Challenge Day Out $$$$$$

Hopefully everyone is well underway with their job contracts and earning the $40 for our Challenge Day Out! Great to see people washing teachers cars even!! Some of you have been going on 'capitalist ventures' - taking a day or time off school to earn your money for the day. This is what some hard working Room 9ers have been up to, (and you can see Aleisha in action!):

Aleisha: This week I went to Marinoto Clinic at Mercy Hospital to help out the receptionists and typists. I earned $40. I stamped 2000 envelopes and helped finish other paperwork things that needed to be done.

Laura: Last week I took the afternoon off school and I went busking. I went busking in town In that passage way by smiggle. I was busking for 40 minutes and I made $50. It was lots of fun :-)

Jamie: Last week I took a day off school and I chopped wood with Dad and Sam. I raised 60 dollars and got to keep 20 of it and it was lots of fun!

Athletics - Otago Champs

A big well done to Aleisha, Sydney, Christian and Heta who represented Balmac at the Otago Athletics Champs! They did an awesome job and we will hear about their results in assembly on Friday :) Check out this great action pic of Kaiden and Lachie in the U12 hurdles!

Poetry Assignment

Just a reminder that your Poetry assignment is due on Wednesday 24th November.... No exceptions! See me if you have any questions, and remember if you have a homework voucher you are welcome to use it on any part of the assignment (anthology or your own writing).

Good Luck! :)

Malaysian Student Teachers

Last week Balmacewen was lucky to have 2 Malaysian student teachers in each classroom. It was a great chance to meet them and learn something new about another culture. Room 9 had Miss Deeyah and Miss Sue :) See if you can remember what Malaysian they taught us....:

Selamit Pagi - Good Morning

Apa Khabar - How are you?
Khabar baik - I am fine.

Terima Kasih - Thank you.
Sama Sama - You are welcome.

Now that was an Entertaining Assembly!!

Friday the 29th of October was Bandanna Day -which raises money for Canteen. It was awesome to see so many Room 9ers and the rest of the school wearing their Bandannas (and it was a bonus mufti day!) A big congrats to Georgia, Ella and Brieanna from Room 13 who organised the day and raised $1605.00!! Meaning some fantastic teachers from Balmac got their hair completely shaved off!! Well done Mr Clarke, Mr Napier, Mr Henderson, Mr Sloan, Mr Tarapi, Mr Friend, Matua and Mr Martin!

Welcome to Term 4!!

Hello Room 9ers!! Wow the year is flying by and it is hard to believe we are into your last term at Balmac already! I'm really looking forward to an action packed term, with lots of learning and fun in and out of the classroom.
As you know, our topic for this term is CHALLENGE and will be based around the following: drugs and alcohol education, UCAP review, poetry and speeches, algebra and geometry, class touch and non stop cricket competitions, athletics, science technology challenges… not to mention the Year 8 lip sync and social, Challenge Day Out… as you can see lots of exciting things ahead!!

Remember the most important thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the end of year activities we do as a class are not a given. You need to keep up the hard work throughout this term (in and out of the classroom)… this includes meeting deadlines for homework and assignments, learning your spelling words and getting them signed off, generally being organised with PE gear, pens, glue sticks etc.

Last night we had our Term 3 Sharing night - well done to you all for the way you presented your inquiries and discussed them with the parents :-). Also a HUGE thank you to Jono, Connor and Aleisha for spending their day and editing and putting together our ads! They looked great! And also to Mackenzie, Taylor and Harry who were our presenters for the evening.

Hope you all have a great week with Ms Richardson - remember your first homework assignment for the term (speeches and reading log) is due on Tuesday 26th October - look forward to hearing your speeches!!

Cross Country!!

The Balmac Cross Country was held on Friday 20th August...in challenging conditions!! Everyone in Room 9 had been training hard, and nearly everyone improved on their times, some up to 2 minutes which is awesome!!
Good luck to these Room 9ers who will be representing Balmac in the Otago Cross Country on Friday 10th September: Aleisha Ruske, Larissa Peyroux, Christian Blackie, Jamie MacDonald, Heta Scarf-Matthews and Jacob Craig.

Homework - Term 3 Week 6

Our focus in writing has been on persuasive writing... as part of your homework this week I would like you to write a paragraph (at least eight lines) on the following article. You could be supporting police officers being armed at all times, or them being unarmed. Read the extract from the article below, and do any other research on the topic that you think will add to the quality of your answer.

Remember the following points: - Can you persuade your reader to agree with you?
- Tell the reader exactly what your viewpoint is, and then back it up with reasoning and evidence.
Please remember to name your entry if your sign on name is different.

The recent shooting of two unarmed police officers in Christchurch has sparked further calls to have our police carry firearms at all times. New Zealand and Norway are examples of countries that don't allow police to carry sidearms in public at all times. Police Minister Judith Collins isn't in favour of having police carrying sidearms in public, saying it would erode the special friendly and trusting relationship New Zealand police have with the majority of the public.

and then there was Term 3...

