Author Archives: Krystal Hunt

Kahikatea News – Term 4 Week 5

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Kia ora e te whānau,

Week 5 already, what fantastic fun we are having!

Word of the week

Our word of the week is kindness. 
Kindness is "the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate" (Oxford Dictionary)



Te Reo Focus

This week, our Te Reo Maori focus has been how to ask someone what their name is and how to tell someone your name. The following video has been helping our tamariki learn this knowledge:



Art Lessons

Over the next few weeks, our tamariki will be participating in a sustainable art rotation of 8 different lessons. These lessons cover all four art strands of the curriculum (visual art, drama, dance and music)
They had their first two lessons this week. 

















Reading Books

Please ensure all Little Learners Love Literacy books are returned to school by the end of week 6. This will allow us to do a stocktake and work out what new resources we need to purchase to support literacy learning next year. 

Toys

We ask that our students leave their toys at home when they come to school. We have plenty of fun activities and things for them to play with whilst at school. When toys from home come to school they can get lost or broken. We know how special our toys are, and the best way to keep them safe is to keep them at home.

Photos from the past two weeks
























Ngā mihi nui,
Team Kahikatea

Katie McFarlane 
katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

Emma Hayes-Smith
emma.hayes-smith@beckenham.school.nz

Krystal Hunt
krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz

Megan Harris
megan.harris@beckenham.school.nz

Lisa Collier
lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz


Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 5

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Tēnā koutou!

It is incredible to think that we are entering Week 6 already! So much amazing learning has been happening in our hub.


The word of the week

Our word of the week in Week 5 was KINDNESS. 

Kindness is "the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate" (Oxford Dictionary)

Some of our beautiful tamariki demonstrated kindness this week by creating a card for a friend or loved one. It was wonderful to see the thoughtfulness that they used.

A video that has a kindness song is below...



Te Reo Māori focus

Over the past two weeks, we have been working on different ways to greet people and also how to say how we feel. During our waiata, we have been singing the 'Ata mārie' song, which has been wonderful to support our tamariki in learning Māori greetings. 

Here it is so you can sing along at home...







Book Character Day

Book character dress-up was held on Friday 19th of August and it was amazing to see all of our tamariki proudly strutting their stuff in super fun costumes. Even the teachers dressed up!

We were also lucky enough to have a visit from Sandy. She was dressed in her 'Guess How Much I Love You' pajamas and she read us the story. 


Toys at school

We have had a number of toys (including bag toys) make an appearance at school this term. We ask that all toys stay home. We know how special they are to you and we don't want to see them broken or lost. There are lots of awesome things for you to play with at school, including amazing outdoor spaces that the school has. 

Shoes

The Kahikatea teachers have been noticing a lot of students walking around the school without shoes on. Shoes are important for keeping our feet safe and clean. Kahikatea students are not to be outside in the playground without their shoes on. When in the hub, the expectation is that the students have shoes on (or slippers) unless their shoes are very wet or dirty.

Cultural Presentations

As part of our fortnightly celebration assemblies, children have an opportunity to share with the junior school their culture via a presentation. These presentations are done in the form of a slideshow, in which the family receives a template to fill in. They require adult input and support. 
If your child is interested in getting up and presenting a cultural presentation, please contact your child's homegroup teacher for more information. 


Photos

Here are some photos of our amazing tamariki hard at work.


















Ma te wa, 
Amber, Krystal, Emma, Katie, Lisa, Kerilea, Kate & Jan

Kahikatea News Term 2 Week 5

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 Kia ora e te whānau, 

We are halfway through the term already! We have been having a blast in the Kahikatea Hub, and we have some exciting events coming up soon for our tamariki.

Digital Tech with Kate

We have had the amazing opportunity of having Kate, from Digital Future Aotearoa, come and spend some time with small groups. She has been working on building tech and coding skills during our Wednesday Learning Through Play Sessions. Kate and the students have been working with Blue Bots and Spheros. Here are some lovely photos of the tamariki enjoying themselves. 


  





Positive Behaviour for Learning

As part of our school-wide Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L) program, we have been focusing on a Word of the Week. This week our word is KINDNESS, and all Kahikatea learners have spent time in their homegroups discussing what this words means to them and how they can demonstrate kindness.

Last week the word was RESPECT. Katie's homegroup produced some fantastic writing on what respect meant to them, and some students shared their writing with the students from Koru, Kahikatea and Kowhai during our Junior School Assembly last Friday. They did a wonderful job, and we were all very proud!



Mathematics Focus

This term, alongside our work on number, addition and subtraction, we have been focusing on problem solving during our mathematics lessons. We have been working on solving open-ended problems where there can be more than one solution. We have been working in groups, as well as independently, to solve these problems. Below is one of the problems that we have worked on. We used the visit from Bob Bickerton to form a real-life application to the problem.



Winter Clothing

As the weather starts to get colder, we are seeing lots of our tamariki dressed in lovely warm coats, jerseys, beanies and gloves. This is fantastic and it keeps them nice and warm. Please ensure that all items of your child's clothing are clearly named to assist in the event of an item being lost or misplaced.

Up coming Events:

Cross Country

Our Junior Cross Country is taking place on Tuesday June 14th. It is an event for students in New Entrants up to Year 4.

Some important points about the event:
  • parents are welcome to join us at this event on June 14th.
  • the afternoon will start at 1:00 p.m., with the oldest year group levels running first, on through to the New Entrants towards the end of the afternoon
  • practices will be taking place regularly between now and the Cross Country event: if you wish your child to be exempt from practices due to health reasons, please email your child's HG teacher as soon as possible to let them know
  • please send your child to school in appropriate footwear for daily running practices
  • please ensure that your child has their water bottle at school each day, including on the day of the event
  • children will be able to wear their house T-shirts on the day of the Cross Country
  • the postponement date for our Cross Country is Monday, June 20th.

The Christchurch Antarctic Centre

We are very excited to be visiting The Christchurch Antarctic Centre on the 23rd June. 
Thank you to all those parent/whanau who have volunteered to assist. We now have sufficient numbers of parent/whanau helpers. Thanks everyone! 

Katie and Emma's home groups will leave school at 9am and return by 12:15pm, and Amber and Krystal's home groups will leave school at 11:45am and return by 3pm.

Please ensure that your child is dressed in their school uniform and wear warm, comfortable footwear.


That's all for now,

The Kahikatea Team

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz,  katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz, krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz, emma.hayes-smith@beckenham.school.nz
lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz,