December 19, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
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Happy Holidays

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone on a wonderful year. I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday season and a safe and happy new year!

First up, we have a message from Camila’s family:

Just want to write to let you know all is good here in Seattle and Camila is missing all her friends and the school. Hope you all have a great summer, here is winter, it rains a lot but two weeks ago we had snow(which is rare here). Camila and her brother are at school now, they finish everyday at 2:55 and start at 8:40.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Camila says HI! to everyone and miss you a lot!… Enjoy your trip Miss Galvin and say Hi to everyone at HPS!….

Clara (Camila’s Mum).

Today we said goodbye to Elfina, but we had a special treat: because we were so good, we were able to have a cuddle and whisper one last Christmas wish to her before she went to the North Pole.

And, in the words of the students of Room 16, some of the best moments of the year include:

The Book Parade (Annika, Henrik)
The Grade 1 Dinner (Zac, Sam, Olivia)
A Day in the Life (Rhianna)
Mr. Jackson’s Movie Day (Angelique)
Holding and having a photo with Elfina (Maple)
Grade 6 Ice-Cream Day (Miles, Jamie, Hamish)
School Dance and ANZAC Day Ceremony (Amelia)
Holding the chicks (Leo, Cooper)
Visiting Orient Place Kindergarten (Gus)
The Grade 6 vs Teachers Netball Match (Nadia)
Having a lovely teacher (Claudia)
Sport (Noah, Simon)
Having Elfina visit (Ivy)

If you’ve remembered other favourite moments, I’d love for you to leave them in the comments of this post.

Finally, this blog will be retired this year so, after this post parents who are subscribed will no longer receive email updates. The blog WILL stay online, however, and everyone is welcome to use it to keep everyone updated with their fun holiday activities. Just leave a comment below.

I look forward to seeing everyone around the school in 2015.

Thanks,

Miss Galvin

December 14, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
3 Comments

Last Week of School 2014

Can you believe it’s that time of year already?

In one week it will be the last day of term for 2014 – the last day of Prep and Grade 1 for the students in Room 16!

There are a LOT of things happening this week, so here is a quick break down for you.

MONDAY: Meet the Teacher
This will happen Monday morning (there’s no assembly). Students will come in to Room 16 and we will get ready for the day. Later in the morning, after fruit snack, students will all assemble in the hall, ready to meet their new teachers and classmates for 2015.
I’m sure everyone has had a chance to read through Capers this week and have seen Ms. Ringrose’s comments on the process for making grades. If you haven’t I strongly urge you to read that prior to Monday so that you are confident in the process.

Outstanding payments for Class Parties MUST come in today!

Reports will go home tonight, too.

TUESDAY: No special events today!

WEDNESDAY: Class Parties
We will be going down to the park with Rooms 13, 14, and 15 and enjoying our pizza lunch packs! Remember to get your money in on MONDAY. No later.

THURSDAY: Mr. Jackson’s Movie Day

FRIDAY: Last day of school – finish at 1:30pm

We still have a few activities going on this week, including catching up with buddies and some craft activities, but we will also be cleaning up the classroom and preparing for the break, as such parent helpers are not required!

Stay tuned later in the week for a post on some of our favourite activities this year!

What are you most looking forward to this week?

What do you predict will happen in the movie Penguins of Madagascar?

What are you planning to do on the holidays?

December 7, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
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Week 10

Welcome to our second-last week for the year!

As our Parent Helper timetable has finished for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful classroom helpers this year – your participation is invaluable and all the students in Room 16 love to have parents come and help them! So, thank you!

We have a handful of students who have not yet returned their Movie Day notices and payments. These are due by Friday. It’s really important that the permission notes come back to the classroom NOT in the payment envelopes.

Tuesday is A Day in the Life, when students get to experience a day in the life of a Grade 1 or Grade 2 student (for 2015). Please note that this is NOT their class for 2015 and will experience a variety of teachers throughout the day. Students will get a taste of the types of activities they will have in 2015.

Students will meet their new class and new teacher next Monday. Last Wednesday important information regarding the class structures for 2015 were included in Capers. Please make sure you have read Ms. Ringrose’s message so you are aware of what’s happening!

