MEET THE TEACHER NIGHT ROOM 8 MISS BECKY CRAWFORD

ABOUT ME I am Becky Crawford, teacher of Room 8 Yr 4/5/children. This is my fourth year at Mataura School and my 10 th year teaching. I have two sons, Ryan (19) and Max (16)

THIS IS GLENDA SHE WORKS WITH ME IN ROOM 8 AS A TEACHER AIDE

ROOM 8 HOMEWORK Homework goes out each Monday and is due to me on Fridays. As per the homework policy of our school - there is no punishment if homework is not done - we do reward though! Spelling words come from essential list testing, misspelt words from writing time and also academic word lists for definitions. Reading that comes home should not be challenging, this is to ensure that children are having success at home and to encourage fluent reading. You may find the children will have read texts before this is OK! This term we are focusing on Basic Fact practice to improve speed and retention of facts. These are facts that students are learning to know INSTANTLY. I have added extra homework for “experts” for those families who would like to encourage extra learning and the Year 6 project’s are now open for any Year student to do. I understand the demands of other hobbies/interests and the pressure on parents around homework, if you have any concerns please come and see me,

CAMP 2015 Camp will most likely be in Term 4 (aiming for warmer weather) All families will receive a questionnaire by the end of next week to ask for your feedback about the proposed camp learning focuses for Once we have received this feedback we will then let you know via a newsletter what the learning focus is and where camp will be this year. FUNDRAISING – we will begin fundraising for CAMP this term and we welcome any offers to help organise fundraising events. The more we raise the less the children have to pay. Parents can speak to Maxine in the office and start a weekly payment now if they would like. Camp usually costs each child approx $300 but we significantly reduce that with fundraising throughout the year. Camp has traditionally been from Mon – Fri and we will require approx 3 parents to join us. If you have any concerns, ideas and suggestions I strongly encourage you to speak to either myself or Shona Munro as your first port of call.

WAYS TO HELP YOUR CHILD TO SUCCEED AT SCHOOL Encourage independence, packing bag, making lunch, homework etc. Support learning by reading with and to your child as often as you can. Basic facts problems (doubles, times tables) Encourage clear and correct speech (this really helps for spelling and reading) - for example kids that say and “f” sound for “th” can struggle to read and write these words. Help learners figure out the answers rather than be tempted to tell them! Talk about the world around you, what’s happening? I’m always here to help please give me call and arrange a meeting.

AND FINALLY…. Goal Setting Interviews are next week on Tuesday and Wednesday please look out for an important notice coming home tomorrow. We would love to have YOU on our PTA!! Keep an eye out in our newsletter for our Term 1 meeting. Please visit our facebook page Our school website is another goodie -Class pages -Websites for learning -Calendar of what;s on