WEEK 9

Yah we made it!!!
Our last week of the school year.
Talking Days: Reflect on the
                       term/year
There will be no home spelling and reading this week.
Library Books- return all books
Bring a plastic bag to take art /books home

Last week we visited Mount Holdsworth for the end of year trip. Enjoy these photos of our trip.

 Friday was Wheels Day- everybody had such fun!!

WEEK 8

What is happening in Week 8?

Tuesday 4th December- we are going to Mount Holdsworth! All the parents who volunteered their help are needed for the trip. We will move to the quad for a briefing at 9.15am and then disperse with our children and drive to Mt Holdsworth.

What to bring:
Students may wear mufti
Appropriate footwear for walking
Sunhat
Morning tea and lunch
Drink
Suntan lotion

This week will be the last week for spelling and reading homework.

Library Books-please return all books this week

Congratulations to the students who performed in the Bible In Schools skit on Wednesday- what a fabulous effort!!
I loved it.:)

Another congratulations to all Totara for their magnificent assembly on Friday. I was so proud of you. Thankyou to the Parents and Grandparents who supported us.

WEEK 7

Talking Topic:Favourite TV programme

Thankyou to the parents who are able to provide transport on our trip to Mount Holdworth on Tuesday 4th December.You are all welcome to come with Totara and we hope the weather will be kind to us.

This Friday it is our assembly at 9.15- come along and support us.

Tuesday 27th November- Transition Day for 2013
All children will spend the morning with their teacher for 2013.

This week we will be spending our Reading time acting out plays.Check these great actors out!!

WEEK 5

We are half way through the term!!

Talking Topic: Plants
Spelling: plant vocabulary
Maths: Basic facts testing
             Addition & Subtraction
             Strategies
Reading: Practising strategies to
                help us read
Writing: We are discovering information about plants


Some Year 4's are representing Solway on Wednesday at the Interschool Athletics. Good luck Dylan, Connor, Charlize, Caiden, Rocco and Kortez.

On Thursday afternoon the school is having a tabloid event with RUN JUMP THROW activities. Come and join us.

Quote of the Week

"You have brains in your head
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose"
                                            Dr Seuss

WEEK 4

Talking Days: Plants- what do plants need?
                      Choose some plants to talk
                      about
Sound of the Week- plant words
Maths: Addition & Subtraction Mon-Thurs
            Measurement- Weight  Fri
            Learn your basic facts
Writing: Recounts
Rich Concepts: How does your garden
                         grow?
PE: Run Jump Throw
       We are getting good at jumping the
       high jump.

Thankyou to all the parents who volunteered their time to walk with us to the Garden Barn last week :)

All students must wear their hat while outside.Please look after them!!

"You have brains in your head
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose." 
                                         Dr Suess

WEEK 3

Talking Days- Choose your favourite 
                     book- talk about the
                     setting, characters, plot,
                     what you enjoyed about
                     it
Spelling-  words that have different
               ways to write the same sound

Class Trip- This Wednesday at 9.15 we
                 will walk to the Garden Barn
                 in High Street
Maths-  How quick can you answer
            basic facts to 100? Do you need
            to practise to increase your
            speed?
Rich Concepts- "How does your garden
                        grow?"
            If you have any information or 
           books on plants send them
           along to school
Skip-athon- Any outstanding money needs to be collected and sent to school

Library- Please rememeber to bring your book to school for Wednesday so you can change it

Have a super week everybody :)

Think! You can think any THINK that you wish...  Dr Suess

TERM 4 Week 1

Welcome back to school for Term 4!!
There are only 9 weeks this term so we will need to work smarter.

Talking Topic: Holidays
Spelling Sound: words with one or two letters that make one sound
Maths: Addition & Subtraction- what stage are you working at ?
Writing: Recounts

SUNHATS- make sure you look after your school sunhat the whole term-
No hat = NO PLAY !!

We will be having our school skipathon this Thursday. Make sure you have returned your sponsor money.

Bring back your Green Portfolio Book to school this week. I am sure your parents and family were proud of your hard work and learning.

