Author Archives: Anna Reid

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 3

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Kia ora whānau,

It has a been a busy week in the Kōwhai team!

Top Team

We have organised another Top Team event for our Kōwhai children this year which is very exciting! Weather permitting, the event will take place on Friday 1st March in the afternoon and the children will be taking part in all sorts of fun activities. Just a heads up that there will be some water activities involved so please make sure your child has a change of clothes (including shoes) in their bag and a towel to dry off after the event. Thank you for your support with this. 

We also require 11 parent helpers for this event to ensure it runs successfully. You would need to arrive at school before the Top Team briefing at 1:10pm and the event will finish around 2:55pm. It will involve running an activity station, explaining the activity to the children and generally overseeing it. If you are keen to help, please let your child's homegroup teacher know and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Literacy and Maths

Next week, we will be starting our literacy and maths interchange programmes. We have organised the children into new literacy and maths classes. The children will go to their literacy teacher for literacy lessons and their maths teacher for maths lessons every day. They will still be with their homegroup teacher at the start of the day and after lunch.

As part of their literacy programme, the children will generally take one or two books home each week. Students working in Stage 1 - Stage 7.5 of the structured literacy programme will take home at least one structured literacy book (e.g., a Pip and Tim book) home each week to read to you. Students who are working beyond Stage 7.5 are expected to independently read chapter books (or similarly advanced books) of their own choice at home. Each literacy class visits the school library every week to issue new books.

For more detailed information about our home learning literacy activities, please click here.

Minecraft 3D Printing

Some of the children have recently been learning about using Minecraft for 3D printing. They have designed and constructed a model of a character, toy or scene in Minecraft and are now in the process of 3D printing their creations. As a final step, the children will paint their printed models.


Designing a character in Minecraft




Preparing the character for 3D printing




The 3D printer is printing the character

We have also been creating Minecraft self-portraits using grid paper which has been a lot of fun!



Skipping

During Discovery, some of our students have discovered a passion for skipping. Here's a video that shows some really cool tricks that people can do when they are skipping. Whilst our skill level isn't quite at this stage yet - we are aiming high! 'Just keep skipping!'


Discovery

Here are some photos of the children's learning during discovery:















Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 1

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Kia ora whānau,

Welcome to 2024! We are so excited to be back and we are very much looking forward to getting to know all your tamariki over the next few weeks. 

In the first two weeks, we are focusing on getting to know each other and establishing routines. We will mostly be based in our homegroups initially but we will also be mingling as a team during Discovery every morning.

Below are some photos of some of the activities we have been doing over the first two days: Everyone has been having lots of fun as they reunite with friends and get to know new ones.




































Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 9

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Kia ora whānau,

We are now nearing the end of Term 3 and we are so happy to be enjoying the lovely Spring weather!

Talent Quest

Over the past few weeks, Kathryn has been auditioning the Kōwhai talent quest hopefuls and it was great to see so many Kōwhai children take part! Kathryn was very impressed with everyone's different talents. This week, we held our own Kōwhai Talent Quest and 3 finalists were chosen to take part in the whole school Talent Quest next Friday afternoon. Congratulations to comedian, Leo Hynes; gymnasts, Chloe Sayer, Lucy Lee and Vienna Aldridge and singer, Meera Verma, also known as Cupcake. Everyone who took part was outstanding so well done to all of you!



Writing

We are currently focusing on writing information reports. The children are learning about the structure of an information report and how to present the information they gather in a clear and organised manner, making it easy for the reader to understand. This will be our focus until the end of term. Please do take the opportunity to ask your child what topic they have been writing about.




Technology

We are approaching the end of our technology inquiry and have been incredibly engaged in designing and creating balloon racers. Students have been testing out their models and making modifications to see if they can get them to travel even further. It has been really interesting to see which features on our balloon racers help or hinder their progress, and how this relates to the key science ideas we covered in our ramps and marbles learning earlier this year. 

Big ideas: 
  • Environmental factors can change how an object moves (e.g. wind, moving down a ramp or rough surface etc.), as can changing the materials or shape of an object.

  • Forces include pushes, pulls and twists.

  • Air can be used to create a push (e.g., a leaf blower) or pull (e.g., a vacuum) force.

  • Friction is another force that can slow things down. Wheels help overcome friction. 

  • Scientists complete more than one test of a design or experiment to make sure their findings are accurate and can be trusted. Scientists record their results.



PB4L

Our PB4L focus this week is LEARNING and we are particularly focusing on being in the right place at the right time, actively listening and taking pride in our work, making sure we do our best every single time. Our word of the week is CO-OPERATION and the children have been watching various videos on teamwork. We have been talking about how cooperation means working together to get things done. 


