Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 4 – Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

Kia ora e te whānau,

The term is rapidly disappearing, and we are now gearing ourselves up for two weeks of swimming lessons, which is very exciting!

Please remember to pack some extra food for the day, as swimming can make the children very hungry. Children with long hair will need to have it tied up, and please make sure all clothing, towels and swimming gear are clearly named. We will have a fairly quick turnaround when getting changed, so it would be helpful to practise getting dressed and undressed independently at home. You can also revisit the social story clicking on this link to help your child feel prepared and confident about our upcoming swimming lessons.

The Tin Forest

During this time, we will be spending each day in our homegroups and following a slightly different programme centred around the wonderful picture book, The Tin Forest, by Helen Ward. This beautifully illustrated story explores themes of imagination, hope and the environment, with strong links to recycling and caring for our world. We will be using the story as inspiration for a range of writing activities, including persuasive posters, information leaflets, postcards, diary entries, wishes and setting descriptions. In Maths, we will be tackling a variety of enriching puzzles and number problems, developing our ability to work systematically, look for patterns and find solutions. We will also continue to strengthen our basic facts knowledge. There is plenty of exciting learning ahead as we head towards the end of the year!

Volcano Art

After learning about volcanoes, we put our creativity to work by creating our own erupting volcano artwork. We began by using oil pastels to create a colourful sunset background, blending different colours to bring our skies to life. We then used collage techniques to build our volcanoes and create dramatic eruptions, adding layers of colour and texture to show the flowing lava, smoke and ash. The finished artworks look fantastic!

Tree Planting

Jordan's homegroup were very lucky to have the opportunity to take part in a tree planting activity on Tuesday. The children worked alongside Year 5 and 6 students, first filling black bags with potting mix before carefully planting a selection of native tree seedlings. Everyone worked together brilliantly and the children were fantastic, getting stuck in and working like real troopers! It was a great opportunity to work with older students while learning more about planting native trees and caring for our environment.

Student Council Fundraiser

Here is a message from the Student Council:

The Student Council are continuing their mahi to raise money for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, as part of our Shaun the Sheep art project.

This term the Council is running a sponsored Fun Run on Friday 27th November between 12:00 and 12:40pm. (Note the date change: we have moved it forward a week.)

The concept is to sign up, then gather a few sponsors for the number of laps of the school field your child will run in 30 minutes. Walking is OK too! Parents are more than welcome to run with their child / children on the day, if they are free and willing.

We are planning to gather some spot prizes for lucky participants. This is an optional event.

Please click here to sign your child / children up for the Fun Run. Many thanks for your support.

Discovery

Here are some photos from Discovery, which the children continue to enjoy. They love having the opportunity to explore a range of activities, use their imagination and get creative as they bring their ideas to life.

Have a great weekend!

From the Kōwhai team