Term 3 Newsletter
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I hope you all had a relaxing break and some quality time with friends and family.
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Celebration of Learning evening and our Personal Passion Project Sharing at the end of last term. It’s always good to touch base and celebrate the successes students have made. All the teachers were thoroughly blown away with the outstanding effort put into the passion projects. From the initial proposals right through to the finished products, the students demonstrated outstanding self-management! We were very proud of many of the students and very appreciative of the support received from home. It is excellent to see some sound work ethic developing and students continuing to strive to reach their potential.
We are now ready to head full swing into Term 3 and as usual, it’s set to be a busy one! Below is an outline of what your child will be focusing on.
Inquiry
This term we are inquiring into the world of advertising, in particular visual advertising. We will be looking at the various features and language of advertising and what makes an advert so successful. We will also investigate how advertising targets a particular audience and how it influences our lives. This is a really exciting unit and will give students opportunities to analyse a variety of adverts as well as create their own, using graphic design and building on their Term 1 photography learning.
If there is anyone who feels they may be able to talk to, or work alongside, our students in this term’s Inquiry, please contact your classroom teacher or myself borgonje@muritai.school.nz . It is SO valuable for the students to see the relevance of what they are learning in their own local community.
Literacy:
As always our literacy will have strong connections with our Inquiry studies. We will be reading and writing persuasive texts, working to understand bias and the benefits of being a critical reader with information in both print and digital form. The persuasive genre is also a good springboard for our speeches. It also is the term for our speech competition! Our best speaker will be awarded with our Year 7/8 Speech Competition Cup at the end of the year.
We will continue to use a variety of 'quick writes' through our writing programme, focusing mostly on building surface features; grammar, punctuation and spelling. We have seen some great progress with this approach with a high level of engagement from all students.
Mathematics:
Maths will continue to build on students’ flexibility with knowledge and strategies from Term 2, with a particular focus on developing number (multiplication and division, fractions, decimals, proportions and ratios) alongside geometry – specifically position and transformation. Students are continuing to focus on building positive mathematical mindsets and working in groups where they practise exploring strategies, explaining, justifying and questioning mathematical concepts .
PE
This term we continue with our large ball skills unit along with starting a striking unit. The second half of the term will see us begin training (weather permitting) for the athletics which always comes upon us rather quickly in Term 4!
Regular fitness will start up again first thing in the mornings. It's great to see the children wearing appropriate clothes and footwear for physical activity. We welcome them bringing a change of clothes for these sessions if they wish. Using roll-on deodorant may also be beneficial.
Art Exhibition
There are exciting plans for an Art Exhibition this term. Scheduled for mid September, this promises to be an amazing evening of celebrating the wonderful works of art produced by our talented students. Watch out for the date – we hope to see you there!
Extra Opportunities
We also have a team in training for the annual Mathswell competition on 23rd August.
Once again Muritai will be involved in the annual Artsplash show. Our senior students already have the opportunity to be a part of the Year 5-8 choir, and there will be an opportunity to perform at the Artsplash Dance festival.
Other things to note:
Homework:
Homework will include the usual spelling, reading and Mathletics this term. Please remind your child they should be reading for at least 15-20 minutes a night. Around the middle of the term, students will begin to prepare for the speech competition also through their homework. For those students who have made different arrangements for homework with their classroom teacher - this will continue as arranged.
Wet Weather:
While we are still stuck in the winter months, many of us start to get a bit hairy being stuck indoors all day! Wet lunchtimes can often be difficult so we welcome students bringing to school indoor games, such as board games or cards.
Finally if you have any concerns or questions regarding our classroom programme or your child's learning, please don't hesitate to make contact with us. Feel free to pop in before or after school or the easiest way to touch base with us is email:
Melissa: coton@muritai.school.nz
Julie: small@muritai.school.nz
Ruth: hooke@muritai.school.nz
Annette: borgonje@muritai.school.nz
Thank you again for your support,
Annette Borgonje
Associate Principal
