Hello, my name is denise henson and the new entrant teacher in room 14. I love being a teacher and feel strongly about providing a safe environment for children when they first start school. The transition from home can be difficult for some children (and parents) and I will try my hardest to make sure all of my children feel happy to be at school.
Literacy: I have a very strong focus on all areas of literacy. We practice learning to read and write basic sight words, how to sound out words and how to form letters correctly. each night take the time to practice writing words with your child, the more they practice the more confident they will become.
Book Bags: All children receive a Duffy Book Bag when first coming to school. inside the bag will be reading books, 2 note books, one for reading and the other for phonics, a clip ring of basic sight words. i will also place school notices inside the bag usually to the oldest in the family. please spend time going through the book bag each night with your child and ensure it comes back to school each day.
Lunch Boxes: please ensure your child's lunch box and drink bottles are clearly named. At morning tea time we ask children to only take a piece of fruit and a snack to the eating area. At lunchtime they take their whole lunch box. they then bring their lunchbox back to the deck area. because of the computers all classrooms will remain locked during morning tea and lunchtimes.
school uniform: we ask that all children wear the correct uniform to school. shoes should be plain black and socks plain red, white or black. at the end of the day i try my best to match shoes and clothes to the correct child but sometimes they have taken things off in the playground and forgotten to bring them back to class. please make sure all items of clothing are named.
Numeracy: Our main focus of numeracy is number recognition. We learn to count, order and identify numbers from 0 to 20. We also talk about grouping numbers and show them how to use theIR fingers as a strategy for learning. remember to talk about numbers often at home, read numbers when out shopping this all helps with their learning.
Please feel free to contact me anytime about any concerns you may have for your child. if you don’t have a chance to see me before or after school you can write a note in their reading notebook, phone me at home on 573 7839 or email me at
deniseh@tepukeprimaryschool.nz
Other areas of learning: although we have a strong focus on literacy and numeracy in the early years we also teach other subject areas including health and physical education, ict, the arts, science, social studies, technology, values and languages. we may not cover these subjects each term but we will cover them over the school year.