Puriri Team are really excited to be back at school after the holidays. It has been lovely to come together everyday for some practice for our upcoming Athletics Day. The final term of the year is a time for celebration and sharing. Surrey One are focussed on growing skills of positivity to equip students to see the good in all and to share this with others. Rooms 6 and 7 are focussed on growing their skills of being inclusive in and out of the classroom.

We will be working hard in every space right through until the end of the year and the conversations you have at home are of great help in consolidating the learning at school. In mathematics please look for opportunities to show mathematics in daily life. You could point out counting in twos, forwards and backwards, from odd and even numbers by looking at mailbox numbers as you walk to school. For the first month of term Surrey One will be exploring number through money and growing their financial literacy. Rooms 6 and 7 will be immersed in fractions and strengthening their number.

In every whanau class we are reading, sharing poems, discussing storytelling and retelling our own stories orally and in written language. We have a focus on building our students knowledge of books, authors and illustrators and having them see themselves as capable to be skilled readers and writers themselves. You can encourage this love of literacy by taking your child to the library, discussing what you liked to read at their age, reading to them, sharing family stories and by giving them materials to make their own books or cartoon strips.

We have been working really hard to create STUNNING artworks that will be offered as calendars, cards, notebooks and diaries through our school fundraising. These would make beautiful and meaningful gifts for family members while supporting our school in raising funds for projects to enhance our students school experiences. Samples of the products are available for viewing in the bag area of Room 6 if you would like to see what they look like. Look out in the school newsletter soon for how to order.

If you have not done so already could you please send a named, brimmed (bucket or cricket style) hat to school with your child. We are always talking about sun safety in our harsh sun and wearing hats as one of our daily habits is something the whole school is committed to. Please do ensure you have put sun screen on your child before leaving home for the morning too. If you could ensure that your child wears shoes that are suitable for athletics training everyday that would be much appreciated as we train on the grass and courts daily.

Surrey One had ‘Bees Up Top’ visiting last week. They buzzed about what they learnt and we are sure they will be able to share their learning with the rest of Puriri and people at home to teach us how to support bees and increase our sustainable living skills.

We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the upcoming Athletics Day at Grey Lynn Park. It is terrific to have a school that comes together to compete, cheer each other on and celebrate together. How lucky we are to be able to do this several times a year!

Rooms 6 and 7 will be going on a trip to the Auckland Art Gallery where they will view artworks and learn about how artists use visuals to communicate. The students will then participate in a workshop to create an artwork to communicate.

If you have some time available to support then Surrey One would appreciate some help in putting reading books away and with their spelling programme. Please contact Mrs Lawson on dlawson@greylynn.school.nz or Stacey on skavanaugh@greylynn.school.nz

As a final thought for our newsletter, from the book ‘Nurture’ by Nathan Wallis ‘To wonder is the foundation of learning. No toy will surpass the joy of a curious mind’.

Mrs Lawson, Stacey, Mrs Dean, Morgan, Lucy & Jody