Kia ora Kōwhai kids!
We hope you are settling into your second week of lockdown and school holidays!

Hi everyone!
Ben and I have been busy making a jump for him to practice his mountain biking skills. It's really awesome and he was even jumping over his toys to increase the distance he could go. I tried the jump, but was a bit too scared to go up and over as the jump is really big!
I've been busy in my garden too planting new vegetables, picking apples, figs and feijoas. Feijoas are my FAVOURITE so I'm pretty excited to have heaps to eat! I've been walking every day and it has been so cool to see lots of familiar faces when I have been out and about!



I am going to miss you all when I start my new job next week. It has been awesome to have been able to teach such a wonderfully kind, caring and creative bunch of children and know you will just love Tracey! Have a great Easter and I will pop in and see you all when the lockdown is lifted. Take Care xx




 Our cat DC has loved having us at home and spending time curled up on the couch. He loves it when I’m cooking as this means he has a chance to beg for scraps, he can be pretty persistent (very naughty)!


I have also started re-reading the Harry Potter series of books and am enjoying reading them while sitting out in the sun in my backyard!
Take care and I can't wait to hear about what you have been doing during this time.

Jeanette has been busy too. 
I have been making the most of the mild Autumn weather we've been having and enjoying a walk round the neighborhood every day (making sure I keep my distance from the other walkers out there!) I've also busy in the garden planting veggies such as broad beans, snow peas and bok choy which I need to protect from the many rabbits we have hopping around our place - I'm hoping one is the Easter Bunny and will leave us some eggs!


A  message from Rowe  :
Hi Kōwhai! You know how much I love painting and art. I suddenly felt inspired to start painting at home. As you can see I have also been making the most of sunny days and enjoying the vibrant colours of the Autumn leaves. Biking and walking around our local area have been part of my weekly routine too. I even tried a Les Mills fitness class on TV. I didn't know my legs were capable of bending so much. No photo included thank goodness! As you can see  I have been knitting my teddy a scarf to wear on those cold windy days. Missing you all!
Take care everyone. Bear hugs xxxx




A message from Nick:
Hi everyone! I miss you all and hope you are finding lots of fun things to do at home over the holidays.
This week, I caught up with family and friends via video conferencing, went for walks, did some art, constructed a pedestal, watched some movies and did some coding.


Here are some Kōwhai kids who have also sent through pictures of what they have been doing in the holidays.

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