Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 6/7

Hopefully, there has been lots of speech practice taking place in your house over the past few days. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, children will be presenting their speeches to their homegroups. Our hub final takes place next Tuesday afternoon, Sept 10. Finalists will be announced by the end of this week. Parents are most welcome to attend the final, which will be judged by a teacher from the English Dept at Cashmere High.

Cantamath Success

A big congratulations to all children who were involved in Cantamath, with work in the projects competition or in one of our problem-solving teams. Special congratulations goes to Morvern who won an outstanding award. She was one of only four to be recognised with this award and the only Year 7 & 8.
Excellence recipients: Erik, Henry H, Julia, Kate D, Amber, Ben E, Charlotte G, Eddie, Jack B, James, William, Morvern and Jenny's class project
Highly Commended recipients: Charlotte O. Matilda, Frankie, Paolo, Holly, Mia, Emma, Maria, Rylan, Angus, Devina, Fergus, Lurandt, Ruby M, Zoe, Boyd, Daniel S, Millie J, Thomas, Walter, Hannah's class project and Nicky's class project
Please check out the photos at the end of this post.

Year 8 Testing at Cashmere High

Next Tuesday morning, Sept 10, Year 8 students who have enrolled at Cashmere High for 2020 have their new entrant testing morning. You will have received information about this from Cashmere. Children make their own way to and from Cashmere. We expect to see all children back at Beckenham by 1:20 at the latest. School uniform is to be worn.

Ski Trip

We are only days away from our ski trip on Friday September 6th. We will be doing the last distributing of loan clothing and goggles to children today. If you still need to arrange these for your child, I suggest you contact Snowmania who rent gear at very reasonable prices: 4 Dalgety Street, Riccarton Phone: 03 961 6747. We do still have jackets, thermals, small gloves and some very small ski pants available at school. The package at Mt Hutt includes skis, boots, poles, helmet, ski pass and a lesson, so no need to organise a helmet or hat. 

Many thanks to the families who are sending skis and boots to school on Monday so that our first-timers can have a dry land session in the comfort of our hub on Monday and Tuesday.

We are still waiting for a few ski contracts to come back to school signed by children and caregivers. No contract, no go.

On Friday, children need to be at school by 7:20am. We will meet on Sandwich Rd. At 6am the ski report is available online: https://www.mthutt.co.nz/weather-report/ If the field is open, we will most likely be going. If we do decide that the conditions mean the trip needs to be postponed, we will send out an email and text.  We will be leaving the mountain to head home at 4pm, which will get us back to school between 6 and 6:30 pm. We will text with a more accurate time when we are on our way home.


Being dressed for the mountain conditions makes such a difference to the enjoyment of the day. Below is a reminder of what your child will need
  • Several thin layers are much better for keeping warm and comfortable than a bulky layer. Cotton is not great for the mountains; thermal clothing is what’s needed.
  • Polypro or woolen thermal top
  • Thermal ‘long-johns’ or tights
  • Fleece or woolen top / jersey
  • Waterproof pants
  • A warm weatherproof jacket
  • Woolen or thermal socks, not too thick. Socks need to come up to mid calf at least.
  • Weatherproof gloves or mittens
  • Either sun glasses or ski goggles
  • A scarf is optional, but must be tucked into their jacket, to avoid dangling ends.
  • Hats are not needed as all children will be given a helmet
  • Sunscreen, for the face
  • A substantial lunch, including a drink. The mountain cafe is very expensive. Children may bring some money for a hot drink or snack, but please also pack a lunch. They are responsible for looking after any money they bring.
  • Long hair needs to be tied up. Children who get asthma should have their inhalers with them.