"You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!"      Dr Seuss

WEEK 11

Week 11 is our last week of Term 3.We have lots of things planned for this week.
* Talking Days - Reflect on the terms 
                           learning
* Wednesday  - Flower Day 10-12.30
                        - Pet Day        1-3
                        - Shared Lunch with    
                          our parents

* Thursday            - skipathon   pm

* Friday  - Reflection Assembly 9.15 am

In Week 9 we performed our production. Here are some of the photos.

WEEK 10

Talking Days: Bring an object and talk about it
Spelling: Contractions
Maths: Geometry- tesselations

What a fantastic production we had last week. Totara children were so clever!!The Magic School Bus in the Land of the Dinosaurs

Coming Home

Today we drove 5 hours to Frankfurt where tomorrow we catch the plane home to NZ.We have seen lots of interesting places,eaten different foods and tried to talk in German. These are some photos when we were on the river cruise. We went inside a windmill just like this. It was tiny inside and you had to climb steep stairs. The other photo was the River Rhine from Marksburg Castle.See you on Friday Totara.
Love Mrs Hurrell xxxxx

Hi Totara
We are in Sweden staying with our friend Tim at his hotel called Kvinnaboske in Bastad.Today we had a ride in a carriage pulled by two horses.We went for a walk along the sandy beach as well.The money here is called Swedish kroner.
Hejda
Mrs Hurrell

These photos are of a horse show in Germany.

Mrs Hurrell

Hi from Amsterdam

We have went on a bike tour around Amsterdam for 3 hours yesterday.You have to be very careful crossing the road because the cars and trams are on the wrong side of the road!!Today we went to the Van Gogh art museum & the Heineken beer Museum.Hope the production is going well. Mrs Hurrell xx

Hi from Amsterdam

Mrs Hurrell's Travels

Hello Totara I am having a lovely time in Europe. It is very hot here about 32-34 degrees so I am wearing my hat and drinking lots of water. I have seen lots of bridges in Prague and Budapest.We are on a river boat now cruising along the Danube river towards Bratislava. Tell Mr Hornby I'm going to take a photo of the bridge there for him. I hope you are all working hard for Ms Standish and Mrs Beetham. Love Mrs Hurrell

Mrs Hurrell

WEEK 3

100's Day Photos

TERM 2 WEEK 2

Talking Topic: Values- Obedience

Star of the Week:Charlize Carson-Butler for managing herself with learning
Sound of the Week: short 'e' sound
TOPIC: We are finding out information about the Olympics- there is only 4 days till they start!!

MATHS: We celebrated 100's Day on Friday. We played Make 100, the Chocolate Game and Pin the Tail on the Goat. Thanks everyone for bringing something to eat and drink. WE LOVE MATHS in TOTARA!!

TERM THREE Week 1

Hi Everyone- I hope you all had a great holiday!

Talking Topic: My holiday
Sound of the Week: short 'a' sound
Star of the Week: who will it be??

Rich Concepts:Olympics- what are they? Where are they? Lets find out!!

Ripper Rugby:we have our last session this Friday

WEEK 1

Hello

WEEK 10

Where did 10 weeks go? It is the start of the holidays this Friday- Come and join the school with the Reflection Assembly on Friday at 9.15am

WEEK 9

Talking Topic: Free choice
Sound of the Week: long 'i'
Star of the Week: Reagan Ellmers for trying really
                             hard with her learning
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Rocco, Dylan, Piet, Caiden and Charlize competed in the Interschool Cross Country at Rathkeale on Wednesday. We are very proud of them all- you rock!!!

This Wednesday we are being treated to a concert by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at our school. This is a free concert.

Last  week we designed a bridge with a partner and built it using materials we had gathered from home and school. This is what they turned out like.

WEEK 7

Enjoy your holiday tomorrow TOTARA!
Keep practising your cross country for Wednesday.
Remember to wear your house colours and bring your trainers. 

