Category Archives: Kauri

Kauri Whānau Update: Term 4, Week 5

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In this post:

  • Production dates
  • Zones Day
  • Navigating the Journey
  • Year 8 Leadership
  • Mountain biking photos

Production Dates

Make sure you have Monday and Tuesday of Week 10 marked in your diaries for the Kauri Production: "Oh The Places You'll Go". That's December the 11th and 12th. Tamariki are working hard at dance, drama, music, percussion, and set-making and will continue to do so for the next few weeks.

Zones Day

Thanks Jenny for organising and getting all the kids to Zones Hansens Park. It was great to hear how well our tamariki did with supporting one another and being self-organised to get to and between events. Congratulations to everyone who took part!


Navigating the Journey

This week in Relationships and Sexuality education we discussed rights and responsibilities and how this changes over time as we get older. We also began chatting through identity, especially the difference between your sex and your gender. Please chat with your kids about this and touch base with their homegroup teacher if you have any questions.

Year 8 Leadership 2024

Thank you to all the students who applied for leadership roles next year. We are excited to announce the following:

Student Council Executive
Chairperson:    Harriet
Secretary:        William
Treasurer:        Lewis

Sports Leaders
Harvey, Harper, Clementine, Jaiden

House Captains
Heathcote:    Ollie, Hayzel
Tennyson:    Finn, Isabella
Waimea:       Austin, Bonnie
Fisher:          Corry, Annabelle

House Deputies
Heathcote:    Sharni, Charlie
Tennyson:    Jack, Ashleigh
Waimea:       Alex, Alex
Fisher:          Briana, Spencer

Passions: Mountain Biking

This term, Jenny is running a Mountain Biking passions with a number of students and parents. They had a wonderful time last week at Halswell Quarry.





Kauri Whānau Update: Term 4, Week 3

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 In this post:

  • House Games
  • Memories
  • Year 7 Leadership
  • Athletics Day
  • Whale Rider
  • Uniform
  • Sexuality Education
  • Music Festival
  • Fairy Doors

House Games

This Monday afternoon we have House Games. Students are encouraged to wear their house shirts for this. We're looking forward to seeing what the House Captains and Deputies have organised!

Year 8 Photos and Memories

We are missing at least 15 five-year-old photos which need to be sent through to Nicky this weekend. There are also a few memories that need to be written. Please remind tamariki to check whether they have a friend memory to write and if they've written it. If these are not done over the weekend it is likely that they will unfortunately be missed out of the Yearbook.

Year 7 Leadership

We talked through the google form application for Leadership positions in 2024. This is due at the end of next week (Friday Nov. 3rd), but if ākonga are interested in any of the positions, they will should chat with whānau as part of their application process.

Athletics Day

We had a fantastic day on Thursday with tamariki engaging with the challenge and fun that comes with Athletics Day. Our awesome seniors, alongside whānau, efficiently helped with the setup and packdown and we appreciate the extra time and effort put in to support this day. 

The final event for our Year 5 to 8 students is Long Jump, which is optional and will take place at Hillview Christian School after lunch this Tuesday afternoon. If you are able to help run this event, please get in touch with Jenny.

We are underway for our Term 4 Passions. Here are some photos from the fairy doors passion where they are using tiles to mosaic doors. 

Whale Rider

We are coming to the end of a novel study of Witi Ihimaera's The Whale Rider for three of our Literacy classes have been working through, and to wrap it up we will be watching the 2002 movie which is based on the book. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Thomas in the first instance. You can see more about the movie via the Common Sense Media page.

Uniform Reminder

Over the weekend and through the next week, please check you child's uniform as uniform that is defaced is no longer correct uniform. This particularly seems to be an issue with hats. We will be keeping an eye out and will email whānau if needed.

Sexuality Education

In lieu of the parent information evening planned for after school on Tuesday which did not go ahead, please see the attached slideshow. If you have any questions about the teaching and learning that will take place over the next few weeks as part of this curriculum, please get in touch with your child's homegroup teacher in the first instance.

Music Festival

On Friday evening next week our Year 5 to 8 choir will be performing in the Town Hall as part of the Christchurch School's Music Festival. We wish them all the best for this, and are sure they will do an excellent job given all the hard work they've put in during practices. Extra  best wishes to Isabelle P and Freyja S who will be performing every evening of the festival as part of the Concert Band and Senior Representative Choir, respectively.

Fairy Doors

We were thrilled that the men from the St Martins Menzshed cut, sanded, painted, and hinged the basis for our fairy doors, which is one of our current Friday afternoon passions groups. Many thanks to the people who supplied baking for our thank you gift. While it all looked delicious, we can assure you that it did end up in the right hands! You can see some of the work that has begun on the fairy doors in the photos below.








Kauri Whānau Update: Term 4 Week 1

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In this post:

  • Coming up in Term 4
  • Navigating the Journey
  • Year 8 Memories
  • Pepehā
  • 24/7 changeover
  • Touch Rugby

Coming up in Term 4

This week we shared a slideshow with the students that went through some of the things that they can look forward to working through this term. Please find this in PDF format here.

