Kia ora e te whānau,

Your children have made an absolutely amazing start to school! We have been so proud of the way they are independently unpacking their bags so beautifully and organising their lunches and drink bottles, and then saying their goodbyes (sometimes with a wee bit of support, which is absolutely to be expected). 

On our first day, after calling the register, singing the National Anthem and saying our karakia, we played a 'getting to know you' circle game, in which we introduced ourselves and told everyone what our favourite colours are and then, the second time around, what our favourite foods are.

Later on, we went on a boundaries walk and talked about the places where the New Entrant children can play at break times, and then the children all practised washing their hands properly before having their morning kai. Perhaps they might give you a little demonstration of how they are able to wash their hands - they're absolute experts!!

After little play, the children then joined up into little groups with each other and explored some of the spaces, equipment and toys that we have, including the jigsaw puzzles, the vehicles, the family corner, the Sylvanians and other small world characters, the train set, and the castle and castle characters.

We also managed to fit in some art work, with some of the children decorating their names using beautiful collage materials. This art work will form part of our 'Welcome' wall display eventually. This week, the children are going to draw self portraits, which will also be added to this display, along with some of the photos that we're taking during the day.

We also visited the library, after the Welcome Assembly on Friday. We hope you enjoy reading together, the two library books which your children have brought home. Please ensure that the library books remain in the library folder at home during the week while not being used, in order to keep them safe, and then make sure that they are returned to school on Friday this week. Two library books will come home each week, as long as your child has returned the previously borrowed books.

What follows is a selection of the photos that were taken last week:

Visiting the wharepaku and learning how to wash our hands thoroughly.

Walking around the areas we're able to play in.

Learning what the yellow line means.

Walking from Hangere to the library, office area and junior playground.

Having a chat with Sandy, who we bumped into as we were walking through the courtyard.

After exploring the library, posing for a group photo in the library nook.

Learning about what the yellow spot on the picture books means.

Showing teamwork as we complete the Rapunzel jigsaw puzzle!

Nearly there...

Practising our drawing and writing skills.

Sharing and working together while playing with the cars and trucks.

Exploring numbers and shape using the Numicon.

Showing persistence to fill the 10 by 10 grid.

Taking time to have a quiet read.

Working on the alphabet puzzle.

Observing and listening carefully to instructions, prior to beginning our name collage activity.

Playing with the small world characters.

Working closely together, while playing with the small world characters.

Talking together about the ongoing story which underpins the play.

Working together, while sharing and playing with the vehicles.

That car carrier certainly is completely loaded up!

Playing with some of the aeroplanes.

Team work required here, to complete this challenging jigsaw puzzle.

Discussing strategy.

The jigsaw team, very pleased with the finished product (what a shame to find that one piece was missing though, although all credit to the team for feeling neither frustrated nor too disappointed!). We trust that this finds you at the end of a wonderful long weekend, and Waitangi Day in particular. We're looking forward to seeing all those gorgeous smiling faces back at school in the morning, all ready for the week ahead! Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou, Elizabeth, Stacey, Georgia and Sonya

Kia ora e te whānau,

It feels very hard to believe that here we all are, at the very end of the 2022 school year. Your children have all settled so beautifully into life at school this year, and their learning has been impressive, to say the least. 

It's been very exciting for us as teachers, and you too, we're sure, on the home front, to witness the social, emotional and physical progress, as well as the academic learning that the children have all made since starting at school. What a wonderful group of tamariki they are! We're going to miss them terribly over the long summer holiday, and will be looking forward to seeing them back again (mostly as members of the Kahikatea team), with their beautiful smiles at the start of next year.

Several of you have requested support with your children's continued learning over the summer holiday, and although the Learning At Home site is no longer accessible through the Beckenham te Kura website, we have found a way of providing you with the link to the site which you were able to access throughout the Red and Orange Traffic Light settings. We do hope that you find this helpful with its range of links, from Phonological Awareness activities to Structured Literacy activities, from Maths to waiata, and there's also an area on the dropdown menu called 'Stories' where your child is able to choose a picture book read by one of the Koru teachers!

