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Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 1

Posted on 21 July, 202321 July, 2023 by Katie McFarlane

Kia ora e te whānau,

It was so lovely to see the smiles on the faces of the Kahikatea tamariki as they arrived at school on Monday morning! We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday break.

We have an exciting term ahead, with gymnastics, calendar art, House of Science learning, and the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme to look forward to.

Gymnastics

Our first gymnastics session will be next Tuesday, the 25th of July. The following social story has been shared with children. Please take a moment to have a look through it.

Sharing Our Learning - What is a Scientist?

On Tuesday, Katie asked her home group the following questions:

- What is a scientist?

- What does a scientist do?

Children then drew a picture of how they view science in action. Here are some examples. We think they are fantastic!

"My scientist is studying eggs from a bird." - Jess

"The scientist is sharing his potions with the little kid." - Louis

"The scientist is doing tests on a hedgehog." - Poppy

"My scientist is holding a potion and is going to bed." - Rossouw

"She's making potions. She is called Rosie." - Violet

The scientists are inspecting the dogs and the cats." - Zac

"The scientist is studying the animals." - Sailor

Nuts at School

This is another reminder that the Kahikatea team has students with nut allergies, one of these is life-threatening. Therefore, we are asking that nuts and nut-based products are NOT brought to school by your child. Nut-based products include items like Nutella, peanut butter, muesli bars containing nuts, etc.

The team is also aware that some children may have other dietary requirements. Please talk with your child’s Homegroup teacher if this is the case so that they are aware and we can create a specific plan to support your child if need be.

Our policy at school is that children only eat their own food and not share. Teachers are reminding children about this, handwashing, and putting food wrappings in their lunch boxes to take home.

If you have any questions please contact your child's Homegroup teacher.

Thank you for your support as 'We Get There Together'.

Literacy Information

Some children have changed into a new literacy group with a different teacher. It has been lovely getting to know our new literacy groups this week!

Please ensure your child brings their literacy folder to school each day and places it in their literacy teacher's tub. This way, we can make sure that texts are regularly going home for you to enjoy with your child.

Teachers will be sending home updated materials to support children with home learning by the end of Week 2.

Request for Materials

We love being creative in the Kahikatea team! Please continue to send along recyclable materials to school.

That's all for now,

Team Kahikatea

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz

quynh.nguyen@beckenham.school.nz

lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz

Kahikatea News Week 9

Posted on 24 June, 202324 June, 2023 by Lisa Collier

Kia ora e te whānau,

It has been wonderful to connect with our community during Learning Conferences last week, and with our Matariki Whānau Rōpu hui this week. Thanks for coming along!

Matariki

We have been learning about Matariki through story telling, craft and singing. Our learners loved having whānau in the hub and joining in with the Matariki activities on Wednesday night.

Here are some photos:

Mathematics

Our learners have been so engaged in our 'Notice, Think, Wonder' prompts. Here are some of the thoughts that we came up with for the following image:

"It's a pattern!"- Cara

"It's not complete."- Charlie

"It repeats the pattern". - June

"There are 3 colours. The whole picture is a rectangle." - Finn

"There are 10 squares." - Aya

"There's a red line... a rectangle... with squares attached." - Hunter

"There are 4 rectangles." - Felix "5 with the green!"- Hunter

"There are 3 blues and 3 yellows." - Henry

"It's like hopscotch - 1 foot, 2 feet, 1 foot, 2 feet..." - Jace

Matariki Maths:

Word of the Week: Cooperation

We have explored cooperation this week. We have listened to stories, shared examples, and done some activities which have required cooperation/teamwork.

One of the activities that some of our learners were involved with was working in teams to create human objects. It was pretty chaotic when we were first working in teams to complete the tasks! People were trying different things and we weren't all communicating effectively. The second try was so much more successful. We reflected on how we were successful when working cooperatively.

Here are some images from that activity:

Another activity involved some collaborative colouring. Chunks of a puzzle were given out, that needed to be coloured in as a group. Some groups sat so that everyone could access the puzzle at once, to colour, and some took equal turns. It was fabulous to hear the conversation and problem-solving. We then worked collaboratively to put the puzzle together.

Kapa Haka

Our learners have really enjoyed singing a new waiata this term with Whāia Cath. It makes us giggle. Here are the lyrics, if your child wants to share this with you at home:

Parent Supervision Roster

We have a number of spaces on the parent supervision roster for Term 3. Please email Katie if you would like to support us in the playground during lunch playtime.

