Author Archives: Katie McFarlane

Kahikatea Newsletter Week 5 Term 1

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Tena koutou,

It has been a fun-filled couple of weeks in the Kahikatea Team. We have really enjoyed continuing to build relationships with your wonderful tamariki.

Here is an overview of our weekly timetable: 


Kahikatea Treaty

We have developed our Kahikatea treaty for 2021. We have been discussing each point with our home groups. Please feel free to read this with your child/ren!


Literacy

Teachers have been busy completing key assessments in preparation for beginning our new structured literacy programs.  We appreciate that many of our parents are keen to see books and materials coming home and will let you know very soon when you can expect to see reading folders and materials  coming home. 

During these first school weeks we have been exploring fundamental literacy activities and developing phonological awareness (skills in identifying and manipulating units of spoken language). We have been exploring oral language and the structure of writing through creating shared texts. In addition, we have enjoyed a variety of texts, including non-fiction and poetry. We have explored The Treaty of Waitangi, Chinese New Year, and the history of toys, through texts and hands-on experiences. We have also been loving our library time! 

Here are some pictures showing our learning: 















Request for materials

Many of the tamariki enjoy making masterpieces during our learning through playtime. If you have any of the following items, please send them along to school, and we will make good use of them!

- Small boxes, e.g., cereal, muesli bar, toothpaste, washing powder

- Plastic containers (clean), e.g., shampoo, washing liquid, soap

- Corks

- Buttons

- Fabric


Ferrymead Heritage Park 

The sun shone for us last Wednesday as we set off for Ferrymead Heritage Park. We had an amazing day of exploration and learning. Each group had the opportunity to learn about the following:

  • Heritage games
  • Homemade toys
  • Science of toys
  • Maori toys and games
We even got to have a ride on the tram! 

For our inquiry, the tamariki have been making connections between old and new toys, how toys work, the use of different materials, and have had many oral language opportunities to share about their favourite toys. 

A huge thanks to our wonderful parent helpers. It is because of your generous support that we can do such fun, engaging and memorable trips.




































Wellbeing

We have weekly wellbeing sessions in all teams. Over the last few weeks in Kahikatea, we have been learning about the importance of:

  • Making new friends
  • Self-confidence
  • Teamwork skills/co-operation
We have been reading stories, watching info clips, and also sharing our own stories about the importance of these competencies.

You might like to talk with your child about these things, and share your own stories about how you have made friends, challenges or benefits of teamwork, or what you say to yourself to feel confident in tricky situations.

Useful guides to help Christchurch parents to support their children with emotions and wellbeing: https://www.allright.org.nz/tools/parenting-guides


Library

Each home group has the opportunity to visit the library once per week. Our library day is MONDAY. Please ensure that your child has their library folder at school every Monday. Children are allowed to issue two books and must have their library folder to transport these home. 


Sunhats at School

We have been noticing that many children in our team often don't have a hat at school. In Kahikatea, all children keep their hats in their home group hat tub at the end of the day. This is to ensure that every child has a hat during Term 1. If you would like to wash your child's hat, please do this over the weekend, and return it back to school on Monday. We prefer that hats do not go home at any other time.

Parent Playground Roster

A big thank you to Katherine Christensen for offering to organise our parent playground roster. It will be wonderful to have extra adults out in the playground during lunch play to ensure that our tamariki are safe and happy.

Lunch play runs from 12.40 - 1.20 each day. Being on the parent playground roster is a wonderful opportunity to observe the dynamics of your own and other children playing in the playground, as well as being involved in the school community.

If you are interested, please contact Katie with the following information:

  • Your full name
  • Contact number
  • The names of your child/ren
  • Day/s of the week available

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz


That's all for now! Katie, Amber, Charlotte and Lisa

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz

lisacollier@beckenham.school.nz







Kahikatea Newsletter Term 4 Week 6

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Kia ora koutou,

We have had a fun-filled fortnight of learning in the Kahikatea team. 


Rāpaki Marae Trip

The sun shone for us last Wednesday, as we ventured off to Rāpaki Marae. We hopped on board the buses at the start of the day and traveled through the tunnel and around the bays to Rāpaki. We walked down a long, steep driveway, and were in awe of the beauty before us. We were greeted with a pōwhiri, followed by stories from Maui, who explained the history of the area and of the marae. 

We had a fabulous time down at the beach, exploring and searching for items on our scavenger hunt. 

A very special thank you to all of the parent helpers who came along to support us!







































ESOL Group

This week the students had the opportunity to harvest produce from their garden to make a colourful vegetable salad to enjoy.











Billy the Magpie

This morning, we had the privilege of meeting Alex's new friend, Billy the Magpie. Billy had an injured leg, and Alex's family have been looking after her. She has decided that she quite likes it at Alex's house! 




Upcoming Events

Wednesday 9th December - Junior Athletic Sports from 1:30pm
Thursday 10th December - Kahikatea Pool and Picnic Day at Waltham Pool
Friday 11th December - Final Celebration Assembly 9:15am
Wednesday 16th December - School finishes for the year at 12:30pm







Kahikatea Newsletter Term 3 Week 6

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 Kia ora koutou,

We have had two fun and busy weeks since our last blog post. The Kahikatea children have been actively engaged in the various programmes on offer, and it has been wonderful to see everyone living our values of 'We Love Learning' and 'We Love Challenge' every day.