Don’t forget our Alphabet Countdown is still happening – Joke Day, Icy Pole Day, Happy Hats Day, Games Day and Favourite Photo Day are all coming up this week. Please refer to your timetable!

This week we will be revising nouns, adjectives and verbs, as well as finishing up any activities that are still outstanding for the year.

This week will be a series of revision activities in the form of rotational sessions throughout the week.

Last week we had a very special visitor arrive in our classroom – Elfina! She’s been up to a bit of mischief:

November 23, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
2 Comments

Week 8

Welcome to Week 8!

This week we are in full Carols practise mode. If you are not planning to attend the Carols night on Dec 1st, please let Miss Galvin know as soon as possible as one of our performances includes spoken parts that need to be allocated to the Grade 1s in our class. In order to give everyone a chance to practise, we need final numbers by the end of Monday.

If you want to listen to the performance story (Pete the Cat Saves Christmas) please click this link.

What is your favourite song to sing? (1 fuzzy)

We’re also continuing our Alphabet Countdown:

Monday: T – Bring an interesting toy to school to share with the class
Tuesday: S – Show and Tell
Wednesday: R – Running and Relay Races
Thursday: Q – Quiet Day
Friday: P – Puppet and Pasta Patterns

We are visiting Heidelberg Pre-School on Wednesday at 11:10am. If there are any parents available to walk there and back with us, please let Miss Galvin know by the end of the day tomorrow.

This week will be looking at the sound ‘air.’ (Make a list of words you know with the sound ‘air.’ 1 fuzzy)

This week will be continuing our unit on division as well as exploring creating our own data graphs.

November 9, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
7 Comments

Week 6

Welcome to Week 6. This week marks half-way through our final term as a class!

Last Friday we had a fantastic day with Coach Approach. Here are a few photos from the day:

What was your favourite Coach Approach sport and why? (2 little fuzzies)

It was fantastic to see all students from Room 16 participating!

Don’t forget to bring in your favourite recipe for our end of year Recipe Book! So far we’ve had about 8 recipes bought in. It can be handwritten, types and printed or emailed! Thanks so much to the families who have returned them already!

A lot of students in Room 16 have been coming to school without hats lately – please note that students without hats must play in the top school under the covered areas only. If you find that your hat is missing, please check the Lost Property basket near the entrance to the BER. Please check that your name is written clearly on your hat (and other items!). Sometimes names wear off, so it’s a great idea to check every now and then!

Rubbish Free Lunches will be extended for the remained of the year to Mondays and Wednesdays. Thanks to all the families who have been active participants in this program.

This week we will commence our Alphabet Countdown until the end of the year. Each day for the remainder of the term will be allocated a letter of the alphabet and have special events and activities allocated to it. A copy of the countdown calendar will be sent home later this week, and a copy will be posted on the blog!

This week, our sound focus is on the diphthong oi/oy as in Boy with a toy, oy, oy, oy. Make a list of oi/oy words you know. (1 little fuzzy)

We will continue to practise letter writing during journal and other writing sessions. Leave a comment in the form of a letter, including who your letter is to and who it is from. (1 little fuzzy)

This week we will continue our assessment and revision. Topics include 3D shapes, number patterns and sharing. Create your own number pattern in the comments. (1 little fuzzy)

October 26, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
4 Comments

Week 4!

What a busy first three weeks we’ve had!

First of all, thank you to all the children who joined in the Health and P.E. week activities – did you enjoy them? (You looked like you did!) What was your favourite Health and P.E. Week activity and why? (1 fuzzy point)

Great cheering signs from the Staff vs. Students netball match! (See Capers this week for more photos of this school event.)

Curiousity

We also started to explore our pumpkin by thinking up questions that we were curious about during our Integrated Studies sessions.

With all those great questions asked we had to start answering some of them, starting with our top 2 questions: How does it feel? and How heavy is it?

As you can tell, the pumpkin is nearly BIGGER than some of our class!

Think of something that you are really CURIOUS about (it can be anything!). What is it, and why are you curious about it?

Now on to this week’s activities.

Coach Approach payments are due as soon as possible.

JSC Art Calendar payments are due as soon as possible (although these are optional – see examples of the calendars and diaries in the top school noticeboard).

