Monday 2nd February
Dear Parents
Welcome to the new school year.
I hope you have all enjoyed a happy festive season and that the New Year has begun smoothly and cheerfully. I have had a lovely break and am rested and ready to go. Last week I refreshed my first Aid skills with a full day’s course.
Today you will have received a lot of paperwork. Amid it all is the Middle School Newsletter explaining that we are starting the year with the topic “Cognition - Learning and Thinking”. This will encompass the Key Competencies of Managing Ourselves and Relating to Others as well as goal setting and team building activities which will continue at our class camp from 9th - 10th March.
This year at Havelock North Primary we are implementing a Positive Behaviour for Learning programme. The PB4L is a school wide integrated initiative which aims to promote appropriate behaviour in a positive manner that is non-threatening and supportive of all students and staff. It aims to minimise problematic behaviours and maximise and celebrate positive social and academic student behaviours. This week our focus will be Moving Safely around the School, an appropriate topic considering the amount of renovation work still taking part in the school grounds. At the end of each week students who have been recognised for following the PB4L school focus receive a certificate in the classroom.
Camp - Notices will come home this week and there will be a camp meeting on Tuesday 10th February during the Middle Team Meet the Teacher. We meet on the field at 6:45. We will go to the classroom after that to discuss class matters, camp and address any specific Blended Learning questions you may have.
Other important dates:
Swimming this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - don’t forget togs, goggles and towel. We leave school at 11:20 - if you are available to come and help for an hour on any of those days it would be much appreciated.
Weetbix Triathlon is next week. If you child has entered then I hope they have a great day. Prizegiving is usually at about 1 o’clock and children are welcome to come back to school in their triathlon shirts if they wish or they can go straight home for a lie down (that would be me!)
School Picnic - Wednesday 18th February on the school field at 5:30 - lets hope for good weather :)
Swimming Sports - Monday 16th February. We are all taking part so you are welcome to come and support your child. First race is at 9:20.
Triathlon - Monday 2nd March. Again we will all be participating, and again it's first thing in the morning. We will be discussing this event in class over the coming weeks to sort out groups and see who is swimming, cycling and running. There is also the opportunity for children who want to, to compete individually.
Interschool Swimming - Monday 23rd February This event is for a small group of Year 4s who will be chosen to represent Havelock North Primary at the Interschool Swimming event. Children will be chosen based on their performance at Swimming Sports.
Homework
Each week I will email you relevant information and homework details. Children will also get details of their homework in their Google Drive. That way they can never say the dog ate their homework book! Ask them to show you on their chromebook how they find their homework sheet.
Digital Devices
I found out last year that children adapt to bringing a chromebook to school very quickly. They are very responsible at getting them in and out of the locked cupboards and bringing them to school fully charged.
This week we will be discussing rules for using the devices in the classroom.
Blended Learning Classroom Rules
- Bring your device to school fully charged.
- Lock your device in the cupboard when you are not using it.
- Look after your device and only use your own device.
- Only use your device when a teacher is in the room.
- All activities must be about learning.
- All blog posts must be about learning.
- School accounts are for school work only.
- Be a responsible digital citizen at all times.
When the children are at school they will only be engaged in activities that are to do with learning. If they need to access a website or watch something on YouTube the link will be on our class blog or wiki. The children have all bookmarked the class blog on their browsers, so there should never be an occasion where they have to google something. When appropriate they will receive lessons in how to safely google information. We also have Watchdog at school, a Ministry approved educational filtering system that keeps our children safe online. Its not infallible and our cyber safety lessons will teach the children what to do should something inappropriate turn up.
At home, your rules apply. I have explained to the children that websites they are allowed to go on at home are fine if their parents approve. But are not to be used at school. Also that their home rules may not be the same as their friends home rules. We need to be aware of this when our children visit other people - that they may not have the same rules we have and that there could be no filtering on the internet. That’s why our cyber safety lessons are so important at teaching our children how to be safe online.
I would advise you to have rules as to where your child uses their device at home. I would recommend they work in a room with other people and would discourage children from taking their devices into their bedrooms. That way you will be aware of the sites they are on. If your child want to join a site (such a Club Penguin - although thats probably very out dated now!) they will need to use a “home” email address not their school one. Get these rules established before they turn into secretive teenagers!
If you have any queries regarding anything I have mentioned or if you think I have missed anything out please let me know. You can email me, find me in the classroom before or after school or bring it up at the Meet the Teacher Evening.
Other paperwork
- Stationery List - If you would like to purchase your stationery through the school please complete the form and return to school with the money. You can also pay online through internet banking. The details are on the school website www.hnps.school.nz
- Internet user agreements and contact detail updates. These will need to be signed and returned to me in the classroom.
Apologies for the size of this newsletter - I assure you they are not usually this long!
I hope to see many of you at Meet the Teacher and the School Picnic.
Kind regards
Karen Duligall
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