Category Archives: Koru

KORU HIGHLIGHTS: Term 1 Week 8

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This week started off with a WHIZZ and a BANG! We were joined by Elgregoe, a magician and ventriloquist, who had a special message to share with us about how to stop bullying and be a HERO at Beckenham School.




H - Honesty
E - Empathy
R - Resilient
O - Opportunities






Here are some helpful tips to ensure your child has a successful day at school:

  • Make sure they arrive at school between 8:30am and 8:45am. This ensures they have time to do their morning jobs and say goodbye to you so that they are settled before the bell goes. It is also important that no children are being dropped off at school before 8:30am, unless they have an older sibling who catches the bus to Champion Street.
  • Reading folders need to come to school everyday. Sometimes we need to send important information home and this is the best place to put it to keep it safe on its journey home to you. Having your reading folder at school everyday also ensures children can read their books both at school and home. Increasing your child's reading mileage has a proven positive effect on their reading ability. You can record what books your child is reading at home in the back of their home learning books.
  • Check your child's school bag regularly. Quite often books can mysteriously come out of folders and end up squashed in the bottom of bags or in the more extreme cases, rotten fruit! It's important to check that no nasty surprises are taking up residence in your child's bag for too long.
  • Library folders and library books only need to come to school on a Monday and Friday. This saves you having to remember to pack it each day and ensures you and your child have exciting new books to read together each week.




Koru Whānau will be presenting Beckenham's Celebration Assembly in week 10 - Thursday 6th April 2:15pm





Can you read? Do people often tell you that you're a natural with a pair of scissors? Then this could be the job for you!
We love having parents and caregivers in the classroom to support the children with their learning. This may include reading a book of your choice with a group of children or gluing poems into books. All these jobs make a huge difference and are an excellent way to show the children how we really do get there together! If you have some free time on a Monday to Thursday between 9:00am and 12:30pm, and would love to get involved, please let your child's point of contact teacher know by either sending us an email or coming in and having a chat. 
Any help would be greatly appreciated!



Any good used toys?
We run a fabulous play based Discovery time each morning throughout our Junior School. In the middle school the programme is extended and broadened to cater for older children’s interests and developmental stages. Both programmes provide authentic, rich opportunities for the children to explore, discover and investigate whilst strengthening their essential skills and skills in many areas of the curriculum. We would like to supplement and build the resources that are available to the children at these times. If you have any good, used toys we would really appreciate them at school. The types of things we are looking for are things such as tea sets, dinosaurs, crafting equipment, puppets, trains, cars, blocks, lego etc.  We can give these toys new life and they will certainly make a difference to our children. Please drop the toys into Hub 3 so we can sort and organise storage. Thank you very much for your support.

KORU HIGHLIGHTS TERM 1 WEEK 5-6

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Upcoming Events / Happenings

  • WEEK 7        THURSDAY - FLUORO MUFTI DAY - come dressed in your fabulous bright                             clothes along with a gold coin - raising thank you fund for our Emergency                                   Services
  • WEEK 10       KORU hosting our School Assembly - we are learning a song from the movie                             Moana to share with the school. Feel free to join in and practice this at home.
LIBRARY DAYS
Bring in your Library Folder these days ready to exchange.

Hub 1 - Thursday
Hub 2 - Friday
Hub 3/4 - Monday
Hub 10/11 - Friday & Monday

HOME LEARNING
Remember to fill in your Reading Logs at the back of the Home Learning Books and complete a Mad Maths Challenge every night - glued into the front.

FRIENDSHIP LIST
Hub 1 and 2 are collating a friendship list of contact numbers so children can connect with each other after school and in the holidays. If you DO NOT wish to be part of this list then please email Charlotte or Amber by Thursday 16th.

USEFUL LINKS
Here are some links to help you and your children with their learning...



PARENT HELPERS
A notice went out on Wednesday asking for volunteers to help during the school day. We really appreciate any help offered and have a range of things you can do with the children and to help the teachers. Alternatively you can email the teacher you are able to help.

Celebrating our Learning

We have enjoyed learning about our Identity. Our 'Me Bags' have generated fantastic sharing opportunities and are a great way to celebrate our individuality. Here are just a few from Hub 2.







We have also been reading the Book 'Best Part of Me' by Wendy Ewald. Hub 2 has created their own spin on this - adding writing to some black and white photography. The full range is on display in Hub 2.

Blake - My Hands

I can write stuff and feel stuff with my hands. I can pick up stuff and build things with my hands.


Jack - My Legs
I chose my legs because they walk everywhere and they can run fast. Sometimes when I race my Dad I am faster than him. I can kick with them when I am doing swimming.


Ruby - My Eyes

My eyes are special to me because they are important to fit my glasses on. My glasses help me to see otherwise my eyes get blurry and I couldn’t see or learn. I can’t read without my glasses. I like my eyes because they are very lovely.



Stella - My Neck

My neck is special because I want to wear necklaces. I like to feel my hair on my neck, it feels fluffy and soft.



Sharing Our News
We love to share our news with our friends.



Parent Helpers

We appreciate learning alongside our community - parent helpers are such a wonderful way to make connections and learn together - thank you to all that dedicate their time and efforts during the school day.

Maths Learning - Patterns

We are also learning this Term about Patterns - feel free to talk at home about the many patterns you see.



Learning through Construction

We learn to take risks and work together to create some very elaborate buildings.















