Welcome back!

Kia Ora Parents and Whanau,

Welcome back! Can you believe how fast the holidays went? We surely can’t! We hope you all had a restful break and are ready for an exciting year ahead in Room 3.

A message from Melissa:

This year I am returning to work part time, after taking maternity leave in 2011. Last year was a big year for me, raising Jackson (now 13 months), Sam’s deployment to Afghanistan and finally to finish off the year, Sam and I got married in November. I am refreshed and looking forward to being back at Burnham School this year in a job share position. The teacher who I will be working with is Claire Mouat who joins us from the Hawkes Bay. Claire is an experienced and skilled teacher who will bring strengths and great qualities to our school.

We are both excited to have this opportunity to be able to maintain a good balance between motherhood and teaching. We will work closely together to maintain effective classroom programmes, smooth transitions, ensuring a warm, caring and positive learning environment for all students in Room 3.

Melissa will be teaching Reading, Writing and Maths and Claire will be focussing on the other curriculum areas such as Physical Education, The Arts, Te Reo etc.. The days Melissa will be teaching are Monday (all day), Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until lunchtime. Claire will then be in the class, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and all day Friday. The way that we have structured this helps keep continuity and consistency for our tamariki.

We believe good communication is vital to build strong relationships between home and school. If you have any questions or or you just want some clarification, please feel free to pop in before and after school for an informal chat, remember our door is always open.

Important Classroom Info:

Reading Programme: Your child will bring a book home each night to read. The books that are brought home will either be books from their individual browsing box that are familiar and at their reading level or they will books that have been taught in their reading group. Please encourage your child to read each night and remember to sign the ‘Read it’ log. Melissa will check the reading logs at Reading time each day and your child will get a sticker in their book if they have completed their reading homework. This week we are establishing routines and putting programmes into place, so Melissa aims to send reading books home as soon as possible. On Friday’s the Poetry book will come home for the weekend. Please spend some time to read the poem we have focussed on for that week. If Poetry books could come back to school on a Monday that would be great.

Spelling: We are going to carry on from Mrs Goldings ‘turtle words’ programme from last year. Spelling will be sent home on Mondays for practice at home. We will test spelling on a Thursday, so please send spelling books back to school Thursday morning. The children will also have other opportunities during class time to practice their spelling skills.

Library: Library day for Room 3 is Friday. Children will be able to take two books home each week. Please remember to bring library books back Friday mornings and pop them into the library books box in the classroom.

In Brief:

-Reading books will come home Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights

-Poetry books will be sent home Friday to share over the weekend

-Spelling words for practice at home Monday-Wednesday, testing Thursday mornings

-Remember sunhats are compulsory for Term 1

-Swimming begins in Week 2. Please send togs, and a named towel to school every day even if it’s cooler in the morning as we will swim in the afternoons

-Library day for our class is Friday

Remember to keep checking our class blog for information and key dates throughout the term. We aim to send class newsletters home regularly to keep you updated. Have a great term and we look forward to seeing you all over the next few days.

Melissa Upperton & Claire Mouat

Room 3 Class Teachers