Kia ora te whānau, 

It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of another term. 

Kahikatea performed in our whole school assembly last week. The parent turnout was amazing, the kids were so thrilled, and they did so well.

The Kahikatea staff have been delighted by the progress our students have made so far this year. It has been wonderful to see their learning and development flourish, with this growth clearly reflected in their reports.

Here are some of our recent learning celebrations:

Literacy:

The children continue to work hard and remain focused during our whole-class and small-group reading and writing sessions. The writing they are producing is outstanding! Below are some images of students' writing and of  Amber running a whole-class reading session, which the children enjoyed immensely.

 Kia ora te Whānau, 

A big welcome back to Term 2! We have heard many amazing holiday stories and hope you all have had some lovely, quality family time together. Our tamariki have been so excited to be back, and there has been much chat and reconnecting with friends and teachers this week.

We have started off the term by delving into some new and exciting learning:

Maths in Term 2

This term, our Y0-2 ākonga (learners) are using Numicon equipment to support their maths learning. Numicon uses equipment which helps make numbers visible (see) and tactile (touch/use), allowing learners to see how numbers are composed (made up of), how they fit together and how they relate to each other.

The ākonga (learners)  have been wonderfully engaged in these Numicon sessions. They have been highly motivated to complete the daily activities, explain their thinking mathematically and use their maths vocabulary.

Literacy:

Our literacy learning is back in full swing, and the tamariki have come back from a break refreshed and ready to learn. It has not taken them long to get back into our literacy routines. 

A reminder to bring reading folders to school on Thursdays.

Inquiry Learning:

Kapa Haka:

We are lucky enough to have Kapa Haka sessions this term and in Term 4 with Whaia Cath, learning new waiata and tikanga. 

Talia and Sarah J homegroups had a session today. Amber and Sarah's home groups will have a session next week.

 Kia ora Te Whānau,

Welcome back to school!

Our tamariki are thriving; they are so settled and eager to learn. It is fabulous to see how independent our ākonga are, with quick and easy drop-offs and students showing responsibility by putting away their own bags and lunch boxes, etc.

Thank you for your ongoing support in ensuring students have a sunhat each day.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

Last week, our tamariki learnt about the Treaty of Waitangi. In homegroups, we then co-constructed our own set of guidelines (treaties) as to how we want to treat others, our environment, and how we want to be treated. Once we ensured that everyone understood and we all came to an agreement, students signed the class treaty. Pop in and have a look at what we came up with!

Literacy:

We are currently working on our literacy groupings, and students will be told next week who their literacy teacher is, as this may differ from their homegroup teacher. Literacy tuition is run in small groups, usually 4-8 students, and students are grouped at the level they are working at.

In Kahikatea, reading folders come home on Thursdays with a new decodable reading book for the week. Students bring their reading folders back to school on Thursdays so that the book can be swapped for another. Reading folders can stay home and come to school on Thursdays only. No reading folder, no book home.

We are aiming to start literacy group teaching in the next few weeks.

Library:

Library days are:

Tuesdays-Amber and Talia's homegroup

Thursdays-Both Sarah's

Tamariki need a library folder and no overdue books out to be able to issue new books.

The Lorax:

I am sure you have heard all about the Lorax learning we have been doing. Our reading, writing, maths, and inquiry learning have all been based around the story of The Lorax as we engage and learn about the topic of Sustainability.

Here is some of our amazing artwork:

Cyber Safety:

As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important that parents and whānau help them

stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital

technology.

Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families, and whānau have

all the information they need to talk about online safety.

If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.

Toys at school:

A friendly reminder to please leave all toys at home during the school day. They can be very distracting to other students, particularly when on the mat. We have had a couple of incidents this week where toys have been brought to school and have gone missing, causing upset. Thanks for your support with this.

Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you all next week,

Sarah J, Talia, Amber and Sarah S

Dear parents/whānau,

How have we only got 5 and a half days left of the school year???

We are posting the blog early this week as it includes some important reminders in terms of wrapping up the year.

Stationery:

Students are starting to bring home books, some are full and others are spares. You can use the spares next year. There is a link on the school website to stationery requirements for 2026.

Decodable readers:

No more reading books will be coming home, could you please send back any that you may have this week so that we can store them for 2026.

Library Books:

There are still many outstanding library books needing to be returned. We will not be visiting the library again this year but books need to be brought back to school and placed in the library returns box in the office. Any outstanding book loans will incur a fine.

The Great Migration:

If you can spare 20mins to come and help us shift some of the bigger pieces of furniture after school this Thursday 11th. We would be very grateful.

Fun Day:

As a reward for all of our tamariki's hard work we are planning a bit of a fun day next Tuesday. Students will need a change of clothes as we will have some different water play activities available. We will also have a Teddy Bears' picnic type lunch, children are able to bring a favourite soft toy from home on Tuesday.

Last Day:

 The final day of school is next Wednesday, the 17th of December, and it is a half day. School will close at 12:30pm.

 Kia ora whānau,

Our tamariki have had a busy and wonderful start to the final term of the year! 

We are well underway with our athletics practices, we have had a ponds visit and we have started ukulele and dance sessions on a Tuesday. 

A reminder for sunhats for Term 4 please.

Some dates for your diary:

Thursday 23rd October-Teacher Strike action, school is closed.

Thursday 30th October: Whole school athletics day. Kahikatea aim to run ours 11:00am-12:15pm, on the park.

Tuesday Arts:

We have been fortunate enough to receieve some funding to promote some performance arts sessions in the Year 1-4 classrooms. This means that on a Tuesday each homegroup has a 30minute ukulele session with our whānau worker Paerau (also a member of One Drop Nation) and a hip hop dance session with Steph from Legacy Dance. How lucky are we?!