Did you read our newsletter sent home last Friday (10th Feb). If not here's a copy:

Kia Ora Koutou

Mrs Victoria Lindley in Room 5 and Mrs Nicola Clarke in Room 6 would like to welcome you back especially if you are new parents to our school. We are looking forward to an enjoyable and productive year and are committed to helping your child achieve their potential.

For those of you who don’t know me my name is Victoria Lindley. I have been relieving and teaching full time in Parkview School for coming up 2 years. I am married to Tony and we have 2 young girls; Grace 5 and Gemma 3. In any spare time I like to be in the outdoors, gardening or running round with the girls!

I (Nicola) have been teaching at Parkview for nearly 20 years now. I live locally with my husband along with 3 cats and a dog. Two of my sons live here in Christchurch and my daughter lives on the Gold Coast with her family. I enjoy forest and bush walks and spending time in the surrounding hills and bays as well as a quiet cycle in Burwood plantation.

This year we will be team teaching for parts of the day. While your child has a home room the areas of Room 5 and 6 will be a joint learning space. It may mean that your child will see a different teacher for different subject areas. Later on in the year as the role grows another teacher will join our team working in Room 4.

Whānau Hui

Each day will begin with whānau hui. This is a communal time where both classes meet together to begin the day with a karakia - (prayer), waiata (song) and to learn some simple Te Reo words and phrases.

Junior syndicate whānau huis (Rooms 1,2,3,5 & 6) will take place every second Monday (beginning week 3) at 2pm in the hall. You are welcome to attend this. It will also be a time of celebration and recognition of students who have displayed the Parkview School values.

Timetable

Writing will begin straight after whānau hui. Each week either one of us will lead this. The students will have the opportunity to choose their own learning space to continue with their individual writing. We will work with smaller groups and conference one-to-one with individuals.
Reading and Maths is timetabled for the morning with the afternoons allowing time for the inquiry topic (Our place), sport, art, handwriting and any other things that crop up in the school day!

Reading Homework

Every day, except Friday, your child will bring home a reading book in their reading folder.  This will be a book they will have read at school. Sometimes your child may have the same book for 2 nights. Please listen to your child read each night and ask them some questions about the story. This is very important because it re-enforces the reading programme at school. Please record the name of the book, the date and your signature. To avoid books getting damaged please keep them in the folder. Reading folders need to come to school every day. Without a reading folder no new book will be sent home.

You may find bags of letters or words in your child’s reading folder. They need to instantly recognise these to help in the process of learning to read and write. The recognition of alphabet letters and their sounds is a vital first goal.

Library Times

Room 5 and 6 have separate library times.
Room 5 is timetabled to go on Monday at 1:30pm and Room 6 Friday at 2.30pm.
Children are allowed to get 1 book out, another book cannot be issued until the previous book is returned.

Sharing
Sharing day will be Monday. If your child has something interesting they would like to share  eg: a photo, special object, certificate or alternatively they can talk about an experience or event which is a great way to develop their oral language skills.  NO TOYS PLEASE!

General Information
We appreciate that school can be tiring and there is a lot to learn when you are 5 so we do ask that you try and adhere to school hours as much as possible, ie: Giving your child plenty of time to settle, to do any tasks and unpack their own bag in the morning. Please refrain from not picking your child up until the school day has ended, unless you have spoken to the teacher prior.

You will notice that there are no doors on the classrooms anymore so we do ask that you please remain outside until the final bell has gone for the day. This means less distraction for the children and helps to keep them safe when they are trying to negotiate their way to and from the cloakrooms to get their bags to pack up at the end of each day.

Joint Classroom Blog

This year Room 5 and 6 will have a shared blog, this will be updated weekly. It may take sometime to get up and running but we will let you know when it is live. To access the blog please follow the link on the school website.

Outside Room 5 and 6 are notice boards. If there are any notices that you have missed or misplaced be sure to see the notice board. Notices will only be given to the oldest child in each family at Parkview and will be sent home in children's reading folders on Friday.

Whānau Evening
In week 4 (Monday 20^th February) there will be an evening to meet the teachers and take the time to visit the classrooms.  This will be held in the hall from 6:15pm and run until 7pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please know that you are welcome to discuss your child's learning with us at any-time. Your child's home teacher is your first port of call. We do have a staff meeting each Tuesday after school and Syndicate meetings on Wednesdays so these days are not suitable for us. Please contact your child’s home teacher in advance to organise a suitable meeting time. If you wish you can also e-mail us. You will find our addresses below.

We thank you in advance for your ongoing support this year. The home/school partnership is crucial to your child’s success.

Kind regards

Nicola Clarke and Victoria Lindley

nicola.clarke@parkview.school.nz

victoria.lindley@parkview.school.nz