Welcome
to Toru-Whero Team 2015
Kia ora Parents
and Caregivers!
This information
is mainly for those of you who could not attend ‘Meet the Team’ on Tuesday 10th.
We look forward to meeting you,
(if we
haven’t already) and we hope this information gives you some insight into whom
and what Toru Whero Team is all about.
Toru Whero Team is part of the Upper Middle (Years
4,5,6) groups of students at Rangiora Borough.
Nic Ritchie is
based in Home Room M1…
I live locally
and have been at RBS for 10 years. I specialise in Literacy, Te Reo, Music and
Thinking Skills. I like to offer a wide variety of learning experiences in my
classroom programme and I work especially hard to have a fun, inclusive and
positive learning environment.
Mark McLay is
based in Home Room M2…
I live in
Oxford and I’ve been at RBS for 10 years. I specialise in sport, writing, and
Information Technology and am always looking to broaden my skills. I will do
everything I can to help your child achieve in 2015 and I will provide many
opportunities for them realise their goals.
Mike Bell is
based in Home Room M3…
I’ve lived in
Rangiora for the last 26 years and went to the local high school. I’ve been
teaching for 15 years and 12 of those have been spent here at Rangiora Borough.
I specialise in teaching maths and have strong interests in the areas of music
and PE.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
In order to be successful as learners, we believe that
students need, first and foremost, to feel happy and safe in their learning
environment. Rules, routines and structure create a sense of security and
provide the students with practical pathways to become more independent as
learners.
We believe that children have their own individual
talents. In our learning programmes we aim to cater for the ‘whole
child’. This means that children are given the opportunity to explore,
learn and lead, not only in the Key Areas of learning (reading, writing and
maths) but also in topic areas such as sports, arts and sciences.
The SOLO Taxonomy underpins our learning programmes.
This helps to emphasise the importance of thinking beyond ‘facts’ and extends
the students’ ability to explain, extend and evaluate their thinking processes.
We view ourselves, our students, as well as our
parents/caregivers within Toru Whero as one big family (whãnau) - a learning
family. We aim to include everyone in our whãnau and really encourage our
parents to become involved in the learning that can happen both in and out of
school hours. This approach helps us to build strong and positive
relationships in the classroom - a proven factor in raising achievement for all
our students.
We love what we
do and we want to inspire and encourage our students to believe that through
learning, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
· WHAT TO EXPECT FROM OUR TEACHING
TEAM
Top quality and needs-focused
teaching and learning programmes.
Interchange, workshops and more
learning options for students.
Teachers
highly committed to all the children in Toru-Whero.
·
WHAT WE EXPECT
FROM OUR STUDENTS
Do their BEST in all learning areas - use a ‘Can-Do’
approach.
Set small goals and achieve them (this might include
completing extra homework tasks).
Take risks as a learner.
Become an independent learner.
Respect themselves and others.
Show tolerance towards others.
Abide by the school rules and model the school values.
·
WHAT WE EXPECT
FROM YOU
Communication
If you have any questions about the learning programme
or concerns regarding your child’s progress
PLEASE feel free to make a 1:1 appointment and we can
seek answers and solutions together!
Our direct email addresses are:
Support
We value your support from home - especially when it
comes to the ‘basics’ in reading, and maths. Homework will feature in our
programme on a weekly basis - please check in with your child about this.
Involvement
There will be many occasions when we will need you to
help and share your expertise with our students - both in the classroom and out
in the community.
GENERAL INFORMATION
·
In Toru Whero children are not
expected to be ‘friends’ with everyone but they are expected to respect
and be amicable toward each other. Throughout the year there will
be issues between children, just as they naturally occur in the adult world.
On most occasions we can solve issues by discussing and solving problems
as a group or as individuals - through this we help the students to build
tolerance - ‘people skills’.
·
Bullying is when issues are ongoing
and often occur outside the classroom (and can involve children from other
classrooms) – bullying will simply not be tolerated in our team. It may
take a child a while to do something about being bullied – some children are
also very covert in the way they bully other children therefore it may go
unnoticed by the teacher. Please come to see us if you think this is
happening to your child – we will always do our utmost to ensure your child
feels happy and safe when they are in our care.
·
Toys can be brought to school – but
at the owner’s peril! If your child is determined to bring toys etc. please
warn them of the possible consequences - toys being used in learning times will
be confiscated. We will ensure that special/valuable items to ‘show’ for
Topic etc. will be kept safe if children want to bring them along.
·
Cell phones can be brought to
class. We realise that many parents like children to have them for
safety/contact out of school hours. If your child does bring a cell phone
to school, then they are to put in the home-room designated area on arrival at
school, or leave them in their bags until home time.
·
Uniform - especially sweatshirts -
must reflect the school rules/requirements. Also remember to provide sun
hats and sunscreen to keep your child safe and sunburn free!
·
Water bottles are welcome to be used
in class time – please ensure they are named/easily identified.
Learning in Term 1 and Upcoming
Events
‘Culture’ is our learning theme
for the year. In Term 1, the students in
our team will be looking at themselves (as people and as learners), using a
cultural perspective.
Camp has been ‘pencil booked’ for
TERM 4 this year. Confirmation of dates and times will be made official/available
soon.
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