Hi Everyone!
Thank you to Wendy’s class who organised the rubbish free day last week. It was a real eye opener for all of us as to how much waste we produce from lunches. Also a huge thank you to Sarah for taking my class yesterday when I was sick.
In case you haven’t noticed, newsletters will be coming out on Thursdays for a while. Please let me know if you get the newsletter electronically so that I can ask for fewer paper copies to hand out.
There has been talk of having some piano performances in school meeting this Friday. I will be talking to my piano students to see if they would like to participate. If you are interested in seeing your child, please ask them if they are going to be performing first and then come to school meeting on Friday morning at 9.30 am.
That’s all from me. Have a good week!
Olivia
Posted August 27th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone!
We have welcomed our 21st student into the class this week. A huge welcome to Rupert and his family into our class.
It has been the fortnight of birthdays in the class at the moment with neverending supplies of cake and numerous renditions of happy birthday. We no longer have any six year olds and have now moved into the world of ten year olds.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to come and have a meeting with me or has booked a time to come and see. It has been great to sit down and chat with all of you and talk about the things that the children get up to in the class.
Wendy’s class has organised a ‘rubbish free lunch day’ which occurred today. This encourages awareness about the amount of rubbish that is generated by school lunches and has taught us all some very interesting strategies to reduce waste in our school. Thank you to all the children in Wendy’s and to all the children who participated. Sorry there was no warning about this in previous newsletters, unfortunately it was only organised late last week.
We have moved onto a new topic in maths: Measuring time. The children have started working with a range of clocks including digital and analog time. We have also begun discussions about the difference between am and pm. We are also beginning to write factual descriptions about forms of communications and have received a few old phones that we plan to take apart and study how they work from the inside out. Thank you to everyone who donated their old phones for this purpose. The children have all begun to work on their personal interest projects with enthusiasm and energy. I will let you all know when they are up and ready for display so that you can come in and have a look at them. They are always so interesting to see. Please remember that it is not an expectation that they work on these at home, they are given designated time each week to work on them.
That’s all for this week. Have a great week!
From Olivia
Posted August 20th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone,
Wow this term is flying by so far. It’s been great to catch up with all the families in the mid-year interviews. A reminder to everyone that if you haven’t already booked a time to see me, please look on our front door for the times left. It is quite important that we catch up at some time so that we can share information about your child and what is happening in the classroom. For all people who want to know about our new contract system, the interviews are a great way to talk about this as well.
We are just about to finish up our topics of fraction/ decimals as well as literary/ factual descriptions in English. New Personal Interest projects are underway and our whole class theme of information and communication has sparked some interest in a whole range of communication modes.
A few requests: If anyone has any old mobile/ landline phones that they don’t need anymore, we would love to use them at school for dismantling and having a look at the insides. Also, our white chair is looking rather grubby at the moment and we need a cover for it. I don’t think many shop bought covers would fit the rather unusual shape of the chair and it might require one sewn especially for it. Please let me know if you are able to do this.
That’s all for now, have a good week!
From Olivia
Posted August 12th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Welcome back to school everyone! I hope you all had a restful break.
We have hit the ground running this term. Already we are into our new maths topic on fractions and decimals and the children have just picked up where they left off with our new contract system. The kids have had so much news to tell the class on all their adventures in the holidays which have been very interesting for the rest of us. We will be starting some work on Literary Descriptions which will add a new dimension to our already incredible stories. We will also start new personal interest projects this term and focus on Factual Descriptions for these.
The class is in the midst of some discussions on excursions for this term so we will keep you posted when a decision has been made.
Wendy is planning a presentation on the trip to Laura and to start plans for the next Laura festival in 2 years time. This will be held on Tuesday 11th August at 7pm.
This Friday is “tree day”. Lane Cove Council will be sending small trees for all the children to take home and find a place to plant them.
Later on in the term we will be starting our preparation for the school concert. The concert will be held at Tambourine Bay on Friday 13th November. We ask everyone to bring a picnic dinner for their family. We are letting you know now so that everyone can keep the date free so no-one misses out on this wonderful event.
Lastly, it’s parent-teacher interview time. I have put a timetable up on the classroom door for weeks 3,4 and 5. Please put your child’s name and adults who will be attending in one of the time slots.
That’s all for this week!
Cheers, Olivia
Posted July 29th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone!
Wasn’t the Currambena Reunion fantastic?! A huge thank you to all the people who helped organise it.
Wow, last week of term is already here. Although many people didnt make it till the end and we have been missing a number of children from the class thanks to colds and winter bugs. I hope everyone recuperates during the holidays and is fresh and ready for next term. School starts back on Tuesday 28th July but there is all day CASP on the Monday.
Please make sure all personal property is taken home before the end of the term as whatever is left over in the lost property baskets will be taken to St Vincent de Pauls in the holidays. The lost property baskets are located in the foyer of the main building and outside Fran and Jo’s; and Preschool.
