Week 9

• Swimming each morning this week.
•  Carol Evening this Thursday 6pm at Hutt Central School Hall. Bring a cushion
• Shared lunch Thursday,  please bring a small plate of Christmas food
• Thursday afternoon Wheels Afternoon, bring a scooter, bike, roller skates etc and a HELMET.
• NO HELMET, NO WHEELS.

Swimming

Wednesday 2nd December

Swimming is at Huia Pool today  

Departing school on the bus at 10.20

Santa's Workshop

Tomorrow after swimming.

We will be having lunch after leaving the pool at the playground (hopefully it will be fine) then walking to the Dowse for Santa's fabulous workshop.

We have 2 parent helpers at the moment. If you are able to join us please let me know today.

Merry Christmas

Hutt Central's Family Carol Evening

Thursday 10th December at 6pm.

Hutt Central School Hall.

Bring a cushion to sit on. Wear your Christmas accessories.

Week 8 next week!

Next week is looking like another busy one. We have swimming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Room 10 will be leaving from swimming, having lunch at the park and then walking to the Dowse for Santa's Workshop. ( Let's hope the weather plays the part)

There is a $3 cost for the workshop. If you haven't already done so, can you please return the permission slip and the money as soon as possible next week.

At this point, we have 2 parent helpers for Thursday.

If you are able to come along to swimming on any day and help, especially with drying and dressing after the swimming lesson it would be fantastic.

The bus leaves school at 10.20 for our lessons which begin at 10.40.

Your child needs a named bag for their towel, togs, goggles, if they wear them and to put their clothes in while they are swimming. Please make sure all of their clothes are named.

There will be no reading books going home from now, but please take any opportunity  to read to or with your child.

Reading At Home

We all lead a busy life and it's not always easy to find a spare few minutes to listen to and read with our children.

Hopefully some of the ideas below will help reading time be an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Try to find somewhere (perhaps take advantage of the improving weather and read outside) that is

• Quiet
• Comfortable
• Where you can sit closely together
• Relaxing
• Where you won't be interrupted

Some Do's

• Encourage your child to guess what the story might be about before you begin reading
• Praise every effort made ; you worked hard on that word!
• That's a tricky word, but I'm sure you will be able to work it out.
• What a good idea you had about the story.
• Look how much easier it is for you now, reward progress with a smile and encouraging word.
• I really enjoyed listening to you read, thank you.
• Ask your child what story or part of the story, they would like to read to you
• Share the reading. You read some to them, then they read some to you, maybe even read a few lines together
• Ask questions about what happened in the story, who was in the story, which character they liked (and why), 
• Ask your child to find words on the page 
• Encourage your child to use what they know about letter and their sounds when working out a word.
• Miss a tricky word out and read on to the end of the sentence then go back and make a guess about what the word may say.
• Praise their efforts.
• Let your child see you reading. It shows them that you also value reading.
• Make it a happy, shared time in your busy day.
• Read a variety of books to keep it interesting.

Please ask if there is anything you would like to know regarding helping your child with their reading.

Mostly, read, read, read

Wow

What a fantastic day.

The weather was perfect,

the boat ride benign

Jeff the ranger had some fascinating creatures to look at and talk about

The Giant Cook Strait Weta

 the very rare Flax Weevil

                                            geckos

we saw a variety of birds,

 butterflies

 plants and their habitats

and we made it to the top!

Mission accomplished.

An enormous thank you to all involved, but especially the fantastic group of helpers who enjoyed the day with us and of course the wonderful children. 

Mana Island Reminder

Dear Parents, Whanau and family,

Our trip to Mana Island will be on Monday November 16^th. The postponement day will be Thursday November 19^th. Parent helpers please confirm if you can help on the Thursday postponement day.

Please remember the following things:

• Your child needs to be at school by 7.45 am.
• Your child will return to school between 3.30 and 3.45. Please make sure that there are arrangements in place for their pick up and that they know them.
• To check the gear list. Warm and water proof clothing is essential.
• Food and drink for the day. Water is preferable. Your child could be hungrier than usual as they will be outside and involved in an active programme.
• To tell your teacher about any allergies and ensure that there is appropriate medication should they need it.
• Postponement is likely to be by text and /or blog. Please let the office know (by email: penny@huttcentral.school.nz ) of your current phone number.
• If your child is sick on the day it is essential that we know that they are not coming ASAP (by class email).

We are looking forward to an exciting trip.

Regards

Jan Braddock

(braddockj@huttcentral.school.nz)

Martin Hodge

(martin.hodge@huttcentral.school.nz)

Please send in your child's waterproof coat and sturdy walking shoes tomorrow to be checked off.

Mana Island Trip

This time next week we will be on our way to Mana Island !

Its a great adventure and a wonderful opportunity to explore one of New Zealand's special places.

Please join us if you can.

