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Newsletter - 4 March 2010 (Term 1 : Week 5)

Mauri Ora Koutou

Every year all schools are required by the Ministry of Education to develop 'Targets' that are related to lifting student achievement. This year Mangonui School will target students who are behind in their reading. Teaching staff have identified these students and will closely monitor their progress throughout the year. Each term all students will be assessed to monitor their progress. Both syndicates have identified teaching strategies that they will use to support the lifting of reading achievement. The intention is to get these students as close as possible to their chronological reading age by the end of the year.

Last week I attended the Learning@School conference in Rotorua. The theme of this conference was student engagement. Having access to leading educational thinkers from all over the world was inspiring and challenging. One of the speakers talked about the three ingredients to engagement as being Love and Belonging, Power, Freedom and Fun. One of the key strengths of Mangonui School is 'Love and Belonging'. Our students are proud of their School and have a strong sense of belonging. Listening to other schools talk about their strategies to encourage student 'power' identified ideas that we could use to strengthen our learning environment. This is the great thing about our job, it is forever changing, no day is the same and we are always learning.

Dave Sedcole

THIS FORTNIGHT'S AWARDS

PRINCIPAL'S AWARD

Holly, Brenna, Julius and Leela for being engaged in learning. To Laura for stepping up to the challenge and being a good senior.

Room 7. The Duffy Caught Being Good Book Awards went to Johnny for showing a genuine desire to do his best and to Haylee for consistently displaying our school values. Certificates were given to Isaac Nijenhuis for going the extra mile (eg homework) and to Paige Drury for thoughtfulness and taking the initiative over the 'lost top' issue, also to Zana and Laura for participation and positivity Plus.

Room 6. The Duffy Caught Being Good Awards went to Abinath for consistency with his attitude towards his learning and to Holly for consistently looking after her class mates. Certificates were given to Jamason and Jade for enthusiasm with their learning also to Mark for making giant strides with his personal confidence and to Jarrod for being switched on in class.

Room 5. The Duffy Caught Being Good Awards went to Kahurangi Brooker for managing self in all situations and Brenna for working hard towards independent writing. Certificates were given to Kurt and Paige Jury for being great role models at independent writing, also to Pravit and Will for always showing respect for self and others and Cooper for an awesome photo story - thanks for sharing.

Room 4. The Duffy Caught Being Good Awards went to Cullen for participating and contributing being actively involved in the our classroom community and to Ben Donnelly for having the most awesome attitude to his learning, because of this he is succeeding. Certificates were given to Shaylah and Tayla for being fantastic leaders at our assembly and Oliver and Denym received 'Maths Awards' Certificates were also given to Jaxon for being an enthusiastic participant in school and to Selwyn for participating fantastically in class, his writing is improving on a daily basis.

Room 3. The Duffy Caught Being Good Book Awards were given to Ashley for managing herself effectively by being prepared for each lesson and remembering to do her home reading check and to Toby for having a positive attitude. Certificates were given to Ben Thoresen for trying hard to remain focussed while completing challenging tasks and to Tara for 100% in Waiata time.

Room 2. The Duffy Caught Being Good Book Awards were given to Tyrone for extra work at home and to Summer for being careful in her work and being a quiet and caring person. Certificates were given to Max and Ava for great story writing and working independently and to Kara for great story telling and Ilyas for always being ready to learn.

Room 1. The Duffy Caught Being Good Awards were given to Anthony Harrison-Duval for applying himself well to all tasks in class and great self management and to Maia Edwards for relating to others and being very helpful to our visitors.

The Awhi Award went to Liam Gaulton-Yates.
The Womble Award went to Rose Kake.

COMING EVENTS CALENDAR

Swimming Zone Finals : Wednesday 24 March
Celebration Assemblies : 5 March / 19 March - 1.45pm
Duffy Hero : Monday 22 March at 9.30am
Pet Day : Friday 26 March

Celebrate Childrens' Day 

Family fun festival : Sunday 7th March 10am - 2pm
Kaitaia swimming pool - free entry
Sausage sizzle, giveaways and prizes
Loads of fun activities - For more information ph. 4081380

National Standards Information Evening

11 March 7pm - 1 Hour - Be informed
Presented by Ministry of Education and Team Solutions

PARENTS AS TEACHERS

Bean Addition

Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to help your child to learn the number facts to 5 and to 10.

Link to Number Framework:

Number Facts, Stages 0-3

What you need:
10 Haricot Beans or similar. Paint these on one side using spray paint, nail polish or acrylic paint.

What to do:
Work with 5 objects at first until your child can give the combinations to five very quickly. Then use 10 objects.

Take 5 beans. Scatter the beans – some will land with the coloured side up.
Talk about the combination. Eg. For 3 coloured beans and 2 plain beans:
3 and 2 make 5
There are 3 coloured beans, how many to make 5?
I've got the 3 coloured beans, you've got the 2 plain beans. How many altogether?

Ask your child to show you the number fact using the fingers on one hand. For example, to show 3 coloured beans and 2 plain beans put 3 fingers up and 2 fingers down.

Scatter the beans again, talk about the new combinations and ask your child to show these on their fingers.

Work with 10 beans when your child is confident with 5 beans. When using fingers to show the number facts to 10, fill up one hand first.

Key Competencies

This year teachers are working on embedding the Key Competencies into all aspects of school life. The Key Competencies are more complex that just skills, they draw on knowledge, attitudes and values that help us to make positive actions in our lives. They are not separate or stand-alone. They are the key to learning in every learning area. There are five Key Competencies. They can be organised under three headings.

• Metacognitive
  thinking
  using language, symbols, and texts
• Intrapersonal
  managing self
• Interpersonal
  relating to others inter personal
  participating and contributing

Managing self

This competency is associated with self-motivation, a "can-do" attitude, and with students seeing themselves as capable learners. It is integral to self-assessment.

Students who manage themselves are enterprising, resourceful, reliable, and resilient. They establish personal goals, make plans, manage projects, and set high standards. They have strategies for meeting challenges. They know when to lead, when to follow, and when and how to act independently.

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