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Koru News Term 3 Week 7

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Kia ora e te whanau,

What a lot of interesting and fun Learning Through Play has been taking place over the past couple of weeks!
The children continue to be reminded about why we call it Learning Through Play ("because while we're playing, we're learning") and the kinds of things we might be learning and practising during our play. This is especially as we have new children starting school, and we're noticing that many of our older children are really stepping up to model these behaviours for our 'newbies'.

Using these images, the children were asked to relate the relevant ideas below to the school values which were being displayed.

The children brainstormed these ideas about their Learning Through Play.

Learning Through Play:
For our topic this week, we have been looking at restaurants, eating out and cooking. During Learning Through Play, we have been amazed by how creative the children have been, building restaurants, 'creating' food, designing menus and taking our orders in their cafes and eateries. We will continue with this theme during this coming week, and our focus will be working as teams to create shops and restaurants, and to problem solve the variety of challenges that can arise as the children play together.

We Care

We Get There Together

We Love Learning

We Love Challenge and We Get There Together




We Get There Together

Wacky Hair Day:
We had so much fun admiring the wacky hairdos that arrived at school on Friday. What impressive effort and creativity families put in that Friday morning - we suspect that many of you were up well before the crack of dawn, judging by the impressive results that walked through the gate, between 8:30 and 8:55! Thank you to all of those who supported the child cancer society and donated a gold coin for this wonderful cause.























Wellbeing and Friendship:
We have been having a big focus on continuing to build and develop friendships in Koru. This week we introduced an activity, whereby the children needed to work together to solve a problem. Using their index fingers only, they had to solve how they could pick up and carry an object. It was great to see the children working together in pairs, communicating, problem solving, and taking on a challenge, while at the same time having fun.
Some of the objects the children tried picking up were:
A pen
A glue-stick
An eraser
A thick book
A block
A soft toyAll children displayed our kete values of We Get There Together and We Love a Challenge, as they participated with their buddies to successfully pick up each item.










Tricky! How did they manage that?

Talent Quest Auditions:
The teachers in Koru had the pleasure of auditioning the children for our Talent Show, which is going to be held on the last day of school for this term (25th of September). We were delighted to see how confident and talented our Year 0 and 1 children are. As always, it is so difficult to make a choice as we would obviously love to send all children who entered through to the finals, however we are delighted to let you know that Moana, Vienna and Joseph will be going on to the finals at the end of this term. 

Kete Awards:
As we are unable to hold our assemblies at level 2, the Koru team held a hui in Pūkaki on Friday, August 28th. Congratulations to the children below who received kete awards. We are incredibly proud of how you uphold the Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto values.


Peter Rabbit:
It was with enormous sadness that we have had to farewell Peter Rabbit, who has been a faithful and loyal friend to hundreds of children at Beckenham te Kura over the past 9 years. Peter has been cuddled and loved by children, read to, played with, taken out to the park for time on the grass, and has helped children who have been feeling sad or upset by simply allowing them to hold him, and most children at Beckenham will know him really well. Something that Peter did incredibly well was to help children who were having trouble saying goodbye to their families at the start of the school day - Peter was worth way more than his weight in gold.
Peter Rabbit died of old age last week. In human years, he would have been about 85. He will be greatly missed, and remembered by all with enormous fondness.

Peter, aged nearly 9 years.

Have a lovely week, everyone. We look forward to another wonderful week of learning with the wee ones!

Ngā mihi mahana,
Jo, Sari, Stacey, Sophie and Elizabeth

News Update from Koru, Term 3 Week 2

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Kia ora e te whanau,

What a wonderful start back to school we've all had. The children have settled beautifully into their routines and our new hub setups. 
We're really impressed with the way in which the children are saying their goodbyes, entering the learning spaces, managing their belongings and settling into their Learning Through Play. Thank you so much for your support with this. Having the children able to say goodbye at the door has certainly helped with that smooth transition and start to the day.
It's wonderful watching how independent the children are becoming with their morning jobs and developing responsibility and self-management.

The Three Little Pigs:
Our Learning Through Play 'theme' for the past two weeks has been The Three Little Pigs. The children have been very creative: building, performing, retelling (with a twist!), writing and puppet-making. Here are just a few photos of some of the activities they have been engaged in.

