Author Archives: Nicola Reddecliffe

Koru Team News: Term 4 Week 4 (8/11/2024)

Posted on by

 Kia ora, e te whānau,

We have all been enjoying these warm days and the opportunity to spend some of our Learning Through Play sessions playing outside. There has been lots of activity in the sandpit, a favourite this week has been excavating ponds and filling them with water from the outside tap. You may have noticed some sandy shoes coming home! As the weather continues to warm up we will be involving more water play during Learning Through Play, so please make sure your child has a change of clothes in their school bag, incase they do get a bit wet when playing.







Cyber Safety

During the afternoons in week 3 (last week), we completed a unit on Cyber Safety. This unit focused on sharing personal information online and thinking about what kind of people we can trust when sharing our personal details online. We followed Hector the Dolphin, and his friends, as they navigated their way through some different online situations. During week 6 we will continue with Cyber Safety with the focus on understanding that their emotions can be a powerful tool to assess unsafe situations, the importance of checking with an adult before going online, and being open about their online experiences with a trusted adult.

Life Education

We enjoyed our first visit to meet Harold in the Life Education classroom this week. This weeks session was on Big Emotions, learning that all emotions are important but we don't want to get stuck in some emotions for too long. After we identified some different emotions and how they make us feel, Helly the Educator, in the van, showed us a few things we could do to try to move out of being in a 'stuck' feeling back into a 'stay' feeling. More information about the second lesson (next week) and some photos will be in our next blog.

We have a couple of short weeks coming up:

  • Next Friday, 15th November, is Canterbury Anniversary Day
  • Monday 18th November is a Staff Only Day so school will be closed to students 

Thank you so much for sending your children to school with sunblock and their hats each day.
All best for a lovely weekend together.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Elizabeth, Stacey, Georgia and Nicola

Koru Team News: Term 3 Week 8 (13/09/2024)

Posted on by

 Kia ora, e te whānau,


A very warm welcome to Alex, Dante and Harry who have joined our team recently. You've made a wonderful start to school, tamariki - well done!


Preschool visits - On Fridays we have been welcoming visits from some of our local preschools. This is a great chance for some of our tamariki to see their past teachers and friends from preschool. The children just love showing their preschool friends around the hub and playing with them again! Their teachers also enjoy seeing how they have settled into school.


Word of the Week - Each week our kura has a school-wide Word of the Week. This weeks word is Determination. The Word of the Week is introduced each day in the daily notices and often there will be a story or short video clip to demonstrate the word in action. These words show us how we can live our school values. We have great discussions about the word and talk about the various ways we can demonstrate the word during our day. Each word is revisited each term so the children get to know them well and can identify ways they, and others, can show the word. Next weeks Word of the Week is Cooperation. Other words we use are, upstander, honesty, inclusion, kindness, respect, resilience, friendship, and responsibility.


Calendar Art -You might have noticed the very cute calendar artwork has been finished and is on display in the hubs. If your child is in Georgia's or Elizabeth's Home Group you will be able to purchase their artwork either as a calendar, a notebook, a mouse pad, or a pack of greeting cards. These make great gifts for relatives! This is a PTA fundraiser. Keep a look out for the order form coming home soon. 


Sunhats - A little heads up as we move into some sunnier weather, it is compulsory for all children to wear a hat in Terms 1 and 4 when outside at school. These can be plain black or red, in either a wide brimmed style, or bucket hat. They can be purchased from Mainland Uniforms or other clothing retailers. Please send these to school clearly named.


Changes to contact details - If there has been any change to your contact details, or those of the emergency person you have for your child, please advise the office so they can be updated.


Staying Safe Online Scams - People in New Zealand are losing millions of dollars to scammers each year - and this is just the figures reported to Netsafe so the actual figure is likely much higher! It's important that you and your tamarilki know what to look out for to avoid scams. Netsafe have put their best advice together to help you stay safe online and stay away from scams.
Read their scam tips here. 



Here's some photos of what we've been up to in the koru hub...
Playing schools during Learning Through Play.


Teaching new friends our adapted way of playing Upwords. 
Look at our great little set ups using different equipment in the classroom.
We have been enjoying the beautiful spring weather outside...







We hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend together!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Stacey, Georgia, Nicola and Elizabeth






Koru Team News, Term 4 Week 3

Posted on by
Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had a busy first few weeks of the term! We all had fun practising for, and then participating in, the school Athletics Day. We loved seeing the Koru children displaying our school values, 'We Love Challenge' and 'We Get There Together', as they challenged themselves, and supported their friends by cheering them on at each event.













Our Learning Through Play focus, for this fortnight, is 'Habitats', for bugs, birds, and animals. We have been talking about different types of habitats and thinking about how we can create some in our garden spaces at school. We would love to make some more bug hotels, so if you have any plastic bottles destined for your recycling bin, please send them along to school instead. 

Creating a bug hotel out of an old plant pot.

We were lucky enough to have a parent come in to help the children plant some Little Garden packs. 

We are amazed at how fast they have grown already!

This week we have been exploring a science topic called 'A Load of Rubbish'. We sorted through the contents of a recycling bin, looking at the different materials that items were made out of. We looked closely at the recycling numbers on plastics, explored the density of different plastics, and explored ways to reduce food wastage.









On Thursday, we all enjoyed our first House Games session. The house captains of each house did an amazing job of teaching us some new, and some well-loved, games. It was lots of fun, and we are already looking forward to our next house games!





We are so proud of our tamariki performing in yesterday's Celebration Assembly! They all did an amazing job, singing, and doing the actions to the songs, in their first ever assembly performance.




Reminders:
  • Your child needs a named hat at school each day.
  • When arriving and leaving school each day, we ask that you do not walk your child through the carpark area. Many thanks for your support with this.
  • Please send your child to school with sunscreen on, and we will help the children to reapply before their big playtime.
  • Next Friday, 11 November, the school will be closed for Canterbury Anniversary Day. This also means we'll be missing our library time. Children are welcome to bring their books to school and change them during lunchtime next week, if they wish.
  • The children have been enjoying using the very cool water pump in our sandpit, especially in this beautiful weather we have been having. Having a change of clothes in their bags would be useful for those days when the water is flowing!

We hope you all have a safe, happy, and relaxing weekend and we can't wait to see you all back at school on Monday!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Elizabeth, Nicola, Georgia, Tracey, Stacey and Jeanette









Koru Team News Term 3 Week 5

Posted on by

 Kia ora, e te whanau,

This term is whizzing by! Can you believe we are halfway through Term 3 already?

It was great fun seeing all the children and teachers dressed up for Book Character Dress Up Day on Friday of Week 4. There were some amazing costumes!

Nicola dressed as Pete the Cat with his Four Groovy Buttons.
Georgia made a beautiful Cinderella!
Elizabeth was a very Fancy Nancy!
In the Koru hub, we have been busy exploring different play provocations during our Learning Through Play. Last week we introduced our theme, for the next 2 weeks, by performing a role play of visiting the vet. The children loved the little 'show' and it gave them lots of ideas to incorporate into their play last week. They have set up a seating area for the sick animals, and their owners, where they wait for their appointment time. There are forms to fill out about the sick pets and even an x-ray machine. We have talked about how we don't need to have the exact object for our play, but can use any item, to represent something we may require by using our imaginations. 
A variety of pets receiving treatment at the vets.
The line up of patients to get through for the morning.
A happy dog, and his owner, after a vet visit to fix his leg.

Each week our kura has a 'Word of the Week', which is a focus across all teams. This week's word is 'kindness'. Throughout the week, we have lots of discussions about what the word means and how we can demonstrate the word in and out of the classroom. We love seeing how the children are displaying the word of the week throughout the day, and how they use the word to describe situations that happen during their play. It's always so neat hearing our learners use previous 'words of the week' in their explanations and discussions with teachers and peers too. Next week's 'Word of the Week' is 'resilience'.

This group demonstrated many of our past 'words of the week' in their play as they built this train set up. These included: inclusion, respect and kindness! Ka pai, team!
Showing kindness and respect for others' ideas.
Taking turns and showing inclusion, by reading together.
We loved hearing, "We are taking turns on the trolley." 
Showing off his cool ball skills with one of our new balls.

Reminders:
  • If you'd like to be included in our hub Friendship List then please email your child's Home Group teacher with your contact details, including your name, phone number and email address. The Friendship List will be coming out shortly.
  • Our amazing Calendar Art artworks have been finished, so keep an eye out for how you can view these, and order items online, in the next few weeks. You're going to love the results of the children's hard work and focus!
  • Reading folders are sent home Monday-Thursday and are to be brought back to school each day. We are really noticing the progress the children are making in their literacy when they are practising at home. Thank you for your support with this!
  • Library folders and poetry books come home on Fridays.

