Dear Parents and Caregivers
Hi, I’m Andrew Sloan, your child’s teacher for 2010. I am excited about the prospect of another enjoyable year with a great bunch of students. I am looking forward to getting to know all of your children over the next couple of weeks as they learn their way around the school, get to know the routines and expectations of room 13, and make new friends.
Term 1 is going to be a really busy term and there are a lot of exciting activities planned. During the year many school activities require the help and support of parents, and I will try and get the dates and times out as soon as possible so that parents can arrange to help wherever possible.
We start swimming next week so this could be your first opportunity to help out; a notice regarding this will be going home later this week. Next on the agenda is the room 13 class camp from Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th February. We will be heading off to Waihola for our three day Camp and this is always heaps of fun and a great way for the students to get to know each other a little better. I will be sending out further information regarding the camp very soon.
Throughout the year I will be keeping in touch via newsletters regarding class programmes and class activities, but as we know this sometimes get left in bags! So we have a class page where student notices, class happenings and students work and other neat stuff will be shared. The address for our class blog page is http://www.balmac2010.blogspot.com/ there is also a link to this from the school website which also has important information and happenings at http://www.balmacewen.school.nz/ If you can’t make it to the “meet the teacher” night on Wednesday the 10th of February and you have an e-mail address, send it along to school so that I can contact you via email if necessary.
Intermediate is a time when students need to start getting into the habit of completing homework in preparation for high school. The students in Room 13 will usually have homework each night with the exception of Friday (unless it’s really important). Homework mainly consists of current themes or topics studied at school. The students will have inquiry assignments over the course of the year and are made very aware of due dates so that they can manage their time effectively.
The students have spelling and language tasks to complete each week also.
The students will have fitness daily, so they will need to have their correct school P.E gear with them every day. If their P.E. gear needs to be washed they can bring replacement gear along with a note of explanation.
I will do my best to ensure your child has a worthwhile, fun and challenging year. I have high expectations of my students and want them to be the best that they can be, as well as make sure they have fun along the way. I expect work to be completed both to the best of their ability and on time.
My challenge to the students is to get involved. There will be lots of opportunities for the students to join sports teams and take part in cultural activities this year and I encourage the students to participate in some of these. It’s a great way for them to meet new friends and to try new things. They are notified about these activities via the school notices.
I’m really looking forward to this year and hope to see many of you next Wednesday at the “meet the teacher” evening.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me either through the school or at this email address.
asloan@balmacewen.school.nz or andrewjsloan@yahoo.com
Kind Regards
Andrew Sloan