Plan for the day:
7:20 arrive at school, on Sandwich Rd. Buses and cars leave at 7:30am
9:30 - 9:45 we will arrive at the ski field car park
10:00 morning tea on the deck
10:15 ski hire sorted (those with their own gear will meet a parent for a short ski)
11:00 lessons start. Everyone has a lesson, even the experienced skiers.
12:30 lunch on the deck or in the cafe
12:45 - 3:30 Have fun skiing with your friends.
3:30 return gear and back to the bus
4:00 buses leave
6:00 - 6:30 we arrive back at school


Parent Helpers:
Many thanks to the following people who have offered to help out on the mountain.
Skiers: Matt Cowie, Stu Clarke, Joe Evans, Tony Sice, Liz May, Brett Cooper, Mami Mori, Stuart Gray, Jane Brittenden, Brett Sutherland, Matt Cornfoot, Dave McLoughlin, Adam Cooper, Matthew Reid
Non-skiers: Naska Borlase,  Kellyanne Bullen, Kate Packer

We have five teaching staff going, including Nigel, as well as our youth worker, Dave. Many thanks to those who have sorted their $58 for this trip. We would appreciate the rest of the money in ASAP. 

Mountain Biking Parent Help Required

Next term Jenny will be running her very popular mountain biking passion. Please click this link to see what is involved and indicate if you can help.

Parenting Week


‘Strategies to help your family through the difficult times and enjoy being together’

‘Neighbourhood Trust is proud to bring you Parenting Week here in Canterbury. It’s happening from the 9th to 19th September and has around 30 events for any stage of parenting. They have a great line-up of experts including Mike King, Pio Terei, Dr Sue Bagshaw, Jenny Hale and Jax Hamilton, all right here.

 Their facebook page: Parenting Week, Christchurch www.facebook.com/parentingweekchch has all the events listed and more information.
















































Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 5

We pride ourselves on the experiences we are able to offer our children in Year 7 & 8. Many of these things could not happen without parent support. Today is our last week of winter sport. We would like to say a huge thank you to the parents who have turned up week after week to coach teams, both during lunchtimes and at Friday games. This has been a weekly highlight for many children and it could not have happened without you.

A big congratulations to Lucy and Ben who have won leadership scholarships at Cashmere High School for 2020. It was great to see so many children applying for scholarships and several getting interviews this year.

Cantamath

Hopefully, you have been able to drop into the hall foyer sometime over the past two days to check out our Cantamath project display. Next week on Wednesday, August 28th, the hub will be busing to Horncastle to view Cantamath projects in the morning. The cost of this trip is being covered by hub fundraising. In the afternoon our Year 7 and Year 8 problem-solving teams will be competing in the Cantamath problem-solving competition. We wish Riley H, Thomas, Henry M, Amelia, Ruby M, Freddie, Kate C, Ben E, Daniel S and Gemma all the best.

Speech Preparation Home Learning

By now your child should have finished writing their speech. If they are not quite there, this should be a priority over the weekend. This is with the exception of Jenny's group who will finish their writing early next week. Hannah is creating a doc and set of instructions for the children to use to create their speech cards. Putting speech cards together is to be done at home, so we can make the most of class time to teach and practice presentation techniques. If your child needs us to print their speech at school (to glue on card at home), they need to email their home-group teacher when they are ready to print. We encourage the children to make the most of recycling card (e.g. cereal boxes) to put their speech cards together. 

As well as practicing presentation at school, this also needs to be happening at home. Speeches will be presented to home-groups in the week starting September 2nd. Any child who is experiencing considerable anxiety about presenting their speech can talk with us about an alternative presentation method. Feeling anxious about this experience is natural. Most children find the experience a satisfying challenge when they have finished their presentation.

Getting Ready for Ski Day

Many thanks to everyone who has completed the ski day form. If you are still yet to fill out the form, you can find the link here: https://forms.gle/J2dg5TWbuxtFs6yA8. We are now matching children up with gear where needed. Over the next two weeks, we will be running preparation sessions at school. These will include, dressing for the mountains, ski safety and an introduction to gear for first-timers.

Readathon

By now you should have seen your child's red Readathon card at home. Readathon is an annual school fundraising event which promotes great reading habits. If you have not seen the card, please ask your child. If they draw a blank, please email your child's homegroup teacher. All instructions are on the card - get sponsors - encourage lots of daily reading - get stuck in.


