Koru Team Blog: Term 2 Week 2 (9/05/2025)

 Kia ora e te whānau,

Welcome to this week's Koru Blog!

Book Character Dress Up Day: Friday 16th May
As part of our Readathon, we are excited to have a Book Character Dress Up Day on Friday, 16th May. All children are invited to come dressed as a book character, or if they prefer, to come in their usual school uniform. We can't wait to see all of the fabulous book character costumes- they can be as little or as big as you can make, find or create!!




Cross Country: Friday 23rd May
Our whole school cross country event will be on Friday, the 23rd of May. There will be more information to come about what time our Koru children will be running. Tamariki will be able to wear their house tops for this event. We are training most days for the Cross Country, so it is helpful for the children to wear comfortable running shoes. Our race will be between 11.30am and 12.00pm. The first race is the Year 8 runners, which will start at 11:00am, and the whole event should be finished by 12:00pm. See below for a map of where our Koru children will be running.



Literacy:
Our Koru children need to bring their Literacy Folders back to school EVERY day and put them into their group box in the hub. When the children learn a new letter, this will be added to their 'sound pack' of flash cards. When a literacy group has read a book a few times together, they are ready to take it home to read. If a child does not have their folder at school, we unfortunately cannot give them the book to take home, as each reading book costs $9 and we need to look after them by keeping them in literacy folders and returning them to school.

Phonemic Awareness Instruction
We are learning to blend words. We use the left hand to say the first word, the right hand to say the second word, and then clap our hands together when we say the compound word. eg. out - side, outside

'out'

'side'

'outside'

We are learning to segment words. The teacher says the compound word and place both hands together with palms up. Students repeat the word and then segment into two words, by separating their hands. eg. raincoat, rain - coat.


'raincoat'

'rain'

'coat'


Literacy Group Lessons
Each lesson covers revision about letter sounds (phonemes) and Heart Words that the children have already been taught. This helps to increase confidence and knowledge of the letters to know their sound when reading and how to write them. As the children work through the Stage 1 sounds (m, s, a, i, f, t, p, c), they learn the name of the letter, the sound (phoneme) and how to write it (grapheme) and read it. Before being given a book, they need to know the first 8 letters and the sounds they represent, as well as the skills of segmenting and blending sounds. This is to ensure success and accurate reading, rather than guessing. 
Writing a list of Heart Words

Literacy group lesson time! Writing heart words: I, my, the.

We read sentences and then write them. We check that they start with a capital letter and end with punctuation, and we read them back to ourselves to check that they make sense. Can you see a Heart Word? Does it finish with a full stop or a question mark?

Reading back the sentence together.

Here is Milo the Monkey, the letter 'm' makes the sound /m/. What do your lips do to make this sound?

Listening to a sound and writing the grapheme for it.

Writing the first 8 letter sounds.

It takes lots of concentration and practice to learn how to make our letters the right way!

Literacy helpful links 


Cybersafety
The HDCA for Parents and Whānau

The Harmful Digital Communications Act (or HDCA for short) is an act passed by the Government back in 2015 to help people dealing with serious or repeated harmful digital communications. It covers anything digital like text, emails or social media content.


The most useful thing for parents to understand about the HDCA is the way the 10 communication principles define what is good or bad behaviour online.


If you’re ever concerned about your young person (or you just want to brush up on your knowledge!) visit Netsafe’s Guide to the HDCA



Have a wonderful weekend!
Ngā mihi nui,

Stacey, Elizabeth, Katie, and Niquita

Koru Team Blog: Term 1 Week 11 (11/04/2025)

Kia ora e te whānau,

Wow, we have made it to the end of our first term for 2025! We would love to say a massive 'thank you' to all our tamariki and whānau for showing our school value 'We Get There Together - Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe'. 

Here are a few things our children have loved about being in the Koru team:


"I like playing with the Lego and drawing."


"I am showing We Care by listening to others."


"I love sitting at the yellow jellybean table for Literacy and learning new letter sounds."


"I love making new friends."


"I like learning."


"I like drawing with my friends."


"I like playing on the car mat with special cars."


"I like our teachers."


"I like going to Treemendous and the Junior Playground at Little Play and Big Play."


House Groups:
Our Koru children have been allocated a 'House Group' to belong to: Fisher, Heathcote, Tennyson and Waimea. Children from the same family/whānau are put into the same house. Each house group has it's own chant and tamariki learn this so they can participate in the house chant at sports and special events, and in Celebration Assemblies if their house has won the house points for the fortnight. You can find the House Chants here, and there are also videos that you can share with your child to help them learn their house chant. Each house has its own colour, and there are House Shirts that are an optional part of the school uniform, that can be purchased and worn on Fridays, or sports/special event days as advised in the newsletter.

