I hope you had a lovely Summer - wasn't the weather amazing (if a little hot at times!)
QUEST 2018
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again this year at Quest.
This term the whole school inquiry is looking at learning - how we learn best. I will be starting with some team building games and activities, and then looking at how the brain works, before we look at different ways of learning - learning through play, experimentation, from others, from mistakes etc etc. The aim is to build on the schoolwide inquiry and introduce more depth and complexity into learning.
This year for the year 3-6's I am going to go back to one longer session a week. I loved seeing the kids twice a week in our trial last year, but found I was losing 10 minutes each day waiting for everyone to come, so we were effectively losing 20 minutes a week. And with the shorter session I feel it was more difficult to go into any depth on anything, as we seemed to just get into something and we had to pack up and move on. So I am trialling going back to one longer session each week this term.
Kids are of course welcome to pop in to chat at morning tea or lunchtime if they want to catch up on the day they don't come to me - I love seeing them and hearing their ideas :)
Quest this year will be in room L1. The room has been refurbished over the holidays and is still not quite ready for me to move my furniture in and set up the room, so don't be alarmed if you pop into school and L1 looks empty still - I will get it set up hopefully next week when I can finally get in there!
EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES AT BREAK TIMES
I am still going to look at running extra learning opportunities at lunchtime or morning tea - just trying to figure out how this will work. I would like to run chess club, code club, gardening club, games club - they might not all run each week. I'm thinking of alternating chess club and gardening club on Tuesdays, and alternating code club and games club on Wednesdays - all at lunch break. And I'd like to run a little book club for avid readers some morning tea breaks. To be confirmed, watch this space! I will have notices in L1 window eventually to advertise which clubs are on each week to hopefully make it easier for kids (and me!) to remember. Just trying to fit more options in! These are great for kids who want to learn something new or to practice a skill, or simply for something to do at lunchtime if they are uncomfortable out in the playground.
TIMETABLE
I work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and will be at school from next week, but want to give classes a little time to settle before I start pulling children out! Quest will start in week 3 this term. There may be some juggling at first for years 3-6's as it is a busy time with leisure centre swimming lessons, cricket training, and Life Education. I will be working out with teachers alternative times for children to come to Quest if they have a clash.
The school timetable will be a little different this year, with slightly longer blocks for learning in the mornings, and slightly shorter in the afternoons. Break times will also be different - with a longer morning tea and a shorter lunch.
Here is the proposed timetable for Quest - some of the classes might change, but I am aiming to have years 5&6 in the morning blocks, years 3&4 in the middle blocks, and juniors in the afternoons.
TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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Block 1 (8.55 - 10.50am)
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Year 5&6 (B4, M2, M3, M4)
27 students
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Year 5&6 (B7, B8, O3, O4, O1)
22 students
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Block 2 (11.30am -1pm)
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Year 3&4 (A5, A6, B3)
19 students
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Year 3&4 (O1, O2, L3, L4, L5, B5, B6) 20 students
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Block 3 1.45 - 2.45pm
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Year 2
12 students
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Time for further identification / observations / parent meetings (term 1 only)
Year 1&2 growth class (from term 2)
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I have the largest number of children ever at the start of the year, so unfortunately some group sizes are larger than I would ideally like. There are obviously so many bright children at Whangaparaoa! And no doubt these numbers will grow (mostly younger students) as more are identified throughout the year.
OPTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES /TRIPS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (mostly for year 5&6's)
Science / arts show - Friday 16th March - I have booked 20 seats for 'Erth's Prehistoric Aquarium' - part of the Auckland Arts Festival at Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna. It is only for years 5&6, and I will need parents to help transport please. Let me know if your child is interested in this as I'll have to get paperwork organised and out in the next few weeks. It will cost $13 per child to cover costs of their ticket and parent helpers tickets. If you don't get to come, or would like to take your families, there are public showings also - a little more expensive than the schools showings. https://www.
Auckland Writers Festival - Tuesday 15th May (term 2) This is the year 5-10 schools day. It's always a fantastic day with several authors talking about their books and how they came to be an author or illustrator - lots of great inspiration for kids (and adults!) - perfect for those who enjoy reading and/or writing, or for those who need some inspiration. Sorry, again it is just for years 5&6. Please can I have expressions of interest for this. Usually I book 20 tickets, but with 49 year 5&6 Quest kids I might need more tickets this year if there is a lot of interest. Bookings open on 7th Feb (next week) and I need to get in early as they usually sell out quickly. It would be good to know if I will need more than 20 tickets so that I can try to get them. Costs will be dependent on transport - I am going to apply for a transport grant that they offer, but generally I think this goes to lower decile schools, but it's worth a try! So tickets are $12 plus whatever transport costs we have - to cover parking costs if parents are kind enough to offer transport, or to cover bus / ferry costs if needed. Could be up to $20 all up I guess, depending on Transport? The authors announced so far this year are Gavin Bishop (NZ), Chris Riddell (UK), Anne Salmond (NZ), Selina Tusitala (NZ), Alex Wheatle (UK) - I'm not sure if they will all be at the lower schools day or the high school days. There will no doubt be a free family day at the Auckland Writers festival which is usually suitable for younger children too - I'll let you know as I find out. There are videos of the past schools day presentations - last year on the junior schools day we saw Lauren Child, Tim Tipene, Donovan Bixley and Renate Hopkins. I loved them all, but was most inspired by Tim Tipene's talk. Here is the link if you are interested. http://www.
EPro8 Engineering Challenge - 1st November (Term 4)
A fantastic opportunity for those keen on problem solving, building, creating, teamwork. Costs $33 per student - they work in teams of 4. I have booked for 3 teams at the Silverdale regional event. Last year our school won their regional competition and went on to the semi-finals which was very exciting! Again, its only for years 5&6 - sorry! Lots to look forward to for younger children who are keen. I will ask for interest closer to the time. Here is some info if you want to know more. http://
Chess Interschools - these unfortunately clash with the Auckland Writers Festival this year - so I am seeing if we can go to another area's competition on a different date. TBC
FURTHER LEARNING FOR PARENTS
This year NZAGC (NZ Association for Gifted Children) are running a conference "Giftedness from the Inside Out", on 17/18 March in Parnell. Unfortunately it is the same weekend as our school Gala. I have decided to go to the conference - a tough decision, but I learn a lot at these conferences and it's a good chance to network too. It's open to Educators, Parents, and students (there is a student programme with some really interesting options). Here are the details if you are interested in going. https://www.
SUPPLIES WANTED
This year I would like to invest in a pokerwork machine for engraving on wood - to help children make signs for contemplating around the school (quotes, sayings, tree labels etc), and to make some outdoor games. The one I am looking at costs $238. Before I buy it, does anyone have a second-hand one I could buy, or any contacts for a discount somewhere? Also, we would like to make a set of large dominoes that children could use in the playground. For this I need flat smooth wood - to make dominoes approx 15cm x 30cm x 1.5cm? I'm thinking old floor boards could be good to cut up for this. It doesn't need to be treated as they won't be left outside - just to take out at break times. Does anyone have anything suitable? And is anyone able to cut them up for us?
Thank you for wading through so much information! In future I hope to send communicatiions through Linc-Ed, but I am still working my way through setting up my groups on the system, as they were not set up like classes were. I am always learning (or trying!) so here's hoping I figure it all out soon.
Looking forward to seeing you back at school.
Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or comments, or want to make a time to meet. I will do my best to get back to you but if you think I've forgotten please drop me a line again as being part-time and dealing with so many children I can sometimes overlook things! Please let me know if your child does not want to attend Quest this year.
Debbie Thompson dthompson@wgp.school.nz
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