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

Spare Clothes

With the wintery weather upon us, it would be fantastic if you can send your learner along with a spare change of clothes. They can also bring gumboots to avoid wet/muddy shoes. Tamariki are welcome to bring slippers along to school too!

This is the last blog of term 2, with just one week left of school! Have a wonderful holiday break!

Ngā mihi nui,

Team Kahikatea

Kahikatea News Term 2 Weeks 7 & 8

Posted on 12 June, 202312 June, 2023 by Krystal Hunt

Kia ora koutou,

Wow....it is Week 8 already! We are having a blast in Team Kahikatea! As the weather cools down, please ensure your child has clearly named warm clothing.

Hero Reports are Live

We have enjoyed being able to share the success of all of our learners! Have you seen your child's report? Have you shared this report yet with your child?

Learning Conferences

These are coming up this week, on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th June. We look forward to meeting with you all.

This is just a reminder that school will close at 2pm on both days. Children who are usually booked into BOSCO on those days will be able to attend from 2pm. The school will provide supervision for children between 2-3pm IF NEEDED.

Please see your child's Homegroup Teacher if you are yet to book a conference.

Word of the week

Our word of the week last week was FRIENDSHIP.

Below are some videos we showed the tamariki as we discussed what a good friend looks like, sounds like, and feels like.

He aroha whakatō, he aroha puta mai - if kindness is sown, then kindness you shall receive.

Fun Run

On Friday 2nd June, some of our Tamariki (and awesome parents) participated in the school fundraising fun run to raise money for Trees For Canterbury. It was a fantastic effort by all, we are proud of you and loved cheering you on as you ran lap, after lap, after lap of the field. Below are some photos that were taken.

Have you got your 'Maths Eyes'?

As part of our mathematics lessons, we have been looking at everyday images and asking the following four questions:

1. What do you notice?

2. What do you think?

3. What do you wonder?

4. Where's the mathematics in this picture?

Have a go (both children and parents) with the following image. (It's a great way to see the world through a mathematical lens and to build up the skills of communicating using the language of mathematics.)

Photos from our week:

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog.

Team Kahikatea

krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz

lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

quynh.nguyen@beckenham.school.nz

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

Kahikatea News Term 2 Week 5

Posted on 27 May, 202327 May, 2023 by Katie McFarlane

Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had a great week of learning in the Kahikatea hub. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of illness in our team, and many staff and students have been away sick. We wish you all a speedy recovery! We are so thankful to our amazing relievers for stepping in to ensure that our programmes have continued to run, our children have remained engaged, and we have kept smiles on our faces! 'We Get There Together'!

Strike for Schools

What a show! It was wonderful seeing the professionals show their talent at last Monday's Strike for Schools performance. It was a great motivator to complete our own musical instruments!

Literacy in action...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Team Kahikatea

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz

quynh.nguyen@beckenham.school.nz

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz

Kahikatea News Term 2 Week 3

Posted on 12 May, 202312 May, 2023 by Quynh Nguyen

Kia ora e te whānau,

We had a great week with our tamariki despite some challenging weather and the Cross Country and School Disco being postponed. We would like to thank you for your understanding.

Nuts / nut-based products at school

Our policy at school is that children only eat their own food and not share. Teachers are reminding children about this, along with reminders about handwashing and putting food wrappings in their lunch boxes to take home.

If you have any questions please contact your child's Homegroup teacher.

Thank you for your support as 'We Get There Together'.

Music unit

The children have been super excited and engaged with our Music unit, which has focused on various elements of music, and different types of musical instruments. Most tamariki have designed and made their own instrument and today finished these by decorating them. Children who have been absent due to illness will have an opportunity to work on this next week.

On Monday, there will be a percussion performance called 'Strike to School' at our kura. We will get to see how people use body percussion and handmade instruments to create music.

Cross Country

We have re-scheduled our Junior Cross Country event to be on Tuesday 16th May. Children will gather on the park at 2pm and the races will start shortly after, starting with Year 4 and finishing with Year 0/1.

Please feel free to come along and support your child/ren if you are able. Tamariki may wear their house tops on this day. Please ensure that they are wearing appropriate footwear.

Thank you for your support!

Learning Through Play

This term, we have continued to explore and engage in different activities for Learning Through Play, including water play, body movements with music, chalk art, drawing using Arts for Kids Hub videos, and so on. The children have had lots of fun!