Fia Fia 2023!

I was so proud of the all the training and practices that this group of students did in a short space of time in preparation for our whole school Fia Fia night at the end of Term 1! Even though there were only 3 children from Indian heritage it was great to see other children from different cultures participating and having fun. Team Bollywood all learned the dance moves of this song called "Kudi Nu Nachne De" and looked amazing in their traditional costumes and accessories!

My Professional Learning journey!

Welcome back to my professional development Inquiry practice for 2023 which is based on Literacy. I am enrolled online to study with the University of Canterbury to implement the Better Start for Literacy Approach (BSLA) to my Year 2 learners. This is a structured literacy program that focuses on providing support to children for reading and writing and oral language in their formative years of school. There is a strong pedagogy of phonic awareness, decoding, reading for meaning, word recognition and language accumulation for our tamariki. Parents and whanau are encouraged to support the follow up reading activities at home. Assessment is carried out by classroom teachers every 10 weeks to monitor the students progress and there is an expectation that we will see Maori and Pacific learners achieve positive gains in literacy skills at a faster rate than previously experienced. You are able to view a sample of the learning outcomes and resources on the BSLA site: https://www.betterstartapproach.com/

Inquiry focus summary for 2022

What did my students learn about from being a part of the Class OnAir program in Rm 24? They learnt a range of hands-on practical Science experiments. Throughout this year they have worked collaboratively in pairs or small group which has encouraged key competencies such as sharing and turn taking skills. Each child's vocabulary has increased with the acuumculation of English language to their individual word bank. They have had sensory experiences and a range of interactive activities to support their wellbeing and cognitive development. This year has been a huge learning curve for these students in partiuclar who have learn and grown so much from the start of this year until now. Although, at times it has been challenging coping with the tail end of the Covid pandemic, with issues such as attendance and completing homework reading (overall it has been a successful outcome). I feel the children have benfitted from working closer with me as their teacher, (with small group work opportunities), role modelling and promoting Scientific Investigations as an Inquiry as well as positive learning outcomes.

PES Artworks Expo!

Rm 24 really enjoyed looking at all the amazing artwork displayed in the hall as part of our Inquiry for this term. We recognised some different styles of art such as photography, digital prints, clay, masks, self portraits. Plus we had our very own plasiticine bead necklaces displayed on the light board! Well done for all your hard mahi everyone!

Cross Country!

Everyone tried their best at the Cross Country course and got to the finish line. We were allowed parent spectators for support this year! Congratulations to Serena, Aroha and Gano for the girls and Micheal, Corey and Stephen for the boys first, second and third place getters. Even if you didn't win, you still gave it a go and that is what matters. All your 6 weeks of training made a difference. Kapai mahi tamariki ma, from Mrs Carter.

Team 2's Fun Day!

Last Thursday, tamariki from Team two enjoyed an exciting day out from the classroom and had fun and games in the sunshine! There was a Tropical bouncy castle, Mr Whippy came and made ice creams, we rode bicycles around the bike track, played Tee Ball followed by a game of Egg and Spoon race and then did some colouring in with crayons. We are going to write a story about our super fun day at school...

Term 3 Inquiry focus

After an online staff PD focus on Writing as a Curriculum area, I have 5 new children to focus on to make progress and work towards achievable outcomes. These new goals in Writing are; to focus on quality, not quantity and use more detail based on interesting ideas. My new targets that were suggested by other teaching colleagues are: to have a buddy to proof read their writing (checking for punctuation and a beginning, middle and an end), and also using the 5 W's as a guide to add more content to their stories.