Our new contract system for independent work seems to be working well for the majority of our class. It is new to some of the kids but they are rising to the challenge well and I’m sure will get the hang of it soon. This system allows the children to be responsible for their own work and negotiate when they get things done for the week. It has also allowed Michael, Chelsea and myself opportunities to take smaller groups or individuals for more in depth activities.
That’s enough for this week. Have a great holiday, see you all back fresh and ready to go for term 3.
From Olivia
Posted July 8th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone!
Welcome back to everyone who went to Laura. It has been wonderful to hear about the adventures and experiences. We also need to welcome Michael (and his family Polly, Ken and Michelle- in Wendy’s class) who started in my class yesterday.
On Monday, canteen was not on due to no parent volunteers. This means that the children who are depending on canteen do not get food for the day and then the teachers have to organise lunch. If you can help with canteen for a day please make sure you sign up on the noticeboard. Of course, this counts as maintenance hours. Also, it is important that all children bring something to eat even if they are supposed to get canteen just in case it is not on (maybe something that can be eaten the next day if canteen is on).
Our 40 year reunion is on this Sunday starting at midday. The whole school is performing and it would be great if you could all make it. It looks like it will be a fantastic day.
That’s all for this week, short and sweet!
From Olivia
Posted July 1st, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone! We had the most gorgeous time at the zoo yesterday. We saw so many animals and had a lovely time together. Half of the group ran to the lion and tiger enclosure at the end of the day and was definitely a highlight. A huge thank you to Chelsea who spent the whole day with us.
Tomorrow we are planning on trying Berry Island again and will need drivers. If you can do it please let me know a.s.a.p. if you can do it. We are still focusing on the Aboriginal culture and have been looking at Aboriginal perspectives as well as art and symbols in their culture. We are going to start our own dreamtime stories and our own totems.
Have a good week!
Olivia
Posted June 24th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone!
Only one more sleep till the Laura trip. Have a wonderful time to all the people going. As for the rest of us, we have got some great activities planned back at school starting off with a whole school excursion to Berry Island Reserve in Wollstonecraft. We will need drivers to get us there and back so please write your name on the list on our front door if you can help. We plan to leave school at 10:00 and leave Berry Island at 2:00 pm. We will make a decision in the morning regarding the weather but please ensure your children have some wet weather gear or a change of clothes in their bags. They will also need non-heatable lunch and drinks too.
Next Tuesday, we will be going to the zoo for a session called ‘animals of the dreamtime’. We will be catching the bus there and back but please remember to pack drinks and food that doesn’t require heating.
At the moment in our classroom, we are moving out a lot of the ‘classroom’ furniture and replacing it with coffee tables and cushions. The children have decided that they would like a dining room table so that they can eat their lunch and use it is a more formal work table if needed. If anyone has a spare (good condition) table lying around at home please come and talk to me. Also, we are planning on decorating one of our tables and we are thinking of decoupage. If anyone has had any experiences with decoupage, I would really love some help with this.
Lastly, one of our fish died last week so we are down to two now. We thought we might like two more to keep the others company and need someone to go and get some for us. We also desperately need the filter cleaned and unblocked because at the moment it is not working properly. Of course this would count as maintenance.
That’s all for this week, have a good one!
From Olivia
Posted June 17th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone, I hope you all had a lovely long weekend!
We are beginning to discuss what we are going to do when Wendy and the kids go to Laura. Jo, Fran, Rowena and I will be organising some activities and excursions for the children who are staying in Sydney. We will be visiting the zoo and looking at all the animals that feature in Aboriginal Dreamtime stories.
Due to the public holiday on Monday, we missed out on sport so our next day for rock climbing and ice skating will be next Monday (15/6). Both Wendy and I need to know ahead of time who can help with driving. If you can help, please write your name on the list on our door before Friday so we organise.
I will be away tomorrow (Thursday) and possibly Friday as well this week. Our wonderful Rowena will be taking the class.
That’s all for this week, take care!
From Olivia
Posted June 10th, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
Hi Everyone, well we went on our sports excursions on Monday and everyone seemed to have a great time. Some new skills were developed and for some, old skills were fine tuned. Thank you to all the parents who drove and assisted. We will be doing the same sport choices on Monday 15th and will be needing drivers from 11:00 to about 2:00. I would like to have drivers organised before the day so please let me know now if you can help.
We have been working on our theme: “Healthy bodies, Healthy Minds” and are discovering so many things that contribute to being healthy. I would like to show some snippets of the documentary “Supersize Me” as part of this theme. I plan to do this on Thursday this week so let me know in the morning if you have any questions regarding this.
Lastly, two quick reminders…
- The AGM is being held tomorrow night starting at 6 pm. Please come and be part of the decision making process regarding Currambena Council. Please bring some soup and bread to share so we can make a nice dinner of it too.
- Although inside time does not start until 9:30, school begins at 9:00. We leave the first half an hour free for the chilren to start the day off socialising with their peers and generally getting themselves sorted for the day.
That’s all for now!
From Olivia
Posted June 3rd, 2009
in Olivia's Class
by oliviam