Some of the Kōwhai children demonstrating co-operation:



Fleeces/Jumpers

We are experiencing difficulty in returning fleeces and jumpers to their rightful owners as the names are not always legible and sometimes the name of the previous owner is still written on the label. We would love your support with naming all of them clearly. If they are second hand fleeces or jumpers, please score the previous names out and clearly write your child's name in. We also have students who are missing their fleeces and jumpers. Please can you also check that your child hasn't inadvertently taken the wrong fleece or jumper home. We really appreciate your help with this.

Hats

We are now starting to prepare for Term 4 and we are back to wearing hats outside at all times. Please could you ensure that your child has a named hat ready for the first day of Term 4 as they will not be able to participate in outdoor activities without it. Thank you so much for your support with this.

Library Visits Next Term

We are currently organising visits to the South Library next term to learn about our local community, explore the Canterbury Stories exhibit and to hear the story of the South Library, from the days of the Māori up until the upcoming rebuild and the effect this has had on Beckenham as a community. It will be a very interesting and informative experience. 

We would love some parent help for this so we wanted to give you a heads up regarding the dates involved. Each homegroup will be going on a different day. Please see below for the different dates involved:
  • Monday 16th October 1:25-2:50pm = Anna R

  • Tuesday 17th October 1:25-2:50pm = Anna M

  • Wednesday 18th October 1:25-2:50pm = Rowe

  • Tuesday 24th October 1:25-2:50pm = Charlotte

  • Wednesday 25th October 1:25-2:50pm = Nick


If you are interested in coming, please let your child's homegroup teacher know. We only have a certain amount of spaces so we will get back to you at the beginning of next term to confirm if you will be needed or not. Thank you! N.B. This trip is not suitable for pre-schoolers.

Athletics Day

On Thursday 26th October next term (Week 3) we will be running a whole school Athletics Day to which you are welcome to come and support your child/children. There will be more information to follow next term.


Structured Literacy Books

Finally, we are needing all the structured literacy books that have been sent home to be handed back by the end of this term. Please make sure that all of them are returned as soon as you can. 

Thank You

We would like to take the opportunity to thank your children for all their hard work this term. It has been a busy time but there has been a lot of fantastic learning along the way. Thank you to you as parents and caregivers for all you do to support us and your children. We get there together!

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 3

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Kia ora whānau,

We are now well into Term 2 and we are quickly getting used to being spread over two venues. We are really enjoying the space and the children are adapting brilliantly to the new routines involved in this change.

We welcome Kathryn to the team this term. She is teaching maths and literacy for the rest of the year so we are better able to cater to the rising number of children in Kōwhai.

Inquiry

This term, our inquiry focus is on migration and specifically the migration to Aotearoa, learning about how Kupe and his people navigated their way to New Zealand using the stars and the ocean currents as their guides. This will culminate in the children creating a model waka of their own using a choice of media.

Percussion Concert

On Monday, there will be a Strike To Schools percussion performance at the school and in preparation for this, we have been watching lots of clips of various percussion performances and joining in with some of them too. The children have been very enagaged with this and are all very excited about the upcoming event.


Cross Country

Unfortunately, Cross Country had to be postponed last minute on Tuesday as there was a sudden downpour of rain! Our postponement date is next Tuesday 16th May, starting at 2:15 with the Year 4 children going first, followed by the Year 3 children. You are welcome to come along and support your child in this event. Fingers crossed that the weather holds out!

Covid

We have had a rise in the number of Covid cases at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto so if you would like your child to wear a mask at school, please feel free to encourage this. We continue to ensure that the classrooms are well ventilated and that the children are washing their hands regularly. If your child is at all unwell, we do advise that you keep them at home. Thank you so much for your support with this.

Polar Fleeces

Please make sure your child brings a named polar fleece to school. If your child does happen to bring the wrong fleece home, can you please return it to the homegroup teacher as soon as possible. Thank you!

Discovery

We are in search of construction material for Discovery. Smaller boxes such as toothpaste boxes and cereal boxes would be ideal. If you have anything else that you think would be suitable for creating, please do bring it in.





Coronation Tree Planting Ceremony

Today we had a tree planting ceremony in honour of the coronation of King Charles. The youngest and the oldest child at Beckenham planted a Kōwhai tree in the junior playground and everyone at the school attended. It will be exciting to see it grow over the years!






Have a great weekend!

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 1

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Kia ora whānau,

Welcome back to the start of another year! Thank you all for coming to the learning conferences. It was fantastic to see you all.

The children have had a great start to the term. We have been doing lots of activities involving getting to know each other. and we have had our first Discovery sessions, making things with play dough, constructing towers with wooden blocks, making up games with chalk, hula hoops and cones, learning how to play Four Square and many other things besides. The favourite thing for most of our tamariki has been the waterplay in the afternoon - lots of slipping and sliding and squirting and having lots of fun!

Have a look at all the photos below:


















































We hope you have a wonderful Waitangi weekend and look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday.

From the Kōwhai team