Hello there Room 9!!! Sorry it has been a bit of a slow start to the blogging in Term 3! It has been an extremely busy start to the term with open nights and mornings, guest speakers, Art Gallery trip, parent interviews, Southland Exchange, winter sports, cross country training...
As you know our topic for Term 3 is IMPACT. We are working towards forming our own inquiries based on this topic - these will start in the next couple of weeks...

A couple of reminders.... $2 for the drumming assembly next week, and your homework this week is spelling and making your own Recycled product! You will present these to the class on Friday morning, and I am expecting a good effort with these!! Remember they need to have a purpose, and be made out of recycled products. Your Saving the World assignments look great, I will finish marking them in the next couple of days and we will share some of the writing in class.

Check out the pics below, some from the end of last term and the beginning of this term :)

Have a great week, and keep up the cross country training at home too!! (Only 11 days to go...)

The Latest from Room 9...

One week to go before school holidays!! It has been a full on Term 2 in Room 9, with lots happening, everyone should be looking forward to a well earned rest!! First of all a huge WELL DONE to you all for completing your science fair inquiry. I really enjoyed listening to your presentations. Congratulations to these people who were award winners in our school science fair...and hopefully they will be going on to Otago Science Fair!

Mackenzie Reeves - Do You Remember?
Aleisha Ruske - The Canny Consumer
Sydney Evans-Tobata - What Biscuit Do You Like?
Sarah Algie - Lift It
Harry Freeth - A Remote Idea (Highly Recommended)

We had our Search and Rescue exercise at Ross Creek last week, it was a great day and everyone worked well to find their patient! Check out the photos below :)

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to one of our students last week as well :( Sunny has left to go back to her home country of Korea. Everyone has been keeping busy with their winter sports, as well as music and out of school activities. See if you can spot some Room 9ers in these netball and hockey photos!!

Sydney's Mishap and Flour Marshmallow Races...

Berwick....The Camp That Was.....

Well, despite the conditions Room 9 made it through camp... just missing the landslide on Saturday morning..phew!!
We had an awesome week at Berwick, lots of adventures had, and stories to tell! Have a look at all of our camp photos below, along with some Berwick tales.

A HUGE thank you to all parents and families who gave up their time to help at camp - we couldn't have done it without you!

Countdown to Camp....

Only 3 more sleeps till Berwick Camp!!
Here are some last minute reminders for you. Good luck with the packing!! Please remember if you can help it, don't go out buying lots of things - beg and borrow!

- Berwick Ball outfit (black/white)
- Amazing race gears (group colours)
- Secret friend pressie
- Bunkroom decorations
- everything sorted for camp concert/bunkroom skit
- Baking
- LOTS of warm socks!!
- Thermals, warm hat and jacket (and everything else on the gear list!)
- Smile and positive attitude :)

Any last minute problems leave a comment on here.

Homework - Week 3

Mega Math Month: May is Mega Math Month and there will be a big focus on times tables! You need to spend 10 minutes a night learning yours, and taking the time to focus on your 'tricky ones'. We will be doing our baseline testing on Monday, and we will decide on our class target from this. Everyone needs to work super hard on this! Have a look under 'Useful Websites' for some links to great websites to help you with your times tables. GOOD LUCK!!

Spelling: Learn your spelling words (List 8) as usual and get them signed off.

Science Fair: During the week I will finish conferencing you all on your science fair inquiry. There are some awesome ideas in Room 9 - remember it is super important to know what the science is behind your inquiry! This week some of you will be carrying out more research, contacting experts, looking on websites etc. Remember to keep all of this evidence in your log book! You can begin to formulate your aim and hypothesis as well - we will talk more about this in class. I would like you to all leave a comment on this post saying what your science fair inquiry is based on.

Novel Buddies: You and your buddy need to start reading your book this week - you can do this in SSR and/or at home! Be ready to write your weekly summary on Friday.

Any problems come and see me, and remember to get your camp consent forms in asap!! :)

Welcome Back!!

I hope everyone had a great break and recharged their batteries ready to go for another busy term...
Our major focus for the term will be our school science and technology fair, your homework for that this week is to fill out your proposal form. Hopefully some of you had a think about it over the holidays, there are some photos of some of last year's entries for you to have a look at below. As well as science fair we will be studying forensic science, multiplication and division for maths, character and procedural writing, there will be a Room 9 reading challenge, PE and fitness, class assembly, winter sports, music lessons...not to mention Berwick Camp in Week 6 :)

Well done to the Lions, our winning Survivor team in Term 1. Have a look at the pic of them enjoying their fish and chip lunch on the last day of term!

Any problems/questions with science fair or Term 2 in general - come and ask me! Homework this week is due on Friday and use the links to science based websites to help you too. :)

Room 9 Reading...

