National Young Leaders Day 2013

Some of the Year 6 kids from Room 20 went to the National Young Leaders Day 2013 at the Michael Fowler Centre on Monday.  We had a great day, listening to five inspirational speakers.

Here are some of the hero photos!

Here are some videos of NYLD 2013

What the kids had to say:

National Young Leaders Day

Heroes are all around us. They could be famous, they could be our family or maybe they're just a good person. Heroes are also the people we look up to. Well, at least that's what we learned at National Young Leaders Day.

All of the speakers at NYLD had an unique hero that helped them achieve their dreams. There were many inspiring speakers at NYLD including, Rachel Taulelei, Billy Graham, Alison Mooney, Charlie Laumatia and Cam Calkoen. I loved what all the speakers had to say, but the speaker that got to me the most was Cam Calkoen.

Although Cam had a disability, he still went on trying to achieve his dreams. And, with a little help from his hero, he did. Cam is now a gold medalist runner for New Zealand in the paralympics. His message was that no matter what, you can achieve your dreams if you stick to them.

Even though I still haven't found my dream yet, I found that all the advice I got will help me in the future. The important thing I need to remember is that I should never give up in myself, others or my dreams. When I do that, I will discover my true potential, and maybe then, I can be my own hero.

By Paris Hunt 

National Young Leaders Day 2013

On Monday 10 June 36 year 6 students went to the Michael Fowler Centre to attend The National Young Leaders Day 2013.

There were five speakers who were: Rachel Taulelei, Charlie Laumitia, Alison Mooney and Cam Calkoen. They were very inspiring and funny.

We had to write down notes of what the speakers told us. We were very lucky to have the chance to go.

After lunch we sat down and sang “Hall of fame”, Then to top that off, there were giant inflatable bouncy balls!

Towards the end we had a special guest: Jamie McDell! She sang two songs that were her new song angels and another song that I forgot the name of.

It was a great day I will never forget.

By Conor.

Mathletics - Mathletes of the Week - 10 June to 16 June

This weeks top 5 Mathletes!!

1. Gemma Arnott         1350 Points  (Bronze Award)  - Great job Gemma!

2. Finn Meikle             1170 Points  (Bronze Award)  - Great job Finn!

3. Oliver Kenning        661 Points
4. Arthur Werner          613 Points
5. Sneha Wevita           451 Points

Great to see the total points going up!

Matariki Events

Room 20 have been studying Matariki over the last week.  Here are a few links for what is happening around Wellington over the next month.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/8770103/Make-a-date-with-the-stars
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/Matariki/Pages/default.aspx?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=
http://wellington.govt.nz/events/events-calendar/2013/05/matariki

Mathletics - Mathletes of the Week - 3 June to 9 June

This weeks top 5 Mathletes!!

1. Arthur Werner          1356 Points  (Bronze Award)  - Great job Arthur!

2. Luv Nawani             390 Points
3. Lulu Reid                 116 Points
4. Sneha Wevita           100 Points
5. Grayson McDonald  16 Points

Mathletics

Hi all,

Just a reminder that Mathletics is available for use at home.  As there is no official homework, Mathletics is a great resource for practising and learning new maths knowledge.

There are a few students not taking advantage of this resource by not using it regularly.  Remember that your Activity Fee is paying for Mathletics, and that, like Reading Eggs, Mathletics is a means of covering more than we have time to do at school.  In other words, Mathletics offers students the chance to plug some gaps in their knowledge and to get ahead in maths.

I have also noticed that some students are struggling with the tasks they have been set and have not been taking the time to do them properly.  The tasks are set at a level appropriate to the individual, so I do urge you to take some time to spend with your child as they are doing their Mathletics tasks and offering help if required.

Another area of concern throughout the class is the level of recall of Basic Facts.  This will be addressed in class, but it would be beneficial to spend some time on Live Mathletics at, at least, Level 2.

Thanks

Reading Eggs

Hi all,

Just a notification to say that our trial of Reading Eggs has expired.

Last week, I sent home a notice regarding paying $15 for the continued use of Reading Eggs until February next year.  We needed to gather the interest of 80% of parents so we could take advantage of this deal.  At present, Room 20 are sitting on 15%.

From what I can gather by talking with, listening to and watching, the children are mostly engaged by this.  For instance, some of the boys are on the computers in the morning, comparing some of the things they are doing in Reading Eggs.

I personally recommend that, if your child is keen, that $15 for around 10 months is a great price to pay for this software.  I haven't seen anything online so comprehensive for reading in my searches (although I'm definitely keen to hear of anything).  The cost compares favourably to purchasing a single book, where this site offers hundreds of titles - fiction and non-fiction, or a software package that performs similar functions.  The follow-up activities to improve reading comprehension are also very good, and cover a greater variety of texts than the children will be exposed to at school.  In this regard, it is a great supplement to the existing reading programme.  Not only that, but it gives the opportunity to have good reading learning at home, after school and in the holidays.  It has also proved to be engaging for the more reluctant readers.

If Reading Eggs is subscribed to, Room 20 students who have signed up will have access to it during class time as part of their reading programme.

Sorry if I sound like a salesperson for Reading Eggs, but as I've said, I think that it's a more than fair price for an application of this quality.  If you have any questions, just send an email to michaelheyes@redwood.school.nz.

Thanks,

Michael

Thanks for the Kai!

Thank you to all who provided a plate for the shared lunch.  I appreciate that it is an extra effort for you, but I think that it served its purpose as most people seemed to enjoy sharing food with each other and sitting down chatting while they ate.

Discovery Time also began well, with everybody involved learning to work cooperatively.  There is definitely something to build on there, and perhaps even a chance for some parents to come in the future and share an activity with the class :)

Thanks again

Michael