Meet 5S

Meet the boys in 5S!

Welcome to 5S - 2017

Welcome to the students and parents of Year 5S. I hope you have all had a wonderful break over the holidays and managed to get some rest and relaxation yourselves. I am sure that the boys will be fully charged and are ready to get stuck into the new year.

The main purpose of this letter is to introduce myself as your son’s teacher for 2017 and to outline our programme for the term. My name is Veronica Stevens and I am thoroughly looking forward to working with your son. I have been teaching for over 20 years, with almost half of this time, being at Wellesley College. I have two children of my own, our daughter Taylah is 10 years of age and we also have a son Reuben, who is 7.

We have a busy schedule planned for Term 1, but we will endeavour to keep you up to date through emails, class blog and the school newsletters on a regular basis. Some of the main events and activities coming up in the next few weeks include:

·         School Starts: Monday 30^th January

·         Parents Information Evening: Tuesday 31st January

·         Goal Setting Interviews: Week 3 (13^th – 14^th February)

·         School Picnic: Friday 10^th February

·         Year 4-5 Camp: 20^th - 22^nd February

·         Swimming Sports – 10^th March

Our class blog is up and running and it is a good idea if you are able to check it once a week, as it is a good place to keep up to date with what is happening in the class and around the school. Here is the link:

http://wellesley5s.blogspot.co.nz/

The main areas of learning for this term are:

·         Health – Introducing the new Wellesley Values/Camp

·         PE – Swimming, Cross Country, Summer Sports, Camp

·         Social Science: Tiriti O Waitangi, Me & My World

·         STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) – An Introduction to Design

·         Reading – Kiwi Corkers – Fairy Tales with a Kiwi Twist

·         Writing – Poetry, Recounts, Letters

·         Maths – Introductory numeracy and number knowledge

The classroom programme will also be based around the timetable attached (varying from time to time with the addition of school trips, visiting performers/speakers, beginning of year assessments etc.). To complement the classroom programme, the boys will be required to complete regular nightly homework, with a homework sheet given out most Monday or Tuesdays, to be completed by the following Monday. It is expected that approximately 30 minutes a night (4 days a week) is spent on this. However, there is flexibility to allow for the boys to be involved in the many after school activities that they frequently partake in. In addition, Maths homework is usually given out each week by your son’s Maths teacher.

Homework is given for the following reasons:

·         To provide an opportunity for parents to share and interact with their son.

·         To revise and extend work covered in the classroom.

·         To develop your sons’ organisational and time management skills as well as independent work habits.

·         The main areas of emphasis will be:

-          Spelling

-          Reading

-          Maths

-          With some additional Topic work/Research/Inquiry

Silent reading and discussion of newspaper items, television news, current events and documentaries are also worthwhile extension activities and should not be overlooked.

Our homework hint – please let your son carry out their own research and word processing, and simply offer encouraging guidance where needed. Too often we mark work that has been beautifully presented by Mum or Dad at the last minute. This makes it difficult to measure where your son is at, as well as defeating the purpose of the exercise. Time management is a key tool for the boys so if you could encourage them in this area (eg: using a timetable) along with ‘brainstorming’ or ‘mind-mapping’ at the beginning of an assignment, it would be most helpful.

Please don’t let homework cause any heartache or stressful times at home. A note to me highlighting a ‘rough night’ or an overload of extra commitments will hopefully alleviate any stress.

If your son experiences difficulties with the homework or you have any other concerns, feel free to contact me at any time. (It is expected that your son produces work at his ability level and endeavours to extend this even further.) I encourage you to use email as a good way of letting me know how things are going.

Your son will be given all of their stationery when they arrive at school on the first day. However, it can be useful to provide a pencil case, to ensure that belongings are easily kept together.

The items provided, does not include additional extras such as colouring pencils etc. These are not compulsory, but you may wish to provide such items if you choose. We do recommend that all stationery is taken home to be named and covering books does aid in keeping them in good condition.

I have been using ‘Ez Covers’ (www.ezcovers.com/nz) for a few years now, to cover my children’s books and find them wonderful – cover all the books in a few minutes and no fussing with sticky Duraseal!

If you are covering your son’s books, they need the following labels:

·         6 x 1B5

- Homework

- Reading

- Writing

- Spelling/Conventions

- Inquiry

- Camp/Thinking/Bit and Pieces

·         1 x 3B1 – Spelling

·         1 x MA4 - Maths

It is also a good idea to periodically check with your son from time to time, that they still have all the necessary items such as pens, pencils, rubber and ruler, as they can be quite disadvantaged, when attempting to do work and they are lacking some of the equipment they require.

Finally, I couple of requests for the first week:

·         Sunhats – all boys are required to wear these for morning tea, lunch, sports and PE

·         Tissues – A box of tissues to school please - stocking up for winter colds!

·       Headphones – It is helpful if they could each please have their own headphones. These do not need to be expensive. An appropriate pair can cost around $15.00.

·        Togs – the boys will be swimming for the first 6 weeks of school. They will need to bring their togs, towels, goggles etc for Tuesdays and Fridays.

I look forward to meeting with you all soon and I can be contacted by phone: 562 8030 (Ext: 840) or email: veronica@wellesley.school.nz