Welcome

We would like to extend a warm welcome to all those students and their families who have joined the Middle School through last term or at the beginning of this term.

PE

This term the students will participate in PE sessions that will cover basic athletics skills.  The skills taught will be long jump, high jump, throwing and sprinting. In week 4, Friday 4 November, the whole school will take part in an Athletics Day. You are welcome to come along and cheer on your athletes.

Litter Free Lunches

The Enviro Council worked hard last term to encourage the school to bring litter free or “Nude Food” lunchboxes to school. We are working towards being a rubbish free school and we encourage the children to continue to try and bring  food in reusable or recyclable containers.

Room 13 is responsible for the worm farm and we can recycle fruit and food scraps by feeding the scraps to the worms in the worm farm or putting them in the compost bins. The children are asked to take their other lunch box waste home each day.

Inquiry Focus

This term Middle School students will be conducting an inquiry unit called “How the World Changes”. This inquiry unit will focus on technological changes that have been made and the impact that scientific and technological advances have made on our society.

The inquiry will include a trip to MOTAT where the students will explore the museum and use their knowledge to complete challenges.

Following on from our inquiry of Term 3 where we were learning to recognise the features of different artworks and to use creativity in expressing our ideas, on Thursday 27 October – Week 3, you will be invited to attend the exhibition of our amazing art. Further information will follow.

MOTAT Visit

MOTAT offers an interactive programme that will support our Inquiry called Life Hack.  The day will involve a lesson with an educator, a tram ride and an exploration of the museum.

Year 3 will visit the MOTAT Museum on Wednesday 16 November.

Year 4 will visit the MOTAT Museum on Thursday 17 November.

We will require parents to help with this trip. Further details of the day’s plan will be sent out at a later date.

MOTAT Permission Form

Home Learning

Although homework is not compulsory, the school expects students to complete a prescribed amount of home learning on a regular basis.  The school believes that home learning is a responsibility shared by both the home and the school.  Completing it will assist the students to develop responsibility for their own learning.  Home learning encourages the development of good study skills and habits, and will provide opportunities for parents to have a sharing time with their children.

For Year 3 and 4 children, up to 20 minutes a night is considered sufficient.

In the Middle School, Home Learning will usually comprise of daily reading, learning of spelling words and rules, and maths basic facts or follow-up.

From time to time teachers will set additional tasks to be completed for homework and these tasks will be explained in the Home Learning book.

Lost Property & Uniform

Lost property is now kept in boxes in the room next to the hall. Please NAME everything that your child owns. This term the children are to wear their hats while outside.

Students are also reminded that they are expected to wear the correct uniform for sport. They should be wearing blue shorts with their whanau t-shirt or new sports shirt and suitable footwear.

Last term we had a few instances of toys or other personal items being brought to school and in some cases the items becoming broken or lost. Please help us by reminding your child that unless it is part of class learning, toys are not to be brought  to school. This includes soft toys, beyblades, collectable figurines and the swap cards such as the ones from Countdown.

Health

Students are asked to be mindful of health and hygiene during the summer months. As the days are getting hotter and we will be outside on most days taking part in PE and being able to play outside during breaks, please remind your child about wearing their hat and using sunscreen.

Term Three Highlights

Term 3 was very busy with the students being involved in many learning activities.

Here are some of the highlights

Oral Reading Competition

Each child read to an audience and the standard of oral reading was very high. Congratulations to all readers. The finalists were

Congratulations to the winners Julia Downs, Year 3 and Bruce Zhang, Year 4. Many thanks to Jenny Todd who judged these fantastic readers.

Te Tuhi Visit

All the Middle School students took part in an art lesson with the educator at Te Tuhi Art Gallery with beautiful results. You’ll be able to see the portraits that the students completed when you visit their rooms during the Art Exhibition in week 3.

Please remember that you can see many pieces of student work on the school’s website under Student Voice.

Communication

Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have a question or there is an issue or problem at school or at home.  Our email addresses are the first name of the staff member, followed by the school address, e.g., debbie@bbps.school.nz

Dates for Term 4

19 October – Photolife Class photos

21 October – Farewell Assembly for Mrs Bigwood

24 October – Labour Day

27 October – Art Exhibition

4 November – Athletics Day

16 November – Interschool Athletics Day

November – MOTAT

16 December – School finishes at 12pm

Payments

All payments for trips etc can be made online. Go to “Parent Shop” and pay on “Wrap it Up”.

The cost for each child to attend MOTAT is $16.00. This includes admission of $5.00 and $11.00 for the bus.

If you are interested in being a parent helper on this day please either email your child’s teacher, complete the Google Form or print and complete this form.

I would be interested in being a parent helper on the trip to MOTAT.

Child’s Name _____________________________________ Room No. _______

Parent Signature __________________________________

Contact Phone number ____________________________

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