Author Archives: Stacey

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

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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

Koru News: 10/05/2024 Term 2 Week 2

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Kia ora e te Whānau,

Welcome back to Term 2! We would also like to warmly welcome Korra, Hailey, Vincent, Archie, Elsa, Sadie, Manaia, Aurora, Marnie, Angus and Alma who have started school this term. We have got a busy term ahead of us with lots of exciting things to look forward to. Below are lots of dates and events for Term 2, there will be more information closer to the time for these.

Term 2:
  • Cross Country; Tuesday 14th May, the junior races start from 2.15pm on the field. Children will need suitable shoes, a water bottle, and they can wear House Tops.
  • Readathon PTA Fundraiser; 6-17th June
  • Book Character dress up day; Friday 24th May
  • Staff Only Day (school closed); Friday 31st May
  • King's Birthday (school closed); Monday 3rd June
  • School Disco; 2:00-2:45pm Friday 7th June
  • Learning Conferences; Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th June
  • NZ Opera; whole school performance in our Hall; Thursday 13th June
  • Koru trip to the Christchurch Art Gallery; Monday 24th June  
  • Matariki Evening at school; Tuesday 25th June 5:30-7:00pm
  • Matariki (school closed); Friday 28th June
Morning routines:
We are so proud to see the children showing We Love Challenge by carrying their own bags; putting their lunch box and drink bottles on the shelves; putting their Literacy folders in the group boxes and then settling down quietly into a game or activity each morning! 
We thank all the Whānau for the quick and calm 'good byes' in the morning. As we get more children starting school, sometimes we notice it feeling very overwhelming and busy with so many people in the Hub before school, it is really helpful when you say goodbye and leave your child with us, leaving them to have some fun with their new school friends.

House Groups:
Our Koru children have all been allocated a 'House' to belong to: Fisher, Heathcote, Tennyson and Waimea. Children from the same family/whānau are put into the same house. Each house has its own 'chant' and tamariki learn this, so they can participate in the house chant at sports and special events, and in Celebration Assemblies, if it is their house that has won the House Points for that fortnight! You can find the House Chants here, and other are also videos that you can share with your child to help them learn their house chant. Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe! We Get There Together!

Some Reminders:

Friendship List: If you would like your name and contact details to be added to our Koru Team Friendship List, please email Georgia by Wednesday the 15th of May. 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

Lunchboxes: A few reminders about your child's lunchboxes:
  • Please ensure your child is only bringing water to school (no juice or other drinks)
  • It is also important to help teach your child how to open and close their lunch boxes, so they can do this independently at the start and end of eating times
  • It would be great if you could also either pre-cut or teach your child how to open packets in their lunchboxes (for example potato sticks, chip bags, twisty yoghurt pouches, muesli bars etc.)
Thank you for your help and co-operation with this!

Science: 
On Wednesday, we had Ben Kennedy, a volcano expert, come and talk to the tamariki in the Koru team. Ben works at the University of Canterbury and is absolutely passionate about his chosen subject! He showed us his 'pet' rock collection, which represented the lava from various types of volcanic eruptions. We passed the rocks around and were able to see and feel many differences between each of them. Ben taught the children about words such as magma, lava, extinct, dormant and active. 



We then all went outside where Ben's student, Jonathan, set up two different experiments for us: one to demonstrate the slow progress that lava makes as it flows down a mountainside and the second, to demonstrate what happens when there is more gas present and lava 'bombs' are created and then shoot up and out of the volcano, often landing some distance from the volcano itself. 





Our first two weeks:
Here are some pictures to show what we have been up to for our first couple of weeks this term, during Learning Through Play and Kinetic Letters with Bounce and Skip.











We hope you have a fabulous weekend and look forward to seeing you all on Monday.

