Kia ora, 

I am Elly Vanasche and I have had the pleasure of teaching Room 3 at Opua School for the past four years.

Room 3 is a year three and four composite class with children ranging from ages six to eight. We are a busy class with a focus on supporting each-other, encouraging discussion, collaborating and striving to be the best learners we can be. We enjoy learning about the world we live in, and we work hard to use and develop our AWHINA values. We put a lot of time and effort into thinking about our ‘Classroom Treaty’’ and are guided by this across all aspects of our learning.

We start the day with taumata, followed by inquiry integrated literacy learning, including reading, writing and spelling. After morning tea we develop our numeracy skills using Pr1me Maths and enjoy swimming lessons in terms one and two. After lunch we immerse ourselves in inquiry learning through the arts curriculum or develop our physical skills through sport and games.

Each week we visit our school library, practice kapa haka with Matua Hōrihi and reinforce classroom learning in Kylie’s Creative Movement classes. We are also lucky enough to have a range of digital technology to use in our classroom to support our learning.

This year our inquiries will be guided by ’Our Place’, ‘Way Back When’,’Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’, and ‘Changes’.

I am excited about the year ahead and look forward to helping the students of Room 3 to achieve all of their learning goals.

Nga mihi nui,

Whaea Elly