Hi everyone,

WOW! What a busy start to the term we have had so far. Here is the latest update on learning and events.

Celebration Assembly
We have just discovered that the dates on the community calendar were incorrect and as a result many of you will be unaware that Kowhai are hosting the Celebration Assembly TOMORROW. Firstly, our apologies for this. It is going to be a very simple assembly with some of our children sharing a small rakau item. If you are able to attend, we would love to see you there!

Reading
Next week, we are integrating our Inquiry into our Reading programme. During the week, the children will be reading a range of texts related to the Olympics. The focus will be on reading to gain an understanding and use the information. Our teaching focus will be on questioning (asking and answering questions about a text), and making connections with the text and ourselves as 'Olympic Learners'.
The children will bring home browsing box books for their nightly reading. The aim and purpose of these texts, will be to develop reading fluency and speed. You can support your child with this by encouraging them to read fast and think about how to change their voice to suit characters.

Inquiry
Last week, the children had an action packed day rotating around different Asian countries as part of our Social Sciences focus into learning about other cultures and countries. We were impressed with the knowledge and learning that took place. It has been wonderful to hear the children sharing this experience and knowledge at home.
Over the next week, we are looking more closely at the purpose of the Olympic Games, what it means to be an Olympian and what athletes have had to do to be able to compete. The children will learn the importance of the, 'One World' motto as many cultures gather in Rio.

M.A.D Time
We have been lucky enough to have some wonderful parents come in and support our M.A.D Time programme this term, and as a result we have been able to give the children the following options:
1. Sock puppet making
2. Birdhouse making (woodwork with Tony and Mike)
3. Construction
4. Choir
5. Community connections- Thorrington Resthome
6. Paper Mache

Gymnastics
As part of our P.E programme, we are participating in a gymnastics unit. So far the children have had experiences with static balances, locomotion, landing and spring. We have been impressed with the high engagement and focus on improving the control of movements. We are heading to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics and will need one parent per home group to come with us on the bus. If you are able to help, please email or see your home room teacher.
Hub 5/6/7- Tuesday 23rd August 9.30-12pm
Hub 8/9 - Tuesday 30th August 9.30am- 12pm

Literacy Quiz
On Thursday the 18th of August, we have two teams competing at the South Christchurch Literacy Quiz at Somerfield School. They have been reading a selection of picture book and will be quizzed on their knowledge of these books. We wish the very best to the children competing.

Waterbottles 
Please ensure your child has a water bottle at school each day. We are actively encouraging the children to drink throughout the day, so thy remain hydrated. 

Spellathon
We are really pleased with the children's focus at learning their Spellathon words. This is a fantastic fundraiser organised by the P.T.A and your support in collecting sponsorship or donations is greatly appreciated. 
The dates for your diary are:
17th August- Cards returned to school
19th August- Testing day
31st August- Money and cards returned to school
2nd September - Morning tea to the first home group  to return all forms and money 

That's all for now!
Kowhai teachers

Dear parents and caregivers,

It is hard to believe that we have only one week before the holidays. This term seems to have flown by so fast. Here are the essentials that you need to know for the last week of term.

Scooters at School
We are aware there are some children who have wanted to 'work' on scooters at school. As a school, we do not support or encourage this. From next week on, children who bring a scooter to school are encouraged to bring along a lock so it is secure and to only ride their school in the set areas during break times. If you have any concerns related to scooters, please let your home room teacher know. The safety of children and their belongings is essential. Many thanks.

Art Gallery Trips
All classes in the Kowhai Team are going to the Art Gallery next week. It has been wonderful to have so many parents offering to assist us on these trips. We really appreciate you giving us your time to support this aspect of our learning programme. Here are the details that you need to know:
Tuesday 5th July 
9.30-12pm - Hub 5 and Hub 6 and 7 cross country runners
12pm-2.30pm - Hub 6 and 7

Thursday 7th July
9.30am-12pm - Hub 8
12-2.30pm - Hub 9

Please make sure your child has a morning or afternoon snack to eat while at the Art Gallery and all children need to bring a jacket to wear to and from the gallery.

Science and Technology Fair
On Monday, we have the grand opening of the 2016 Beckenham School Science and Technology Fair.  The opening will be on Monday 4th July from 5.30-7pm. We highly recommend you coming to school to see the exhibits from all hubs across the school. Our team exhibit is our exploration into weather and the impact and problems that changing weather has on our environment and animals. We have followed the technology process to identify a potential problem and create a solution for it.

Zones Cross Country at Hillview Year 0-4
We wish all our runners the best as they race against ten other schools on Tuesday. We know they will put their best effort in. Thanks to Mike and Paul Norton at Hillview School for organising this event for our students. We will put a note in the school newsletter and the team blog to let you know the results.

Spelling and Reading
Next week, as part of our Spelling programme, we are testing the children across the team on their current spelling level. This is to ensure we have all children working at the appropriate spelling level for Term 3.
For reading, we will be focusing on plays. We will be teaching the children some basic drama skills to develop their understanding of their parts (you might like to practise this at home with your child). This will include the exploration into expression, movement and gesture. On Thursday or Friday, these children will perform their plays. All children will be expected to still continue their nightly reading for 15 minutes. Each day, the children will be given the opportunity to take home a browsing box book for reading fluency or to read a chapter book that they have at home.

Stationery
There are many students that need some stationery items to be updated for Term 3. We will send home a small note to let you know if your child requires more writing stationery next week. We know the children have been working really hard on managing their belongings and are demonstrating the school value 'We Care' by returning their pens and pencils to the rightful place. This is such an important lifelong skill and it is so pleasing to see many children managing this aspect of their learning.

MAD Time
Anna's Envirogroup finally finished their bird houses and bird feeders this week and hung them up in the trees behind Hub 8 and 9. They are awesome. Well done everyone!




Well that's it for now. We hope you all have a wonderfully relaxing weekend ahead.
Kind regards
Kowhai Teaching Team

We are in our final stages of our Weather Inquiry. The children have all created solutions for weather based problems for animals, birds or people. Here we are in 'full flight'. These items will be on display in the Science and Technology Fair which opens on Monday 4th July. We hope to see you there!