Keeping Everyone Healthy 

To help everyone keep healthy, we would appreciate if you can please:

• Keep children home if they are coughing, sneezing or have runny noses or other sicknesses
• Encourage hand washing with soap and water
• Please ensure your child comes with warm footwear 
• Please send jumpers to school every day

We are enjoying working with Ferndale students in some of our Discovery sessions. 

 

Thank you for the new paint shirts Nuttall whanau!

Stacey, our Teaching Assistant

It has been another busy fortnight in Team Kahikatea! Please enjoy reading and viewing what recent highlights below. 

Wellbeing 

Over the past fortnight, we have been learning about how to make friends, communication skills and conflict resolution. Our focus has been on using our words to.... 

Structured Literacy 

We have started our structured literacy lessons this week. Students work in targeted groups with their literacy teacher, and cover phonics, reading, spelling and writing. Each child has been assessed and is working at their specific point of need. When they are not with the teacher, the students enjoy oral language, rhyming and word building games and practise working co-operatively (photos below!). 

Literacy: How can you help your child at home?

The emphasis in teaching spelling is to focus on the sound, not the letter name. Making the phoneme (sound) - grapheme (letter shape) connection is the first step in literacy learning.

Ensure that your child is saying the ‘pure’ sound without an ‘uh’ sound on the end, for example, ‘lllll’ rather than ‘luh’ for the L sound. Please refer to this clip, The Sounds of New Zealand English for more information on the sound that matches each of the letters. Feel free to practise letter sounds and blends at home (cards will be sent home soon), as well as the Heart Words (learn to read and write). 

You may like to play games like: 

• Speed Sounds: your child can look at each letter card and say the sound it represents. See if your child can do this at speed.
• ‘I Spy’: You can play games such as ‘I Spy’, using the letter sound (not the name).
• Stepping Stones: Place the cards on the floor with the letter facing up, as if they are stepping stones across the river. Explain to your child that they have to cross the ‘river’ without falling in the water. Your child steps on each card and says the corresponding sound.
• Fish or Memory: You could make up a matching set of letter cards, and use both sets to play Fish or Memory together, by placing both sets of cards face down on the table or floor. Each player has to be able to say the sound, if they are to keep a matching pair of cards.
• Reading aloud to your child/ren continues to be hugely valuable and important for their literacy development. Click to read further information on the importance of reading at home can be read here.

Clapping the Syllables Game

Rhyming Activities

CVC word writing

Kinetic Letters Handwriting Program

Discovery Photos 

Evaporation Experiment

 Kia ora Whānau

Thank you for your ongoing support during our water safety programme at Pioneer Pool, especially if you have been a parent helper at the pool.

Please remember to send togs and towels every day for the rest of the week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). For tomorrow, Wednesday, 4 November, your child will also need to bring: 

* Pajamas - old ones if possible, top and bottoms. Not onesies.

* An extra bag - to put wet pajamas into after swimming.

Many thanks, 

Kōwhai and Kahikatea Teachers

Kia ora Whānau

Thank you for your ongoing support during our water safety programme at Pioneer Pool, especially if you have / are a parent helper at the pool.

Please remember to send togs and towels every day for the rest of the week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). For tomorrow, Wednesday, 4 November, your child will also need to bring: 

* Pajamas - old ones if possible, top and bottoms. Not onesies.

* An extra bag - to put wet pajamas into after swimming.

Many thanks, 

Kōwhai and Kahikatea Teachers

Clean Up NZ Week, 14-19 September 2020

As part of this national event, each class took turns collecting litter around our hub and playground. We learnt the impact our litter picking up efforts have....cleaner streets, rivers, and waterways, which in turn helps to keep our bird and fish life safe. 
Some students were very keen to make a bigger difference and gave up lunchtimes to collect rubbish. 

Collected by three children collected in one lunchtime.

Well done Enviro-heroes!

Litter trap creations, made in our Learning Through Play sessions.

Calendar Art (Rainbow Fish)

Water Safety Skills Survey 

Please keep an eye out for this important survey as we prepare for lessons next term. 

Talent Show 

This is being held in the school hall tomorrow from 1.45pm. Only parents/caregivers of the performer can attend because of limited space in our hall. 

Up-coming events: 

School Athletics Week 3 Friday (Term 4) 

Water Safety Lessons (at Pioneer Pool) 

Visit to Rāpaki Marae

Kia ora whanau

Thanks for all you support this term and we hope you all get to enjoy a break! 

Team Kahikatea