Kia ora, e te whānau,
Welcome to this fortnight's blog post! We are so impressed with the tamariki - they have been making amazing progress in their learning since starting school. This, of course, includes their academic learning, as well as their emotional learning and their social learning.
Our blog post today contains information about:
- the Koru team's class contract
- a typical day in the Koru team
- Structured Literacy in the Koru team
- Online Safety information
- and finally, some beautiful photos of the tamariki during the past fortnight.
He Waka Eke Noa:
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| We are all in this waka together! |
As a team, we have discussed the meaning of this whakataukī and also the meaning of the word 'contract'. The tamariki together came up with some guidelines which we've all agreed to follow:
- We show 'We Care'
- We are kind to each other
- We use gentle hands and gentle feet
- We speak kindly to each other
- We look after our things, like our hats and our drink bottles
- We take care of our spaces and help at tidy up time
- We take care of the games and toys
- We are helpful
- We use good manners, like 'please' and 'thank you'
- We look after each other.
These guidelines were the children's ideas and we revisit them regularly, just as a reminder, and also so that our new children are familiar with them too.
Other routines, which the children have embraced, include:
- unpacking their bags when they arrive at school in the morning, including putting their Literacy folder in the right container;
- remembering their poetry books and library folders on Friday;
- lining up after break times;
- 'showing five' whenever they are sitting on the mat;
- and following the expectations in their small Literacy group lessons (sitting up, chair pulled in, focusing on the learning, and 'whiteboards are for writing, not drawing').
We thank you all for your continued support with the start and end of day routines!
A typical Day in the Koru team:
We also fit into our days: interoception (short little activities with a focus on breathing and noticing how our bodies are feeling), music and movement, and of course aspects of both Literacy and Maths are incorporated into Learning Through Play.
A fun focus during Learning Through Play at the moment is the theme of 'Shops and Shopping'. The original shop set up included a children's library beside the shop as well as roles such as the delivery person, two shopkeepers and visitors to the shop and the library. Elizabeth was included in the play (the Mum) as well as Katie (the Dad). Other children have been involved making signs, labels, money and purses/bags.
The children have been learning new songs and actions at our Music and Movement times, and they agreed that they would like two of these shared with you so that they can teach you at home. We know you'll love them! The expressions and actions that we see while the children are singing are absolutely adorable. See if your children will sing to you now (a great opportunity for 'the child to be the teacher').
Have fun at home with these songs!
Structured Literacy:
Our Structured Literacy groups are up and running, with the children learning the routines and expectations very quickly, and partcipating and contributing beautifully at these times.
This link takes you to our school website which contains some background information for families about
The Science of Reading.
Your child will be bringing their Literacy folder home from Monday to Thursday, after school, and it's crucial that this folder is returned to school and unpacked from children's bags, every morning. Teachers will be topping up the letter and heart word packs regularly.
A big focus, when the children first start bringing folders home, is learning the letter sounds and the heart words to a fluent (or automatic) level, so practising using these as flash cards is incredibly helpful. This is explained for you very clearly in the second two links below.
Once the children recognise each letter and can make the sound, and recognise and read each heart word, they are then able to practise writing these at home with you. Letter cards can be joined together and read as words, for example, words with two sounds to start with (/a/, /t/ and /i/, /t/, and so on), then words with three sounds (/m/, /a/, /t/ and /f/, /i/, /t/, plus so many more).
Have fun with this learning at home, and please remember it does need to be fun, so if your child is feeling tired, wait for a time when they have more energy and are better able to focus.
We hope that you find these links helpful:
Online Safety: Awareness of Online Harm
Many parents didn’t grow up with the internet, so it can be hard to imagine how tamariki may use it. But these days, digital technology is a key part of our young people’s lives. They use it for learning, communicating and entertainment.
To check out the research, and other Netsafe resources, visit this
link.
And now for some photos of your wee ones from over the past fortnight:
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| Wow, what a wonderfully creative model! |
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| ...and a bird's eye view. |
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| Creating a 4 element pattern with the penguins. |
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| Five friends working together with the Mobilo. |
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| Showing 'We Care' to ensure that the Mobilo is fairly shared. |
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| "Here you are. You're welcome to use these pieces of Mobilo in your construction." |
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| Collaborating on a Lego construction. |
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| Putting in best effort and focus to produce top quality work. |
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| Counting large numbers using the abacus. |
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| "How many beads have been pushed across and how many are left?" |
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| Collaborating to solve a problem using the abacus. |
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| Working with a big buddy to count the beads on the abacus. |
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| Showing 'We Care' by sweeping up small bits of rubbish with the brush and shovel. |
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| Also showing 'We Care' by looking after our learning spaces. Thank you!! |
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| What a kind thing to do for everyone, including our cleaner. |
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| How many different ways can we make the number 5? |
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| Working together to play the 'Shops' game. |
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| Ensuring that the Children's Library, situated beside the shop, has enough chairs and books for visitors. |
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| "Here you are, Batty... a book for you." |
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| "Is everyone who is visiting the library feeling happy and comfortable?" |
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| "Yes, thank you. It's lovely here!" |
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| Beautiful dance moves... |
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| ...getting some practice in before the next disco? |
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| So much energy and so many fabulous moves! |
We hope that you're all thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather that we've been having this weekend. We look forward to seeing those bright, happy smiles back at school tomorrow.
All best for the week ahead!
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Katie, Stacey and Elizabeth
katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz
stacey.mclachlan@beckenham.school.nz
elizabeth.drummond@beckenham.school.nz