A little bit of craziness at the end of winter sport today...







Congratulations to our Ski Team.

An enthusiastic team of skiers represented our school last Sunday at the Canterbury Primary Schools Ski Competition. The team came third. Special congratulations to Winni who was second-placed female.




Some of you may be interested in taking your daughter to this...


Kauri Cantamath Projects on Display

Please drop into the hall foyer at some stage between 8:30 on Thursday morning (tomorrow) and lunchtime on Friday to see a display of our hub Cantamath projects. Hours upon hours have gone into so many of these projects and we would love you to celebrate in the children's efforts.

Work that is not going through to the Cantamath competition should be taken home on Friday afternoon.

Those with projects going through to Cantamath will have their work delivered to Horncastle next Tuesday for judging. We will all be heading to Horncastle on Wednesday morning to view the displays and check out competition results.


Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 4

It was exciting to see so many fabulous Cantamath projects arrive at school on Tuesday. It was obvious that many children had spent hours investigating and creating as they explored the maths within their chosen topic. Our hub display was up very briefly as we needed to reclaim the space for learning. Next week we will set up a display of all Cantamath projects in the hall foyer that will be open for viewing from Thursday through until Friday late morning. You are welcome to pop in before, after or during school to take a look. We have spoken to a few children about mathematical enhancements that need to be made to their projects if they are to go through to Cantamath. These projects will need to be back at school by Wednesday.

Ski trip

We are now just three weeks away from our ski trip to Mt Hutt and it is time to get started with preparation lessons at school and ensuring everyone has access to appropriate clothing.

It is essential that everyone fills in the ski trip form. So far half of the hub have filled this out. Please complete it now if you have yet to do so.


Circle time 

Every Friday we have circle time, where we discuss a wide range of topics that impact well-being. Last week and this week we have been looking at happiness. This video has been very thought-provoking.

BYOD

Part of the BYOD agreement is that students bring their device, fully charged, every day. If your child has a BYOD please remind them to bring them.

Home-Learning


  • A few children will need to do some work on their speech writing over the weekend. The main group need to have their introduction and first 'filling' paragraphs completed by Monday. Jenny's group need their introductory paragraph and their three topic sentences completed.
  • The other home learning focus is Maths-Whizz. A minimum of three progressions should have been achieved for the week.


Photo Gallery

A couple of learning highlights in the past week have been programming our Bee-Bots as part of our inquiry into self-driven cars and starting our next PE focus on both yoga and learning how to play korfball.










Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 3

The children have been enjoying the starting phases of our inquiry learning for this term on self-driven cars. Earlier in the week we viewed and discussed this TED Talk, and thought you might like to check it out.

Ski Trip

Thank you to the 25 families who have filled out the ski info form. Just waiting for the other 87 families to do this. Please click here if you are one of them. 

Our focus on completing work on time.

We have been impressed with how the children have stepped up to ensure they are completing work within set timeframes. That said, we do not want to place undue stress on children who have absent with illness and are happy to adjust expectations to suit circumstances.  Today, Friday, static images (including explanation) and speech planning should be complete.

Maths

A reminder that Cantamath projects are due in on Tuesday, August 13th. We are looking forward to these being brought to school before the children head off to technology on Tuesday. It has been exciting to hear about how the children are exploring their passions through a maths context.

This week we wrapped up our class Cantamath projects maths and enjoyed our annual Becamath problem-solving competition. We have designed playgrounds and bike jumps, operated a small business and created a mural on a series of painted panels. Along the way we have learned about profit and loss, Pythagoras's theorem, enlargement and angles and the mathematical thinking that goes into design, as well as solving lots of context-rich mathematical problems.

Special congratulations to our winning Becamath teams: Riley, Kate, Max and Arabella in Year 7 and Freddie, Amber, Matilda and Charlotte T in Year 8.   

A reminder that Monday is a staff-only day. The perfect opportunity to put finishing touches onto individual Cantamath projects!