Welcome back to our new Year 8’s for 2019.

Our House is ENDEAVOUR and our House Colour is RED.

The New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies are an important aspect of student development during their school years; these are designed to help young people participate fully in our society. We will be focusing on the Key Competencies of Relating to Others and Participating and Contributing for Term One.

Diaries: Student diaries are essential to student organisation and learning here at Devon. Please ensure your child brings their diary every day. There is a space for parents to write notes for school.

MANA – MANA remains a big focus here at Devon this year. Please spend some time going through your child’s diary to find out all about it if you are unsure. We are hoping to have a lot of students achieving their bronze, silver and gold badges. Students will have their diaries highlighted, either Green or Red, at the end of everyday; Green meaning they have fulfilled expectations for the day, Red meaning they have not fulfilled expectations for the day. I wholeheartedly encourage you to go through your child’s diary with them everyday to keep a track on their progress.

Home Learning goes out on a Tuesday and is due back in the following Tuesday. This allows me to give students a friendly reminder every Monday… An important aspect of Home Learning is for students to prioritise completing class work not finished during class time. By Year 8 level it is expected that students should be able to manage their time effectively and make conscious decisions around prioritising their ‘to do’ list. It is also expected that students will read every night. Please encourage your child to complete their home learning every week.

Maths – We are covering the Number and Algebra strand in Term 1.

Reading – The needs in Room 20 are varied and each student will be working on fulfilling their individual needs to progress. Our main focuses will be the Ideas, Purposes and Audiences, and Processes and Strategies strands.

Writing – We will be concentrating our writing on Ideas, Language Features, Process and Strategies and Structure strands. It is worth noting that a requirement for meeting the curriculum objectives in writing means that students must demonstrate they can write across all learning areas of the curriculum.

Social Science – Our topic for this term is DISCOVERY.

Health and Physical Education – We have swimming this term and each student is expected to bring their swimming and PE gear everyday. If for some reason your child cannot participate in PE then we need a note from home.

If you have any queries or concerns, email is the easiest and most efficient medium through which to contact me. My email is alancaster@devonint.school.nz

If you do not have email a message can be left with the school office on 758 5266.