We have room for more helpers, so take advantage of this and share a unique experience with your child/ grandchild. niece or nephew.

 The Boat

The vessel is a 23m Catamaran and is in Full Current Survey for the operation it is required to carry out.

There will be a qualified skipper on board with one other crew member.

The students enter the boat via a floating jetty.

All students will wear a lifejacket on board. These will be placed on the table when you get inside they can put them on before the boat leaves the dock. It is up to the adults if they want to wear a lifejacket.

There are 30 seats and the students usually sit down with the adults standing.

The boat trip takes around 20 minutes. 40% of the journey is at 10 knots over the bar then 20 knots for the journey to the island.

At the island the boat will drive up onto the beach and a ladder will come down to walk off.

The Ranger will meet you there. All students will need to have a biosecurity check before they leave the boat.

Once on the island they usually walk up a mown track to the top, have lunch then walk down. The track is a ‘gentle’ walk up.

Eliot carries out 3 weather checks leading up to the journey. He will also take a trip out to the island to check the conditions if required. He will liaise with Jan to make the call. He will always side with caution.

This is a not for profit set up that is designed to get schools to the island. They do trips with Friends of Mana and Forest and Bird but not for small groups.

Term 4 Return

Welcome to Term 4

It's hard to believe how quickly the year is going! All of the Christmas decorations about town are a worry.

Term 4 will be another busy term.

Coming up next week, on Wednesday 21st is our visit to the Hutt City Library.
We need at least 2 helpers please.  Let me know as soon as you can if you can go along with us please. We leave school at 11am and return by 12:30.

Also next week on Friday is the Bring and Buy sale. This is a noisy, busy, fun event.
If you have items you would like to donate. please send along to Room 10.

Your child will find it useful to have a named plastic bag with them on Friday if they are going to purchase things. Also having  their money in a purse, wallet or named zip lock bag is helpful.

There will be food for sale, but I will have an early lunch snack so at least the children will have some food in their tummies if they get carried away and forget to eat later.

There will be an up-date regarding the Mana Island visit coming home next week as well with information about dates, costs and helpers, so please look out for that.

Remember a named hat is need at school this term. If possible having a hat that can be left at school is a good idea.


We will be focussing on Earthquakes again next week. Ask your child to show you what they need to do in the event of an earthquake striking. We also reviewed fire safety.

          Have a great weekend.           Enjoy the extra daylight at the end of the day.

Happy Holidays!

Wow what an amazing term!

The focus on fairy tales and nursery rhymes has been a lot of fun.

The children have done some wonderful learning in all areas, but especially with their ability to write using great story starters and including more adjectives and verbs to bring their writing alive. We have also been learning to sequence story ideas and write appropriate captions. During the latter part of the term we have been using De Bono’s Thinking Hats to think in depth about things we do at school, but especially with our writing. I have been impressed with the way the children have taken this on-board and readily adopted their ‘hats’ when being reflective.

"That's Entertainment."

And wasn't it entertaining!

Room 10 students were fantastic. They acted and sung beautifully.

Thank you for your support with costumes, helping the children learn their parts and encouragement.

I am very proud of their performance. 

Blends.

We have been looking at triple blends during the last few weeks, str, scr, spl spr. It would be helpful if you were able to draw attention to these when reading or writing during the holidays. Perhaps play some games to help consolidate their learning.

Eg: “I am thinking of something that begins like str and you use it to tie a parcel up with.”

Hutt City Library

Thank you to our helpers that have come to the Hutt City Library. Our next visit is in

 WEEK 2, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21^st.

Please put this in your diary and let me know if you can help out.

Thank you.

Maths

Next term we will be spending time learning about fractions, more work with time and consolidating the learning we have done with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Term 4

Week 1 and 2 the focus will be on Earthquake Safety.

Mana Island Visit

We have a very exciting visit to Mana Island booked for Week 6. This is an amazing place that not many people are able to experience. We will be looking at habitats and places that are significant to people. If you have any bird, plant or insect identification books that you would be happy to lend us we would be grateful.

More detailed information to come. Watch this space and the

Class BLOG

Athletics

Junior Athletics Sports will be held on the Friday of Week 4.

Jump Rope in Week 6.                       Mana Island; week 6

Class BLOG: 

Thank you to everyone who has visited the class BLOG. 

You are able to write comments and these are welcomed.

Have a fantastic, relaxing break.

See you all next term!

Production 

Writing

We have been using De Bono's Thinking Hats to reflect upon our performance in the production of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The White hat is all about the facts,

The Yellow hat explains what we are good at.

The Green hat says what we could be better at.

This was a first attempt at thinking critically.  

How do you think we did?

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

We have been working hard at learning all of the things we have to do. 

We are now very good at acting! 

Those rats are creepy!

That Pied Piper, he really thinks the children will go with him.

How silly is he! 

But.. will they follow him? 

Come along on Thursday and find out.