Tuesday 21 June 2016

Winter has finally arrived rug up keep warm.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying term 2, and things are finally settling down for many families, and our children are enjoying their school days.
We have definitely been spoilt this year with the extended warm weather that we have been blessed with, but I do think winter has finally made an appearance, and things have definitely cooled down, a reminder to send your children to school with their school jackets and covered shoes and socks. We know at this time of the year colds and flues are easily spread, teach children how to blow their noses properly, cover their mouths when sneezing and  wash their hands afterwards, our schools are a hive for generating bugs and germs, and if your child is unwell please keep them home, I know many families struggle with getting time off work, but by sending a sick child into school, you are spreading their germs to many more children, and causing the illness to spread.
If we all do our bit to help keep our children warm this winter, it may help reduce days off work and school and this will help reduce stress for many families this winter.
As we head towards the end of term two, thank you to all the families who have taken the time to do the chrome book training sessions with me, by doing so you are helping your children extend their learning beyond the classroom.
Have a safe and happy holiday break look forward to seeing you all next term.

Fun winter blogging time again...

A Fun Blogging Programme for Children!

Kia ora! My name is Rachel Williams and I am a qualified teacher. I was born and raised in Canada but moved to New Zealand six years ago. I currently live in west Auckland with my son, Aronui. He’s five years old and just started primary school. Exciting!

Late last year I was hired to create a holiday blogging programme for Year 5-10 students in Manaiakalani schools. I created the Summer Learning Journey programme and trialled it in three schools - Tamaki Primary School, Panmure Bridge School and Pt England School.

The purpose of the programme was to help students practice, and hopefully improve their reading and their writing skills. Guess what? It worked! Students in the programme had significantly better e-asTTle writing scores this year than they did last year and significantly higher writing scores than children who didn’t participate. It’s a great result!

To build on this success I have created a second blogging programme. It is called a Winter Learning Journey and the theme for the programme is the Olympic Games! To join, students simply log onto the Winter Learning Journey site and register.

The Winter Learning Journey programme will be offered from 9 July to 24 July 2016.

If you have a son or daughter attending a Manaiakalani cluster school in east Auckland please help them register today!
Questions?
Feel free to contact me (Rachel) via email or phone any time.
Phone number: 09-623-8899 ext. 46437.