WOOHOO!

Hooray! Some of our Room 11 poets have had their work published on Poetry Box, by Paula Green:

More success for our fab-tastic writers!

Congratulations to Bridget, Olivia A, Anna, Brooklyn and Keziah!

The Russley Writers' Walk

After many, many months of talking, thinking, organising and promoting the Russley Writers' Walk was opened today by Bill Nagelkerke and Jane Buxton at a special assembly. Just to give you all an idea of the journey we went on, here's it in a nutshell:

In term 1, I told Room 11 about the Wellington Writers’ Walk. The Wellington Writers’ Walk is a walk on Wellington’s waterfront where 23 sculptures display quotations from some New Zealand novelists, poets and playwrights. The walk promotes literacy to the people of Wellington and tourists and visitors to the capital.

The tamariki and I decided that we would hold our own writing competition. So, in Term 2 we decided to use the theme of ‘Life at Russley’ and ask people to write a poem, paragraph or story about our community. We created some posters that we displayed around the school using some cool quotes and of course, Gru’s Minions!

In Term 3 during the Pirate Story pandemonium (I love a bit of alliteration!) the competition ran. Initially we didn’t get to many people entering. So we decided to do some things to promote the Writers’ Walk. The tamariki, 

-   Jumped on the intercom twice a week
-  Wrote messages in chalk on the concrete around the school
 -  Popped into classes to talk about the Writers’ Walk

Then before the Term 3 holidays, Mrs. Koster, Mrs. Sellier and Mrs. McCreanor went through all of the entries. There were heaps, and they created a shortlist. Once the shortlisted was created, the pieces of writing were sent to local authors Bill Nagelkerke and Jane Buxton for judging. Then, they selected the winners. The winners were:

Ebony, Room 17

Emily, Room 17

Nathan, Room 17

Hollie, Room 15

Xavier, Room 11

Bridget, Room 11

Lucy, Room 11

Karim, Room 11

And the Team 1 & 2 Star Entry was…Michael Visser from Room 11

Izak, Room 5

Thomas, Room 6

Kara, Room 8

Mirette, Room 6

Monica, Room 3

Matilda, Room 3

Alisha, Room 3

Jayda, Room 3

And the Team 1 & 2 Star Entry was…Hannah Smith from Room 1

While all that was happening, Mr. Wilkin, Sacha’s dad, kindly offered to design the panels for the winning pieces of writing to be displayed on.

And finally, we held a special assembly. Check out the photos that Mrs. Koster took today. 

http://1drv.ms/1tiSVWu

Another plug from Paula Green

Hi all, 

We have another lovely write up on the Poetry Box blog about our wonderful Russley children.

Paula Green's Lastest Blog

The Hot Spot Poetry Tour

Have a look at the following link:

Paula Green's Blog Posting About Us


A great plug from the fabulous Paula Green!

It's been a loooonnggg time!

Hello and welcome back!! I can't believe that this is the last term of the year and that some of the class will be moving into Team 3. Last week was fantastic! Room 11 worked hard, had lots and lots of ideas, laughed often, smiled even more and should all be very pleased with a fine start to Term 4. Yesterday we had Athletics Day which was amazing. The fabulous Mrs. Koster was busy taking photos. Have a look at the link below:

http://1drv.ms/1zmthci

Also, Room 11 did such an amazing job at Tuesday night's Hot Spot Poetry Event with author, Paula Green. Thank you to all the whānau for you support with this. Especially to Michelle Andrews for 'making up' the Little Furry Cats. Check out some of the awesome photos that were taken:

http://1drv.ms/1sLLz0p

Today, Yash's whānau came into Room 11 to talk about Diwali and share some kai. If you're like me and know very little about Diwali, have a look below slides:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Mr. Ish

Kia ora everyone...

Last week was pretty darn busy with Student-Led Conferences. It was wonderful to have such a great turnout of parents coming and sharing the learning with their kids. There is always a lot to celebrate and the support you can offer with their next step learning is so important. As I've stated previously, one of the greatest influences for children succeeding is ‘worthwhile feedback’ and the conferences allow the kids to get this feedback from me and you, and to know that they have the support of school and whānau.

Nigel Latta’s programme this week was extremely topical as we explore the changing face of education. He talked about schools being like another dimension from when he went to school and that they were clearly focused on children acquiring the skills that are relevant to the real world... kids‘learning to learn’, and gaining deeper understanding from the process of inquiry and problem solving.

He talked about the tension with parents and some of the aspects that you may find confusing and have questioned yourself were raised and explained, such as national standards, ‘the strategy’ focus in mathematics, a looser format, children not sitting in rows and having their own desk, and learning outside of the classroom. However his final thoughts were that children were learning and enjoying the experience. And probably most importantly, the shifts in education are about preparing them for a world that we don't even know, as yet. You can view the programme on the following link: http://tvnz.co.nz/nigel-latta/s1- ep2-video-6037627 

READING TIP

Allow easy reading!
“There is way too much academic pressure for children
to improve their reading skills. In the world obsessed with test preparation many boys become negative and burnt out by reading requirements. Remember to give him plenty of opportunities to read for pleasure. We want our reading experience to be fun and easy.”
(Getting Boys to Read – Mike McQueen, p 69)


BOOK SUGGESTION

Raccoon Rampage – Andrew Cope. (7+)
The Hole-in the-Tree gang are the most daring raccoons in town. But when they carry out the biggest boldest heist of their lives,
they find a posse on their trail – and after their tails.
Will these cubs lose their cool on the run or have a wild time in the big bright city?