We have a new behaviour management system in place in Room 27....CUT IT OUT. Please, ask you children about it...it's going to be lots and LOTS of fun :)
- Room 27 have been issued with an iPad, yes an iPad to use in class. This is very, very cool and I've got some cool things planned!


As always, please flick me an email, or pop in if you'd like to have a chat with me about your child's learning.


Kind regards, 


Mr. Isherwood

Dear parents and caregivers,

This evening I've been catching up with an old friend who has set up a network called Honor Sport. In a nutshell, it is an advocacy for sport and community development that believes society should benefit from sport. She told me to have a look at the following YouTube clip:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4X-PctJxIbw


As a 'new' parent, I found it very, VERY interesting! I hope you do too.


Kind regards, 


Mr. Ish

Goal Setting Meetings...

A huge thank you to all parents who attended the goal setting interviews this week. 

After six busy weeks with varied activities and assessments I am feeling as if I am really starting to get to know the fantastic students in Room 27 and am connecting with where they are at with their learning and the pathway they will be venturing along this year.

As I stated in the goal setting meetings, the other key players in each child’s learning are always the parents. Research has shown that for the most effective learning to occur it requires the partnership of students, teachers and parents. The ‘3 legged stool’ analogy demonstrates the need for these key players to have a role or the stool becomes unstable and falls.

To quote Michael Absolum, a leading educationalist, “parents do influence student learning”. I appreciate the role you play as parents and want you to be part of your child’s learning journey.