Cross Country

WELL DONE!! The class did so well. Congratulations to Jack. A great race from start to finish.
Super running from the rest of the class. The most impressive thing was the effort they all put in. At the end of the race all of them were tired and had given it their all.

Remember "It's not the size of the Dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the Dog."

Another proud day at Gleniti.

Mr Brown

Last Weeks Characters

Just a quick note to say the homework presented last week was "fantastic". Everybody wrote very well and each of the characters had background and details which really brought them to life. Some of the characters were cleverly linked (even though they didn't have to be) with many of them just aching to have a story written about them. Well done all of you. Keep up the great work!

Cheers
Mr Brown

What have we been up to...

Last week was hectic!! The class did well as the week to stay generally on task (not mentioning Tuesday) even though the week was disrupted and unusual.

Firstly I must thank Mrs Flynn, Mrs Dobbs and Mr Sisson. They gave up their time to come into class and talk about their careers. I must apologise that I couldn't be there and by all accounts I missed some very good, clear and interesting speakers. Once again I thank them very much.

Wednesday went very well with the visits going to plan. The children took lots of photos and from what I heard in the class listened closely to the information.

This week we have Mr Woods (Monday) and Mr Hull (Thursday) visiting us to share their careers.

Enrichment continues to go well with "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Do Ray Me" coming together nicely.

The cross country is on Tuesday afternoon. I encourage all parents to come along and support their child(dren). The first race starts at 1.45 (Year 7/8's). The cross country is an event that not all people enjoy. I am encouraging everybody to run their hardest. At the end of the race they should be able to say they gave it their all.
Some will win and we must celebrate their success. So will not win but they must be congratulated on putting in their absolute best effort.

Wednesday sees Mountain View High School having an open day. Again I encourage parents and students to attend all the open days they can and ask as many questions as they can. The best decisions are informed decisions.

Everybody have a great week.

Hamish

Time table to help you and your children

Hi there,

This week is very hectic and unusual so I thought I would post this to help with your child knowing what is happening.
As you can see:
Monday is a Teacher Only Day
Tuesday is:  Enrichment (as normal) Mrs Tregenza in class till lunchtime
                   No interchange (Mrs Annett away at Ministry writing course)
                   I will be meeting with the Maths speaker (from Monday) about specifically
                   improving Yr 7/8 Maths from 2.00-3.00 (reliever in class)
                   Mrs Flynn is coming to speak to the class at 2.30
Wednesday: Visitor to the school -Speaker Easy
                     Group visits to Polytech or Services
                     Mrs Dobbs at 1.00
                     Mr Smith releasing me all day (as per normal)
                     Sport - need a change of shoes and shirt
Thursday:      Normal day except I am away at a leadership course and...
                     Mr Sisson at 11.00
Friday:          Normal day!
                    TTECH at 12.40

Hope this helps
Cheers
Hamish

Next Week

Another good week. On Monday about 20 students went to the Museum and the Library to speak to people about their careers. Both places were excellent with the staff giving great details and thoughts. One HUGE statement they all made was to the question "Do you love your job?". All as quick as anything said Yes! This idea lead onto to following your passion and what you love doing. There is an old saying if you love what you do you never work a day in your life.

Tuesday had the Young Leaders motivated and encouraged by the speakers at the young leaders day in Christchurch. They came home buzzing and will present their day at a school assembly in the near future.

Remember this week there is a Teacher Only Day on Monday. We are having a course regarding how to improve maths. Following that on Tuesday we will be meeting here in teams to discuss what we are doing and how can we improve our teaching for the students.

We have three visitors coming in next week for our career topic. On Tuesday we have Mrs Flynn, Wednesday sees Mrs Dobbs come in and Thursday sees Mr Sisson in the class. It is great to see these parents come in, bring some reading and writing and their uniform and talk about what they do. I will be making contact with others for the following weeks.

We also have another artist visiting us next Wednesday. She is a story teller and a professional speaker. It should be entertaining and worthwhile.

ONE LAST THING THAT I HAD MISSED...  NEXT FRIDAY IS APPARENTLY 'HUG A GINGA DAY'. I HAVE HAD A FEW ASKING IF THEY MAY HAVE THE DAY OFF DUE TO THEIR HAIR COLOUR. SADLY IT IS NOT RECOGNISED AS A REAL HOLIDAY... SO NO DAY OFF.

This week...

Hi there.
The homework for this week has been posted so if you forget your book it is easy to get.
The events for this week are going to make the week entertaining and busy.
On Monday 20 of our class are away from 11-3 visiting and talking to people at the museum, library and the TDC buildings about their careers. We have been fortunate and have got the people in charge meeting with us. We have the two curators of the Museum, the head librarian and the mayor. The students should learn a lot about  different careers and the paths to those careers.
On Tuesday the House Captains travel to Christchurch to attend the Young Leaders Day. A worthwhile even if it starts with a early morning (6.45) departure time.
We have a visit from a professional mime at 9.30. This will be interesting and entertaining.
The ukuele group is going very well. They have been given the goal to perform for the school at the end of the term with two numbers (playing and singing) and within our own small group they have to perform an individual number (play & sing). As the teacher/leader of the group I will be doing a solo piece and if they need support will be seen on stage.
A huge thank you to the parents who have volunteered their time to speak to the class. I will be getting in touch with you this week.

Thanks
Hamish

Hi there all,
Another week has been and gone. This week the children really stood up and chose to be involved in the Kapa Haka. I decided that since they were making an effort to go to Kapa Haka, learn the songs and the movements I would reward them. So as long as they are in Kapa Haka they will be getting 15 minutes of free time once a week.
We had The Playhouse visit us with their musical play of "The Cell Phone" it was very entertaining and thought provoking with the the three actors portraying numerous characters.
Next week I hope to have a focused sessions on the Deer Heads as some of them need to be finished and I want to varnish them all at once. The ones that are completed really look fantastic!

Cheers
Hamish

Week 3 Term 2 2012

Wow. It is week 3 already. This week we have visiting artists from the Playhouse. They will be presenting a drama called "Phone a Friend".
We have begun our careers topic with a students being tested for their personality type. This was a fun exercise that let them understand about themselves and maybe how they work with others and what sort of career would suit them. It was the DOPE test. (different sorts of testing was suggested in class when I mentioned this). They all worked out if they were a Dove, Owl, Peacock or an Eagle. Interesting was that when we discussed each personalities traits most thought it was pretty close. As their teacher thought the results were extremely good. Some had more dominant traits than others while some had a fairly level feel over all the four. This also led to an interesting discussion.
Your child has taken home two forms: one for you to consider visiting and talking to the class and one for them to write down what they would like to look at during the study. THESE ARE DUE MONDAY 7TH IF POSSIBLE.

Also.... if you are considering putting your name forward to be considered for camp please get the form back to class ASAP.

If you are keen to take the test please click on the attached link. The DOPE TEST- Questions and Marking

Thanks
Mr Brown

Enrichment

Sue Tregenza was in class today as I was taking the enrichment ukulele group. She will be teaching the Art  topic of Pointillism every Tuesday between 9.00am-12.00pm.