Term 3, Week 7 eNews

10.06.2023  

Kia Ora from Mrs Cook

I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and enjoying the sunshine. 

CELEBRATIONS AND THANK YOUS

***We had 94% attendance at our recent Three Way Conferences. This demonstrates the successful home/school partnership that we have created, as well as the importance you place on your child’s education. Thank you to everyone who attended.

***Our learners have earned their third ‘Gold Coin’ Reward. Gold coins are awarded to learners showing our school values outside of the classroom and this is a schoolwide positive behaviour system. Thank you learners for being committed to showing our school values of Challenge, Pride, Excellence and Empathy, these values will set you up for success in all that you do. Watch this space for the date for Pyjama Day!

***Our Year 7/8 Hockey teams participated in the ECCS Hockey tournament held at Alfriston School last week. Our boys team WON the competition and the girls placed 4th…..well done to all the learners that took part. A massive thank you to Mrs Pearcey who coached the teams. She has trained them afterschool and at lunchtimes and coached them on the day. We really appreciate your help Mrs Pearcey.

***Congratulations to the following learners who were selected in the ECCS Hockey teams which will compete at Counties level now – Suzie Montgomerie, Jasmin Kaur, Jewel Tahere, Gurjot Kaur, Harmeet Singh, Raina Prasad, Makaiah Hall, Akaldeep Singh, Nirav Singh, Reagan Woodley, Marley Rees-Watene, Ansh Bhatia, Cormack Douglas and Jaden Daji.

***Congratulations to the following learners who were selected in the ECCS Netball teams which will compete at Counties level – Jewel Tahere, Makaiah Hall, Tanvi Ram and Fiona Naivaluvou.

***Whānau Assembly was a wonderful occasion. This gave our learners the opportunity to showcase their learning, and they did this with pride and confidence. Thank you to the whānau that came along last Friday.

***House Event was a huge success. This event was technology based which was a change from the usual outdoor focus. The creations made were outstanding.Thank you to Mrs Sila and her team for organising the event.

AS YOU CAN SEE THERE IS A LOT GOING ON AT ALFRISTON SCHOOL!

THANK YOU STAFF FOR ALL YOU DO!

5 AWARDS

We love to celebrate success at Alfriston School and one way of doing this is through our 5 Awards. Learners are awarded certificates for many things and their job is to store these away safely, and when they have five they bring them to their class teacher who will sign them off and send them to the office. At the next Whānau Assembly the learner will receive their prestigious 5 Award.

Which certificates count towards a 5 Award? Achievement Certificates from Term 4 of the previous year OR current school year. Below are some examples, however teachers will check and sign off.

• Welcome certificates
• Class certificates
• Team (Whānau Group) certificates
• School based extra achievement certificates (EG: Sports, Mathex)
• Online learning certificates of significant achievement (EG: Completing a level, achieving Gold Status)

STAFFING NEWS

Congratulations to..

Room 7

We are Scientists: Chemical vs Physical Changes

In Room 7 we are enjoying being scientists. We are learning about chemical and physical changes and how to identify them. During a physical change the object changes shape, size or form but still remains the same substance. When there is a chemical change a new substance is created, like rust or cake! Another way you can identify a chemical change is that it is irreversible whereas a physical change can often be changed back. 

We have been conducting science experiments in class to demonstrate our understanding of this concept. Last week we needed to prove that the reaction that we see when Vinegar and Baking soda is mixed together resulted from a chemical change. We did this by using bottles and balloons to demonstrate a new gas called Carbon Dioxide was being created. After we recorded our observations we used this new knowledge to shoot bottle rockets into the air. It was great fun!

Room 8

Maths : This term one of our focusses for Maths has been Measurement. We have explored different units of measurement and applied our knowledge to everyday experiences. We learned how to estimate length and use small and big rulers to measure objects in our classroom. It was great to see so much teamwork happening. 

Bike skills: The weather has been quite unpredictable since the start of this term but we haven been very lucky to practise our biking skills during some dry patches. We headed out to the bike track and learned about how to fit our helmets and adjust our bikes. We tried to go around as many times as possible and had to manage some tricky turns and bumps along the way. Riding our bikes is great way to keep fit!

Science: In Room 8 we have been learning about the science behind making sugar crystals. Have you ever seen sugar crystal candy? The candy is made from two simple ingredients: sugar and water. We have investigated  how long it takes for sugar crystals to form, based on how saturated the sugar/water solution is. We used jars, water, food colouring, skewers, pegs and LOTS of sugar to carry out this experiment. During our sugar crystal experiment we have been recording our observations. We included equipment, hypothesis, method, results and reflection in our scientific report. It was great fun and we are looking forward to doing more experiments  this term!