We hope you are all having a lovely weekend together, and we look forward to the week ahead. 

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Georgia, Elizabeth, Nicola, Stacey and Jeanette


Koru Team News, Term 2, Week 9

Posted on by

 Kia ora, e te whanau,

Wow, can you believe we have just finished our second to last week of Term 2, and now only one more week until the holidays? I'm sure you are all looking forward to spending some relaxing days with your little ones at home.

A very warm welcome to our new children, and their whanau, who have joined us in the last few weeks - Julia, Amani, Beau, Sailor, and Harriet. It is so lovely to have them in the hub with us. They have all settled in beautifully and our 'golden oldies' have been wonderful in making them feel very welcome.

Elizabeth and Nicola's home groups were lucky to be able to rebook their Junior Park Explorers outing to the ponds, after their initial trip was postponed. Our educator, Pete, did a fabulous job of being both captivating and informative with our group. We learnt lots about our native birds, the role trees play in our ecosystem, and where bugs like to live.

Making our bird call to find our friends with the same bird call.
Yay, we've found our bird friends and linked 'wings'.
Searching for birds around the ponds with Pete.
We had to be really quiet on our bird search. When we spotted a bird we used this signal to point it out.
"I've found one."
Using magnifying glasses to search for bugs under the trees.
"Look, I've found a bug!"
We played a fun game where we learnt about what happens to birds and bugs when they lose their homes.
We enjoyed dressing up!
Each bird and bug had to go home to their tree each night.
Oh no!! This home, to many birds and bugs, is being cut down!

Some children have since returned to the ponds area to place some logs of wood on the ground in order to create some new bug habitats. We are looking forward to checking on them next week to see if any bugs have moved into the new homes.
Using a rake to scrap back the fauna to find an ideal place for the log.
Covering up the log.
I wonder who will adopt this home?
"This looks like a good place."
Using the leaf matter to cover the log up.
Using his bird signal to show he has spotted a bird.
"I've found one, too."

We have been very lucky, the last couple of Fridays, to have Whaea Cath joining us in the morning. The children have loved her bringing her guitar in, and we have been singing some of our favourites waiata, and learning some new ones with her. What a treat!
Singing the action song, 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' in Te Reo Māori.
Learning the Matariki song.
Singing the Baby Shark song in Te Reo Māori!!

Our school-wide PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) focus this week has been on cooperation. We have been practising this skill in a variety of ways during our Learning Through Play time.
This group has been showing cooperation in building this 'guinea pig enclosure'.
Cute little guinea pigs!
We loved the cooperation they showed when designing and building the enclosure! 

Each day, after our little play time we join in with an interoception activity. Simply put, interoception is the sense that allows us to answer the question, "How do I feel?" at any moment. This is a great chance to calm and reset as we prepare for the next learning block.
In this activity, we lay down, breathed in and scrunched our toes, then breathed out and relaxed our toes.
We then identified, by pointing to where we felt the stretch in our bodies.

As our numbers continue to grow, Nicola's Home Group has begun to use Kōmanawa in the afternoons. From next week, Nicola's Home Group will be starting their mornings in Kōmanawa too. The children can still unpack their bags and use the cubby holes outside Hangere. Their lunchboxes, drink bottles and literacy folders can still be stored in Hangere. The children can then go over to Kōmanawa to find an activity to start off their day. Teachers will be outside Hangere before 8:55 a.m., to help children, by reminding them about this.

A reminder:

  • During the week ahead, school will close at 2:00 p.m., both tomorrow, Monday, 4th and again on Wednesday, 6th July, for Learning Conferences. If you haven't yet booked your child's learning conference, it's not too late! Please click on this link to find a time that suits
  • Please note that if your child started school this term, you will have had, or will be having (about 6 weeks after your child started school), a transition to school meeting with your child's Home Group teacher, in place of a Learning Conference.

We hope you have had a lovely relaxing weekend together. Keep warm, and we'll see all your little ones back tomorrow, for our final week of Term 2. 

Ngā mihi mahana, and take care,

Georgia, Elizabeth, Nicola, Stacey, and Jeanette