House Games:
In Term 1 and 4, House Leaders from the Kauri Hub take House Games for all the Beckenham tamariki. Our Koru children played many fun games with the House Leaders and children from their House Group. Some favourite games were a sandpit treasure hunt, cat and mouse, hula hoop and ball team challenges and Duck, Duck, Goose! 

Cat and Mouse

Team ball challenges

News for Term 2:
We warmly welcome Niquita to Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto next term. Niquita will be our third Home Group teacher to join our Koru team. 

Kōmanawa block (the classroom up the ramp) is undertaking some building work, starting in the school holidays and will be completed around the middle of Term 2. Once this work is complete, our Koru team will start to use this learning space too.

Kiss and Drop
As more children are starting in the Koru team, our hub can feel a little overwhelming for some tamariki in the morning. Please aim to "kiss and drop" your child off at the door, rather than entering the hub with them. This will help set your children up for a calm, quiet, and successful transition in the morning. Thank you for your support with this!

Learning Through Play
Box construction continues to be a popular activity in the Koru team. If you have any boxes that you would usually put in the recycling, please send them our way! Our children love to stick, colour, shape, cut, decorate and paint. 

Have a wonderful break,

Ngā mihi nui,
Koru Team
Katie, Elizabeth, Stacey, Lucy, Maisy, Denise








Koru Team Blog Term 1 Week 5 (27/02/2025)

Kia ora e te whānau,

We are having a wonderful time in the Koru team and it's already our fifth week at school this year! 

Maths: Notice, Think, Wonder

We are starting to learn some Rich Routines to begin our maths lessons. This term, we have been learning about 'Notice, Think, Wonder' tasks. A photo is shown to the children and they are asked the questions: "What do you notice? What do you think? What do you wonder?" These tasks provide a visual stimulus for tamariki to discuss, notice, think and wonder about. This could include graphs, puzzles, pictures, signs or graphics. We are learning to think and act like a Mathematician, which means the children are learning to look for patterns; make connections; take risks and explain their thinking to others.

Here is the image we looked at, and some of the ideas the children thought about:

  • Joe: I can see some shapes. Some are triangles.
  • Ash: I notice some diamonds.
  • Piper: I notice the shadow. Maybe the shadow is a person.
  • Max H: There are six colours in the picture.
  • Luca: Maybe the dark blue is water.
  • Frankie: I think there is a pattern. Blue, blue, yellow, yellow.
  • Olena: I wonder if it is a floor and a chair?




What other ideas do you notice, think and wonder about at home when you look at this image? We would love to hear your ideas!!

What do you notice?

What do you think?

What do you wonder?

Can you take some photos and share them with us for some new 'Notice, Think, Wonder' sessions? 

Yoghurt pouches 

Please loosen your child's yoghurt pouch before school, so they can easily open these during eating time. Thanks!

Online Safety: Gaming

Eighty percent of tamariki in New Zealand aged 8-17 have played games online. Games can have many benefits: entertainment, social opportunities, coordination development, problem-solving and multitasking skills. But, most of all, gaming is popular because it's fun.

But games can be tough for parents and whānau to navigate. How much gaming is too much? How do I make sure my tamariki aren't seeing inappropriate content of chatting in-game with strangers?

Today we're sharing Netsafe's Online Gaming Whānau Toolkit so you have all the resources you need to keep your kids safe. 

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/rPN_ev1RSDQ

Community notice:

Sydenham Rippa and Footy Fun: This free and fun non-contact rugby program is open to all Year 1 and 2 tamariki in our local community, giving them a great introduction to the game in a safe and supportive environment. 

New Start Date: Friday, March 28th
Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Location: Sydenham Park

Reuben Harvey (Rugby Development Officer)

' 03-332-8875  * srfc@xtra.co.nz þ www.sydenhamrugby.co.nz

Facebook http://facebook.com/sydenhamrugby  Online Store  sydenhamrugby.gearstore.co.nz/



Ngā mihi nui,
Katie, Elizabeth and Stacey

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz
elizabeth.drummond@beckenham.school.nz
stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz



Koru Team News: Term 4 Week 8 (6/12/2024)

 Kia ora e te whānau,

Thank you to everyone who has been applying sun cream before school, we are reapplying before the children go out to Big Play. A reminder that all children need a sun hat every day! If a child does not have a sun hat, they need to play in the shade of the Hall verandah at break times.

It is hard to believe we are nearly at the end of our school year! We will be beginning to tidy and sort our toys and resources in preparation for next year. You might even notice our walls will be getting bare as we take the children's work off so they can take it home. 

