Weekly News 20th - 24th October

This week students will finish the Unit of Inquiry “Vote for Me”. The climax will be the elections held to find our year 6 presidents. (More information below). Students will also complete other assessment tasks as part of the unit and will be given a report at the end of the unit to show how they went. We also have the athletics carnival on Wednesday and the Halloween Disco on Thursday at 6pm.

Reflections: 6th October – 10th October
Last week the children started work on the elections which take place this week. They prepared speeches, surveys, advertising posters and brochures and held meetings in their campaign groups. In reading groups students worked on their election tasks. Each student had to complete their task as the candidate, the publicity person, the campaign manager or the data collector. In maths we continued to focus on addition and subtraction problems. Year 6 also had the fun-filled pleasure of helping their year 1 buddies find the Ginger Bread Man. They had to search the junior school and found him hiding in their classroom. He tasted delicious!

Unit of Inquiry
The children will finish their Unit of Inquiry this week with the elections on Thursday. The elections will be held in the old gym from 14:00 – 15:15. Parents are invited to attend and vote. This week homework and class work will focus on preparations for the elections. Posters, brochures and data from surveys will all play a part in the election process. Teachers will use a rubric for the final assessment of various features of the unit including persuasive writing , data collection, group work skills and personal reflections of the unit.

Mathematics
This week the children will continue to focus on addition and subtraction problem solving. We will be doing “problems of the day” to challenge the students to look at different ways to solve all sorts of problems. They will also do an assessment involving surveys and graphs.

English
Students will be assessed on their writing of persuasive texts which has been a major part of their political campaigns. In reading groups this week they will finalise all speeches and other work that is to be assessed as part of the unit.

What can I do to help?
Make sure your child is doing the required homework each night. This is especially important this week with the elections on Thursday.
If for any reason your child is unable to complete their homework, please write a note to the teacher in the class diary.

Upcoming Events and Reminders:
Wednesday 22nd October, 9:00 – 12:20. Years 4-6 Athletics Day (see below).
Thursday 23rd October. Year 6 student elections in the old gym, 14:00 – 15:15. Parents are invited to attend and vote.
Thursday 23rd October. Halloween Disco. 6:00 – 7:30 in the old gym. Cost is €5,00. Snacks and drinks can be bought also. The disco is being organised by senior students and is part of a Community Service fund-raising activity.
Saturday 25th October – Monday 3rd November. Mid-term break. School photos will be taken first week after the break.
Keep checking the class blog for important information about our unit of inquiry and what’s happening at school. New stuff is always being added to the blog.

Sports Day
Elementary ´Sports Day´ for years 4-6 will begin at 9 am and finish around 12:20 on Wednesday, October 22nd. Students will be competing in a variety of activities they have signed up for. The weather could be warm or cool so we are asking every student to bring a sun hat, a water bottle, sun screen and sweatshirt in case it is cool. Parents and guardians are more than welcome to come along and support during the day.
If you are aware that your son/daughter will be absent on this day could you please let their teacher know as soon as possible as it could affect some of the events.
Thanks in anticipation of your support. If you have any questions feel free to contact Erica Thompson (P.E. Teacher).

With thanks,
David Barrett, David Gocentas and Ms Isabel Costa Pereira