P.E: Room 8 has been preparing for Jumping June to show our school value of empathy by supporting a charity in our community. We measured to skipping ropes to size and showed off our skipping skills! It was so much fun!

Room 5

Science:

In Room 5 we have loved exploring the scientific phenomena around us and figuring out how we can change the state of different matter. Through experiments we have been able to watch first hand how we can make a chemical reaction through mixing hot water, vinegar and baking soda to create carbon dioxide which blew up our balloon, make fizzy sherbet which bubbles on our tongue and use a shaking force to separate liquid cream into butter (fat molecules). We are now starting to consider whether some changes can be reversed once we have heated or cooled certain substances.

Writing:

Last week we took an imaginary trip to Samoa and used our 5 senses to explore what we might experience. We considered the culture, food and other things we would be able to do on our wonderful trip away. We have also been focusing on learning how to produce a variety different poems this term. So far we have created our own cinquain, alliteration, onomatopoeia and colour poems.

Fitness:

With Jumping June less than a week away Room 5 have been working hard to improve our physical endurance and skip up a storm. Most mornings we head out to the turf to work on developing the different skills used when skipping such as, the length of time we can skip, doing a criss-cross, using one leg or running while skipping.

Art:

For visual art we have been mixing colours, blending and putting different colours beside each other to create contrast. We enjoyed choosing colours that make us happy and putting them into our Wassily Kandinsky inspired artwork.

Learning Celebrations

Room 7

We are Scientists: Chemical vs Physical Changes

In Room 7 we are enjoying being scientists. We are learning about chemical and physical changes and how to identify them. During a physical change the object changes shape, size or form but still remains the same substance. When there is a chemical change a new substance is created, like rust or cake! Another way you can identify a chemical change is that it is irreversible whereas a physical change can often be changed back. 

We have been conducting science experiments in class to demonstrate our understanding of this concept. Last week we needed to prove that the reaction that we see when Vinegar and Baking soda is mixed together resulted from a chemical change. We did this by using bottles and balloons to demonstrate a new gas called Carbon Dioxide was being created. After we recorded our observations we used this new knowledge to shoot bottle rockets into the air. It was great fun!

Room 8

Maths : This term one of our focusses for Maths has been Measurement. We have explored different units of measurement and applied our knowledge to everyday experiences. We learned how to estimate length and use small and big rulers to measure objects in our classroom. It was great to see so much teamwork happening. 

Bike skills: The weather has been quite unpredictable since the start of this term but we haven been very lucky to practise our biking skills during some dry patches. We headed out to the bike track and learned about how to fit our helmets and adjust our bikes. We tried to go around as many times as possible and had to manage some tricky turns and bumps along the way. Riding our bikes is great way to keep fit!

Science: In Room 8 we have been learning about the science behind making sugar crystals. Have you ever seen sugar crystal candy? The candy is made from two simple ingredients: sugar and water. We have investigated  how long it takes for sugar crystals to form, based on how saturated the sugar/water solution is. We used jars, water, food colouring, skewers, pegs and LOTS of sugar to carry out this experiment. During our sugar crystal experiment we have been recording our observations. We included equipment, hypothesis, method, results and reflection in our scientific report. It was great fun and we are looking forward to doing more experiments  this term!

P.E: Room 8 has been preparing for Jumping June to show our school value of empathy by supporting a charity in our community. We measured to skipping ropes to size and showed off our skipping skills! It was so much fun!

Room 5

Science:

In Room 5 we have loved exploring the scientific phenomena around us and figuring out how we can change the state of different matter. Through experiments we have been able to watch first hand how we can make a chemical reaction through mixing hot water, vinegar and baking soda to create carbon dioxide which blew up our balloon, make fizzy sherbet which bubbles on our tongue and use a shaking force to separate liquid cream into butter (fat molecules). We are now starting to consider whether some changes can be reversed once we have heated or cooled certain substances.

Writing:

Last week we took an imaginary trip to Samoa and used our 5 senses to explore what we might experience. We considered the culture, food and other things we would be able to do on our wonderful trip away. We have also been focusing on learning how to produce a variety different poems this term. So far we have created our own cinquain, alliteration, onomatopoeia and colour poems.

Fitness:

With Jumping June less than a week away Room 5 have been working hard to improve our physical endurance and skip up a storm. Most mornings we head out to the turf to work on developing the different skills used when skipping such as, the length of time we can skip, doing a criss-cross, using one leg or running while skipping.

Art:

For visual art we have been mixing colours, blending and putting different colours beside each other to create contrast. We enjoyed choosing colours that make us happy and putting them into our Wassily Kandinsky inspired artwork.

Coming Events..

I am a a Scientist