Author Archives: Sue Leadbetter

Welcome to the children and parents in our fourth New Entrant Class

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Kia Ora whānau of our gorgeous New Entrants,

Next week we will be beginning our fourth New Entrant class.  We warmly welcome Stacey McLachlan  who is the point of contact teacher for the children starting school this term.  Stacey is an experienced teacher who has been working at Wharanui Primary School.  Stacey has two children at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.

From Monday, Rowe and Stacey's home space will be in Kōmanawa (See map below).  
At present Stacey will work up until lunchtime Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and Hannah (our wonderful NE reliever) will work on Wednesday mornings.

Each afternoon, Stacey's home group will join Rowe, with a teacher aide, for the afternoon programme in Kōmanawa.  



From Monday morning Rowe and Stacey's children will go to Kōmanawa to hang their bags on the hooks at the back of the building, walk around the outside of the building to the front to pop their drink bottles and lunchboxes on the shelves inside.  At 8:55 these children will gather in Kōmanawa for the beginning of each day.
Parents will pick their child(ren) up from their home space in the afternoon.


As you go in the double doors of Kōmanawa, 
Rowe's homeroom space will be on the left hand side and
Stacey's homeroom space will be on the right hand side.
As you go in the door, Elizabeth's homeroom space stays on left hand side of Pūkaki 
and Jo's homeroom space stays on the right hand side.

Please don't hesitate to talk to one of the team if you have any questions.

Kindest regards
Stacey, Rowe, Jo, Elizabeth and Sue

Happy holidays 2017 / 2018

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Kia ora koutou whānau,

What a fabulous year we have had.  Thank you for all your support and the phenomenal feedback we have received.  We have appreciated both positive and constructive feedback which helps us reflect on our practise and reinforces the parts of the programme that are working well.
We are looking forward to 2018 and a full year in our learning spaces.

Te Whatu Manawa Māoritanga o Rehua
Before we visited Rehua Marae on Thursday, some of our children were treated to amazing Marae presentations that had been created by the Year 3 and 4 children in Kowhai hub.
The children used all sorts of resources and media to teach our children about what to expect when we visited the marae. 



















We had a fabulous trip to the Marae on Thursday.  A great big thank you to all the parents who came along and enjoyed the experience too.  The children were great ambassadors for Beckenham School.
Have a look at some of the photos we took over the day.














  
Discovery Time Photos from Monday Week 10


The challenge was to make a tent out of just tarpaulins and large blocks that could withstand a heavy downpour. The children were excited when it started to drizzle so they could test out it's waterproofing!




Amazing collaborative structure complete with hidden treasure and secret rooms.



A Few Holiday Ideas and Tips

  • Loose Parts Play - at Christmas time, there will be plenty to occupy your lovelies. Keep any packaging / boxes / wrapping and set these up on a table with a 'provocation' (challenge). e.g. Make a house for a mouse, make a bridge that can hold a toy, make a tent for a pet or toy, make a boat that can float a toy - you will be amazed at the creativity that will abound.
  • Screen time - Have a balance of time on a screen and time doing other activities - this will change the demands needed for young brains and help with energy levels. Find APPS that encourage creativity and learning. Here are just a few. Puppet Pals, Scribblenauts, GarageBand, Bitsboard, Memory.
  • Pinterest - when you are really stuck for ideas - use this wonderful tool to become inspired.
  • Reading - enjoy self selecting books to read for fun. We have wonderful libraries in Christchurch. Reading together or enjoying a favourite book can be a great way to spend some quiet time at any part of the day.
  • Maths - encourage children to help with cooking or measuring - helping out with any DIY jobs. Telling the time, baking, measuring, solving puzzles, taking a family vote, are all ways we can show our children how we use maths everyday.
  • 'I'm Bored' - welcome this statement with a hearty - "Fantastic! I wonder what you are going to do next!" Allowing children to create their own play is not only extremely valuable - it also takes the pressure off adults. Children can be incredibly innovative, given the right level of 'boredom' and downtime. Having a 'switch off day' where no outing or anything is planned is a great way to recharge young batteries.
  • Top Five Toys of All Time for Children

    1. Stick
    2. Box
    3. String
    4. Cardboard Tube
    5. Dirt


Useful Websites
Remember children need supervision when on the internet



Have a very, very happy, relaxing holiday.  It will be great to see everyone back in 2018 for our student conferences.
We are all looking forward to 2018 and a full year in our new spaces.

Merry Christmas.



Term 4 End of term

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Kia Ora koutou whanau,

What a wonderful last few weeks we have had.

Hedgehog fun
'We Love Challenge'  ....... We Get There Together' and sometimes we read a book at reading time that offers us opportunities for challenge and working as a team. 'Hedgehog Fun' was one of those books.  Some of our children made 'hedgehogs' for the whole of the West Wing.  Great teamwork, great sharing and generosity.













Beautiful weather and our learning environment.We have been making use of our outdoor classroom spaces this term and including outside hut and tent making, construction, reading, drama and science.  Here are some pictures we have taken in the last few days.





