KORU HIGHLIGHTS TERM 1 WEEK 4

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Kia ora whaanau,

It has been another action packed week of learning and fun in Koru hubs.

Quick reminders:
* Great to see drink bottles and reading folders brought in each day. Well done families!
* Please send library folders in on your class' day:
Hub 1 - Thursday
Hub 2 - Friday
Hub 3/4 - Monday
Hub 10/11 - Friday & Monday

We've been continuing to get to know each other and celebrate our individuality. The 'Me Bag' have helped us to share about ourselves. Thanks to every body for the time and effort spent in creating these at home. We will continue to share our 'Me Bags' over the coming weeks, so for those who haven't bought theirs, there is still time.




Each class is now in full swing, teaching and learning in maths, reading and writing.

In maths, we have been revisiting number knowledge and counting, as well as strategy areas (addition and subtraction). Most of our maths sessions involve short blocks of teacher time, activities set by the teacher, and self-chosen maths tasks or games. We love working together and using maths words, and having hands on materials like beads and counters to help us.




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In writing, we have been learning how to set up and use our books. We've been writing about ourselves and other topics of interest. Here is one class' writing and art about sharks!


In most hubs, insects and animals have been a topic of high interest...our teachers have found books so we can learn even more!  We've loved making animal crafts too. Check out the spiders that Hub 1 made this week!



Our Values
We have been continuing to learn about the Beckenham School values, We Care and We Get There Together. To help us develop social skills and Get There Together, we have worked in small groups. Some children have been collaborating and drawing scenes (e.g. a farm or zoo) which means talking about and agreeing things before we start. Another group has also been constructing a playground model out of cardboard. We've had to trial lots of designs and problem solve when things don't quite work the first time.









KORU HIGHLIGHTS TERM 1 WEEK 3

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Kia ora whanau,

Welcome (back) to the Te Whanau Koru blog for 2017! The children have settled back into school, and hub routines, with skilful ease. We're absolutely loving the happy smiling faces each and every morning, as they children arrive ready for a new day's learning.

The content of our blog posts will vary from time to time, however you will generally find some of the following:
  • samples of the children's work
  • photos celebrating student learning
  • handy hints for helping your child at home with their reading, writing and Maths
  • links to helpful websites
  • what's been happening in the classrooms
  • what will be happening in the classrooms
  • requests for help and resources.
Discovery Stations:

You will all by now be familiar with our Discovery Stations! Research is telling us that learning through play is a powerful vehicle indeed, and, as teachers, we are observing, every day, literacy, mathematical and social learning occurring at the Discovery Stations on offer.

'Play is a powerful vehicle for learning, thinking, generating ideas and communicating. Play thus creates potential spaces in which a child always behaves beyond his/her average age, above his/her daily behaviour; in play it is as though he were a head taller than him/herself.'
Vygotsky

We have found that play activities are a wonderful way to develop the Key Competencies:
  • Thinking
  • Relating to others
  • Using language, symbols and texts
  • Managing self
  • Participating and contributing
Play embraces all of the Key Competencies, especially self-management. It's a very natural way to promote self-management without making the activity seem contrived. An added bonus to starting each day with Discovery Stations, is that those children who might struggle to say goodbye in the morning, tend to settle much more easily when there are play activities on offer. 
Day 1!

Reading with Big Bear in the washing basket

What a complex plan - an architect in the making?!

Reading, in a sea of Mobilo!

Ta-dah!!




Collaboration:
After reading Mrs Wishy Washy, Hub 10 and 11 children formed groups to build a fence that would be high and strong enough to stop the farm animals from getting into the mud. Check out the Writers' Wall in Hub 10/11 to read the children's published writing and see more photos of the fences that were created.





Me Bags:
Many thanks for the wonderful treasures that have been sent in, supporting our children in their learning relating to our integrated topic, 'Identity'. If your child is yet to bring their 'Me Bag' in to class, it's not too late!

Some of us love drawing...
...others play rugby.

Some learn ballet...

...others love to write.

...and some of us identify closely with another country.


Reading:
Here is a link to the wonderful website called Parent Literacy Partners, which contains great strategies for you, as parents, to use when your child gets stuck on a word when reading. An example is:
'Learning how to prompt your child to help them become more independent problem solvers when reading.'
If there is something particular you want to find out about, put key words into the search box, for example, 'letter reversals' or 'learning letters and sounds'.
This website also includes some great little videos, as well as useful resources.
Reading to Teddy

Reading to Mr Rabbit

Look at that beautiful pointy finger!

Reminders and Notices:
  • Please ensure that your child remembers to pack his/her reading folder every day
  • Library folders need to be returned to school on or before library day (which varies from class to class)
  • It's a good idea to make sure your child takes his or her drink bottle home after school each day, for a 'freshen up'
  • We will again be acknowledging the anniversary of the Feb 22nd Earthquake this year, by creating a chalk 'River of Flowers' on the footpath outside school on Sandwich Road on Wednesday.
Have a lovely week everyone.
Nga mihi nui.




Koru Wk 10 News

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Team Koru!
Thanks for a wonderful year of learning and fun. Read about some of our final week activities.

Notices
* Students have lost jumpers and hats recently. Please check at home and in bags. Many thanks.
* Run Jump Throw is on THIS Friday at 11.15 sharp. Children may wear house colours and need: named drink bottle, sensible running shoes and a sunhat. 

Champion Street Visit
What a fun time had by all on our trip to Champion St. Koru students did a variety of buddy Christmas crafts with senior students. The older students also showed us around their learning space.