Another North Canterbury Rep

Conor from R8 has made the U48kg North Canterbury rep team.

The New Classroom-Finally In!

We moved in yesterday afternoon. Here are the Room 10 children giving the classroom and their new desks the thumbs up.

Life Education

A couple of pictures of Room 6 in the Life Education van. The children are learning about healthy foods. The teacher, Kathleen is really enjoying our children.

Parent Feedback Summary

This is the feedback I got back from the forms at my parent night:

Right Now

Create a team, staff, parents, children (cohesion) and create pride in our school.
Restoration of faith, trust, belief, direction, communication …
Car parking

Improvement Areas

Cohesion
Extra-curricular activities x 2
Physical school-hall especially
Create an anti-bullying policy with consultation-make it transparent and therefore part of our school ethos
Raising standards of achievement
Relationship between home and school
Better use of parental skills
Library expanding
Learning about rural sector
Integration of 5 year olds
More parent evenings
Reporting to parents
Testing for learning disabilities and letting parents know how to access outside help

Inter-House Soccer Points

Points after 4 rounds are: Batten 9, Sheppard 16, Hillary 7, Rutherford 13. We are all on again next week starting Tuesday.

Room 7, busy doing some serious learning that looks like fun. This is a game of Loopy that encourages the children to recall basic facts knowledge quickly. I can't wait to see if they can break Mr Lucas' class record of 40 seconds.

Lunchtime Soccer

Batten vs Rutherford yesterday. Another big crowd. Mr Hill and the children loving it!!

Rep Rugby Success

Barclay from Room 10 and Krissy from Room 8 have both been selected in North Canterbury Rep Rugby sides. Krissy is the first girl to ever achieve this! Make sure you do Swannanoa proud Krissy and Barclay!

Parent Input

Answer the questions below by posting a comment. I would really appreciate your input.

1. What is the number 1 thing you would like to see me do for the school right now?
2. What are some of the areas you think Swannanoa can improve as a school?

I look forward to your thoughts.
Fraser

Great 'Read To' Titles

I love reading to children, both at school and in my own home. This is a great way to unwind and stimulate some quality interaction between you and your children, not to mention model fluent reading strategies!
Here are some of my favourite titles to read to children. The age appropriateness is in brackets.

The Hatchet and Mr Tucket by Gary Paulsen (9-13yrs), Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl (8-12yrs), Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee (8-13yrs), Deadly Prospect (11-13yrs) and Driving A Bargain (8-11yrs) by Fleur Beale, Charlotte's Web by E.B.White (6-10yrs), The Twits by Roald Dahl (6-10yrs).

For some fantastic sophisticated picture books (8-13yrs) check out any titles by Anthony Browne, Colin Thompson and Raymond Biggs.

I love to read Lynley Dodd, Grandma McGarvey and Dr Seuss books to youngsters (5-8yrs). Another lesser known author that is a favourite in our house is Lauren Child with her Lola series (5-8yrs).

Motivated to Learn

Shannon from R1 shared this little project with me today. Last year she did an enrichment task with her class teacher involving a range of self directed activities about shoes. This holidays she took it upon herself to create her very own original elf shoes. Well done Shannon for being a committed learner that can successfully apply what you have learned.

Welcome from Fraser

It is my pleasure to welcome you to my blog site. I am thrilled and excited to be the new Principal of Swannanoa and look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the coming weeks. This blog is a way for busy parents and extended family members to share in the day to day activities and successes of all of us here at Swannanoa School. I will also share some thoughts on education today and occasionally host an opinion poll too.

Try leaving a comment, this is a chance for you to encourage us at school and share some new ideas with us. It is as easy as clicking on the comment bar below and typing your comment.

I will be freely available at school pick-up and drop-off times whenever possible so call in and see me. Don't forget to come along to R7 & 8 at school on Wednesday, July 22 at 7pm to hear about me.