Category Archives: Kahikatea

Kahikatea Newsletter Week 3

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Cricket in Week 5

Christchurch Junior Cricket Association will be here to run mini cricket lesson with all the students in Kahikatea. Please send your child/children to school in appropriate footwear and a warm top on Wednesday 24th August:
Session 1 @ 12:00 - 12:30 - R1
Session 2 @ 1:30 - 2:00 - R2
Session 3 @ 2:00 - 2:30 - R3
Session 4 @2:30 - 3:00 - R4


Term 3 Topic Focus: Amazing Asia

We have started our integrated unit topic: Amazing Asia and our students have begun by identifying the countries of Asia using maps and globes to help us develop a sense of place and location!
We have a number families here at Beckenham School who identify as Asian and we'd love to hear from you. Even if you know a little bit (or a lot!) about:


  • The history of your country
  • Information about the climate and the types of food and plants which grow there
  • The unique languages that are spoken or perhaps something related to arts or crafts (e.g. origami), clothing, special celebrations or events...

We would love to hear from you, so do let your hub teachers know. 

Mandarin Language Lessons

Our Mandarin Learning Assistant, Felicia, will be starting sessions next Wednesday morning (17th August). She will do a half hour session with each hub. 

Kahikatea Team Newsletter Term 3 Week 2

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Kia Ora Parents/Caregivers

We have had an excellent week despite some very chilly days. Here are some of the Discovery Stations, which our children are getting into before the bell has even gone each morning!

Using binary code to write our name.

Figuring out how much our name is worth using a chart with each letter being worth a different $ amount. 

Writing our stories on whiteboards. 

We are focussing on target/fielding games and gymnastics this term in PE. Each hub alternates weekly between these lessons. Here is an example of a target game where we try to hit a 'lily pad' with beanbags to earn points:

 We are working on mastering different passes here:

Mihi
Through our topic focus on cultures we are working with the children on their mihi. If you know your family mountain, waka, river or iwi it would be great if your child was able to bring this information along to school. 

Book the Couch
If you would like to bring a favourite book to read to a small group of children between 8:30a.m. and 9:00am we will let the children know when you have arrived to read to them. We will include this as a station in the morning. If you are interested please let your child's teacher know. 

Thank you!
We had a lovely surprise from the Court Theatre today who came in to drop off huge bags of dress-ups for our team. Thank you to Rob who organised this for us - there were some very excited children and teachers alike! 

We love Challenge

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Today, during Discovery Stations, we talked about why it is important to challenge yourself. The children had some great ideas:

"If you do something and think it is challenging, but keep trying and then eventually do it, you will be so proud of yourself."

"It's important to challenge yourself because otherwise you wont try new things."

"If you are doing the same thing everyday, and it's not challenging, then you wont learn."





These girls found tangram patterns challenging at first, but after some perseverance, they worked out some strategies to make the task at hand easier.  



Hub 1&2 Notice

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Kia Ora Whanau

As many of you will be aware, we have tweaked our programme this term to include Discovery Stations at different times throughout our day. These stations have been very successful and the children are highly engaged with them - often starting them before school! A few of our routines have needed to change to accommodate this:

Morning Snack
  • Please ensure your child's snack (fruit or wholemeal/wholegrain bread) is in a named bag or container as they put them into the snack bowl before school. 
Reading Books
  • Your child will now be returning their reading books on Monday morning when they arrive at school. They will put them into their browsing box which is in Room 2. 
Library Folders
  • We all have our library time on a Friday now so all folders will need to be back on Friday morning. 
Book the Couch
  • If you are interested in reading a library book to children before the bell please come into Room 1, choose a book and get comfy on our couch. The children love listening to stories and a group will often form after a couple of pages into the story. If you would like to make this a permanent booking there is a list on the whiteboard in Room 1. Alternatively, if you are interested in listening to children read 1:1, please let us know and we will book you in for days that suit. The time slot for this is Mon - Thurs 8:30 - 9:20a.m. 

Resources
We have had discussions in our hub about what types of learning the children would like to do more of and we have compiled a list. If you are able to help with any of the following resources we would be very grateful:
  • Cardboard boxes, lids, old containers, masking tape, PVA glue
  • Lego
  • Old phones, typewriters, radios etc (anything that can be taken apart), screw drivers
  • Nuts and bolts
  • Water/sand tray or table 
  • Dress ups 
  • Farmyard animals/Dinosaurs etc 
  • Craft equipment 
  • Soft material, cotton, needles (and a willing adult who is interested in creating puppets with the children)
  • Skeleton resources - real bones / plastic 
  • A roll of butcher paper 
The conversations will continue to evolve as the children develop their thinking around Discovery Stations and this list will grow throughout the term. If you have an area of expertise and would like to join us, we can happily slot you into our timetable. 

Thank you for your ongoing support. 
Dorinda, Amber and Amy