Kia ora Kōwhai whānau,

Welcome back to Term 3! We have been getting straight into our learning and the children have settled in very quickly.

New Literacy Groups

This term, we have created new literacy groups which means that your child may have a different teacher for reading and writing. We have been delighted by the way the children have slotted into the new groupings so quickly and easily. For writing, our focus is now on recounts so the children are currently writing a recount about an event they have experienced. Feel free to ask them about it!

Calendar Art

Over the next few weeks, our afternoon focus is on creating Calendar Art. This year, we are looking at the artist, Piet Mondrian, learning about his life and his work as an artist. We have been learning about his transition into abstract art and that his particular style of using geometric shapes is called neoplasticism! This week, the children have been experimenting with drawing horizontal and vertical lines in order to create different geometric shapes. They have then been colouring these shapes, using only primary colours and black, leaving some of their shapes white. Below is an example of Mondrian's work:

Below is a photo of some of the children practising their art skills and also some of their practice examples:

Discovery

In Discovery, the children continue to work on their Stop Motion animations and they are also enjoying working with the Sphero balls, using an iPad to control the ball's movements. This week, we have also introduced a new activity, using the writing app, Little Story Creator. This involves writing a story on an iPad and creating your own pictures to go with it. The children have been learning how to use the app by trying it out and experimenting with the different features. Otherwise, the children continue to do construction, create their own top trump cards, make huts and also make up games to play outside (when the weather allows!).

Masks

We continue to encourage the children to wear masks so if your child has their own mask at home, please feel free to bring it to school. 

Welcome Assembly

Today we had a Junior Welcome Assembly as we are still not able to hold full school assemblies. Congratulations to the Kete certificate recipients!

Magazines

Finally, we are in need of lots of magazines as we are going to be making rākau for te reo Māori this term. If you have any old magazines lying around, we would love to have them. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

From the Kòwhai team

Kia ora tātou,

It has been another busy fortnight, and our students have continued to amaze us with their passion and energy for learning. Well done to all our tamariki! Thanks again to all whānau for your ongoing support. We wish you a relaxing, healthy and fun holiday period. 

Discovery Fun

We continue to provide a range of options on a weekly basis that engage and challenge students. Below are some examples of these.

Sphero Bolt Programming

We have had the privilege of learning how to use a Sphero Bolt - a ball-like robot. These are on loan to us for two weeks. Sphero BOLT is a coding robot that lets kids learn coding through hands-on play and STEAM activities. It is a perfect entry into robotics.

Lego Challenge

Each day, the students are set a new challenge. We have some real experts in our midst. Maybe one day you will see them as contestants on Lego Masters.

Mū Tōrere

Some of our students chose to make the traditional Māori board game called Mū Tōrere. It is said to be the only native board game of the Māori. It is played on the points and centre of an 8-pointed star, by two players with four pieces each. The object of the game is to block your opponent so they cannot move. If your child has made one of these, look forward to it coming home just in time for some holiday fun. It is perfect for a wet day. The instructions will be glued to the back of the board. To play it, you will need two different coloured counters. Have fun!

                                                           

Hear This

We were very fortunate this week to be visited by Cheryl Coughlan, an Educator for Hearing Support Christchurch (a non-profit organisation affiliated with Hearing New Zealand providing education regarding hearing protection to our Primary and Preschool learning community). 

‘Hear This’ (Incorporating Dangerous Decibels) is a presentation designed for children aged 4 -12 years, where they learn about the ear, hearing, decibels and how to prevent Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). It aims to educate about the harmful effects of dangerous noise and how to protect their hearing for life.    

Art Shirts Request

The students all really enjoy painting and it would be great to have a new set of art shirts to avoid paint on their clothes. If anyone has a spare shirt at home that they no longer wear, could you please send it along to school. We are sure they will be christened with paint soon!

It has been another action-packed week in team Kōwhai, as detailed below!