It has been fabulous to end the week with the sun shining! It really feels like Spring is just around the corner...hooray!

We miss seeing you in the mornings and afternoons, so we thought it would be nice to share a typical day in the life of a Kahikatea kid to give you insight into what we do each day.

8:55 - The bell rings and the children meet their homegroup teacher in their home space. During this time, the teacher does the roll and shares the daily notices. Sometimes we do a mindfulness activity to get our brains ready for learning. We do the Mystery Bag at this time too. The children are very good at asking open-ended questions to narrow down what could be inside the bag.

9:10 - Reading. We begin reading with a shared Big Book. During this time, teachers models what a good reader sounds like. The teacher prompts children to think about the structure of the text, the language used, the function of the surface features, and together we enjoy a shared story. After this, the teachers read with children in small groups, and when they are not with a teacher they are doing activities that link to the Big Book, practise spelling, select texts from their group boxes to read, and do other literacy-related activities.




10:00 - Handwriting. Our handwriting programme sees some children writing on whiteboards, while some write in books. Bounce and Skip pay careful attention during this time to spot children with great body posture, pencil grip, the correct formation of letters and their concentration and effort. 




10:20 - Morning Tea Snack

10:30 - Morning Tea Play

10:50 - The bell rings, and children return to their homespaces for phonics. Following this, we begin writing. This often involves shared writing, in which the teacher and the children co-construct a text. The teacher also records key words and ideas on the whiteboard for children to refer to. All children do a picture plan in their book to get them thinking about their story. Many children use alphabet, word and blend cards to support them in the crafting of their writing.


11:40 - Maths. We teach Maths collaboratively (Amber & Lisa / Katie & Charlotte). We begin each maths session with a warm-up/hot-spot to switch our brain into maths mode. Two days per week see children involved in small group instruction with a teacher and independent activities that support children with their next steps in mathematics. We have two inquiry days, where children work with a maths buddy to solve open-ended inquiry maths questions. We have a concept day once a week, where we focus in on one particular aspect of mathematics, for example, subtraction or fractions and do a range of activities related to this.

12:20 - Brain Break. This is a chance to move, drink, have a toilet stop and have a snack. Teachers usually read a novel or picture book to the children during this time.

12:40 - Lunch Play

1:20 - The bell rings and children line up to wash their hands with soap and water. They then meet their homegroup teacher in their home space to do the roll and have some quiet, supervised eating time together. After this, we collect our bags from the cubbies and pack our lunchboxes, drink bottles, jerseys and reading folders. 

2:00 - We meet in the pathway to hear our Discovery options for the afternoon. Popular choices often include construction, drawing, making, outside play, craft, drama, quiet reading and board games. This is a lovely time of the day for children to connect with their friends across the hub and spend time working together and immersing themselves in learning through play.















Dates to Note

Monday 31st August - Staff Only Day

Friday 4th September - Wacky Hair Day. This is to support the Child Cancer Foundation. Children can come to school in mufti and wear a wig, hat, or have wacky hair.

Looking Ahead: TERM 4

Next term we have three significant events booked: whole school athletics, water safety lessons and a trip to Rapaki Marae. At level 2 these events can take place, although our wholes school athletics at Level 2 would not include spectators.  

Sandy is planning to send out a parent/caregivers survey regarding these and other events (eg Year 5/6 camp) very soon. Please do look out for it. 









Kahikatea News Term 2 Week 8

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Growing

For the past couple of weeks, our learning in the middle part of the day has been around the theme 'Growing'. This has seen children involved in learning challenges and experiences involving nature, construction, and understanding how our bodies work.
















Library Days

It has been great to get back into the school library and issue new books. Each home group now has an allocated day for returning and issuing. Please support your child to remember their library folder when it is their day.
Amber: Tuesday
Katie: Wednesday
Jules: Thursday
Charlotte: Friday

New Playground

Wow! What a fantastic time we have had this week exploring the new playground! It has been a very popular place during break times, and we feel very fortunate to have it immediately outside our hub.



Kahikatea Week 6-7 Term 1 News

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Kia ora koutou,

We have centered much of our learning this week around the construction that is happening outside of our hub. It has been very exciting to see the landscape change over the past six weeks.

Maths
Children worked with their learning buddies to discuss the story, choose a strategy, and use materials to solve the problem together.

Writing


We have been writing about the playground construction site. Here are some photo's of our brainstorming...





At school there is a construction site. I can't wait until it is finished because it will be such fun to play in. The workers are doing a good job. I love it!

By Hannah





Plea for materials

One of the most popular choices during Discovery Time is 'making'. For this, we require a range of recyclable materials. At the moment we need...


  • milk bottle tops
  • cardboard boxes (small, e.g., cereal or muesli bar boxes)
  • tubes 
  • newspaper (for painting and art)
Board games provide opportunities for tamariki to practice taking turns and working together. If you have any board games or puzzles that you no longer require, we would gratefully receive these, particularly as we are heading into the cooler months.

That's all for now!
Amber, Charlotte, Jules, Lisa and Katie