Kia Ora Koutou,

Hello and welcome to a new school year! I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Athena van de Ven and I am the teacher of Room 1 this year. This is my second year at Berkley, and  I consider myself very fortunate to be teaching in such a supportive and professional school. Previous to working at Berkley, I spent four years teaching English as a second language in both South Korea and Taiwan. Needless to say I love travelling, and it is a joy to be a part of such a culturally diverse classroom.

We have a very busy term 1 coming up, with camp in week 6 (14th-17th of March), and our first unit of inquiry; ‘Who we Are’, commencing later on this week. I  really look forward to working with your child and making the transition into a new class/school, as smooth as possible. This week our primary focus is on getting to know one another and familiarising ourselves with Berkley’s expectations and routines.

Alongside the homeroom programme runs the Tech/Arts and the Teaming programmes, both of which your child will attend either 2 or 3 times per week. Each specialist area – Art, Food Tech, Materials Tech, Music, Drama, and Media is attended by your child for one-sixth of the year. The Teaming programme involves mixing students from across the four classes of our team (Kia Kaha) and comprises P.E, Languages (Japanese) and Transdisciplinary Skills (lessons developing the skills of communication, research, thinking, self-management and also social skills). All students are expected to participate in PE, and must wear sports mufti (t-shirt and shorts) that is appropriate for physical activity. If your child is unable to participate in PE due to ill-health or injury, please advise me via the Agenda book or email.

I strongly believe that parental involvement is crucial to ensure success within the classroom. I look forward to getting to know you and working with you throughout the year. To keep up to date with events and opportunities on offer at Berkley, please check out our daily informer through the following link. http://www.berkley.school.nz/whats-on/daily-informer/

Please feel free to email me with any questions or queries that you may have.

Ngā mihi,

Athena van de Ven

avandeven@berkley.school.nz