Kia Ora! 

It has been another busy week in the Kahikatea hub. The newest members of the team have settled in and become part of the team pretty quickly. 

Disco

We attended the disco on Friday of Week 4. The dance moves were amazing and the outfits very impressive. Thanks to the PTA for organising a fun event for us. 

Keeping Ourselves Safe

Sarah, Amber and Kendall's home groups have had Constable Meg come and visit this week. Hopefully you have seen a homework activity come home to continue the discussions we had with Meg at home. Talia's home group will have Meg visit next week. 

The Keeping Ourselves Safe program is designed to empower the children to help themselves in unsafe situations. The topics covered so far have included getting lost, identifying our feelings (safe and unsafe) and naming our body parts with the correct name. We were really impressed with how many children could say their address and at least one of their caregivers phone numbers. It is really important information our children should know in case of an emergency. 

Calendar Art 

We have finished our art work this week that will become available for you to purchase as a calendar, notebook or greeting card. Please keep an eye out for the notice and order form which will have a link for you to see your child's art. 

Date Reminders

Monday 25th August (Week 7) school finishes at 1pm for teachers to attend a Paid Union Meeting. Supervision is available if you cannot collect your child. Please let one of the teachers know if you have not filled in the survey sent home and need supervision for your child. 

Friday 12th September (Week 9) Teacher Only Day. School will be closed this day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sarah, Amber, Talia and Kendall 

Kia ora whānau,

Welcome to Week 4! Our teaching and learning programmes are now in full swing, and it's been wonderful to see our new homegroup settling confidently into the breakout space. Next week, Kendall will be welcoming another group of learners from the Koru team. These tamariki have already visited our hub, and their transition is going smoothly as they begin to feel more at home in their new environment.

Supporting Your Child's Independence

We’re thrilled to see so many families encouraging independence by allowing children to come into the hub on their own in the mornings and confidently follow their daily routines. To support this further, at the end of the day,  you may want to establish a designated meeting spot with your child—such as the library steps, hall steps, flagpole, or another agreed-upon location outside the hub. This small step makes a big difference in reducing congestion and ensuring a smooth and safe pickup process. Thank you for your continued support!

Mathematics 

Maths Week 

Click this link for information on how whānau can access the parent portal and find out more about mathematics in New Zealand schools. 

Next week is Maths Week, and we’ll be sharing a new maths challenge each day! If you’re dropping by, be sure to check out the whiteboard outside the hub and give it a go. Creating positive and engaging experiences with maths is a key focus of the refreshed curriculum, and we’d love for whānau to join in the fun and be part of the learning!

Keeping Ourselves Safe Weeks 5 & 6

This term, as part of our Health Curriculum, teams will be teaching Keeping Ourselves Safe in Years 0-8, supported by our Police Education Officer, Meg.  Click HERE to see more information on our school website. 

The four focus areas in the Keeping Ourselves Safe (KOS) junior primary programme are:

• I am unique, He taonga ahau
• My body is my own, Nōku tōku tinana
• Unwanted behaviour or touch, Kore e hiahiatia te whanonga me te pā kino
• Adults who help, Ngā kaiāwhina pakeke

What will children learn? They will learn:

• to work out when their safety is at risk
• how to keep safe when they meet and mix with other people
• who and how to ask for help if they, or someone they know, is being abused
• to go on asking for help until someone does something to stop the abuse
• that it is important to make and follow personal, family and school safety rules

Welcome, UC Student Teachers 

Winter Ills and Chills 

Friendly Reminders - Library Days 

Smash Play Cricket Sessions 

Our tamariki had two fantastic sessions with Dan on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Here are some photos of the action...

Have a lovely weekend, from team Kahikatea. 

 Lisa, Amber, Sarah, Talia & Kendall 

 Kia ora whānau, 

A big warm welcome back to school! We have been so busy these past two weeks the recent break is all but a distant memory. The kids and teachers are all glad to be back together and into our daily routine.

