Koru Team – Week 3

Kia ora ki te whanau,

We have welcomed 7 new children into the Koru hub since week 1. A very warm welcome to the new children and their whanau. Our 'Golden Oldies' are enjoying making new friendships and showing our school values 'We get there together' and 'We care' to help our newbies get to know the routines and settle into the hub.

Last week all our children showed another one of our school values 'We love Challenge' when they competed in the school Cross Country. We were so proud of their efforts in running the course. They certainly displayed our school values. 

All lined up at the start.



We were lucky to have lots of senior students supporting our runners.





Feeling happy to have finished our first cross country.



Rocketship numbers

Look at our amazing writing in our structured literacy group.





Working together with a buddy to solve maths problems.





We're going on a bear hunt


Reminders...
Please make sure that literacy folders are coming to school every day with the letters and heart words inside along with any books. It is important they are sent every day as teachers might need to update the letters and heart words throughout the week. For those children who are reading the decodable texts, these books are needed at group time every day.

Thank you to those parents who are waiting in the courtyard each afternoon for their children to come to them. This really does make a difference to the end of our day and easier for children to find their whanau.

For all our new families, and as a refresher as the children are bringing home new letters, here is the link to the video which demonstrates how to make the pure sound for each letter. 

Heads up...
Please keep your eyes peeled for information about our exciting Art Gallery outing on Friday, June the 4th. We'll be seeking parent help for this outing, so look out for further details!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Elizabeth, Jo, Stacey, Chelsea and Nicola


















Koru Team -Term 1 Week 11

 Kia ora ki te whanau,

Can you believe it's week 11 and the end of the first term already! Time certainly flies in the Koru team with such fun busy days. We're sure you are all looking forward to some rest and relaxation and some precious family time together over the holidays. 

This week we welcomed lots of lovely little visitors who will be starting early in Term 2. It was lovely to have our new Koru teacher, Chelsea, join us on Wednesday to meet the new children. Chelsea will be joining the Koru team from the start of Term 2.

Chelsea Carmichael 

Over the last 2 weeks we have been exploring the story of The Little Red Hen and how we can show our school values 'We get there together' and 'We make a difference' to work together as a team during our Learning Through Play. We have seen some lovely teamwork being used to create some amazing work, and we've all been practicing getting there together to tidy up after our play.


Working together with a preschool visitor.

This group were sharing equipment beautifully while working together.

'Teamwork makes the dream work'

Showing how 'We get there together' to complete a building project.

Using our segmenting and blending skills to decode a word.

Playing Jump during a structured literacy lesson.

Creating animals from The Little Red Hen story to role play with.

Playing house games on the big field with the senior leaders.

Practising some yoga after a big morning of Learning Through Play.

Wow good balancing!

Working together and sharing tools in the sandpit.

Taking turns to jump off the decking.

Showing 'We get there together' by all helping to tidy up our classroom.

Showing great teamwork by working together on a project.

Putting the ideas all together as a team.

The collaborative collage project all completed.

Term 2...
We have some very exciting events coming up in Term 2 starting with the whole school cross country in the second week of the term, on Tuesday 11th May. The event starts with the senior children completing their run first. Our run will be between 2-3 pm, and we will give you more details closer to the time. The course for our children will be a run around Beckenham Park. We will familiarise the children with the course in the first week of the term and will get some practices in each day. You may also like to get your child out for some training over the holidays.

As we head into one of our winter terms after the holidays, children will not be required to wear their hats at playtimes. Hats will not be required again until the start of Term 4.

We wish you a lovely and safe autumn holiday together. We look forward to hearing about all the holiday adventures from your little ones at the beginning of Term 2.

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







Te Whanau Koru Blog 2021-03-12 10:39:00


Koru Team News - Term 1 Week 6 

Kia ora e te Whanau,

The weeks are flying by in the Koru Team with such busy days!

Over the last 3 weeks we have...

  • made delicious Gingerbread People
  • had lots of fun playing with Spheros in the hall
  • learnt how to play some courtyard games outside
  • built constructions using the big cardboard bricks
  • explored our outdoor play space
  • solved maths problems and explored maths equipment
  • created mud pies and pipe pathways from our new mud kitchen to the sandpit
  • begun our literacy programme in the mornings
  • made scrumptious porridge mini muffins.

Creating pathways for the water to travel down by joining up pipes in the outdoor play space.

Painting with the spheros using ipads to control them.

You can view our finished artworks on the wall in the hub.

Using tablets to control the sphero to travel up the ramp and fall into the pool of water.

Using the big cardboard bricks to construct.




Learning courtyard games outside with some of our Yr 7/8 helpers.

We had fun rolling out the dough to make our Gingerbread People...

carefully placing chocolate drops for eyes in the right spot...

and choosing 3 M&Ms for the buttons. 
Our Gingerbread People were delicious!

Learning about alphabet letter sounds at the jelly bean table.

Baking mini porridge muffins with Stacey. We think Goldilocks would love these!


Learning...
We have started our literacy programme in the mornings, working alongside our Learning Through Play time. The focus at this early stage is for all the children to learn the sounds for the alphabet letters.  There will be a letter coming home with your child to explain more about the programme and how you can support your child at home. We thought this video clip of a child saying the pure sounds may be useful for when you practice at home. 

Thankyou...
Many thanks for all the very kind donations for our outdoor playspace! The children have been enjoying exploring the water play by connecting pipes, from the new mud kitchen, to make pathways for the water to travel through. We love seeing their teamwork while they problem solve to navigate obstacles and fix leaky pipes.

Can you help?
We are getting low on our supply of construction materials, if you have any small boxes or interesting bits and pieces you think may be suitable we would really appreciate these in the hub. If you're unsure of suitability please check with one of the team to see if it would be useful.

Have a lovely relaxing weekend together with your tamariki.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou

Elizabeth, Jo, Stacey and Nicola