Demonstrating cooperation and teamwork: We Get There Together

Showing creativity and imagination by working collaboratively on our challenge

Heading from the house of sticks to the house of bricks...

...safe at last!

Problem solving and collaboration, in order to extend the project.
.


Next week, our Learning Through Play focus is going to be Vehicles. It would be great if you were to talk with your child about the different types of transportation that there are, and what they're for. You might like to have a go at constructing a vehicle together. It might be fun to discuss and design some sort of magical, mysterious, fun, wacky, creative vehicle together!

Measurement - Maths and The Gingerbread Man:
We read The Gingerbread Man together and used the ideas in the story to develop our thinking in relation to Measurement. Some of the words we used are: long, longer, short, shorter, tall, taller.
Some of the activities we:
  • we cut and ordered by height a gingerbread family of five
  • we used mathematical language to describe their heights in order
  • we designed, planned, built and modified our bridges in order to rescue the gingerbread man from his fate in the fairy tale
  • we described our bridges again using mathematical language
  • we collected objects from around our learning spaces to estimate and compare the height of each item against the gingerbread man
  • we discussed the importance of measuring from a baseline in order to accurately measure the heights of the gingerbread man and these items.
We each worked together with a buddy to meet a challenge.
















Readathon:
The Readathon is coming up. This is a chance for your child to work on their reading mileage. Please see the school newsletter for details. Your child's Readathon card has come home in their school bag today.

We hope you all have a lovely relaxing weekend and we look forward to seeing the children back, bright and perky, next week!

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Jo, Sophie, Sari, Stacey and Elizabeth









Term 2 Week 9 update from the Koru team

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Kia ora e te whanau,

A very warm welcome to those families whose children have started school over the last few weeks. The children are to be congratulated for the very happy and smooth way that they have transitioned (back) into school life. Congratulations to all for showing such amazing resilience and independence!

Learning Conferences
Please note that we will be holding Learning Conferences here at school in Week 12 of this term. In the Koru team:
  • for those children who started school prior to and including March 6th, parents please make a Learning Conference booking (at which time we will be discussing your child's literacy and numeracy goals in particular)
  • for those children who started school on or after March 9th, parents please also book a Learning Conference time, and this time will be used for a transition to school meeting with your child's teacher (at which time we will discuss your child's transition, also getting your perspective, along with initial goals)
  • please note that children attend these meetings with you.
For more information and instructions on how to book a time with your child's Home Group teacher, please refer back to last Friday's school newsletter.

Morning Routine
You will have all read Sandy's newsletter about Level 1 at school and the morning routine. We continue to be so very proud of the tamariki, in how they are starting each day at school. They are confidently walking from the gate to the hub and are independently unpacking their bags and sorting out their belongings, ready for the day. They are spending that first part of the day before the bell, connecting with their teachers and classmates, and settling calmly into the school day. Over the coming days, we shall continue to have a teacher at the gate to welcome the tamariki and support the drop off. Please feel free to pass on any messages to the person at the gate, and they will then pass the message on to your child's Home Group teacher.

Just a reminder that reading folders need to be returned with the reading books every day, while library folders and poetry books need to be returned by the following Friday morning, as Friday is the day we visit the school library and focus on poetry during our Literacy time.

Learning Through Play
Our current Learning Through Play 'theme' is Space, and this theme the children are finding highly motivating. This theme also ties in with what the children have been writing about last week, and again this week.

















Sight Word and Alphabet Practice
It is really valuable to put regular time aside to support your child with their alphabet and sight word practice. For our new children, parents please check this link which will take you to some resources on our school website: New Entrant Resource Pack. Please print off the alphabet and number resources which will be of most value for your child. Feel free to contact your child's Home Group teacher if you are unable to access a printer. We hope you have fun with your child as they learn, using these resources. And remember... praise, praise, praise. It's crucial that these learning times are kept positive.

Have a wonderful week, everyone, and keep warm!
Ngā mihi mahana,
Jo, Stacey, Sophie and Elizabeth






Term 2 Week 5 update: Back to School!

