Category Archives: Kahikatea

Kahikatea News Term 4 Week 1

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Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had a wonderful start to Term 4! This blog contains a lot of important information about the next few weeks of Term 4.

Thank you for sending your child to school with a hat this week. We find it helpful for your child to keep their hat at school as this ensures that your child always has one!


Literacy

We have launched straight back into our literacy and maths learning this week. Some children are with a different literacy group this term. At the conclusion of each term, we run a series of assessments to ensure that children are working at their correct instructional stage. It has been exciting to see the ongoing progress of our literacy learners!

If you have any Little Learners texts at home, please send them back to school. We are giving out one house point per book returned. 


Maths

Our maths focus for the first four weeks of this term is Time. We have started this with learning the days of the week (reading, writing, counting forward and back the days, and sequencing), and next week we move into learning about the months of the year and reading a calendar. We will also touch on telling the time on digital and analogue clocks in the coming weeks. Please feel free to have a chat with your child/ren about what they are learning, and reinforce this at home.


Library

Please note that library days have changed for some. Emma and Katie's home groups go to the library on Tuesday, and Krystal and Megan's home groups go to the library on Thursday. Please ensure that your child has their library folder on their library day.


Athletics

We are really looking forward to our school athletics day next Wednesday, the 26th of October. You are welcome to come along and support your child. We will be running our event from 11:00 until 11:50. You will find us in the park in front of the hall.
 
Here is the social story that we have shared with the children in preparation for the day.







Kahikatea Swimming

Swimming begins on Monday of Week 3. Tamariki will have nine sessions in total. The dates are as follows: 

Monday 31st October
Tuesday 1st November
Wednesday 2nd November
Thursday 3rd November
Friday 4th November
Monday 7th November
Tuesday 8th November
Wednesday 9th November
Thursday 10th November

Thank you so much to the parents who have offered to help. We now have enough helpers.

Please go through the following social story with your child to support us in setting them up for success...




















Learning in action...

Here are some photos of what our tamariki have been up to this week:


















































Thank you for taking the time to read through this week's blog. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with your child's home group teacher.

Have a lovely long weekend!

Katie, Emma, Krystal, Megan, and Lisa

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz
emma.hayes-smith@beckenham.school.nz
krystal.hunt@beckenham.school.nz
megan.harris@beckenham.school.nz
lisa.collier@beckenham.school.nz



Kahikatea Athletics

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Kia ora whānau,

We made the most of the lovely weather today and got outside to practice our four athletics stations. The tamariki were amazing - so focused, motivated, and energised! 

We are really looking forward to our whole-school athletics event on Wednesday 26th October. Kahikatea's events are from 11:00 - 12:40. We would love to see you there if you can make it!

Training for this event will continue in Week 1 of Term 4, so please ensure that your child wears appropriate footwear to school each day.

Here are some photos of our children in action today...



















Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 9

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Kia ora e te whānau,

It is amazing to think we are already coming to the end of Term 3. This term has been jam-packed with incredible learning and lots of fun in the Kahikatea Hub.

Cooperation

Our word of the week was cooperation. We talked about how cooperation means working together to get things done. To be good at cooperating with others, you need to be a good team member. 

We found that when we cooperated we could get much further across the slack line, than when we tried it by ourselves!


Some of our home groups also demonstrated cooperation when doing Story Champs. We helped one another to re-tell stories and use 'Champ Checks' (a checklist) to see if we could remember all of the parts. We also worked on remembering and using 'sparkle words' (new, interesting vocabulary).





Swimming

In Term 4, all of our Kahikatea tamariki will be participating in a water safety programme at Pioneer Pool. These lessons are based on the principles of water skills and safety. These lessons do not replace or replicate swimming lessons. This is an opportunity to learn water safety. The students will have eight lessons starting on Monday 31st October, running through until Thursday 10th November.

A survey will be sent out to you soon regarding your child's confidence in swimming. This will also include an opportunity to indicate your availability for parent help. Parents are not required to get in the water and we will meet you at Pioneer as we arrive.

