npsroom19

Well, we've all survived Week 1! We have made a start on our topic (Cultures) and have even talked about a Class Treaty (or set of rules). Over the weekend I will be looking at the suggestions from the children and translating them into positive language eg. "Don't run inside" will become "Move sensibly around the classroom" and so on.

I have also tried to prepare the class for our very special visitor next week - Stratus! If they come home raving about a cockatiel, you know why. Stratus is my 3 year old male cockatiel. He is tame, to a point, and needs to be reaquainted with being around different people and especially strangers. He has gotten very used to a quiet household where there are only a few people, and he bites a lot at the moment. I will not be taking him out during school time, because he does still get anxious and, yes, a little nasty, with anyone other than myself. If all goes well and the kids respect the very basic rule about Stratus (NO putting anything near or in his cage - including hands!), then he will hopefully stay as our class pet for the year.

With our "Cultures" topic we are looking at different places that people in our class are from, or even where their parents are from. If you're from somewhere overseas and would like to come in and talk to the children about your country and culture, please do let me know!

Also, please let me know if you are available on a regular basis to be a parent helper, even if it's just for an hour or so. At this level we go through a LOT of reading books, and it's a constant battle keeping on top of filing them. If I could have someone to come in and do my book filing on a Friday, it would be most helpful. If you're not sure where or how to file books, never fear - I will show you. It's just all those little things that are sometimes time consuming but need to be done. After art projects I often need help framing and displaying their work. Even if you want to come in and help with art, that's always useful. One more adult running around topping up paint makes all the difference. Right now we're planning on doing art on a Monday, but this is subject to change. Having a parent helper or two during swimming time is also great, and we will be doing swimming from Week 3 on a Friday. Please do come and see me if you want to help.

This year we will not be sending books home with children who do not have book bags. This includes books from the library. They simply get too damaged in school bags. So if your child comes home without a book one night, it could be because they forgot to bring their book bag to school. Please make sure you empty it every night and that it is back in their bag for the morning.

I think that is all for now. If I think of anything else, I'll post it in the next entry.