WEEK 6

Talking Topic: Free choice-you decide!!
Sound of the Week- er/ir/ur
Maths: How are you going with learning your 
            times tables?
PE: We are running every day to prepare for 
       our school cross country.
Writing:  Everyone did a great job of writing 'Persuasive Writing' for their Achievement Books. The topic was " Should children be allowed to bring their scooters and skateboards to school everyday?"
STAR OF THE WEEK!!!- Lleyton Ihaka- for writing an excellent persuasive argument

WEEK 5 Talking Topic: Bridges Tell us what you know about a bridge. What type of bridge is it? What materials were used? Where it is? What is it used for?House Folk Dancing- Yah Waingawa won GO RED!!! Sound of the Week- oy

    Folk

• Add caption

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WEEK 5

WEEK 4

I hope all the mothers enjoyed the card from your children to celebrate Mother's Day.
Talking Days Topic:Bridges- bring an image of a bridge and talk about it

• What is it used for?
• What materials have been used?
• Where is it?
• Any other information

Sound of the week: 'ar'
Visit to Queen Elizabeth Park: we still need more parents to transport us on Tuesday at 11 o'clock to 1.00 o'clock
(we may need to change the day if it is wet)

Writing:we are learning to express our opinion in an argument. We know that we need to use persuasive language to grab the audience's attention.
MATHS: keep learning your timetables every day
              Do you know the division facts as well?
LIBRARY DAY: please help me by sending your child's book back by Wednesday so they can change it.
Folk Dancing: you are invited to come and watch the House Folk Dancing Competition this Friday at 2pm if fine.
PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS TO OUR BLOG!

WEEK 3

Talking Topic: Newspaper Item
Star of the Week:
Sound of the Week: 'oo'
This week we will finish our focus on 'Autumn'. Last week we had a second attempt at printing an Autumn print. Using a piece of glass worked much better than a tile because it was flat. Students will now write the small poem using crayons to complete the task.
PE: Ball skills- how many ways can we throw a 
                        ball?
Books In Windows- this is happening this week. WALK AROUND THE SCHOOL READING THE BOOKS INTHE WINDOWS- WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ?
Maths- How are the times tables going?Learn your basic facts!!
Please comment on this webpage- add comments about things were are doing or things that you like.

WEEK 2

What a wonderful way to start the new term !! All students came back to school ready for learning- yah
Star of the Week- Crystal Burgess A great start to the term by managing herself
Sound of the Week- oi/oy
Parent Conferences- Tuesday & Wednesday- check your time on the slip that came home last week

Maths- Start learning your times tables every night
Talking Topic: Consideration & DutyHow do you show these values at school & at home?
Teacher Aide- Fiona Riach is working with Totara for 45 minutes on Tuesday & Thursday's this term
Webpage- add  comments to this webpage, what do you think?
Have a fabulous week everyone.

TERM 2 WEEK 1

I had a holiday in Adelaide visiting my family.

I hope you all had fun during your holiday.

Talking Topic for Week 1: Holidays
Sound of the Week: 'ow' How many words can you find?

For the next two weeks we will be talking and finding out about Autumn and the Values of Duty and Consideration.
Maths- Multiplication & Division- get ready to learn your tables

In Week 2 Solway School will be holding Interviews- come along and talk to me about your child's progress.
Technology-start collecting information and images of BRIDGES for Week 3

WEEK 10

Our last week of school-wow a whole term has gone by!!

Star of the Week- Piet Algie-Becker for Relating well to others & being an excellent role model

Talking Topic: Reflect on the term. What have you learnt, what have you really enjoyed learning, Where do you need to go next?
Achievement Books- These will go home on Monday. Remember to check your e-mail to listen to the Oral Language sample.
Reflection Assembly- Come and join us in celebrating all that we have learnt this term- Thursday 9.15am in the Hall
Sound of the Week- fl        

Have a great holiday everyone!!  HappyEaster

WEEK 9

Wow it's Week 9!! We are still very busy with our learning.
Sound of the Week - gl
Library Day- Remember to bring your books back before Wednesday
Topic - Teeth
How many days have you filled in on your charts?

PE- Tuesday & Thursday Athletics. We have been learning 5 different activities
high jump, long jump, sprints, shotputt throw & discus throw

Star of the Week - Josh Collyns

Have a fantastic week everyone.

Thanks to all the Grandparents who came to visit us last Thursday in TOTARA. We loved showing you all our work and sharing the morning with you.

STAR OF THE WEEK- Noah Newport
Blend of the week- bl
Library Day- make sure you bring your Library book on Wednesdays