 Children & anxiety: what parents can do.
A highly insightful talk by Nathan Makere Wallace excellent - well worth 20mins. Listen here



Similes and Metaphors
A couple of language features we explore in writing are similes and metaphors. Adding a simile to a descriptive piece can make a real difference in the level of interest for our readers.

Watch this video with your child and learn all about similes and metaphors together.





Some of the children wrote some poems using similes and metaphors.  






We would like to have all reading books back at school asap so we can sort and do a stock-take all ready for the new year.  Please would you check behind the couch, in toy boxes and children's bookshelves to make sure you have returned all books to school.
If you are able to come and help with the stocktake on Thursday or Friday afternoon please email Sue or Charlotte.  We would all really appreciate your help.

Koru Term 3 Week 2

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Kia Ora and welcome to Term 4.

We have welcomed our Senior Students back to the Beckenham site this term.  It has been wonderful to have them with us again, connecting and reconnecting with new and old friends.

Please remember that children need a hat at school every day in term 4.  We also encourage parents to apply sunscreen to children before school.  We have tubs of sunscreen at school if needed during the day.


Home







Keeping Ourselves Safe  - Information for parents and whanau.
For the next five weeks our school will be engaging in the 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' programme.  Please click on the link above for all the information you will need to know about this programme.

Keeping Ourselves Safe [KOS] consists of a comprehensive range of child protection resources to help students learn and apply a range of safety skills that they can use when interacting with others. 

During weeks 3 and 4 Constable Ross will visit our classrooms and take 2 of the sessions.  We really appreciate the help of the Police in developing these resources and their support in the teaching and learning programme.


If you have any further questions please visit the website or, alternatively ask your child's teacher.




Thank you St.MartinsNew World - Every day a new world
and our wonderful school Community

What a treat to receive gifts of well over 500 Little Gardens from St Martins New World and our school community.  The children have planted the Little Gardens and shared them throughout the school.  We really appreciate your generosity and kindness.  We have a raised bed outside the back of the West Wing that we can use for the seedlings when they are mature enough.  How exciting!  Thank you.
























"Dear New World,

Thank you for giving us so many Little Gardens.  We are so lucky.  We both love you. Our favourite Little Gardens are water melons, swan plants, butternut, sweetcorn and tomatoes.
As always, stay happy!  We love strawberries!


From Isla and Lilian."


Parent help needed please
Are you able to come in and help with Mad Maths Minute or put reading books away?  We would really appreciate an hour a week of your time to help us with these jobs.  Thank you.

Koru Team Weeks 5 & 6

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Our Proud Petals

Parent Conferences
Thank you to all those parents who attended our Learning Conferences this week and for Hub 10, last week.  It was wonderful to see the children showing you around the learning spaces and to hear the conversations about their learning and goals.  The children were very excited to share their achievements with you - thank you for all your interest and the way you supported and encouraged your child in this process.

We would appreciate your feedback through the questionnaire that was emailed out this week.  Thank you very much.
Our Baby Photos & Fascinating Facts 

Ch-ch-ch-changes
We have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the fascinating facts about our children in Koru team and have set up a fascinating facts gallery in our foyer in the West Hub.  We would love you to come in and enjoy all the facts and photos.  We based this learning around the Vogels adds that have been on tv. 
The children have delighted in sharing their facts and guessing who has 3 kidneys, who has been on a plane by themselves, who has 2 different coloured eyes, who ate rat poison as a baby .......  Come and enjoy the wall with your child.

Can you help? 
With the number of bugs that have been around this year we are running short of tissues for the children to use  and would appreciate it if anyone could contribute to our supplies.
We're also in search of things you no longer need at home, to support discovery learning. These include: 
* Construction materials: old clean containers, small boxes, old cotton reels
* Technology & tinkering materials: old phones, cameras, calculators, screwdrivers, allen keys, any old technology
* Nature items: acorns, chestnuts, shells, pebbles
* Craft: wool, string, tape, left over ribbon, wrapping or other paper. 
Please bring to the West Wing and give to any of the teachers.

Circle Time 
Dorinda has been leading us in Circle Time this term, which has provided fantastic learning for teachers and children. The classes work together, learning the routines and rules of Circle Time, and participating in fun games. The games this term have focused on our value of Getting There Together, and allowed us to practise co-operation, turn taking, sharing and listening to others' ideas, and encouraging others. 

Taking New Steps in Discovery Time
We have been impressed with children as they begin to show so much agency during discovery time. Many children are confidently trying new things, by playing with different materials or working with peers they didn't know well prior to our move into the new Learning Space. They have had to solve problems, source materials and work together to get results. It has also been lovely watching creativity spring out into the new space. 





















Honey spread on brown, brown bread
Last week we had our first session "cooking" in our new maker space (kitchen area).  After our poem the previous week, 'Honey spread on brown, brown bread', the children made their own toast and spread it with Honey or Marmite.  It was lovely to use our Maker Space and to fill the hub with delicious smells.  The children loved independently making and spreading their own toast (with a little help from Anne).  The communication skills, self management, language around fractions (cutting into halves and quarters), fine motor skills and problem solving skills involved in an activity like this make it as rich in learning as it is exciting!