Kahikatea News: Term 1 Week 11

 Phew! We cannot believe how quickly the first term has flown by. You should be super proud of your wee ones, they have worked hard and our recent assessment shows they are all progressing in leaps and bounds.

Amber, Talia, Lisa, Nicola and myself have all really enjoyed getting to know you more this term, thanks for all of your amazing, ongoing support with our tamariki.


Here are a few pics from our Learning through Play sessions this week: We are always astounded by the creativity, problem solving, caring, energy and delighful conversation that occurs during these sessions.
















A few things to keep on your radar for next term:

-School reports will go out mid term

-Whānau learning conferences will be scheduled for later in the term

-No sunhats required next term! (these should have arrived home today).

-We have Cross Country happening in the first few weeks of school and will need some parent helpers to mark out the course and marshall. More info to come.

-Next term both Talia and Amber's homegroups will participate in Kapa Haka sessions. Sarah's class will join back in, in Term 3.

-Our overall theme for Inquiry this year is change. This term we have had a Health and P.E/Art focus. Next term the focus will be Technology. We will be looking at Toys through time-how they have changed and how we could adapt/create a fabulous new toy.

-Please collect cardboard boxes over the break. We will be needing these as part of our Technology sessions next term.

-We have planned a trip to Ferrymead Heritage Park in the third week of term. I will be requesting parent helpers for this via a google form over the holidays so keep an eye out.

Please have a safe, happy and relaxing break! We will see you all rearing to go in a couple of weeks.



Kahikatea Team News: Term 1, Week 9

 Kia ora whānau,

A lot of exciting learning to share in this week's blogpost. We cannot believe we are nearly at the end of the term. The kids have been working so hard and they are also very tired.

Literacy:

A reminder that book and reading folders will go home on Monday and need to be brought back on Mondays so that books can be changed over.





Picasso Art:

We have been learning about abstract art and looking at the work of Picasso. The children have learned about his use of shape and how the emotions he was feeling influenced his colour choices. They have been so engaged and excited by these sessions, and we are creating some cool art! Watch this space!







Mathematics:
In keeping with Picasso, we have been looking at geometry and 2D shapes in math. We have been creating a lot of artworks using different 2D shapes. Come and have a look in our classes to check out our designs.


















House Games Afternoon:
What a huge success! The first House Games afternoon was very well run by our senior house captains and deputies. Thanks for such a fun afternoon!








Kahikatea Team News: Term 1, week 7

 We have had some wonderful learning happening over the past two weeks. The tamariki are really engaged and motivated in all areas of the curriculum. We are seeing a lot of progress already, which is amazing. Students' are now familiar with our routines, and the hub is humming along nicely.


Mathematics:

In Math this week we have been looking at measurement and have been using the context of the story of The Gingerbread Man for ordering and comparing length and height. Below are some pictures of some wonderful learning happening.



















How you can help at home:

Ask your child to make comparisons with toys; e.g., can they line up all of their soft toys in order from shortest to tallest?

Or sort dinosaurs or plastic animals? Can you line your family members up in height order?

Can you learn the Te Reo words for tallest, taller, shortest, and shorter?

Students could draw pictures to bring back to class to share next week!


Literacy:

We are currently assessing, adjusting, and reworking our groups. We are thrilled with the amount of progress students have made in such a short time.






Reminders:

It is school photos next week on Wednesday, 19th March. please ensure students are in the correct school uniform for this.

A reminder to please keep toys at home, unless you have an arrangement with your child's teacher. They can be a big distraction for others during learning time and can often get lost or become damaged.

We have House Games on Tuesday afternoon, children are encouraged to wear their house colour tee-shirts.

Kahikatea Whānau Update: Term 1 Week 3

  • Welcome back!
  • Drop offs
  • Library times
  • Kapa Haka
  • Garden Club
  • Literacy
  • Cyber Safety

Welcome back to school!
We have been absolutely loving getting to know our new tamariki, everyone has made such a positive start to school. The Kahikatea hub has been very busy with participating in literacy, maths, sports, learning through play, getting to know each other, inquiry and kapa haka. Below are some pictures of the fun we have had over the past two weeks:





























Drop Offs:
Please remember to use either the Sandwich Road or Park entrance to enter the school. The entrance behind our building is for BOSCO families to use. We are encouraging our children to unpack their own bags in the morning. Thank you for your support with this, we have noticed many of you standing back and allowing your children to put their lunchboxes, reading folders, and bags away themselves. 