Ngā mihi nui,
Stacey, Georgia, and Elizabeth


Koru News: 27/03/2024 Term 1 Week 9

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Kia ora, e te whānau,

Reminders:

Our kura/school will be closed on Friday 29th March, Monday 1st April and Tuesday 2nd April. We will see you all again on Wednesday 3rd April. Our last day of Term 1 is Friday 12th April.

Word of the week:

Our word of the week last week was DETERMINATION. Are you a determined person? In what ways do you show determination? How are determination and resilience the same/different? Determination means the ability to continue trying to do something, although it is very difficult.

Our word of the week this week is COOPERATION. Cooperation means working together to get things done. To be good at cooperating with others, you need to be a good TEAM MEMBER. 

Learning Through Play

We are learning to show determination and cooperation during our learning through play time. Have a look at the photos, how do you think the children might be showing determination and/or cooperating?







Maths: Notice, Think, Wonder

What do you notice? What do you think? What do you wonder? Here are all the ideas our children noticed when looking at this picture in Maths. What else do you notice, think and wonder?



Ngā mihi nui,
Stacey, Georgia and Paul
stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz
georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz



Koru News 1/03/2024 Term 1 Week 5

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Kia ora whānau,

Wow! We have been having so much fun in Koru and made it through the first 5 weeks of this term! 

Maths:

We are starting to learn some Rapid 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 or graphics. We are learning to act like Mathematicians, which means the children are learning to look for patterns; take a risk and explain their thinking. 

Here is the image looked at, and all the ideas the children thought about. 

  • I notice a big diamond in the middle
  • there is a pattern with the diamonds, they are red and white
  • the triangles go together to make a diamond
  • there are squares
  • the triangles fit into the pattern
  • the shapes are all joined together
  • I think it is a floor
  • I wonder if they are tiles?

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

We can find numbers everywhere around us. At the end of Little Play and Big Play, the bell goes and the tamariki come back to Hangare (this is the name of our classroom) and stand on a number. I wonder what numbers you can see? 






Our mornings:
Georgia and Stacey are so impressed with all the children unpacking their bags each morning independently. When the bell goes, the children leave what they are doing and come and sit on the mat. We talk about 'showing 5' when we are doing 'super school sitting!' Legs are crossed; hands are resting; eyes are looking at the front; ears are listening; and mouths are quiet (maybe even with a beautiful smile!) Each morning say good morning and check who is at school, begin with our karakia and sing our National Anthem. Then we look at our Daily Notices, where we find out what flag is flying on the flagpole each day, look at the word of the week and any other notices. 

On Mondays, our first block of learning is Learning Through Play. Then, after morning tea and Little Play, in our middle block, we have whole class and small group Literacy lessons. After Big Play and lunch eating, we have Maths, Kinetic Letters with Bounce and Skip (handwriting), and finish with a shared story. 


We hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend. See you all on Monday.
Stacey, Georgia and Paul

stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz
georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz

Koru News 1/02/2024 Term 1 Week 1

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Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had the most amazing first day in Koru today! Our team is called 'Koru' and our hub/building is called 'Hangare'. We are so proud of how the children independently unpacked their bags and said their goodbyes today!

Our day has been filled with lots of fun, excitement, getting to know each other and our learning space. We have spent lots of time together on the mat talking about what we do at school, how we do things and where things are. You could ask your child what they do if they need to go to the toilet, or where they go when the bell rings at the end of Little Play and Big Play?

We have gone on lots of adventures to explore around the school and where we can play; like Treemendous and the Junior Playground. We also visited Jacky in the office and looked in the Hall to see where the Welcome Assembly will be tomorrow morning.

We always have a teacher available before school to greet you and support the children in settling into the hub. We appreciate your support in having quick and quiet goodbyes and then we can help the children find something to play with. This is really helpful in creating a quiet and calm space for children to begin their day, especially as more children start school and our hub gets busier. 


















We are super excited for our year ahead in the Koru team!

Ngā mihi nui,

Stacey, Georgia and Paul

stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz

georgia.mckenna@beckenham.school.nz