Learning Through Play

The tamariki have continued to show a range of skills and interests during our Learning Through Play sessions. The tamariki continue to challenge themselves, problem solve, and express themselves creatively and imaginatively. The kaiako and tamariki all look forward to these weekly sessions.

Check out some pictures of what we have been getting up to below:











Waiata

Over the last couple of weeks we have started to end our days as an entire hub in the Theatre for singing. It is such a great way to finish off the day for everyone and we love learning new songs.


Box Construction

We are on the hunt for some boxes and containers for our box construction creations during earning Through Play. Some ideas of what we are looking for:

  • biscuit, cracker, muesli bar boxes
  • cereal and shoe boxes
  • yoghurt pottles and containers

Request for Paint Shirts/Tops

We are also on the hunt for any old children's t-shirts or small adult-sized short-sleeved shirts for us to use during art activities. If you have any that you could spare, please bring them into the hub.

Athletics Day

We are about to begin training for Athletics Day Please ensure that your children are coming to school with appropriate footwear.

Sun Hats

Coming into Term 4 please remember that your children will need their sunhats at school.


Have a great final week at school and a safe and happy holiday break.

Ngā mihi nui,

Team Kahikatea


Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 7

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 Kahikatea Team News - Term 3 Week 7

Kia ora koutou,

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Kahikatea team! Read on to find out more about what we have been up to.

Kete Focus: We Love Challenge!

The student council organised a fun STEM activity during 'We Love Challenge' week. We were given a selection of materials and had to design a bridge that could hold a tin can. We made changes as we went when we realised that something didn't quite work, and persevered when it was tricky. We did so well!










Learning Through Play

It is always a joy to watch our children interact, discover, negotiate, and problem-solve during Learning Through Play. Here are some recent photos of us in action!


















Te Whare Tapa Wha

During our home group time, we are learning all about how we can support our wellbeing (hauora) using the Te Whare Tapa Wha model. We have a fabulous new poster that illustrates how important it is to take care of all of the different aspects of our lives to support our wellbeing. 






That's all for now!
Team Kahikatea

Kahikatea News Term 3 Week 5

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Tēnā koutou!

It is incredible to think that we are entering Week 6 already! So much amazing learning has been happening in our hub.


The word of the week

Our word of the week in Week 5 was KINDNESS. 

Kindness is "the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate" (Oxford Dictionary)

Some of our beautiful tamariki demonstrated kindness this week by creating a card for a friend or loved one. It was wonderful to see the thoughtfulness that they used.

A video that has a kindness song is below...



Te Reo Māori focus

Over the past two weeks, we have been working on different ways to greet people and also how to say how we feel. During our waiata, we have been singing the 'Ata mārie' song, which has been wonderful to support our tamariki in learning Māori greetings. 

Here it is so you can sing along at home...







Book Character Day

Book character dress-up was held on Friday 19th of August and it was amazing to see all of our tamariki proudly strutting their stuff in super fun costumes. Even the teachers dressed up!

We were also lucky enough to have a visit from Sandy. She was dressed in her 'Guess How Much I Love You' pajamas and she read us the story. 


Toys at school

We have had a number of toys (including bag toys) make an appearance at school this term. We ask that all toys stay home. We know how special they are to you and we don't want to see them broken or lost. There are lots of awesome things for you to play with at school, including amazing outdoor spaces that the school has. 

Shoes

The Kahikatea teachers have been noticing a lot of students walking around the school without shoes on. Shoes are important for keeping our feet safe and clean. Kahikatea students are not to be outside in the playground without their shoes on. When in the hub, the expectation is that the students have shoes on (or slippers) unless their shoes are very wet or dirty.

Cultural Presentations

As part of our fortnightly celebration assemblies, children have an opportunity to share with the junior school their culture via a presentation. These presentations are done in the form of a slideshow, in which the family receives a template to fill in. They require adult input and support. 
If your child is interested in getting up and presenting a cultural presentation, please contact your child's homegroup teacher for more information. 


Photos

Here are some photos of our amazing tamariki hard at work.


















Ma te wa, 
Amber, Krystal, Emma, Katie, Lisa, Kerilea, Kate & Jan