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 30th
January
·
Parents Information Evening: Tuesday
31st January
·
Goal Setting Interviews: Week 3
(13th – 14th February)
·
School Picnic: Friday 10th
February
·
Year 4-5 Camp: 20th
- 22nd February
·
Swimming Sports – 10th
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:
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
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