Orana Park

The day was hot and the wind still as Richmond School headed out on a whole school trip to learn about the different jobs that people do at Orana Park.  We spent the whole day looking and learning about animals and the jobs the zoo keepers do to keep the Park running smoothly. We had free ice blocks and got to feed the giraffes. We held a rhinoceros horn and got to see a rhinoceros tooth. We were told how the gibbons escaped. We would like to thank our guides and the zookeepers who took time out of their day to share their jobs with us.

The Whole School arrive at Orana Park

The new blue whio ducklings

Whaea Sharon feeds the giraffe

Children feeding the giraffes

Clip and Climb

We were all excited to be invited by Whaea Alice's friend Becky to an hour of Clip and Climb for free as a final farewell gift. Thank you Becky, it looks like the whole school enjoyed themselves and Whaea Alice and Matua Simon were brave enough to try the Leap of Faith. Yeehah!!

Check out our photos from the morning trip.

The Te Rito Garden

From a community farewell to supporting our community garden. Richmond School children have been involved in cleaning up the community garden for the last time.

It was amazing just how much the garden has grown and how pretty it looks after a bit of TLC. We hope that the whole community will continue to get behind the Te Rito Garden and continue to make it a special place in the Richmond Community.

Our Final Hurrah for the Community - The Twilight Gala

Well the weather held off and the community came for our final goodbye. We had such a wonderful time meeting and greeting those who have been involved in the school for the many years that it has been opened. The children were a credit to their families and the school as they helped make the food, set up the cafe area and then gave their time to give out the popcorn, candy floss and ice blocks. I am deeply proud of everything that is Richmond. THANK YOU.

Our Garden

The Community enjoying the Cafe

Cheapskates Activity

Our families enjoying the bouncy castle

Some old photos

Memory Lane

One Special Moment

As part of a Student Council Initiative our class rep - Tristan asked the children in Room 1 what they considered was a special moment this year at school. He asked us to think about all the activities we had been involved in and then to draw a picture relating one special moment. Here are the children's special moments:

Shafrin

Rahil

Tristan

Savou

Toby

De-Ellah

Shikha

Top Team

This term our focus is on Engage - Caring Citizens contribute by leading the way.

Last week Richmond School had the opportunity to engage and lead the way with other schools within our cluster in our Top Teams Competition. We welcomed teams from Linwood North, Shirley Primary and Seabrooke Mackenzie to our Top Teams Competition. Top Teams involves 10 different activities with teams of 6 from years 1-6. The aim of Top Teams was to participate in the activities, teamwork  and to have fun with our friends.

In this activity the children had to get all the puzzle pieces of New Zealand and their team mates from the green flag to the orange flag without touching the grass. Then, once they had got all their puzzle pieces to the orange flag, the children needed to make the puzzle. They got five points for making either island and twenty points for making the whole of New Zealand. The children did very well trying to remember what New Zealand looked like, most of the children were able to make the South Island. 

We then all had oranges and some ice blocks and our new friends went back to their own schools.

Congratulations everyone on a very engaging and fun afternoon.

Term 4 Class Newsletter

Room 1 Newsletter

Special Events/Dates Mon 28 Oct - Labour Day (School Closed) Fri 8 Nov - Richmond Twilight Celebration Fri 15 Nov - Show Day (School Closed) Fri 6 Dec - Orana Park (End of Year Trip) Thu 12 Dec - School Graduation, School finishes at 12.30 Fri 13 Dec - Swimming Fun Day End of 2013 School Year

Contact Details jofairbrother@richmond.school.nz Phone: 389 7168 Richmond School Blog rito1.blogspot.co.nz

Office Hours Monday - Friday 8.30am - 10.30am 2.30pm - 3.30pm Term 4 Dates 14 October 2013 - 13 Dec 2013

Welcome back to the final term of the year. A term that I am sure will be filled with many mixed emotions, but be assured it will be a term that will be full of laughter, fun and a lot of hard work. This term our focus is ENGAGE: Caring citizens contribute by leading the way. Our children are going to take all that we have learned throughout the year and lead the way in our Twilight Celebration. This celebration is a chance to give back to the community and say Thank You for your support and encouragement to Richmond School throughout the years. I also need your help with preparing a profile of your children, their strengths and interests. The children will design this profile (similar to a business card) to take to their new school. Below is a questionnaire for your children’s profile. Could you please take some time with your child to complete this form and return to school by Wednesday 23 October 2013. Thank you for your help in completing this form.

REMINDERS

Healthy Lunches:  Our school promotes healthy lunches so please pack lunches that will sustain your child for the whole school day.

Drink Bottles:  We encourage the children to drink only water at school so no juices or sweet drinks to school please. 

Toys:  Please remind your child that home toys are best left at home. We do not want children to get upset because they bring them to school and their special toys break or they get lost.

QUESTIONNAIRE

This year, we are creating student profiles for the children to take with them to their new school next year. We want the children to share their strengths, talents and interests, in a fun and engaging way for their future teachers and friends. 

Please take some time with you child to think about the following statements and complete them together, just like the children share with you at our conferences earlier in the year. We will be working as a class to put this information together but your input is invaluable! 

I (your child) am really good at... 

I can… 

I like… 

I am interested in..

I need more help in… 

I want to be better at…

Thank You - Swimming

Well it is the last day of term and the last day for swimming. It has been amazing how much progress the children have made in the three weeks.  Firstly, let me say a big thank you to all the children for their hard work and persistence during this time. All their efforts have certainly paid off and I can see the confidence they have around water.  Fantastic effort team.  Secondly, let me say a big thank you to all the parents who helped over the last three weeks. Your help made my job a lot easier and I am truly appreciative. Lastly, I must thank the instructors at Jellie Park, Swimming New Zealand and State Insurance who not only helped us learn to swim but sponsored our swimming with free googles and swim caps. From the first day of receiving these gifts the children have acted more confidently and have pushed themselves to go under the water because of your goggles and caps.

Ukuele Festival

Strum, Strike and Blow

Wow, what a wonderful night. The children were just fantastic during the morning practice and were equally brilliant during the evening performance. Check out some of our photos from the morning and evening sessions.


A big thank you to all the parents who came along to watch in the evening. It was a real adventure being able to catch the bus and all head off to the CBS arena. The children were very excited about going but were even more excited knowing that the moon would be out when they came out of the Arena.

Koi Te Hinengaro

Last Friday we had the last day of our Koi Te Hinengaro Activities (Sharpen the Mind). The children have really enjoyed sharing new activities and stretching their boundaries. Here are some pictures of the children doing their different activities.

Seth and Hip Hop

Shafrin, Conner and Mindcraft

The Baking Team

Tasneem and Minecraft

Daily 3 Maths

Over the last two months the children have been learning how to work independently during Maths time. Our Maths program me has three components that we explore

Maths by Self - this choice uses technology to help with maths problems. Here Shikha is using an ipad to help sort shapes into a picture.

Maths with Someone - this choice gives the children a chance to explore Maths with others. They choose from group boxes or from the classroom shelves a Maths Activity.

Here is Rahil and De-Ellah playing an adding games.

Kelly and Shafrin are playing with the Monkeys. They are using words to describe colors, numbers, adding and bigger and smaller.

Toby and Savou are playing with the dinosaurs. They are using language like, bigger and smaller, same and different and counting