To celebrate Education Week, Term 3 Week 3- August 2nd-6th, Years 3, 4 and 5 will be hosting a night of performing arts in our school hall, to the theme of ‘Music through the Ages’. All performances will start at 6:30pm and be finished by 7:45pm. Students will be required at school, in their classroom at 6:10pm.

Year 3 and 4 will perform their show together over two nights, Monday 2nd August and Wednesday 4th August, to accommodate a greater volume of parents. All students from Year 3 and 4 classes will be required to be at both performances. 3LU and 3-6JW will be performing on Monday night only. The audience nights are as follows:
Parents and relatives of 3K, 3/4C, 4B and 3R are invited to be our audience for the Monday night.
Parents and relatives of 3S, 4R, 4K, 3LU and 3-6JW are invited to be our audience for the Wednesday night.

Year 5 classes will perform their show on Tuesday night 3rd August. All parents and relatives of Year 5 classes are invited to attend on this evening.

There will be no allocated seating and no cost to enter. There will be programs for sale for at the door. Doors will open at 6:15pm. Each student will be required to wear a specific costume for their performance. We would like to give you plenty of notice to collect/borrow or buy the bits and pieces that your child needs.

COSTUME REQUIREMENTS:

The following are some examples of the look we want for each character.

• Banjo Patterson (Narrator) - Banjo Patterson Costume
• swagman – Swagman costume
• billabong – Tap Costume
• Coolibah tree – Koala costume
• Waltzing – Stockman costume
• Matilda – Matilda Costume
• jumbuck – Sheep costume
• jumbuck – Cloud costume
• tucker bag – Swagman Costume with tucker bag
• stockman riding on his thorough-bred – Stockman costume with horse head on stick
• troopers – Troopers costume
• troopers – Troopers costume
• troopers – Troopers costume
• ghost – Ghost Costume
• Everyone Else:  - Matilda costume or Stockman costume (Girls can choose either)

We would like to have a dress rehearsal in Week 2. Year 3 and 4 will require their costume on Tuesday 27th July. Year 5 will require their costume on Friday 30th July.

Thanking you in anticipation for your help in this matter. We look forward to seeing you at one of our shows.

You are cordially invited to attend the Parent / Teacher Interviews to be held from Tuesday 22 June, 2010.

Your child’s progress in Semester 1 and expectations for the remainder of the school year, will be discussed together with aspects of development in physical and cultural areas and personal and social relationships. You may wish to notify me prior to the interview date, if you have any specific concerns you wish to address. All interviews will be held in the classroom and will be approximately 10 minutes’ duration.

I will be available to conduct private discussions with you on the following dates and following times.

Tuesday 22 June

Morning
8:00am – 8:10am: Lily
8:10am – 8:20am: Lauren
8:30am – 8:40am: Michelle
8:40am – 8:50am:  Tom

Afternoon
2:50pm – 3:00pm: OliviaD
3:00pm – 3:10pm: Haydyn
3:10pm – 3:20pm: Mars (Mum)
3:20pm – 3:30pm: Jazmin
3:30pm – 3:40pm: Kelly
3:40pm – 3:50pm: Ryan
3:50pm – 4:00pm: Rebecca
4:00pm – 4:10pm: Mars
4:10pm – 4:20pm: OliviaM
4:20pm – 4:30pm: Janani
4:30pm – 4:40pm: Sophie
4:40pm – 4:50pm: Emily
4:50pm – 5:00pm: Adrian

Wednesday 23 June

Morning
8:00am – 8:10am: Ewan
8:10am – 8:20am: Lucy
8:30am – 8:40am: Zoe
8:40am – 8:50am:_________

Afternoon
2:50pm – 3:00pm: Jack
3:00pm – 3:10pm: Taylah
3:10pm – 3:20pm: _________
3:20pm – 3:30pm: James
3:30pm – 3:40pm: Matthew
3:40pm – 3:50pm: Emma
3:50pm – 4:00pm: Sean
4:00pm – 4:10pm: _________
4:10pm – 4:20pm: Jasmine
4:20pm – 4:30pm: Tara
4:30pm – 4:40pm: Phoebe
4:40pm – 4:50pm: Nick
4:50pm – 5:00pm: _________

If you would like an appointment for an interview please use the contact form below. You will need to provide your first and second choice time slot. If you see a time slot has been filled in then it is no longer available. Time slots that are empty are likely available, though I may have several ‘comments’ with times still to be added. Please check back to see your interview time.