Navigating the Journey

This term, we will be going through our Sexuality Education curriculum, using the Family Planning resource. There will be a parent information evening on Tuesday of Week 3 (Tuesday October 24th) for anyone who would like to know more about what this will involve. If you have any questions about this learning and can't make the meeting please get in touch with your child's homegroup teacher in the first instance.


Year 8 Memories

This week, Nicky discussed the yearbook with our Year 8 students. All children have begun writing their personal memory which needs to completed by next Friday. As this needs to be done in their own time, please check in with your child as to how they're going and what they're writing. 

A big thank-you to all who have sent in 5-year-old photos. Please send them through to Nicky in the next week if you haven't already. 

Pepehā

This term, students will be working on their Pepehā. Please chat with your child about any special affiliations of family connections. In particular, children will be needing to know their marae, waka, iwi, if they have those.

24/7 Changeover

We have been incredibly fortunate to have Dave as our 24/7 worker in the Kauri Hub for quite some time, and he has had such a positive impact on so many of our tamariki. Next year we will have Andrew as our new 24/7 Youthworker, as Dave is finishing up his time with us. While we are sad to see Dave leave, we are excited to get to know Andrew, who will pop in a few times over this term to connect with the students and teachers.

Touch Rugby

The Centennial Touch Tournament at Pioneer kicked off this week, with a number of kids involved in teams. Jenny was there to see the action, and reported that there was a high degree of enthusiasm!




Kauri Whānau Update: Term 3, Week 10

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 In this post:

  • Term 3 Reflection
  • Kauri Museum Exhibition
  • Koru Games
  • Beckenham Talent Show
  • Looking ahead

Term 3 Reflection

What an action-packed term! We've managed to squeeze so many varied learning opportunities - from novel studies in literacy to ski day up at Mount Hutt, from Koru Games to learning about Pacific navigation and Waka building. We think everyone has earned a good rest, and hope you all manage to rest recharge safely over the next two weeks.

Kauri Museum Exhibition

Today (Friday), while the students were off at Christchurch South Intermediate for Technology, the rest of the school came through to see our Waka Hourua creations. The reaction from teachers and students was all positive - there was so much praise for everything that had been made.




Koru Games

We really enjoyed hearing about the efforts of our students at Koru games this week. There was a lot of incredible sporting skill on show, and all our students represent our school values. Please see the school newsletter for a full rundown of the week.



Beckenham Talent Show

We finished our term with the return of the school talent show. There were tremendous acts from across the school, and from Kauri we had Harriet playing a wonderful rendition of Grieg's In The Hall of the Mountain King and Ella T salsa-ing up a storm. Hamish did a great job as one of two MCs, and the IT crew did a great job of making sure everything went off without any technical glitches. A big thank you to the student council and Nicky for organising and putting on such a wonderful event.

Looking Ahead

Term 4 is set to be another busy term, but we look forward to more sunshine and warmer weather. Please make sure that all students have hats ahead of Term 4 and that they apply sunscreen before coming to school. We also announced to the team this afternoon that our big focus next term will be a production, which they seemed quite excited by. We look forward to telling them more about it next term!

Have a safe and restful break!

Kauri Whānau Update: Term 3, Week 9

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In this post:

  • Ski Day video
  • Koru Games
  • Waka Hourua
  • Innovation Expo Winners
  • Year 8 Photos

Ski Day Video

Thank you to everyone who made our Ski Day in Week 7 such an outstanding success for all. Thanks to the media team who put together the following highlights video of the day:


Koru Games

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this coming week, 50 Kauri students will head off each day to the Selwyn Sports Centre in Rolleston compete in Basketball, Touch Rugby, Kī-o-Rahi, Ultimate Frisbee, and Hockey.

Our students have been really committed to their training sessions throughout the last few weeks, and we've been very grateful for parents who have volunteered their time to coach teams in the lead up to the event. A big thank you in advance to the parent volunteers who will be in attendance next week as well. 

If you have any questions ahead of this event, please check the notices sent out by Jenny via Hero, or email her directly.

Waka Hourua Inquiry

The hub has been a hive of creative energy this week as students have worked collaboratively to create their model replicas of traditional ocean-going waka hourua.

Alongside the construction component, students have been tasked with putting together a blurb that supports their model by explaining about the vessel, pacific navigation, and polynesian migration. Some students may need to spend time finishing off this written element over the weekend, and others may need to revisit their work to ensure it's entirely original - we would like to ensure that plagiarism is avoided.




Innovation Expo Winners

You may have seen on the school newsletter that one of our three teams that participated in the Build Ōtautahi: Minecraft Build Challenge at Te Pae's Innovation Expo was the overall winner of their group. All three teams of four students did an excellent job of using Minecraft to design sustainable structures for vacant city centre lots within the 60-minute timeframe. Many thanks to the parents for supporting this opportunity for our ākonga.



Year 8 Photos

It's the time of year where the teachers begin planning for all the end of year celebratory bits and bobs. If you are a parent of a current Year 8 student, can you please email through to Nicky a photo of your child either on their first day of school, or as a five-year-old.