Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 7

Kia ora e te whānau

Welcome to the Kōwhai team's week 7 blog.

Science

Recently, our students had a visit from Kerry, a representative from the Department of Conservation. Kerry taught the children lots of valuable information about kea. During the visit, the children participated in a tracking exercise where they used a device to locate a toy kea in the park. This hands-on experience allowed them to connect with nature and learn more about conservation work.




Measurement

In our mathematics lessons, we've been delving into the world of measurement. Students have been mastering the use of a ruler and exploring concepts of perimeter and area. These practical lessons not only enhance their mathematical skills but also provide a real-world context for understanding the importance of accurate measurements in various situations.


Instruction Writing

Another exciting aspect of our curriculum has been instruction writing. Students have been engaged in crafting clear and concise instructions in a variety of ways such as, writing programming instructions for Bee-Bots and creating delicious recipes!



Transition Visits

As part of our ongoing efforts to support students in their educational journey, Year 4 students have been making transition visits to the Pōhutukawa Team during their Learning Through Play sessions. These visits are designed to familiarise them with the environment and routines they will encounter next year. It's a positive way to ease the transition and ensure a smooth start to the upcoming academic year.





Have a great weekend!

The Kōwhai Team

Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 7

Kia ora whānau,

It has been another busy fortnight in the Kōwhai Team.


Keeping Ourselves Safe

Over the last two weeks, most homegroups have had a Keeping Ourselves Safe lesson with Constable Meg Moynihan, our local Police School Community Officer. The children were excited to see a police officer in the hub and had many questions for her.

Our current Keeping Ourselves Safe focuses are:

Focus area 2: My body is my own, Nōku tōku tinana 

In this focus area, students learn the names of body parts and that no one should touch their genitals unless it is for health reasons. They consider touch that they like, touch that hurts and touch that is confusing. 

Focus area 3: Unwanted behaviour and touch, Kore e hiahiatia te whanonga me te pā kino

In this focus area, students learn about saying “no” confidently, moving away, and reporting what has happened to an adult they trust. They also learn the difference between good secrets and bad secrets.

Balloon Racers

The children have been busy using the design process to plan and construct balloon-powered racing cars. Here are the steps of the design process that the children are following:
  1. Define the problem/need.
  2. Research your problem and come up with ideas you have for solving it. 
  3. Create a prototype. 
  4. Trial and improve the prototype.
  5. Reflect.
Here are some photos of their progress:





Reading Books

If your child is in a reading group that takes a reading book home, please support them to return their book to school on time. One easy way to help with this at home is to coach your child to always put their reading folder and book back in their bag as soon as they have finished reading their book. This way their book should always come back to school. Thanks for your support in this.


Positive Behaviour For Learning - Friendship

As part of our Positive Behaviour For Learning (PB4L) programme, the children learn different strategies for maintaining positive behaviour, improving their well-being and increasing their educational achievement.

We have a different PB4L focus each week. This week's focus has been on friendship. As part of this, the children have been learning about what a good friend looks like, sounds like and feels like.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 9

Kia ora whānau,

Welcome to the Kōwhai blog for Week 9!

Whānau Hui

We had lots of fun at our Whānau Hui this week. Thank you for coming along to take part in our Matariki celebration. There was lots of excitement in the air, culminating in an amazing performance given by the Kōwhai Kapa Haka group. Well done everyone! Here are some photos of what we got up to:










Waka

Over the past few weeks, our students have been engaged in building waka (Māori canoes) as part of our learning on New Zealand migration. Some children have built their waka using sticks, string and paper while others have built them in Minecraft. Here are some photos of their work:









AI Art

This term some of the children have been exploring the use of generative AI to create stunning digital portraits. Here is some of their work:

 


Reading Folders

If your child is bringing home Pip and Tim books, it is important that they bring their reading folder back to school every day. We suggest that the children always put their reading folder straight back into their bag as soon as they have finished reading at home. That way the folder will always make its way back to school safely. Thank you for your support with this.

Sickness

We are in the middle of the winter illness season. Please remember to keep your child at home if they are unwell. We are trying to minimise the spread of germs by encouraging the children to wash their hands before eating and sanitise or wash their hands as needed throughout the day.

End of Term

As the term draws to a close, we hope you have a restful and enjoyable break with your children, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for another exciting term ahead.

Happy holidays!

From the Kōwhai team

Kōwhai News Term 1 Week 7

Kia ora everyone,

Here is the latest news from the Kōwhai hub.

GetWise Visit

This week we learnt about financial literacy with Jeff, a guest educator from ASB Bank.

Jeff was lots of fun and used interactive activities and practical examples to teach the children about important financial concepts such as saving, budgeting, and managing money. The students were actively engaged, asked questions, and participated with great enthusiasm in the lessons.

Emma Nahna Visit

We are fortunate to have the wonderful Emma Nahna, Speech-Language Therapist and Literacy Consultant, coming to run a whānau workshop this term. Emma is extremely knowledgeable and an engaging speaker. Her mission is to support educators and parents “...to grow every child into a successful reader and writer.”

Emma will be running a whānau workshop on Thursday 23rd March at 5:30pm for our Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto whānau. The first hour and a half will cover the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of structured literacy across the school and how you can support your learner at home. The last half an hour of the session will emphasise the importance of continuing to follow a structured literacy approach into the senior levels of the school, and will delve into morphology (the study of the forms of words) and syntax (the arrangement of words to create sentences).

Photo credit: Sound Foundations for Literacy Website
https://soundfoundations.co.nz/about/

Literacy Home Learning

We recently sent home a home learning pack containing spelling booklets and information about our literacy home learning programme. An online version of this information can be found here.

If your child is bringing home Pip and Tim books then they are working through the structured literacy programme. We have recorded some videos to support your understanding of what our structured literacy stages look like and to explain what you can do to support your learner at home. You can access the videos from the links below:

Reading & Library Folders

Finally, we ask that you ensure that your child brings a reading folder to school every day so they can take their literacy books home to read. The folders help to protect our precious books from damage so that we have them in use for longer. Also, your child will need to have a library folder if they want to issue any library books as Anne, our librarian, has a strict policy of only issuing books to those who have a folder. If you are not sure which day is library day for your child, please ask your homegroup teacher.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 7

Kia ora koutou,

This term has been full of excitement! We have recently had a big focus on transitioning in preparation for 2023. The Year 4 children have had a visit to the Pōhutukawa team and the Year 3s have had Discovery with the Year 2s. All the visits have been very successful so far and enjoyed by all!

Playground

Our new junior playground opened recently and is very popular. Here are some photos of the children's favourite playground activities. 





Concert

We were privileged to enjoy two fantastic concerts last week which showcased some of our students' musical talent. Thank you to the students who performed. You were outstanding!





Kapa Haka Performance

On Wednesday, the Year 3/4 Kapa Haka group performed 5 songs at the Community Picnic and they were amazing. The children really rose to the occasion and gave it their all. Thank you to all the whānau who came to support them.




Book Return

As the school year draws to a close, we kindly ask that all Pip and Tim books are returned to school by the end of next week.

Have a great weekend!