Reminders:  

• Matariki whānau evening next Wednesday, 22nd June at school - please come and enjoy crafts and other Matariki learning from 5-6pm. There will be a short performance by the Kōwhai Kapa Haka Group at around 6:20pm, followed by an optional Hangi. Hangi food can be ordered from the PTA. If your child is in the Kōwhai Kapa Haka group and they are coming to perform, could you please make sure they are in Pūkaki by 6pm in order to get ready for the performance.
• Learning Conferences - to be held in the last week of term, on Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th June. Please note school finishes at 2pm both days. If you haven't already, please book online.

Cross Country 

Thank you to all those parents and whānau who attended and supported our Cross Country event on Tuesday. We were delighted to have families back enjoying a beautiful sunny afternoon. Congratulations to all participants. We were so proud of the way you embraced the challenge of completing the course!

The top 6 placed children for each year (top 6 boys and top 6 girls) will be invited to run in the Cross Country Challenge at Hillview on Tuesday 5th July. There will be more information on this to follow.

Structured Literacy in the Kōwhai Hub

Structured Literacy happens from 11-12.40 in our hub, and includes the following:

Oral Language 

Oral language features throughout the sessions, with lots of shared discussion, peer discussion, teacher-led groups, games and play reading on occasion.

Reading

• Phonics warm-up (using the Heggerty Phonics Programme) 
• Speed sounds: flash card reading and/or writing of key spelling patterns and sounds
• Small group reading with the teacher (using the Little Learners Love Literacy range), which includes dictated words and sentences to practise spelling patterns
• Follow-up tasks focused on specific spelling patterns: games, worksheets, sentence work
• Dragon word spelling 
• Heart word spelling 
• 'Must do' and 'can do' tasks, such as reading, free writing, wordfinds, targeted work sheets, word challenges, cartoon drawing, Chromebook or iPad literacy games and more

• Teacher modelling or shared writing (teacher and students working together to write a text) 
• Reading good examples of a genre or text 
• Planning writing using varied templates or strategies (e.g. a mindmap, picture drawing etc)
• Independent writing and editing time 
• Teacher conferencing and feedback to students 
• Small groups working with the teacher on specific elements of writing 
• Publishing 
• ICT research 
• Handwriting 
• Spelling or grammar tasks

Kete Awards: Week 6 (last week)

Discovery Fun!

Kia ora e te whānau / Talofa lava,

We have enjoyed learning a few Samoan phrases and greetings this week. Did you know that there is an ancient pyramid in Sāmoa?

Discovery

We have been continuing to do a lot of purposeful Learning Through Play activities such as Stop Motion Animation, making our own Top Trump cards and creating world flags.

Mask Reminder

Please remember to send your child to school with a named mask each day, as we have now run out of child-sized masks. Please also encourage them to re-use and look after their masks to make sure we are staying environmentally friendly.

Frost Dragon Spelling Book

We sent this home last term as something you can use to practise reading and spelling at home with your child. It is a valuable resource for revisiting what they have been learning at school. Please make sure to use it when you can.

Please contact your child's homegroup teacher if you would like to have another copy or would like information on which stage your child is at for Structured Literacy.

Junior School Cross Country - Tuesday 14th June

Some important points to remember:

• Parents/Caregivers are welcome to join us at this event on June 14th.
• The afternoon will start at 1:00 p.m., with the oldest year group levels running first, on through to the New Entrants towards the end of the afternoon.
• Practices will be taking place regularly between now and the Cross Country event: if you wish your child to be exempt from practices due to health reasons, please email your child's HG teacher as soon as possible to let them know.
• Please send your child to school in appropriate footwear for daily running practices.
• Please ensure that your child has their water bottle at school each day, including on the day of the event.
• Children will be able to wear their house T-shirts on the day of the Cross Country
• The postponement date for our Cross Country is Monday, June 20th.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you on the day of the Junior School Cross Country.

Junior Celebration Assembly

We had our second Junior Celebration Assembly last Friday. Congratulations to the students who received their Citizen of the Week and Kete certificates!

Kia ora whānau,

We have been doing a lot of exciting activities in the Kōwhai Hub this week.

Discovery

Science

Statistics

Celebration Assembly