Team One Newsletter
Term One 2017
Wednesday 1​st​ February – Thursday 13​th​ April
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Diary Dates
Welcome to 2017! We hope you have all had a relaxing and refreshing holiday.​ A
​
​ 2nd Feb - School Picnic at
special welcome to our new Team One members, who started at Northland
Wainuiomata
School today: Alissa Miller, Tran Ho and Gabby Henshall in Room 1, Evie Harrison,
Annabelle Ainsworth, Emilia Giergiczny, Alana Kabigting, Harriet Small and ​ ​
​ 8th Feb - PMP begins
Christian Pike-Bain in Room 2, Leo Thompson in Room 4 and Tatum Ristow and
​ ​
​ 15th Feb – Meet the Teacher
Blasius Haiai in Room 5.
Evening
Our teaching team this year is Fiona Groube (Room 1), Hannah Fairbairn (Room
​ ​ have ​
21st Feb – Football begins
2), Alice Trail (Room 4), and Emma McElrea (Room 5). We are delighted to
​
Hannah join our team, after having worked part-time in Team Three last​ year.
​ 14th March – Capital E Arts
Ann Marshall will also be working across the team while teachers are on
Festival trip
Classroom Release Time.
​ ​
​ ​ 30th March/ 4th April School Picnic
Parent Teacher Interviews
​ see many of
Tomorrow is our school picnic day at Wainuiomata Pool. We hope​ to
​
you joining us for this beginning of the school year tradition at Northland School.
If you are willing to help supervise a small group of children for part of the day,
please let your child’s teacher know. A separate letter with more details is being
sent home today. It is important that you sign the permission slip for Education
Outside the Classroom activities so that your child can attend the picnic.
Starting the Day
Starting the day positively is important for our learners. School begins at 8.55am.
However, children are welcome to arrive at school from 8:30 and get ready for
the day and socialise with friends. Children arriving earlier than 8:30 need to go
to our Before School Care programme in the library. Across the school, we focus
on the Key Competency of ‘Managing Self.’ We encourage the children to unpack
their bags themselves, put away folders, books etc, put their chair down, and
ensure they are ready for the day. We thank you in advance for your support with
this.
Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP)
Next Wednesday, our PMP begins and will continue throughout the term on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. As this is a physical programme with
lots of movement, please ensure that your child is wearing appropriate clothing
on these days (shorts or tights are great).
Thank you to Rose Baty who has prepared and sent out the roster of parent
volunteers, and to the parents who have kindly offered time to help out with the
running of this programme. We are hugely appreciative of the wonderful parent
support we receive, and could not offer this programme without that help. We
are still short of volunteers on some days. Please see Alice in Room 4 if you
would like to know more about this and can offer some help. Maire Perrot, PMP
co-ordinator for local schools, is running a training session this Friday in the
Viggers Centre at 9am.
Capital E Arts Festival
On March 14th, Team One will be attending three performances at the Capital E
Arts Festival. Further information, and requests for parent help will be sent home
7th April – Team One
Assembly, 2.30pm
Student Safety
Staying Sun Smart!
We are a sun smart school,
and as part of school policy,
we require all children and
staff to wear brimmed hats
(not caps) in terms 1 and 4.
Classrooms also have a
supply of sunscreen for
children to use.
Nuts in Lunches
We have several​ ​children
with nut allergies and ask
that nuts, especially
peanuts, be avoided in
morning teas and lunches.
Student Portfolios
At the end of last year, your
child wouldl have brought
home their portfolio. These
are blue clearfiles, with
samples of work from each
year. If you could please
hand these back to your
child’s teacher over the next
couple of weeks, that would
be greatly appreciated.
closer to the date.
Requests for Help
Learning this term in Team One
Quality Time Together (QTT)
Coming home today is a
request for helpers for our
Thursday afternoon QTT,
which begins next week. If
you are unable to commit
yourself to a rostered time,
you are more than welcome
to join us on any Thursday
afternoon. As all our Year 1s
and 2s are working together
in Rooms 1, 2 and 3, there is
very little extra space and we
are unable to accommodate
preschoolers. Emma is our
QTT contact person for term
one, if you have any queries
or forms, please drop them
into Room 5.
Topic
Our topic to begin the term is ‘Our Stories.’ This topic will focus on getting to know
each other, and the stories that we each bring, and how these can contribute to a
positive and respectful classroom environment. We will also be looking at stories,
myths, and legends from Wellington and New Zealand.
Further into the term, we will be developing our science skills, focusing on
interpreting visual information (using diagrams, charts, models) through the
context of ‘Life Cycles.’ Each class has a swan plant to focus on the life cycle of the
monarch caterpillar. If you have any swan plants you could donate to classes,
please let us know, as we anticipate a lot of hungry caterpillars!
Children will also be learning about our Qualities programme and how that helps
us relate to others and manage ourselves as learners.
Mathematics
In Mathematics we focus daily on building up Number knowledge and strategies,
but will also cover Statistics (Statistical Investigations) and Measurement (Capacity
and Volume) this term.
Health and Physical Education
Shelving Readers​
We would love some
assistance with regularly
shelving the readers in
circulation in Team 1 classes
each week. If you are able to
help with this, please email
Alice or pop into Room 4. It
may be a task that a group of
parents may be able to work
on together. We would
really appreciate offers of
help with this.
As mentioned earlier, this term all children will participate in PMP. Starting in
Week Four, each class will also partake in weekly football sessions for four weeks.
Literacy
Each class will be involved in daily (Monday – Thursday) reading and writing
programmes. Please keep an eye for further details of individual classroom literacy
programme, which will come in classroom newsletters coming out next week.
We are very much looking forward to getting to know both you and your children
this year, and working together to support your child’s learning.
Kind regards,
Classroom Helpers
We will often send a letter or
email requesting classroom
help, but if you would like to
be involved and lend a hand,
please get in touch with your
classroom teacher.
Fiona, Hannah, Alice and Emma
Contacting the teachers
If you have any questions or queries please feel free to pop in, email, or arrange a
time to meet.
Room 1:
Room 2:
Room 4:
Room 5:
Fiona Groube
Hannah Fairbairn
Alice Trail
Emma McElrea
​[email protected]
​[email protected]
​[email protected]
​[email protected]