Miss Galvin will be away on Tuesday for professional development and another teacher (as yet unknown) will be working in Room 16 with students.

Friday is the school House Swimming Carnival. All students must bring their goggles and bathers and towels for this event. Preps will swim in the morning with the other prep students and the Grade 1s will be swimming with the Grade 1/2s. Due to the number of people involved in this event, parents are asked not to attend on the day.

Friday is also a Transition Day, so students will be reminded to go to their designated classrooms for the morning.

This week will see some assessment being completed as report-writing time comes around for the end of the year!

We will also be looking at the vowel blend ou/ow as in Cloud like a cow, ow, ow, ow. What words can you think of that have the ou/ow sound? Make a list in the comments. (1 point)

We will also continue our mathematics assessment this week, as well as further exploring time in the classroom. We are looking at analogue and digital clocks and how to read and record times on both.

October 19, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
6 Comments

Week 3 – Health and Phys Ed Week

Welcome to Week 3!

This week is Health and Phys. Ed Week. Miss Potter has planned out a series of events that last the whole week and promote a healthy, active lifestyle:

MONDAY: Whole School Calisthenics Lesson (11:10am Tiger Turf) **Parent helpers, you are welcome to attend, or join us for Literacy at 12:00pm.

TUESDAY: Zumba Kids (8:30am in the BER), Sugar-Free Challenge (go all day without sugar!)

WEDNESDAY: Walking Wednesday (walk to school, or come to school at 8:15am to walk the school course), Staff vs. Students Netball Match

THURSDAY: Skipping/Hoola-Hooping (8:30am in the Hall)

FRIDAY: Alphabet Relay

This week we are focusing on the sound z like in zebra in a zoo, and s as in measure, the treasure.

We will continue our focus on subtraction, and also begin our unit on time this week.

1. How can your lead a healthy, active lifestyle at home?

2. What is your favourite sport and why?

If you could play any sport, what would it be and why?

October 12, 2014
by Ms Stefanie Galvin
7 Comments

Week 2 Preview

Hello Room 16!

Welcome to Week 2 of Term 4!

We have another busy week up ahead!

Prep students will have their first fire education visit from the Fire Department this Tuesday morning.

This week Foundation (Prep) Transition commences – which is when next year’s prep students will come to visit the school. Most of the students in Prep/1 remember these visits and know how important they are to getting to know the school they will be starting at next year. Due to Prep enrolment numbers for 2015, Miss Galvin and the Room 16 classroom will be taking part in the transition sessions.

During this time, students from Room 16 will be working with other classes within the school. Preps will be working with their Investigations classes and the Grade 1s will spend some time working in the Grade 1/2 classrooms as a transition for next year. Transition is on Friday and all students are encouraged to be at school on time so that they can unpack and get ready for their day before heading off to their activities for the morning.

There are still a few outstanding payments for swimming lessons. These lessons form part of our school’s physical education program and all students are highly encouraged to participate.

Please remember to bring a towel, a change of clothes, goggles and a swimming cap. The school does have spare goggles and caps, but there is a limited supply. We do not have spare towels.

Students must arrive by 8:45am for a 8:50am departure to the swimming pool. Students who are significantly late will miss out on lessons, and students who have not paid or do not have their swimming gear are not permitted to sit and watch (as per the Swim School rules).

This week in our literacy sessions we will be exploring the sound oo as in moon and boot. (‘oo’ also makes another sound – can you think of a word where oo makes a sound that is different to moon and boot? [1 fuzzy point])

During writing sessions the preps are beginning to look at retelling stories by identifying the beginning, middle and end parts of familiar stories. The Grade 1s have been exploring exposition and persuasive texts so far this term and will continue for the next few weeks.

The Grade 1s will be exploring synonyms – which are words that have the same (or similar) meanings. (Can you think of some words that mean the same thing? [1 fuzzy point])

In maths this week we will commence our unit on subtraction. In subtraction we start with a whole and take away some of that whole. When subtracting using numbers, our original number will always get smaller. (Can you write a short subtraction story? [1 big fuzzy point])

We will also continue to revise mass as our minor measurement focus this week.

I look forward to seeing you all bright and early on Monday morning, ready for a brand new week.

Whisper to Miss Galvin if you read this blog post with Mum and Dad.