If the times are not suitable you are more than welcome to request a meeting on a different day.

If your time is limited I am happy to respond via email to any questions you may have.

Offers for opportunity class placement will be made on the basis of the Opportunity Class Placement Test results and school assessment.  The Opportunity Class Placement Test will be held on Wednesday 28th July 2010.

If you would like to apply for opportunity class placement of your child in Year 5 in 2011 you may do so by completing EITHER:

a) an application form online. You will need to have an email address (not the student’s email), access to the Internet and a printer. Online applications must be completed by Friday 21 May 2010.

OR

b) a printed application form and returning it to the school by Friday 21 May 2010.

Detailed instructions on how to apply online will be available from Monday 10 May 2010 at the following website: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/ocplacement

The applications will be processed by the school in exactly the same way whether you apply online or submit a printed application. Parents are to submit only ONE application form for each student.

The Selective High School and Opportunity Class Placement Unit would encourage as many parents as possible to apply online.

A note will go home today so that we can keep track of students applying online and for those who would like to request a printed application form.

• Cross Country: Thursday 22nd April
• Rocks Walking Tour: Thursday 20th May ( Two parent helpers needed)
• Opportunity Class Application forms available: 10th May (online and paper form)

Honour Assembly: Science Focus

We will be participating in the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition. We will discuss topics in class and will be sending home our brain storms to help the students write their speeches. Each class will hold a class competition during Week 5. Two representatives will speak in the Hall in the Stage 2 competition in Week 6. Two winners will be chosen to represent our school in the Zone finals later in the term. We will be starting to rehearse for our performance, which will be held in Education week. Maths groups will continue this term. We are starting to work with the new National Curriculum. Later in the term reports will be handed out and Parent interviews will take place. More information to come regarding dates and times.

TERM OVERVIEW

English

• Writing: narrative, description, exposition
• Reading: reading, class novel, comprehension, school magazine
• Talking and Listening: Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competion
• Library: Weekly lesson focussing on developing skills of defining, locating, selecting, organising and presenting integrated with thematic work.

Maths

• Cross grade groups covering all strands.
• Mathletics

HSIE

• British Colonisation of Australia: Providing opportunities for students to explore issues related to Australia’s orginal inhabitants, explorers before the British and the British arrival and occupation of Australia.

Science and Technology

• A Look Inside – The Human Body: Providing opportunities for students to discover different body systems. For example: Skeletal, respiratory and digestive systems.

Creative and Practical Arts

• Music: 40 minute lesson with a trained music teacher.
• Visual Arts: Weekly lessons
• Performing Arts: Education Week Performance

Personal Development and Health and Physical Education

• K-6 Cross Country
• Friday Sport: PSSA, User Pay, School Sport

This class blog will play a major role in your child’s education this year. It is important that everyone has access to a computer and the Internet at home, please see mrrees.com/parents for parent information on Internet Safety. It is also a good idea to know the guidelines students need to follow when publishing on the Internet. This is a learning curve for most students and they are likely to make mistakes, therefore everything is moderated and will need to be approved by me before it will be visible to everyone.

All homework is provided via the homework page and there is no paper copy sent home, please contact me if this is a issue. Next weeks homework is already up, though Mentals and Mathletics will not be ready until books and accounts have been organised.

If you need to contact me you can use the form on the contact page and it will send directly to my email. All notes (sick/family holiday/appointments) can be completed this way, you are welcome to write a paper one if you wish.

As parents you can comment on students work/ask questions, though last names still can’t be used. With any comment parents will need to refer to themselves by first name followed by child’s name and then the relationship to the child. In plain English – Joy, John’s Mum.

I am looking forward to a great year with what seems to be a fantastic class.

Regards

Mr. Rees