Almost at the business end of the year .....Christmas Time!

Kia ora Whanau, well where has the year gone already!  September means Spring which means warmer weather which means summer is just around the corner yippee! How many parents have had a hurry up from their children regarding getting along to a chrome book training session with me so they can take their device home?  Its only for approximately 1 hour at a suitable time that suits, the sooner this training is undertaken the sooner your child can start learning at home.  Look at it as upskilling yourself also, there is always something new to learn, you have got nothing to lose but everything to gain, come along and find out what these cool devices our kids are learning on are all about.
A few of our schools are currently holding signup evenings, this term and next term for our year 3 s going onto year 4 next year, please do make an effort if you receive a notice from your child about these evenings, the more informed you are about your child's learning the more support you can provide, especially by commenting on their blogs. Our children love to see their families taking an interest in what they are doing, and it encourages them to keep up the great work they produce.  So come on parents get along to these learning sessions and help support your child's education, never before have we been able to be so connected to what our children are learning in the classroom.  Have a safe and happy remainder of term 3 and I look forward to seeing you all again next term.

Welcome to Term 3, where has the year gone already.

Kia Ora, Talofa lava, Kia orana, M alo e lelei, Fakalofa lahi atu, Bula,

Who watched the opening of the Olympic games on the weekend?  Wasn't it spectacular.

Good luck to all our kiwi Olympians who are going for gold in Rio!

I hope our children are using their chrome books wisely and utilizing them to maybe watch some of the coverage on the Olympic games, anytime, anywhere.

Term 3, and yes winter is definitely here, the South Island and the lower North Island are getting the brunt of it with heavy snow falls, below zero temps and power outages, us upper North Islanders have woken to our first heavy frosts, and temps in the single digits and having to get that  ice off the car in the morning, let the kids have some fun doing it, with a jug or two of cold water.

I know many schools are feeling this with higher than normal absenteeism due to colds and flues.              This is not helped by our many cold and damp homes that we live in. Try and keep windows covered at night if possible and block any draughts under doors. Only use heaters if really necessary as these are very expensive to run, dress warm, add an extra blanket, hot water cylinders use most of the power consumption, shorten shower times.

 Winter can be a very stressful time for many of our families who are trying to juggle so many balls, let your children know what needs to be done to save power, keep warm, explain things to them, you will be helping them in the long run, if we help educate our children around these issues and get them on board, everyone benefits in the end.  When the sun does make an appearance make sure you get out there and enjoy it, before we know it summer will be here again, but for the mean time rug up and keep warm.

Chromebook training sessions are available, please contact your school or you can contact me directly on :
Mobile       021 216 1039
Landline     09 216 1039
Email         yayleen.hubbard@manaiakalani.org
Website     www.manaiakalani.org

If your child is requesting to bring their chrome book home, but need a parent / caregiver to undertake the training first, please do get in touch and we can get this sorted for you,  as long as the teacher is happy for the device to go home, a training session usually only takes an hour of your time, getting the device home is an integral part of how our children learn beyond the classroom,

UBIQUITOUS - Life long learning, anywhere anytime any pace, from anywhere,
LIVING LOCAL, LEARNING GLOBAL! 

Have a fantastic term three everyone!!

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.

Email address: rachel.williamson@auckland.ac.nz

Phone number: 09-623-8899 ext. 46437.

Smart learners from Room 10 at Ruapotaka School

Check out these smart learners from room 10 at Ruapotaka School.
What a great afternoon we had showing our parents and caregivers what these chrome books are all about, and how they are helping us become better learners in the classroom and at home.
A big thankyou to Mrs Buchanan for all her hard work organising such a successful day!
Thankyou to Fiona Grant for supporting room 10 in being able to take their chrome books home, this is a huge step forward in being able to help these children, take their learning to another level.
Congratulations Room 10 you guys rock!

Let's start with Cybersmart! by Room 10 at Ruapotaka

Room 10 at Ruapotaka School have been busy preparing for their whānau hui. Visit the Room 10 blog  to see more of their screencasts and blog posts about the hui.

Welcome back to term 2

Welcome back everyone, term 2 here we come.
Well the year seems to be going by so fast already, and I hope everyone has had a great term 1 and everyone is settling in nicely.

Well I had a good response and uptake for parent training in the first term, it has been wonderful meeting you all and it is always a positive sign when we have so many keen parents wanting to get on board with their childrens learning.  Thankyou to all the parents for making the time to come and see me, and also to our wonderful children who keep their blog sites up to date so mum and dad can see what your up too, and leave their comments.

Winter is coming... I think. We are having quite unseasonable weather at the moment, with temperatures still way above what they normally are, it is nice to still be able to enjoy the extended warmer days.  Just a reminder to all parents that when the weather does start cooling down our children need their winter jackets, and shoes and socks.  Breakfast is an important start to the day, and hot porridge or weetbix always goes down well in the colder months.  Keeping our children warm will help keep the nasty colds and flues at bay.

Have a great term everyone, I look forward to meeting more of you in the coming months.