Kia ora koutou,
It's hard to believe that we're so close to the end of the fourth term. The children are managing themselves very well, and continue to remain focused, engaged and happy in their learning, whether it be during Learning Through Play, or during their more formal reading, writing and Maths lessons.
Māori Myths and Legends:
After our wonderful trip to Rāpaki Marae, we have continued to learn about the Maori myths and legends that are important to Aotearoa. We have focussed in particular on ‘Maui and the Sun’ and this has led to some amazing retelling, as the children have written about Maui’s adventure. The focus for the children has been to ensure that their retelling is in the correct sequence. Maui has certainly captured the interest of all tamariki, and, in fact, we have enjoyed all of the myths and legends that we have been dipping into, and which are such a special part of our cultural history in Aotearoa.
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| Working in our Rāpaki booklets |
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| Retelling the story of Maui and the Sun |
Parent help for end of year:
We are seeking offers of assistance from any parents with time, energy and inclination, to help us out with a variety of cleaning, sorting and organising jobs, both in Pūkaki and in Kōmanawa. Please touch base with your child's Home Group teacher, if you enjoy such jobs! This will most likely be taking place in the final week of term, however, if Friday this week suits you, then that would work well for us too.
Athletics:
As our athletics was postponed earlier in the term, we would like to remind you that we have arranged a new date to hold our junior school athletics. Our new date is this Wednesday, 9th December, from 1:40 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. We will be participating alongside the rest of the junior school (Y0-Y4) out in Beckenham Park. Parents, caregivers and supporters are all welcome to come and watch. Please remember to slather your children with sunblock in the morning. We will apply more before the athletics start. A hat and a named water bottle are crucial.
Hats:
Speaking of hats, now that we have the opportunity to get outside more, we are mindful that the children must be wearing hats. It’s hard on our children to find places to play during ‘Learning Through Play’ and break times in the shade. When their peers are out and about playing, it can be a challenge to not be part of the friendship groups. PLEASE ensure that the children bring their hats to school every day. As a ‘sun safe’ school, we pride ourselves on ensuring that the children are wearing a hat at all times. Don’t forget the sunscreen in the morning. On those extreme days, we will offer children the opportunity to reapply sunscreen throughout the day.
House Games:
The Koru children have had a fabulous time participating in our Friday House Games. Our wonderful senior children have been demonstrating ‘We Make a Difference’ by planning, organising and leading these whole school games. For the Koru team, this gives the children a chance to meet up with their siblings, interact with students throughout all the year groups and be part of the wider Beckenham whanau. The children in the Koru team have been making us proud by participating with enthusiasm, energy and gusto, while at the same time making wonderful new connections.
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| Parachute fun: We Get There Together |
Learning Through Play:
The wonderful weather has enabled us to have so much fun with sand and water play. While teachers are aware of the many wet clothes that come home, this play is an opportunity for our little innovators, designers and problem solvers to come together and create some amazing structures in and around the sandpit. This really is a hit with many children who continually surprise us with some of their impressive creations.
If you have any spare sandpit toys or items such as plastic pipes, buckets, old cake tins, trowels or similar, we would happily accept all donations.
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| Playing the very popular 'Handstand Game' |
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| Working together in the sandpit |
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| Building together |
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More building together: how high can we go? |
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| Combining water with sand! |
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| Hut building in Treemendous |
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| Water colour painting |
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| Team construction |
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| Experimenting with propulsion |
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| Practising letter formation |
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Supporting a friend to balance on stilts |
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| Blue whale |
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| "Attention!" |
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| The swallow's nest |
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Our feathered friends dropping by for a visit!
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| Awesome art work! |
Visiting our 2021 Learning Spaces:
Koru have now had two visits over to Kahikatea, in preparation for moving to their new hub next year. The children have had a fabulous time working in the new learning space. We have had wonderful feedback from the children saying that they have loved meeting old friends, making new friends and getting to use the equipment. The children are very excited about the move to their new hub next year. The staff and current Year 1 children in Kahikatea have enjoyed making connections, forming new relationships and, from the teachers' perspectives, observing the interests and passions of the children they will be teaching in 2021.
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| Friday afternoon in Kahikatea |
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Playing 'Heads Down, Thumbs Up' with Katie |
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What a great time we all had! Thank you to the Kahikatea team for inviting us over. |
Thank you:
A big thank you to those parents who have been helping out in Treemendous on Fridays, as well as supporting the children in the learning spaces during Learning Through Play, and also to those of you who have been putting reading books away for us - we know that this is a very busy time of year, and we appreciate that you continue to show up and support us in these ways.
All the best for a lovely week ahead, and we'll see everyone again, bright and chirpy, tomorrow morning!
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Jo, Sari, Sophie, Stacey, Paul and Elizabeth
