FYI

Just to let you know, I am currently on Maternity Leave so will not be regularly updating this blog until I return back to Roslyn School and the Rainbow Patch.

Be sure to check out the other classroom blogs from Rainbow Patch, they will keep you up to date with the goings on.

Smiles,

Ginny Treadwell

Christian the Lion - Can we have Lions as pets?

Term 2 - What a term!

Term Two is here and what a term we have lined up!

It is week three already and the kids have been finding out all about their favourite animals. Our Inquiry Topic for this term is "Why can't I have an Elephant as a Pet?"

They are learning all about different animals, the differences between domestic animals and animals in the wild, the endangered animals in the world and what we can do to help them. We have a Petting Zoo at school today with sheep, goats, a donkey, calves...you name it, it's here! This will spark off a buzzing excitement in the kids and I am sure that there will be many more wonderings posted up on the classroom Wonder Walls by the end of the day. (photos to come!)

Later on this term we will be taking the children to the Wellington Zoo. We have been fundraising for this since the beginning of the year and everyone in very excited about the trip. More information will be coming out to parents soon about this. In the meantime, if you have any bright ideas about how we can fundraise more money to support this trip, please let the teachers in Rainbow Patch know.

Phonics Song

Conferences

That time of year again...
It is always exciting to sit down with the kids and set goals for the year. I know that the teachers in classes have all been really excited about the quality of the learning goals that the children have been setting alongside their peers and teachers. With conferences coming up next week there has been a lot of work completed in classes with teachers sitting down with the children and discussing where the children are now and where they want to be by the end of term 1 or term 2. We have all been impressed with the high standard of goals. The children in Rainbow Patch are all keen to become super learners and kind and caring friends to other children in the school and community.
It is always exciting to hear the children discussing their goals with other children in their class or in the team. Please remember to bring them to the conferences with you, as they have worked hard on setting the goals and it is important for them to be part of the process. Rainbow Patch kids are aware of what their next learning steps are in the class.
Looking forward to seeing you all at conferences next week!

Links to useful websites

As you can see, down the right hand side of the blog are a whole bunch of links to useful websites for Rainbow Patch kids. There are a range of literacy and numeracy websites for your children use to help with their learning. I will add to these regularly. Some of them require you to 'sign up' but the majority are free to use and a lot of fun for children (and adults!).
If you have any websites you would like to see in this list, please feel free to email them to me on gtreadwell@roslyn.school.nz.
Enjoy!

Discovery Day Out - February 2010

Memorial Park - Discovery Time

On Friday 19th February the Rainbow Patch team all headed down to Memorial Park for our Discovery Day Out. We had a great time down there, the sun came out which made the morning even better.

We are so lucky that we have such amazing parents who offered to drive us down there - although, secretly, I think that they were all just as excited to be going to the park for Discovery Time! It was great to see all the kids in the pool demonstrating their spectacular swimming talents - who knew we had a bunch of fish in the Rainbow Patch?!? It was so cool to see the kids all having a ball together in the pool, swimming safely and playing so well together.

Those who thought it was a bit nippy for swimming enjoyed climbing up the climbing frame, playing on the playground and feeding the ravenous ducks, who swarmed in to have their lunch! (thanks to Mr Moffat for donating all those bread rolls!) I don't think ducks have ever eaten like that before! They wouldn't have needed a meal over the weekend, that's for sure. There was a small group of children who were trying to find ways to ensure that each duck got its share of bread, since being back at school I have seen plans for a feeding room for ducks to make sure that the big ducks don't take all the food...some fantastic green hat thinking there!

I was blown away with the creative games that were being played around the park. Our kids have the best imaginations!

Thanks so much again to all the parent helpers, I know the kids loved having you join them for Discovery time!

Here are some of the comments from Rainbow Patch kids about the day:

• I loved feeding the ducks because I am really good at throwing the buns far out so the ducks can eat them - Rory (5 years)

• I thought that going swimming was cool because we got to swim with all our friends in the pool. - Ethan (6 years)

• At Discovery Time I loved climbing the climbing spider web because I could climb right to the top and could stand up there and see heaps, it was like being in a tower! - Kyra (5 years)

• At Discovery Time I liked swimming because I got to play with my friends from other classes. We swam around like a dog! Jakob (6 years)

• I like Discovery time because I get to choose what I do and I always choose things that I don't usually get to do. Bryley (6 years)

• I spun really fast on the spinning wheel with Calais. It was heaps of fun to go fast! You can go really fast if you run fast to get it spinning! - Breyana (5 years)

Welcome to the Roslyn School Rainbow Patch

The Rainbow Patch is our Year 1 and 2 team here at Roslyn School. We are an enthusiastic bunch of learners who are just starting out on our learning journeys here at Roslyn.

We have 5 classrooms full of energetic kids who are keen to get stuck into school.

We meet together every day for daily fitness in the morning, we just love our Jump Jam and it's such a great way to get our bodies and minds revved up for learning.

It is always so exciting to celebrate our friends successes during our Rainbow Patch Assemblies on Tuesday afternoons. We celebrate every birthday in the team as well as congratulate our peers who receive class awards and Rainbow Patch awards.

On Fridays we all get together after morning tea for our weekly discovery time. This is the highlight of our week. There are so many awesome activities that we can take part in. It is cool to figure out how things work, and join in with the activities that we love to do. We know that we get to make choices about what activities we take part in and are all learning to use our fantastic manners to ask if we can join in with groups.

2010 is going to be a really exciting year for us all and we would love it if you followed our blog to keep up to date with what is happening in the Rainbow Patch!