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Kia ora e te whanau,

We're are really looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday! It's been such a long time. A special, warm welcome to all of the children, who are going to be starting school with us this week.

We're also welcoming Sophie Mulligan, who is our new teacher in the Koru team. Sophie will be the Home Group teacher for our newest children. We are so lucky to have you, Sophie, and all of the children are going to love getting to know you, and work with you this term.



See you at the flagpole:
Children, on Monday, Jo will be waiting at the flagpole to meet you, so once you arrive at school with your parent, you can give them a big kiss and a hug goodbye there. Jo will then make sure that Elizabeth picks you up and then helps you with your bag, and finding a cubby hole when you reach the veranda.
Parents, if you have to come on site for any reason during the day, there is a requirement that you sign a Contact Register, so please report to the school office for that. This includes any whānau who are bringing or collecting children for their school visits. Before leaving, please make sure that you sign out.

Please, if you haven't already seen this little video clip on Seesaw, view the Welcome Back to School video below, with your children. It's better to watch this clip, and the following clips, in full screen (click bottom right).

Here, also, are the two videos which Sandy sent out via our school newsletter yesterday.


A few little 'housekeeping' items:

  • please ensure that your child brings a named drink bottle to school every day, and this drink bottle needs to be taken home and cleaned again every day after school 
  • If your child has an older sibling here at school, it's absolutely fine for that brother or sister to bring their younger sibling to the veranda each morning, if that helps with the daily drop off
  • a reminder that for our Koru children, they will be ready to be picked up at the flagpole each day at 2:45 p.m. Once again, if you have an older child at school, or if your child is booked into BOSCO, then the school day will finish at 3:00 p.m., and they will wait in the hub until this time
  • our handwashing and hand sanitising routines have been very clearly outlined in Ministries of Health and Education guidelines. Please let your child's Home Group teacher know if your child has a reaction to hand sanitiser, and we shall ensure that they wash their hands rather than use hand sanitiser.
Our theme for next week:
You may have heard on our little video clip that we're going to be having a 'Superhero' theme next week. This will culminate in a 'dress up' day on Friday, so your children can be thinking about what they might like to wear on Friday. This can be as simple as a handtowel for a cape, or alternatively, as complex as your child wishes to make it!

We trust you all have a wonderful weekend, and we're really looking forward to seeing all of the wee ones on Monday!

Ngā mihi mahana,
Jo, Stacey, Sophie and Elizabeth


Week 2 Holiday update

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Kia ora e te whanau,

How was Week 2 of your holiday, everyone? We see that you have been incredibly playful, creative, active, and, as well as all of that, there’s been some very interesting construction going in your homes!

Top quality colouring here.

What a very cool wee desk and chair set up!

Cloud dough, made from cornflour and hair conditioner - this looks very therapeutic...

What wonderful creativity and construction skills - does this character have a name?

More creative construction skills being displayed here! Does this character have a name, we wonder?

Beautiful Easter egg colouring for the window; a lovely soft toy line up for our national teddy bear hunt; and chalk-drawn games for passers-by - oh, what fun!

More creativity and construction, here combined with Science, to result in this electric car - fabulous skills!

The family night walk around the neighbourhood - what a cool idea.

An ice cream shop! Wonderful thinking...

"Oh, I'll have that delicious-looking chocolate ice cream, please!"

What an incredible amount of hard work went into this puppet show. Wouldn't we all love to know the story that goes with these characters?

Mmmmm... what could possibly be in that bowl? Yum, yum, yum.

A Mad Hatters' Tea Party - oh, what fun!

Up a ladder and helping with papier mache...

...early days in teaching the exuberant puppy to sit calmly while the cryptic crossword is underway.

We've loved catching up with you all, via the photos that you've been emailing us. What great fun we've all been having in the second week of our holiday.

The teachers have also been getting together (virtually!) to work on our Term 2 learning, and we are really looking forward to communicating with you on our new Seesaw platform. We’re all very excited!

Sandy is going to be sending out a newsletter later this afternoon. It will contain important information about your Learning From Home, so please make sure that you check for this and get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Let’s have a great Term 2 together, everyone!
Ngā mihi mahana,
Jo, Stacey and Elizabeth