Returning books

We are collecting back all Literacy reading books from Literacy folders, these need to be brought back to any teacher in Koru. Please have a look around home and bring back all reading books to school for our end of year stocktake. You are welcome to keep your Heart Words and sound packs of cards to keey using at home. All Library books need to be brought back to school too. 


Transition Visits

We have been getting to meet and get to know the children who will be starting in Koru next year, as they have their school visits this week. It is wonderful to see how our Koru tamariki are showing all our school values to make our visitors feel welcome and to show them a fun time at school. 'We Make A Difference'. Our Koru children are also having a couple of visits to look around the Kahikatea Hub and see where they might be next year.



Teddy Bears' Picnic:

On Monday, December 16th, we are planning to hold a fun Teddy Bears' picnic, followed by games, out in Beckenham Park.

At 1:20 p.m., children will wash their hands, put their hats on, collect their lunches, drink bottles and soft toys, and we'll head out to have lunch under the big trees near the Big Adventure playground.

Once they have finished eating, children will be able to choose from a variety of game options: parachute games, Duck Duck Goose, or playing on the Big Adventure playground. 

Please ensure that your child has the following items on Monday, December 16th:

  • lunchbox
  • drink bottle
  • sun hat
  • soft toy (teddy bear or other)


Staying Safe Online

As our tamariki spend more time online, it’s important parents and whānau help them

stay safe. Now is a great time to talk to them about how we use the internet and digital

Technology.


Netsafe has created an Online Safety Parent Toolkit so parents, families and whānau have

all the information they need to talk about online safety.


If you or anyone in your whānau needs support, you can contact Netsafe.



Ngā mihi mahana,
Stacey, Georgia, Elizabeth, Nicola


Koru Team News: Term 3 Week 2 (2/08/2024)

Kia ora e te Whānau,

Welcome back to Term 3! A very warm welcome to our new children who have started school in our Koru team: Leah, Parker, Elijah, Ethan, Stevie and Aubree. We look forward to lots of new children coming for visits and starting school in Term 3. We are also welcoming Nicola to join our teaching team. For the first 4 weeks of the term, Nicola will be at school in the mornings and will finish at 12:00pm. The children in Nicola's homegroup will be with Elizabeth in the afternoons. Nicola will be working fulltime from week 5 onwards this term.

Thank you so much to everyone who has noticed our 'Kiss and Drop' zone for families to say goodbye to their child at the classroom door. Our learning space has been so calm and quiet with children who are settled and happy in the mornings, a massive thank you for helping us with our morning routines!

Friendship list: if you would like your name and contact details to be added to our Koru Friendship List, please email Georgia by Wednesday 7th August. Georgia will update the list and share it with you. If your name is already on the list, please don't worry about contacting Georgia again. georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz

A reminder about routines:

  • Literacy folders need to be returned to school every day and put into their group Literacy box every morning
  • It's great if your child is able to independently carry their own bag into school, unpack it and put their lunch box and drink bottle on the shelves
  • We ask that caregivers avoid bringing children into school through the staff car park, rather, if entering off Sandwich Road, please come in up near the flagpole, or in through the gate down near the corner of Eastern Tce/Sandwich Road

What are we up to in Term 3?

Maths: We are focussing on Number Knowledge: counting, ordering, numbers before and after, reading and writing numbers up to 10 and beyond. Number Strategy: we are learning different strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems using numbers up to 10 and beyond. We are also looking at number patterns, symmetry, time and sequencing events, and measurement: volume.

Literacy: We are learning to read and write the letter sounds and heart words for each literacy stage. In our writing time, we are looking at different parts of sentences and the information they give us like: who, do, where and what.

Te Reo Maori: We are learning to greet others and introduce ourselves in Te Reo Maori.

Social Sciences: Our Kura: Our School. Our schoolwide focus this year is 'Identity' and we are looking at what makes Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto special to us and our community.

The Arts: Calendar Art is a fabulous way for us to get creative and is also one our PTA's main fundraising events. All the children (in Elizabeth and Georgia's home groups) will create a piece of art for you to look at and purchase as a calendar or card (more information to come from the PTA).

Learning Through Play: this is a time when our children can explore our learning space, play with friends, be creative and have fun together. We talk a lot about our School Values (We Love Challenge, We Love Learning, We Make a Difference, We Care, We Get There Together) and the 'Word of the Week' during Learning Through Play, these help us make great choices and show ways that support us being a good friend to others.

Maths Family Whānau Evening: We are excited to offer a Maths Family Whānau Evening, Thursday the 29th of August, 5.30-7.30pm in our School Hall. 

Here are some fabulous photos from our first 2 weeks back at school:

























Have a wonderful weekend,

Stacey, Georgia, Elizabeth and Nicola