Newsletters

Miro Newsletter Term 1  

Welcome to all those new families who have joined us. We are looking forward to starting the year after a lovely break.

Our teaching team is Lindsay Maclaren, Simone Biggelaar Krishnan and Jo Kim.  Sue Roberts will lead the syndicate and Christina Makin will be working in Miro on Fridays in place of Lindsay and every second Thursday for Jo. We are supported by our wonderful teacher aides Margaret and Janet.

 We have a ‘Meet the Teacher Night’ on Wednesday 1^st February, starting in the hall and then coming to classrooms to discuss Miro routines. This evening is from 6 – 7pm. We would love to see you all there.

When the timetable is firmed up it will be on the wall of the classroom. Over the next 2-3 weeks we will be placing your children in groups for instruction after we have checked their learning needs.

 Around 10 o’clock each day we will have brain break. For our new families this means having a piece of fruit or vegetable to keep the children going until morning tea.  Morning Tea is at 11 and lunch at 1pm.

Our overarching topic for 2017 is Up, Up and Away. In Term One we will be covering the Social Sciences -learning about ourselves, our families, our school and a Science topic, The Living World (Things with Wings).

Some dates in February for your diary:

Wednesday 1st February: Parent Information Evening 6-7pm

Friday 10 February 4-6pm Family Picnic at Narrow Neck

Wednesday  15th February: Beach Day with Rimu and Nikau ( Notice to follow)

The Blog: We regularly put up photos on the Miro Blog of the children and the activities they take part in every day. Please have a look at the blog and inform relatives overseas that they can also access it to see things the children are involved in. To access it go to the Vauxhall website and follow the links to the Miro Blog. If you do not want photos of your child on the blog let us know.

Parent Helpers: We love having help of any kind in Miro but especially during the morning literacy and numeracy sessions. We do have a variety of other small jobs that you can do if you are unable to give up a morning. A list of these will be put up in the window along with a helper’s timetable from for you to fill in from week 3. ‘Tame’ preschoolers are welcome!

A Few Reminders:

• The school bell goes at 8:55 and children need to be organised and on the mat at that time. It helps them and us if they are here in plenty of time so they are settled at the start of the day. It is very helpful if the children put away their own school bag and book bag so they know where they are during the day.
• Small manageable lunches are best. They can always refuel at 3pm. A drink bottle with water can be kept in the classroom to sip on if they are thirsty.  Please make every effort to give your children a zero waste lunchbox. At this time of year yoghurt can be a problem because it gets warm in bags and can spill everywhere.
• Clothes that are easy to manage would help us at swimming time over the next 6-8 weeks. It helps to have ALL items of clothing named including underwear. Swimming takes place every day after lunch.
• This year we would like all children to have a change of clothes in their bags particularly underwear and a pair of shorts for those ‘little accident’ times.
• All children need a named hat to wear in the playground during

      Term 1 & 4. Our school rule is NO HAT NO PLAY.

·      New children often feel tired in the first few weeks of school as there is so much to remember and so many little settling challenges. We like them to go home at 2pm for the first two weeks to allow for this. All our new children will stay until 3pm beginning 15 February.

    Some children take longer to adjust. You may like to talk to us if you

          think your child needs longer at 2pm especially in this hot weather.

• Please ensure drink bottles are named and taken home each day to be washed.

Library Day: This year our library days will be Thursdays. Children will be issued with a book which they can keep for a week.   They may return the book to the classroom any time during the week and put it in the appropriate coloured box in their reading room. We appreciate books coming back on time.

     Your Junk: We love to have any of your bits and pieces for making our making table and are desperate for clean yoghurt pots for painting. Don’t forget to ask if there is anything you are not sure about.

We are looking forward to another great year!

The Miro Teachers