Koru Team Newsletter
Term 1 Week 1 2018
Kia ora koutou, Greetings to you all and a very warm welcome to this new year. It is a pleasure to be able to meet with you and your child/children during these two days of learning conferences. We are looking forward to a full and flourishing year ahead! Our team from left to right Kristika, Caitlyn, Elizabeth, Dorinda, Sue, Charlotte, Amber and Rowe. |
The First Weeks of School Our focus in the first weeks of school will be about building relationships and getting to know each other. This will include supporting students to become familiar with daily routines including how to use the inside and outside spaces, how to move around safely and sensibly, how we use resources and materials and learning how to work together. Becoming familiar with the sequence of and expectations within a day of learning at school is important for all our tamariki. If you have any questions or concerns please let your child’s home group teacher know. |
School Routines:
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Karakia to start the day This karakia is used across our kura to start the day and for formal gatherings, celebrations and meetings. “This is an ancient karakia that was used when you were out at sea and a storm was approaching. However, the storm is a metaphor for any life threatening force. It is now widely used at the start of the day or at the start of a meeting”. Whakataka te hau ki te uru, Whakataka te hau ki te tonga. Kia mākinakina ki uta, Kia mātaratara ki tai. E hī ake ana te atākura he tio, he huka, he hauhunga. Haumi e! Hui e! Tāiki e! Translation Cease the winds from the west, Cease the winds from the south, Let the breeze blow over the land, Let the breeze blow over the ocean, Let the red tipped dawn come with a sharpened air, A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day. |
Topic  Through a range of learning experiences and across a range of different curriculum areas we will be learning about the concept of Sustainability. We look forward to sharing our learning goals for this with you soon. |
Home Learning We are currently engaged in a review of our Home Learning protocols. We expect to have completed this by week 3 so we can inform whanau about the Home Learning expectations. |
Parent Help  To help us settle into our learning routines and general day to day programme we would appreciate if offers of parent/whanau help are delayed until March. If you are happy to work ‘behind the scenes’ to put away reading books etc we would very appreciate that. Please make contact with one of us and we’ll let you know how you can help. |
Our Values Kete & Student Wellbeing
The Beckenham School values are captured by this Māori whakataukī:
Ka whakakī ngā kete mo ngā haerenga o tātou katoa
Filling the kete for the journey of us all.
During the year we will keep returning to our school values, integrating and weaving them into our programmes.
We wish you all the best, for a very happy and successful year together!
Sue Leadbetter sue.leadbetter@beckenham.school.nz 