What I would like you to do this week Room 9 is leave a comment with the names of a series of books or a book you would like to read next term in SSR. Please include the title and author - I am going to make a class list and get as many of the books as possible from the national library to have as a class set next term.

Also have a look at the budding young golfers Room 9 has - let me know if you'd be keen to have a go at Kickstart golf next term on a Friday afternoon :-)

Y E A R 8 S A S A

A big WELL DONE Room 9 on your efforts with the sasa on Friday. You all looked great!! Have a look at the photos :-)

Some reminders for this week:
- Kiwi Golf on Wednesday - get your $3 in asap
- Bike check for the triathlon is on Wednesday as well - make sure your bike is at school
- Swimming sports on Friday - you need to be at Moana Pool by 8.45am at the latest
- Parent Interviews this week - please remind parents about these!

Have a great week Room 9ers, and remember to keep up that training for the triathlon...not far away now!!

Portobello Aquarium

On Monday Room 9 and their brilliant parent helpers ventured out to Portobello Aquarium for the morning, followed up with lunch and a run round at Happy Hen's. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were some great views of the harbour and around the aquarium. While we were there we dissected a squid (yummo!) and inspected the touch tanks. Have a look at the pics from the day :-)

Your task is to leave a comment and say what you enjoyed during the day out and something new you learned at the aquarium.

Room 9 Happenings...

It has been a busy couple of weeks in Room 9... our Survivor class challenge is well underway and we have started our third challenge - Let's Get Physical!! We will finish this on Monday, there was some very impressive prone hold action going on - Tyler is probably still feeling the pinch after his HUGE effort!! We have started learning about the Samoan Sasa and on Friday Room 6 taught us the meaning of the traditional sasa and the moves. Leave a comment if you have some ideas for our class sasa, which we have to perform to the school in a couple of weeks :-)

Room 9 Leaders

A big CONGRATULATIONS to all of you in Room 9 who put themselves forward to be either class councillor, librarians, or house captains over the last week. It is not easy to speak in front of your peers but you all did a super job.

In Room 9 our class councillor for the year is Aleisha, and our deputy is Mackenzie. Well done to you girls :-) We had lots of people keen to be librarians which is awesome as well, and Jamie and Ainslea will be doing this for the year.

We are very lucky to have a number of Room 9er's as house captains and house team leaders!! Well done to you all, and I'm sure everyone else will be helping you out and leading by example as well. Have a look at the photos of our leaders below :-)

Week 3...

Into Week 3... some reminders for this week Room 9:

- our swimming lesson is on Monday from 10.30-11am, we'll leave school at 11 same as last week.
- school powhiri is this Friday afternoon, and will be followed by our first house sport session for the year... make sure you welcome the Year 7's into your house!! (especially if you are Chapman!)
Homework is due on Friday as well, I have finished marking iT's aLL aBOUT mE projects and they were great, let's keep that standard up!

Here are some pics from our super singing session with Room 5, 7 and 10 on Friday :-)

S U R V I V O R !

Hey everyone :-)

Into Week 2 now...this term is going to fly by! We have officially started our Survivor 2010 series and I am looking forward to seeing all of your presentations on Wednesday afternoon.
Had our first swimming lesson today - there are some wee fish in Room 9! I was most impressed that no one was below a Level 3 - that's great! Check out our team pics for Survivor below too!
Don't forget iT'S aLL aBOUT mE due this Friday the 12th Feb!
I am really looking forward to reading these. Have a great week Room Niners...

Welcome to Room 9!!

Hello Room 9 students and Room 9 families :-)

Welcome to Room 9 for 2010! It has been a great first couple of days in Room 9, I am enjoying getting to know yet another super bunch of students!

We have a busy and exciting Term 1 ahead of us, with lots happening every week. The key is to get yourselves organised and not leave things until the last minute! Having your PE gear every day, having homework in on time, and generally using your initiative are really important in Room 9.

Some Important Dates to Note:
Our swimming sessions start next week, and will lead up to our school swimming sports on Friday 19th March. (Week 7). Make sure you have your togs and towel on these days - Monday 8th Feb 10.30-11am, Monday 15th Feb 10.30-11am, Tuesday 23rd Feb 9.30-10am, Wednesday 3rd March 9.30-10am and Friday 12th March 9.30-10am. Each swimming lesson costs $3.20 or $16 if you are paying for the lot at once.

We also have to look forward to this term: Portobello Aquarium trip, sasa, Year 8 triathlon and Survivor challenges... there will be more details about these later.

This Friday your baby photos and letters to me are due, and next Friday the 12th Feb the rest of your It's All About Me project is due. I'm looking for great content and presentation in your first assignment of 2010.

That's enough from me now... it's awesome to have you all in Room 9 this year, it's going to be a goodie!! Remember if you have any questions/problems about anything please come and see me.
For parents if you need to contact me please phone me at school on 466 7251, email me at lroney@balmacewen.school.nz, or pop into Room 9 anytime!

Miss Roney