We expect to see lots of creativity, innovation, kiwi ingenuity, working together and children having lots of fun.

Our amazing house captains will be organising a variety of games and fun activities for their houses. After the fun and play, we will be having lunch in the park. All whānau are invited to this school-wide event.

The Pōhutukawa kapa haka group, along with Te Whānau Mahi Tahi and the Kōwhai kapa haka group will be performing on the above date, in the school hall.

This will be Sherrilee's last performance as the teacher in charge of our kapa haka groups. 

Constable Ross will be training a group of Year 5 students who have kindly volunteered to join the road patrol for next year this Friday. The students will be learning theory and then putting what this into practice on our crossing at Sandwich Road. Keeping our whānau safe while crossing the road is an important responsibility, and we appreciate the students taking this on.

Due to 'Hut Day' being such a success last year, we have decided to give the children the opportunity to enjoy such a day again this year. 

Next week, the children will be given time to get into groups, plan what their hut will look like and what materials each child will need to bring to school.

Suggested materials will be sheets, blankets, tarpaulins, pegs, tape, string, cushions, decorations, large boxes and any other supplies which can be easily carried to school.

The materials are only to be brought to school on Monday 16 December, as we do not have the storage facility to keep them at school. All materials brought to school will need to be returned home at the end of the day, to ensure we are looking after our environment.

And what a competition it was! The teachers struggled to choose only two candidates from each homegroup, with so many children presenting their speech clearly and confidently. A lot of the content of the speeches showed a passion for looking after our environment and animals. We believe our future is in good hands!

Congratulations to these children who were in the finals: Quinn Clarke, Fergus Macdonald, Zoe Winsor, George Smith, Freya Braun, Vida Gerard, Olive Morel, Zoe Clarke, Layla Wallbanks, Frances Daniels-Maxwell. Thanks to Mahli who did a terrific job of being the presenter.

Special congratulations to the top four placegetters:

Zoe Winsor

Freya Braun

Zoe Clarke

Layla Wallbanks

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to hear the training band concert. What a talented bunch of musicians we have at our kura. Along with playing some popular Christmas tunes, Maree Parr introduced us to the instruments the children were playing. We were also privileged to hear several impressive solo performances. Congratulations to George Smith who received a trophy for having shown the most progress over the year.

Today we will be attending a string and ukelele concert at 12pm.

Congratulations to the large number of Pōhutukawa students who attended the South Zone Athletics Day on Monday at Hansens Park. It's always a big day, and the teachers were very proud of the way our students managed themselves in a positive and respectful way. We were very glad to hear that they kept safe and dry when the inclement weather rolled in!

Good luck to these students who have qualified for the Canterbury Athletics, being held on Wednesday 4 December:

Yesterday we began the sexuality programme of Navigating the Journey. The students are separated into Year 6 and Year 5 groups. Katie and Steve are working with the Year 6 students and Tracy, Gayle and Rae are working with the Year 5 students. The first lesson was about the visual images of Navigating the Journey, setting guidelines and establishing a positive environment. The use of a question box was also discussed. Next week the topics will be under the theme of 'Who am I?' Topics may include describing unique personal qualities, promoting a positive and inclusive body image,  self-worth: identifying gender and social strengths,  identifying and affirming the feelings and
beliefs of self and others, equity issues: recognising and challenging bullying,
stereotypes, and body image messages and recognising media, social media and consumer
influences.
When we teach sexuality as a Health topic, we are always guided by how the group of students reacts and the feeling we get from them as we introduce the lessons.
We strongly encourage the students to discuss at home content covered at school, and to ask further questions or for clarification from their whānau.
If you have any queries about this programme, please feel free to contact any teacher.

What a wonderful week of speech presentations we have had. The teachers all commented today about the fabulous content in the speeches. The students have worked really hard at pitching their speech to engage their audience, and have impressed us immensely. 

It was a very difficult decision for each homegroup teacher to choose only two finalists, and we discussed at length those students who presented well. Along with engaging and relevant content, we were looking for great eye contact, clear and audible speech, expression of voice and face and use of gestures and body language. 

Congratulations to these students who have been selected as speech finalists:

Fergus Macdonald

Quinn Clarke

Vida Gerard

Freya Braun

Olive Morel

Zoe Clarke

Zoe Winsor

George Smith

Layla Wallbanks

France Daniels-Maxwell

Our speech finals will be held in the hall at 1:45pm tomorrow, and extend an invitation to whānau and friends to attend. 

Katie is taking sketching classes. The children have been learning how to shade and make shadows. They have been sketching realistic images, and took advantage of the weather to work outside today.

Rae has been teaching about New Zealand place names and the stories behind the names. Some places are named after people and some are named after landscapes.

Steve has been overseeing the coding programme. The students are using code.org to learn how to code. Everyone works at their own pace and are on different levels. Some people do pair programming.

Gayle has been teaching the students all sorts of things in NZ Sign Language. They have been learning how to say and spell their names, the alphabet and simple phrases.

Every student has chosen a country to research and has been working on a slideshow of information on that country/culture. Tracy has been overseeing the slideshows.

With the increase in temperatures, it is incredibly important that every student has their wide-brimmed sunhat and water bottle at school every day. Being hydrated helps keep the body and brain functioning well. It would also be great to see the drink bottles go home regularly to be washed.

Taking advantage of the balmy temperature today, so children elected to silent read outside.

What a fabulous day it was for athletics yesterday. It was a day for showing 'We love challenge' and for trying your best. It was lovely to see the whole school on the park, having fun and partaking in a number of sporting activities, along with many whānau members encouraging athletes and taking photos. Congratulations to everyone for having a go, and well done to those students who excelled in their events, coming in the top four. Jenny will finalise the list of students representing our kura in the zones athletics over the next couple of days. This event is being held at Hansens Park on Monday 18 November. 

All the very best to the 45 children and Katie who are performing in the Music Festival on Thursday night at the Town Hall. The choir will be having a final practice on Thursday morning at the Town Hall. The choir has been practising for a long time for this special performance, and we know that they will be fantastic.

Whānau Rōpū Hui this coming Friday, 8th November, 5 pm - 7:30 pm