Here is the link which takes you directly to the Koru Learning At Home site. We really hope that you find this valuable, as well as lots of fun too!

Final few days:

Many thanks to those parents who have offered to help with some of the cleaning, sorting and tidying tasks that we have listed on the whiteboard outside Hangere this week. We really appreciate your support at this very busy time of the year! There are still a few jobs we'd love some help with:

• cleaning and packaging our Skip and Bouce whiteboard sets
• sorting, tidying and cleaning the games and equipment shelves in both Hangere and Kōmanawa
• sorting, tidying and cleaning in the kitchen area (tote trays, cupboards and drawers, etc.)
• sorting the Lego table and the Duplo container
• cleaning and sorting the sandpit toys
• sweeping, cleaning, sorting and tidying in the shed

Please do ensure that you check that you have all of your child's belongings, before leaving on Thursday:

• all clothing, including sunhat, polar fleece and socks (we have several pairs and single socks, as well as T-shirts and polar fleeces)
• their lunchbox and drink bottle (there are often drink bottles left behind on the last day)
• your child's folders, which will include their books and art works from throughout the year.

 Kia ora, e te whānau,

What a lovely first week back at school, following the holidays! The children, as always happens after a holiday break, have loved reconnecting with teachers and friends. We warmly welcome our new children and their whānau: Ana, Asher, Ava, Aya, Charlie, Ethan, Finn, Poppy and Rome. It's wonderful to have you all at school with us, and well done to all for settling so beautifully into school life. 

A very warm welcome also to our new children, and their whānau, who joined us towards the end of last term - Finley and Freddie. It is so lovely to have these children in the hub with us as well. They too have both settled in beautifully and our 'golden oldies' have been really amazing at making everyone feel very welcome.

Nut-free lunches, please:

A reminder that in the Koru team we are nut-free. We recognise that some children may have dietary requirements which mean that nuts do need to be included in some lunchboxes, however we do ask that, as far as possible, your children's lunchboxes remain nut-free. This also includes coconut. Many thanks for your support with this.

Our school-wide 'Word of the Week':

Your children may have discussed with you that each week at Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto, throughout the school we have a 'Word of the Week', which, in the Koru team, is embraced by one and all, and guides our Learning Through Play. Our 'Word of the Week' last week was 'upstander'. An upstander is 'a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person who may have been hurt by someone else.' An upstander is the opposite of a bystander.

Coming up, we have other such 'Words of the Week' as: honesty (which will be our focus throughout the week ahead), inclusion, respect, kindness, resilience, empathy, determination and cooperation. These concepts are so important for our wee ones, and we are always incredibly impressed with the way the children put these words into practice, as well as reflect on and discuss specific instances of their use.

Hats required:

Most children are remembering their hats each day, and are doing very well with looking after their hats when indoors. We are asking the children to keep their hats in their bags while they are inside. This way, the children should, in theory, always know where their hats are!

The week that was:

Don't you just love numbers?! Ready and awaiting their next number challenge!

On some days, the sandpit is definitely the place to be! Check out the collaborative and problem-solving skills on display in these photos.

Dolls for sale!

Practising for Athletics Day: the gumboot throw requires a fine combination of skill and style, as you will see in the photos that follow.

We look forward to seeing as many family members as possible at our Athletics Day on Wednesday. Please note that the Koru team children will be participating in their events from the start of the school day through to the morning tea break at 10:30 a.m. It's crucial that your children have sunblock applied before they arrive at school and that they have their hats and named water bottles. 

Please note that we have sunblock at school in the hubs, if, on any morning, you would like to apply more sunblock or perhaps have run out at home.

We do trust that you've all had a wonderful long weekend with your families, and we look forward to those wide smiles and sparkling eyes at school again in the morning.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,

Elizabeth, Georgia, Nicola, Tracey and Stacey