We would like to welcome Kendall to the team (officially) and also our two new students, Eva Bath and Mae Harrison. Kendall's home group will have the addition of some new students who are currently transitioning from the Koru hub. They will start in Kendall's class mid-term. The children have met the new kids and are very excited to reconnect, build on pre-existing friendships and create new ones.

Literacy Decodable Books:

Literacy reading books will now come home on Thursdays. The process has been impacted with gymnastics these past two weeks.

So this means that reading folders only need to come to school on Thursday when your child will receive their new reader for the week ahead. Reading folders can stay at home all other days.

Library days:

Tuesdays-Talia and Amber

Thursdays-Sarah and Kendall

Inquiry Learning:

Our overall concept this year is change. So far we have covered: Term 1-Health and Physical Education by looking at physical and emotional changes in ourselves. Term 2-Technology we studied changes over time, using Toys as the context. This term we are focusing on Science and looking at the life cycles of different insects and animals.

We have started by identifying living and nonliving things and looking at the life cycle of a butterfly and a frog.

Gymnastics:

We had two great sessions at the CHCH School of Gymnastics. We are so proud of all of our tamariki for giving everything a go and putting in 100%. Everyone demonstrated 'We Love Challenge!'Get ready for the photo dump, there are more to come!

 Kia ora whānau,

It was lovely to catch up with you all at our recent learning conferences and at our whole school Matariki night. 

We cannot believe we are nearing the end of the term and nearly half a year gone with your, wonderful tamariki.

As you are aware, we are creating a fourth home group in our team. This home group will be taught by Kendall Skelton, who is currently a teacher in the Kowhai team and a parent to one of our Year 1 students. We are so excited to welcome Kendall to our team, we know she will be a great asset to us for the remainder of the year. 

Learning in Kahikatea:

We have been busy in maths where our focus over the past two weeks has been on Geometry-looking at the properties of  2D and 3D shapes and time. 

Next term reading books will come home on a Thursday For the week. This means reading folders need to come to school on Thursdays instead of Mondays. This is to allow teachers to work through the books more than once before sending them home.

Library days are the same:

Tuesday-Amber and Talia

Thursday-Sarah and Kendall

Sarah's Literacy group looked at the story of the 'Gardeners' Maze. We had a go at solving some mazes, then created our own mazes for our friends to attempt to solve!

Matariki:

Over the past few weeks, we have been learning about all of the Matariki stars and what they represent, listening to many myths and legends and creating lots of artwork. Our Matariki night at Kura was a huge success. We hope you have a restful Matariki break with those who are near and dear to you.

 Kia ora whānau!

We continue to be impressed with the progress our tamariki are making, this is reflected in the school reports which are live on HERO today-please make sure you sit down with your child and share all of the positives with them.

There are a lot of bugs around, both gastro and cold/flu. We appreciate your support in keeping your children at home when they are unwell. We continue to ventilate our hub, ensuring windows remain slightly open during the day. We have also begun to hand sanitise before eating again.

Matariki:

Matariki Evening

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

We would like to invite you to our Matariki Whānau Rōpū hui.

Matariki is the start of the Māori new year and a time of reflection, connection and planning for the year ahead. We would like to celebrate with you and your whānau on Tuesday the 17th of June from 5:00 pm. The PTA will be having a Sausage Sizzle on the night for a small koha (donation). We will also be having performances form our Year 3-8 Kapa Haka groups, and each hub will be providing different activities to do with Matariki. There will be more details to come soon. 

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Learning Conferences:

We are looking forward to meeting with you and your child(ren) next week during their Term 2 Learning Conference. 

School will finish at 1:00pm on both days, Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th June.

This week we have been learning about measurement, particularly the area, volume and capacity of an object.

We based our work this week around Goldilocks and the Three Bears and spent a session filling bowls and testing out the capacity of some containers.