Parent Information

Reading Presentation Timetable

Bike and Scooter Parental Permission

Aquatics Day Permission Slip

Meet the Teacher

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it along to Meet the Teacher evening. It was great to see you all. For those that were unable to come here are some of the things we discussed.

The children have settled in really well and we are really enjoying getting to know them and look forward to a fun filled year of learning.

Daily timetable - Here is an idea of what usually happens on a typical day in Rakino 1 & 2

Morning block (9 - 10:30)

Oral Language

Fitness

Spelling

Maths

Morning Tea

Reading

Writing

Lunch

PE / Inquiry Learning / The Arts / Cultural Rotation / Assembly / Buddy Class

Once we have our groups up and running the children will work with one of us (James or Vanessa) for spelling, maths and reading. For other areas we will work in a variety of ways. Sometimes we might work as a whole class, other times it might be in smaller groups. Children may do things as a year 5 or year 6 group. They may also work with their home class.

Swimming

We aim to have the children swimming every day. This is preparing them for their Aquatics day on the 21st February where they will be tested for sailing (as well as a day of fun races and activities at the stadium). If for any health reasons your child is unable to swim please send a note.

On the testing day students will be required to swim:

25m Freestyle

25m Backstroke

25m Breaststroke

They must be able to breaststroke and at least 1 of the other two strokes in order to pass the test.

They must also complete the 3 minute survival test where they wear a large t-shirt (please provide on the day) and must demonstrate that they are able to float for 3 minutes without touching the sides of the pool. When the 3 minutes is up they take off the t-shirt.

If your child is feeling nervous you may like to take them up to the Hibiscus Coast Leisure Centre, beach or another suitable place and practice these skills prior to the testing day.

After the testing has been done we will hold our competitive races where the inter school swimming team will be selected.

Please make sure your child has returned their permission slip about the Aquatics Day.

Please consider how your child will manage wet togs in their school bag if they bring their own device to school. We have also had a few leaky drink bottles.

• Classrooms are open from 8.30 in the morning onwards.  If your child arrives before that time then they must wait outside classroom.  School starts at 8.55. Your child needs to be at school before the 8.50 bell to prepare for the day.  If for some reason your child will be late, then you can ring and leave a message on the school answering machine, and when they arrive they need to go and notify the office.  If your child is sick, again, please ring the office and leave a message on the machine to let us know where they are – and they are at home safe. After school – children are not allowed on the playground without an adult supervising them.

• Sharing our learning – children will be creating their own blog/site to share their learning with you. We also have a class blog which has any cool activities/photos/videos and blog posts from us as well as students.We really appreciate parents/ grandparents commenting on the site as well as our class blog.
• Devices- go in the lockable cupboard. We use devices as tools and we do a variety of tasks both written and digital depending on the task.
• Home room teacher - If you have any queries about your child academic or otherwise please contact their home teacher. We do talk to each other daily and monitor students progress.
• Waterwise starts in week 3. This is before our testing day but there are a number of other testing components that we do at the beach during the first Waterwise session. These include a life jacket swim and swimming under an upturned boat. Waterwise will happen every Friday (weather permitting). It is a good idea to pack extra food and drinks on these days. It is also a good idea to ensure your child has sunblock on before they come to school and has some in their school bag. On Waterwise days children DO NOT wear their school uniform, they are able to wear mufti clothing. Please make sure your child has suitable clothing for Waterwise (not singlet tops as they can get burnt, they will need something warm to put on when they get out of the water). They must bring a hat and closed shoes to walk to the beach.
• Homework - This year we will not be giving out a homework sheet each week. We would like you to focus on encouraging your child to read each night, learning their spelling words and to learn to recall the basic facts quickly and accurately. Twice a term there will be project type homework task where the children can be a bit more creative. You can find some ideas for homework and the projects (when they are set) on the homework page of this blog.
• Camp - This will be held at Carey Park Camp from Wednesday 8th - Friday 10th March. You should have received notices about this. Please complete them and return them to school as soon as possible.
• Brain Food - During the morning block we encourage children to eat brain food. We do not have a set break but the children self manage this and are able to snack on this while they work. Some suitable options are fruit, vegetables, popcorn and nuts.
• Finally if your child is having any problems please encourage them to come and speak to one of us about it. Although it can be difficult for some of them it is often better for them to let us know when something is going on so we can help them to sort it out as soon as possible. Alternatively if this is proving difficult you could help them to write an email to us.

We want your child to enjoy coming to school and look forward to a fantastic year.