Library:
Students are able to issue two books from the library each week, they are able to renew books as needed. Students' with overdue books will not be able to borrow new books.

Our library days are as follows:
Tuesdays-Talia and Ambers' homegroups
Thursdays-Sarah's homegroup
Kapa Haka:
We are fortunate to have the amazing Whaia Cath running our Kapa Haka sessions again this year. This term, Sarah and Amber's class will get a 20-minute session each week on a Thursday. Talia and Amber's homegroup in Term 2, Sarah and Talia's in Term 3. In Term 4, we will all work our way to a Christmas performance.

Garden Club:
Thanks to everyone who brought produce this week and gave a koha! We made $38 for our Garden Club which is run by our wonderful Teaching assistant, Lucy. The kids are very excited to be able to put this money towards winter crops!
Thanks to our wonderful sellers, Ryland, Theo and Jak.

Literacy:
We are moving into Literacy groups next week on Monday. There will be a chart up in the hub above the reading folder buckets which says which teacher students are working with for Literacy. The hub will have a hui and line students up and send them off with their teachers for the first few days to ensure everyone gets to the right place.
Students' will start to bring home letter cards, heart word cards, and books over the next few weeks.

Cyber Safety:

All You Need to Know About TikTok


Tiktok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps. It’s a platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos—and many young people love it! From new dance crazes to funny clips to animal videos, Tiktok can inspire creativity and bring joy.


But it’s important that parents and whānau help their tamariki navigate Tiktok safely. Today we’re sharing the Netsafe Tiktok Family Safety Toolkit so you can help guide your whānau to a fun and safe digital experience.










Kauri Whānau Update: Term 4, week 6

 In this blog post:

  • Production
  • Victoria Park Walk
  • Year 8 Pool Party
  • Cass Bay
  • Leavers Farewell

We have an extremely busy time ahead; here are some important dates and information for you.



Production: Held in the school hall Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th December-7pm!
We are busy gearing up for our production-'A walk through Aotearoa, New Zealand History.' This production has got our tamariki fizzing; it is student-led, and everyone has been very engaged. We are currently busy learning lines, dances, songs, and making props.
More to come from homegroup teachers about what students will need for costumes.
Students will need to be at school by 6:30pm both nights.


Victoria Park Walk:

We are carrying out our annual hike up to Vic Park on Monday the 9th December. Thank you to all of the parents who have said they can come and help. If you would like to accompany us please fill in this parent helper form HERE.

We will leave school at 10am and leave Vic Park to return at 1:30pm.

I have attached the SOCIAL STORY link, which has all of the relevant information. We will start to go through this with our homegroups over the next couple of weeks.



Year 8 Pool Party:
This is also happening on Monday, 9th of December, and is for our Year 8 students only.
We are going to meet at Waltham Pool from 4-6pm; students need to make their own way there and home.
Students' need to provide pool entry of $3.80 and $2 for the use of the hydroslide if they choose.
We will provide a sausage sizzle on the BBQ.
They will sleep well on Monday night!



Cass Bay:
We are heading to Cass Bay on Thursday, 12th of December. We will leave school by bus at 11pm and return at 3pm.
Students are encouraged to wear their togs underneath their activewear so that they can quickly get changed at Cass Bay.
Students need a big packed lunch; they can organise to share a lunch with friends. Please make sure all sharing food is nut-free.
They also need a sunhat (compulsory) sunscreen, any medication such as inhalers, a towel, and a warm jacket.
Optional: A book, card game, water shoes, long-sleeved rashshirt are a great idea, and shoes for around and on the rocks.
Phones are to be left at school as normal.
We will be working through a social story around this trip over the next couple of weeks.
We still need a few more parent helpers for this trip; we're not quite there with numbers for our student-to-adult water ratio. Please use the above form linked in the Victoria Park walk blurb if you can come!

Leavers' Farewell-Year 8 parents only:
This is to be held on Monday, 16th of December, at 11am in our school hall. It is followed by a luncheon. This is the final day for our Year 8 students.
Please indicate on this FORM whether you are able to attend  and if you have any dietry requirements.


Thanks for reading to the bitter end; there is a lot of information, and I will keep sharing it until closer to the time.