Two weeks down and things are humming along nicely in our intermediate hub. Megan was swamped with hugs and words of welcome when she had her first day back today, following getting sorted after losing her house. It was exciting to see so many children presented with leadership awards in assembly today. A big congratulations to our gold recipients:
Term 2: Lucy, Gemma
Term 3: Ben, Charlotte Grey, Charlie, Ella C, Emily E, Kate, Maddi, Maria, Matilda, Meg, Morvern, Olivia K, Roxy, Ruby, Sophia and Vienna

Meeting Deadlines

One of our key foci in the hub at the moment is completing work within set time-frames. On Monday children will be expected to have calendar art, speech research and static images (for Jenny and Megan's reading groups) completed. If this is not done, children will spend 30 minutes of their own time getting these finished. This will be at the same time as the Ki O rahi trial for Koru Games. If the work is not done, the child will not be able to trial.

Cantamath individual projects should be well underway at home. These are due on Tuesday, August 13th, which is the day after our teacher only day.

Ski Day

We are off on our annual ski day to Mt Hutt on Friday, September 6th. Please click on this link to read more about this trip and fill in the form.

Technology

Christchurch South Intermediate has requested that children are not dropped off at technology, rather they catch our bus that leaves Beckenham at 8:30 each Tuesday. If you must drop your child off directly at South, please wait with them until our bus arrives.

Becamath

We have our annual Becamath competition in the hall on Tuesday, August 6th, afternoon. Children will be working in mixed ability groups to solve maths problems, in an action-packed competition.

The Year 7 & 8 small business group bakery was inundated with customers today. So much so that we ran out of goodies to sell! For those who missed out, we will be opening the bakery doors again tomorrow, this time at interval. Please note this is only for those who missed out today. $1 each.

Many thanks to the Year 7 & 8 whānau who have offered to go back to their kitchens tonight to produce more cupcakes, cookies, rice-bubble slice and donuts to sell.

The Year 7 & 8 small business group will be setting up their bakery and opening at lunchtime tomorrow, 12:40. All items are being sold for $1. All profits are going to charity. Your child can purchase cookies, cupcakes, donuts and rice-bubble slice. Many thanks for your support.

It was lovely to see everyone back at school last week. We missed Megan, who is still getting her life sorted and recovering from her ordeal with the gas explosion over a week ago. We may see her back at school towards the end of week 2, or it may take a bit longer. Fortunately, we have been able to have a consistent relieving teacher, Leanne, to fill in for Megan.

Many thanks to those of you who took the time to fill in the parent survey that was shared last week. We have pulled a number of things to work on from the survey results. If you would still like to fill in this survey, please click this link.

Wainui Camp Book:

Over 40 people have ordered Wainui camp books and those who have paid should have received these. We will be putting a second order in this coming Wednesday, 31st July. If you would still like to order a camp photo book, please click on this link and arrange payment by Wednesday.

Home Learning:

We have set up a calendar that all students have access to via Google Classroom. This calendar will include due dates for work this term (these will be put on this week and updated as the term progresses). It will be important that children check this calendar each week and ensure work is up to date. This may mean completing tasks at home.  We will be following up on incompleted work at school.

Current home learning is working on Canatmath individual projects and spending time on Maths Whizz, as well as daily recreational reading.

Common Sense Media

We'd like to draw this very useful website to your attention. Common Sense Media is a great place to check out the age-appropriateness of books, movies, and games.

What's coming up in term 3 for Year 7 & 8?

• Literacy: Speech researching and writing will be our focus for the first part of the term.
• Maths: We are currently working on class Cantamath projects. By week 4 we will be back into our regular problem solving with a focus on algebra to start with. There will be a slight reshuffle of maths groups.
• Science: This term we are focusing on the Living World strand of science. We are starting with learning about classifying living things. 
• Inquiry: Our technology and social studies focus will be investigating self-driven cars. As part of this inquiry, we are hoping to take students on a field trip. 
• PE: We will be finishing off our football unit (a focus last term) with a football festival. Korfball, yoga, ski day, Koru Games and athletics are planned for this term. Friday winter sport continues until August 23rd. 
• Health: Towards the end of term we will be teaching the DARE (drug abuse resistance education) programme. Every week we have circle time discussions on Friday mornings. These focus on current issues for the children. We are currently learning about being assertive.
• The Arts: We start working on our end of year production very soon. This year we will be sharing a selection of well know musical theatre items.