Here is the latest from the Kōwhai team.

Kapa Haka

Last week, we began our Kōwhai Kapa Haka programme with Whaea Cath. She will be taking the whole team for kapa haka each Friday so all children can experience kapa haka. We are lucky to be able to provide this opportunity for our students. Here we are in action as we learn the actions to a new karakia.

Miniball

A huge thank you goes out to Nathan, Jamie and Mike who kindly offered to coach our three miniball teams this term. Without your support, we would not have been able to enter teams into the Pioneer competition. We very much appreciate the time you have given to encourage, coach and support our tamariki with beginner basketball skills. 
Due to the term, being cut short, please keep your child's miniball top in a safe place. We need these to be returned to school when it reopens next term.

Learning Through Play

We have seen many of the children lifting the level of their learning during our Te Taikario time each day. There has been a huge improvement across the team especially in relation to problem-solving, being creative, working co-operatively and asking questions for inquiry. Here are some of the activities the children have been undertaking.

Learning at Home

As Sandy explained in her post earlier in the week, the holidays have been brought forward to the start of next week. We understand that every family will be different and as you settle in to this new normal, schoolwork may be far from a priority for you. Below we have listed some learning activities that are part of the normal weekly routine for the children in our team. If you would like your child to engage in learning over the next few days, the list below could guide you. Prior to school finishing, we set the children up with a login book for them to be able to access their codes from home. Here are some options that your child might like to explore.

Maths
* Study Ladder
* Maths Games

Reading
* Epic
* Sunshine Online
* Ready To Read 

Writing
* Google Docs
* Google Classroom Literacy

That's all for now. Please stay safe and enjoy your time at home with your family. We are looking forward to seeing you after the holidays and Easter break via our new online learning programme! Until then...

Kia Kaha

Kōwhai Teaching Team

Inquiry- Identity 

Hi everyone,

Here is the latest news from the Kōwhai team.

Arrival time at school

We have noticed some children arriving at school very early and children are only able to enter the hubs at 8.30am. Before this, teachers are often in meetings or setting up for the day head. Any children who arrive early are unsupervised until they can enter the school buildings. BOSCO is available for before school care if you have to go to work early in the morning.

Photos for the whānau tree

If you haven't yet sent in your photo for the whānau tree, we would love you to email us a picture/photo for us to print so we can add it to our tree.

Collaborative Art

We are all busily co-constructing our collaborative artworks for the school fair on Friday, March 20th. It has been great to see the children enjoying working together to create a unique piece of art and we hope to have these completed by Friday. The PTA is after parents to assist on the stalls at the fair. This is a great fundraising event for the school and every bit of time that parents can offer makes a HUGE difference to the success of the event. There are sign up sheets at the front of the library each morning along with boxes for donations of clothing, toys/games, books etc.

Kōwhai Choir - School Fair

The children in our team will be performing 4-5 songs at the school fair. We are have been really impressed with the singing skills of our children and are looking forward to providing an energetic and fun-filled performance for you all. Our performance time is yet to be confirmed and when we know this, we will let you know where to bring you child(ren) on Friday 20th March.

Book Folders

We have noticed many children are forgetting to bring their folders to school each day. These are a key component of our literacy programme as they are required not only to transport the readers to and from school but also help us to see who is reading daily. Please help us by making sure your child has their folder and home book in their bag each morning. Thanks

Netball

We are about to offer the children in our team the opportunity to play netball during Terms 2 and 3. At this stage, we will only be able to enter one team into the competition as we only have one parent who has offered to coach. If you are keen to coach/manage a team, please contact Rowena as she is coordinating this on behalf of the team.

Life Education

We have a great time visiting the Life Education van last week. The children learnt the importance of looking after their body and how they are unique. We had a lesson on empathy and the importance of putting ourselves into others shoes. These will be building on this knowledge over the next few weeks as part of our inquiry into IDENTITY. We will learn about the importance of sleep, how our body functions, how it learns and what we need to do to keep ourselves healthy.

Up and Coming Events

9th April - Wacky Hair or Wig Day- School Council Fundraiser for Child Cancer

Hi everyone,

What a busy first three weeks we have had. It has been great to see the children so happy and growing their friendships across the hub. Here are the essentials for this week.

Life Education - Inquiry into IDENTITY

Next week, each home group will have two lessons with 'Harold' in the Life Education truck. Our focus during these lessons will about friendships and how to care for our body. These lessons will help the children to learn more about their identity and how our actions impact on others as well as the importance of looking after ourselves.

As part of our inquiry learning into identity, the children have been making connections with each other through games and activities looking for similarities and differences. Here are some examples of their learning using art and wordle.

Literacy- Reading

This term we are teaching in teams for literacy, with Rowe and Paulette's homegroup working together and Nick and Laura's homegroup working together. We have begun to introduce the routines for our reading programme with the children now having reading lessons during the week with a teacher.
The children reading level 21 and below will bring a book home from their browsing box to read each night. The aim of these books is for the children to develop their reading fluency and expression. They should be fun and easy for the children to read.
If your child is reading level 22 and above, they should be reading a self-chosen chapter book.
Each night, we would like the children to record the book or chapter(s) they have read in their home book (this is kept in their home learning folder) and for you to sign that they have read at night. Daily reading is so important for children to become proficient readers, so your support is greatly appreciated!

Water- Drink bottles

It is really important that each child have a water bottle at school EVERY day to enable them to stay hydrated.  Kathleen Liberty' s research has shown that it is important to drink water because...
1. Water helps you to think
2. Water helps your body to grow
3. Water helps you to learn
4. Water helps you to stay calm.

We actively encourage the children to drink water throughout the day. You can support us by making sure your child has their named drink bottle at school.

DMIC- Maths

We have begun our DMIC (maths) programme and have been very impressed with the mathematical conversations the children have been having so far. This week we have begun to set up student access to a study ladder account. Next week, the children will bring home their login and password details for them to be able to access their account from home. This will be found in their home school book. The purpose of using this online took is for the children to develop their mathematical fluency.  Please note: this is an optional activity for home learning.

Discovery- Learning through Play

Learning through play is a pedagogical and neurological approach to learning – where children can explore, experiment, discover, and solve problems in imaginative, playful and agentic ways.
Each day, we provide the children with the opportunity to learn through play. It is one way we are able to meet the requirements of the New Zealand Curriculum by developing confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners. Almost all of the values and key competencies in The New Zealand Curriculum can be developed by learning through play regardless of the age of students.  Connections across learning areas and to the wider world are able to be explored.

Through play children develop;
* cognitive skills such as creativity, problem-solving, deep and variable thinking, mathematics, and language (oral, written )skills
* social capabilities, establishing and fostering relationships, regulating emotions, and control their own behaviours

Making miniature food out of playdough for a cafe

Learning how to signal

Constructing and replicating castles

Learning to draw by following instructions in books

Welcome back, everyone.

Firstly, thank you to all the families who came along to learning conferences last week. It was great to have the opportunity to learn more about your family and how we, as a teaching team, can best meet the needs of your child this year. This time is incredibly valuable for us as a team.

We had a wonderful day today and it was heartwarming to see the children reconnecting with old friends and new friendships being formed. Can you please make sure your child has their HAT, swimming gear (if they are wanting to do water play) and a drink bottle at school tomorrow? Keep the stationery coming in too as we will be beginning to use this tomorrow. Thanks.

At the end of the day, we wonder if someone took Rune's black shoes home by accident. These black and pink shoes were left at school, so maybe an accidental swap?


Here are some of the children today.