We are one of the Year 3 & 4 classes at Russley School. We aim to work together well so that we can achieve success in everything we do. To help us be successful students we use the Russley Dispositions. They help us to train our brains to think successfully when we are faced with problems where the answer is not immediately known. On our Blog you will find photos, videos, up-coming events, notices and a range of other exciting information that we would love to share with you!
Our first unit of work this term is a Science unit called ‘Green Machine’. This will be taught in conjunction with the Christchurch City Council and involves a visit to the Botanic Gardens and the Canterbury Museum on the 6th of June. Thank you to all of you who have indicated that you're able to come along for the day and assist! On this outing, the children will investigate the meaning of a balanced ecosystem and understand why these key roles are so important to our lives as humans. They will start by tuning their ears into native birds that visit the gardens before completing a sound map to log their data. In class, Miss Biergard is teaching the children all about plants and how they are suited to their particular habitat. Photos of the tamariki's learning will be added to this page throughout the term.
Welcome to Term 2. The holidays are but a distant memory! It's been great to see the tamariki so enthusiastic about making gains in their learning.
I'd like to ‘officially’ welcome Miss Samantha Biergar our new trainee teacher from the University of Canterbury. She will be
teaching in Room 11 over the next 6 weeks. Watch this space for more on Miss Biergard next week....
Each week, I'll be introducing a weekly book suggestion and a reading hint to get those reluctant readers to read! I hope you all find these useful.
Reading Tip: Reading can be tiring and frustrating to the young reader, regular short periods of reading practice are better. (Boys and Books
– James Moloney)
Book Suggestion: Jim's Letters by Glyn Harper
Between December 1914 and August1915 Tom and Jim write letters to each other whenever they get a chance. Tom talks about life
at home on the farm while Jim writes from Egypt and then from
Gallipoli.
Dear whanau, Here is a link to photos from the Cross Country. You can pass the link on, post it in your blog, or download individual photos. Thanks to the fabulous Mrs. Koster for the supply! Photographs
Welcome to Term 1 and to Room 11. I hope you have all had a fantastic holiday and that everyone is refreshed, relaxed and ready to get stuck into learning. As you'll be aware, this is my second year teaching at Russley. Prior to coming here, I taught at Paparoa Street School, St. Albans School and Kaiapoi Borough School.
I've had a great holiday break with my wife and adorable kids, Flynn and Isla. Here's a wee snap of the two.
A huge passion of mine is surf life saving. I coach and sweep the North Beach Open Men's Crew. We're off to Waihi Beach this weekend to compete in the North Island Surf Boat Championships, then the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships in March. If you'd like to have a look at some surf boat racing, click on the link below.
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:
