BBPS Values………

                   RESILIENCE, RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, RELATIONSHIPS

A very warm welcome to all our new students and families in the Junior School.

The Team organisation for Term 4 is as follows:

Our programmes for Term 4 are underway and include a focus on our values of Respect and Collaboration.  Our main goal is to ensure children enjoy coming to school and feel secure in their class, so they can develop confidence and independence as they continue their learning journey.

The Science Topic is:       ‘How The World Works’

The Central idea is:

The World is Constantly Changing

Looking for Changes in Everyday life

An inquiry into the interaction of the natural world.

How we use our understanding of scientific principles and the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.

Learning Intentions (We are learning to…)

  • To look at changes in everyday life.
  • To explore how the world works and changes.
  • To describe what happens when substances are put together? (experiments)
  • To explain why they react in a certain way? (experiments)

Inquiry Skills & Key Concepts

  • Function – Notice changes in everyday life, and how the things in the world change.
  • Reflection – We need to think about what we know and what we’ve gained about new information after experimenting.
  • We need to ask questions about substances, change of state and WHY things react in a certain way.

Nude Lunches

We will be continuing with Nude Food Fridays this term. The children will be encouraged to bring food to school with as little wrapping as possible. They will also be encouraged to put any worm friendly rubbish into the worm bins. We are learning to CHECK THE LIST FIRST, as there are many things that worms cannot digest. Any other rubbish will be put back into the children’s lunchboxes and brought home to sort.

Our BBPS Vision is “We are inquiring, connected, resilient and future-focussed learners who give 100%”

The children are working on gaining skills in thinking, problem solving, working cooperatively, and communicating effectively. We very much value the partnership with parents in helping to make our vision a reality.

Thank you for

  • reading to your children every day.
  • listening to them read to you every day as part of home learning, and practising the alphabet, basic words, early spelling skills and maths.
  • playing board games (snakes & ladders etc at home).
  • ensuring children have enough sleep and have an ‘early to bed’ time.
  • getting children to school before the bell at 8:50 so they have enough time to get organised before school.
  • sending in additional stationery when items are complete (books) or run out (whiteboard markers).
  • naming every item of clothing.
  • checking for any old readers at home & sending them back to school – thank you!
  • helping teachers in classrooms as necessary.
  • helping to return readers to the book room.
  • letting us know about the things you feel are going well.
  • approaching teachers to discuss any concerns or issues so we can work together to address them.

Quick informal queries or comments may be made before school or through emails. However, because teachers may need to attend staff meetings immediately after school, for anything requiring more deliberation, please make a suitable appointment.

Self-Management

To foster the Key Competencies component of our New Zealand Curriculum including self-management, at this time of the year we would be expecting the Year Twos in particular, to be taking more responsibility for walking into school, hanging their bags up and putting book bags into classrooms, ready for the day.  If possible, saying goodbye at the school gate would help to further the development of the children’s confidence and independence. A meeting place after school away from the classroom could be another step.

It also helps teachers end the day with the children’s full attention for notices etc if parents wait at a distance from classrooms and are not directly outside classrooms before the 3pm bell.

Uniform

Now we are into the fourth term children should wear the full summer uniform.  Our website has a list of the requirements. For extra warmth on chilly days it is better to wear the school sweatshirt, which can then be easily removed when it gets too hot, rather than extra t-shirts or undergarments. Sunhats are compulsory and are expected to be worn everyday.  There is a rule of – ‘no hat – no play’ where the children sit in the shade if they don’t have a hat.  It is a good idea to also have a raincoat ready and waiting in schoolbags for those unexpected downpours.  An extra pair of undies can also be a good idea in case of emergencies. Longer hair needs to be tied back to discourage nit epidemics. If you’re struggling to keep the name visible in your child’s sandals, there are effective name labels available to purchase from the school office for $3.00.  Please ensure that jewellery and any precious items are kept at home and not brought to school. Thank you.

Home Learning

At the early levels children bring home a book each day that is kept in their book bags until Friday or the following Monday, so that over the week they have four small books to share with you.  A poetry book comes home to share each Friday.  At the higher levels the books are longer and may be worked on for two or more days.  Please ensure all books are kept and returned in the book bags after the home reading each day. It would be helpful if you could return any earlier readers that may have got ‘lost’. They are a huge expense for the school and we do need to keep them in circulation for class reading programmes.

  • On Friday 23rd November we ask that ALL readers are returned to school for the annual bookroom stocktake.  Please start checking at home now for any lost or misplaced books. They are easily lost amongst others on bookshelves etc.

Morning Tea and Lunches                                                                                                                

Drink bottles need to contain water only please. To promote healthy eating we encourage children to eat their bread (or pasta, rice, noodles) first at lunchtime. Please keep sugary, highly processed snack foods to a minimum.  Please do not send to school any lollies, sweets or chocolate.                 Our expectation of a rubbish free school means that children need to take home anything not eaten from their lunch box, however fruit peel and cores etc can be collected to feed our worm farm.

Early arrivals – in the morning children aren’t supervised outside classes and can’t enter classrooms before 8.30a.m.  Please consider SKIDS as an option so they’re not sitting outside for long periods.

Any early arrivals must sit under the rotunda until the 8.30a.m bell.  

Tabloid Sports

The Junior School Classes will be having their tabloid sports each Friday (starting week 2).              They will be working in mixed age groups on a range of fun activities. They may bring a t-shirt to wear, plus they will need their sunhats. Girls are expected to wear navy shorts/skorts each Friday so that they can compete in the sporting activities safely without tripping over their Summer uniform sun dresses.

Cricket Skills

The Junior School are participating in cricket skills on a Tuesday afternoon (weeks 1-6)

Art Exhibition

We will be hosting an Art Exhibition on Tuesday 6th November (3.15-5.00pm)

School Photos

Class and individual photos will be taken on Tuesday 6 November, with sports and other group photos on Tuesday 13 November.  

Howick Santa Parade

The Howick Santa Parade is on Sunday 9 December.  Our fabulous PTA are organising a BBPS float – keep an eye out for a notice about this nearer the time.

Last day of School 2018

The last day of school for 2018 is Monday 17 December.  School will finish at 12 o’clock.

Important Dates: (please check calendar for confirmed dates nearer to the time)                              

  • Week 1 – Monday 15th – Term starts
  •                 Tuesday 16th – Cricket skills starts
  •                 Thursday 18th – NZ Shakeout – Earthquake drill
  • Week 2 – Monday 22nd – Labour Day – NO SCHOOL
  •                 Friday 26th – Tabloid Sports commences (girls wear shorts please)
  •                 Friday 26th – Green Day
  • Week 3 – PTA Raffle out this week
  •                 Friday 2nd Nov – Parent Assembly – Rooms 5 & 16
  • Week 4 – Monday 5th – Guy Fawkes
  •                 Tuesday 6th – ART EXHIBITION IN CLASSES (3.15-5.00pm)
  •                 Tuesday 6th – Photolife Class & Portrait Photos
  •                 Wednesday 7th – Diwali
  •                 Sunday 11th – Armistice Day
  • Week 5 – Tuesday 13th – Photolife – Team Photos (Class Councillors)
  •                  Wednesday 14th – Parent Helpers Morning Tea
  •                 Friday 16th – No more issues of Library Books)
  • Week 6 – Friday 23rd – ALL READERS back to school for bookroom stocktake
  •                 Friday 23rd – Parent Assembly – Rooms 4 & 20
  • Week 8 – Tuesday 4th Dec – PTA Sausage Sizzle
  •                 Friday 7th – PTA Raffle drawn today
  •                 Sunday 9th – Howick Santa Parade
  • Week 9 – Friday 14th – Meet New Teacher.
  • Week 10 – Monday 17th – Last Day of Term – School finishes at 12.00 Lunchtime

Please remember to check the school website for notices – www.bbps.school.nz and our official school Facebook page.

Kind Regards

Sarah Bartholomew – Junior School Leader

s.bartholomew@bbps.school.nz

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