Category Archives: Kowhai

Kowhai Team Update Week 8

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Hi everyone,
It is hard to believe we are in the final weeks of the term! This week has been particularly exciting with the first of our team having the opportunity to be working in our new learning spaces and the exciting cross country event yesterday.

New Learning Spaces
Our whole team visiting the new building.
Hub 5/6 moved over to the new building on Thursday and will be based here until the end of the term. As a team, we are really excited to be able to work in this space. So, over the next two weeks, everyone will have time to work in this space to give our tamariki a 'taste' of what will will be like next term when we move into our new building.
As part of our circle time discussions across the team, we have been talking about the concept of change in preparation for the move. We have discussed our thoughts and feelings when we experience change and how many things continue to remain the same. With that in mind, although the space will be different, all our routines will continue as they currently are. These circle time sessions will continue to provide the children with the opportunity to ask any questions they have about our new learning spaces. As a teaching team, we are really excited about the opportunities that working together will provide and having a team of teachers supporting and caring for each of our students is really exciting!

Learner Agency
Sewing spare bags for the library.
As a school, we believe that the most powerful learning occurs when it is driven by students. This is often referred to as self -directed learning or student agency. Student Agency is about the student being the "agent" (or "person with an active role" in learning) rather than the teacher. When students connect to their passions and interests, they have a greater stake in what they are doing as they are creating, doing, sharing, collaborating, and publishing their learning in ways that are meaningful to them.
We promote agency in many different ways across our team and this, like our learners, can look different as we all have differing learning styles, skills and knowledge. At the Year 3-4 level, our role is to discuss learning steps related to our observations and assessments and encourage our students to make choices about how they can work on new learning goals.
Here are some children demonstrating agency by completing a variety of learning tasks:
Working independently
Working collaboratively in a group.
Creating our own art that communicates a school value.

Agency in Literacy - In Hub 5/6, four reading groups have been trialing a 'Literacy' time. In this learning block the children have been reading articles related to our inquiry around the environment and how environmental change occurs. The groups have then been encouraged to produce writing based on their reading. The children are being encouraged to decide what type or genre of writing they want to produce and then given scaffolding and support to create their work.




Agency in Maths - Having agency in maths is about children taking charge of their learning and having a growth mindset. This means that they have the skills to persevere with new learning and are able to ask questions and try different ways to solve a problem. We never say, "We can't do do that." Instead we say, "We can't do that yet!"
We encourage each other to be successful in maths by talking through different strategies to solve problems and choosing the ones that work best for us.



Inquiry Update
In Inquiry, we have been learning about the plants and animals in our environment and about how plants and animals adapt to their changing environment. We have also been thinking about how our environment helps to shape our identity. The children have been coming up with deeper questions that they want to research related to this topic. They are currently preparing to answer these questions and any more that may arise. Their next step is to think about how they want to make a difference with their newfound knowledge. This will be up to the children as to what they want to do. It gives the children the perfect opportunity to take their Inquiry in their own direction and have a richer and more meaningful learning experience.





Agency in MAD Time

MAD time (Make A Difference time) has been a great success! The children have selected an area they are passionate about for the term and wow, they have been doing a lot of learning around their projects.  Woodwork,  Passion Projects, Sketching,  Italian, Korean Dance and Visiting Thorrington Resthome residents have all allowed the children to take ownership of their learning and have a great time seeing how they can make a difference to others and work through their own challenges. Check out our awesome photos of our K Pop dances we have perfected. The children have had a blast learning about Korean culture and dance.

S.P.C.A Donations Urgently Needed
A group of MAD Time students are currently needing donations of blankets and cat/kitten food for the SPCA. If you have any items that you are able to donate, these girls and the SPCA would be most grateful! Donations can be made by either dropping food into the school office or to the girls who are collecting items each morning BEFORE school by the flag pole. Thanks for helping this very worthwhile cause!

Cross Country
Due to the weather last week, the cross country will now be held this coming Thursday 29th June.  The times are as follows:
1:50pm - NE race begins / Y1 warm up
2:00pm - Y1 race begins / Y2 warm up
2:10pm - Y2 race begins / Y3 warm up
2:20pm - Y3 race begins / Y4 warm up
2:30pm - Y4 race begins

Cheese Rolls
Delivery of these yummy cheese rolls will be on Thursday 29th June. Make sure you have put your order in as they are delicious!

That's all for this week.
Kowhai Teaching Team

Kowhai Newsletter Week 4

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Trip to Hillview Christian School to view JRock

This coming Monday, 29th May, we have been able to book the Hillview Christian School gym so that our amazing Year 7/8 students can share their superb JRock performance with the rest of the school. With our own hall out of action, only two classes managed to see it in dress rehearsal last week. At this stage, the forecast is clear and this will see the entire school walking down to Hillview and back leaving at 9.10am and returning by 10.30am. 


Reading- Developing Fluent Readers
In Year 3-4, our reading focus shifts from learning to read, to reading to learn. Our team reading programme is centred around developing reading fluency which will enables children to have greater comprehension of what they read, and as a result are able to use ii for learning.  
Fluency is the ability to read  a text accurately, quickly, and with expression and because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding the words, they can focus their attention on what the text means. 


Fluency is a significant indicator of reading comprehension. When children can read fluently, it means that instead of using brain power for decoding (working out words), they can turn their attention to the meaning of the text. And it gets even better! When students reach higher levels of fluency, they’re able to tap into meta cognitive strategies. This means that they can visualise, question, and interpret what they are reading, and they can think about their own feelings and opinions while reading text. This is the highest level of reading comprehension.

Across our team, this term we are actively promoting reading fluency. The books that your child either brings home to read from school or is a book at home that they are reading, we want this to be able to be read fluently. In our Hubs we talk about finding a 'Good Fit Book' this is a book that is of interest and fun and easy to read so our reading sound like talking. If the reading is robotic, then the book is too hard. Reading at home should be enjoyable for both you and your child!

Buddy Writing Programme


In Hub 7,8,9 some of the children have been apart of our buddy writing programme. This is where a writing tutor helps a tutee with their writing. We have seen the children interacting so positively during writing. Some children who started off only writing ten words are now writing fifty words or even more! Our tutors are enjoying being the teacher and encouraging others to write. 





Home Learning
Thank you to all the wonderful parents who actively support this component of our class programme. As a school, we believe in the importance of developing a love of reading, being numerate and able to spell most high frequency words. We are very aware of the many families who have commitments with their children after school each day and have tried to make our home learning as simple as possible. It should only take about 15-20minutes each day to complete.
Reading - 10 minutes (fun easy read!)
Spelling - 5 minutes
MMM - 1 minute


Kowhai Trip to the City


Looking through the kaleidoscope in New Regent Street

Last Wednesday we had a wonderful trip to the city and the Margaret Mahy playground.
The aim of the trip was to learn more about our changing city, especially the transitional artworks that have become a feature since the earthquakes. We completed a scavenger hunt as we made our way through the city, visiting the Bridge of Remembrance, City mall, Cathedral Square, the Dance-o-Mat and New Regent Street, noting down many of the artworks that we saw on the way. Finally we finished our trip at the Margaret Mahy Playground where we had lunch and a great time.
Over the next few weeks we will be creating our own temporary artworks to feature around the school during the rebuild. You can find our first artwork hanging from the fences in front of the hall.

Thank you so much to all the parents who came on the trip with us. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Dancing at the Dance-o-Mat!

Margaret Mahy Playground

Margaret Mahy Playground


Toys, Pokemon cards  and Fidget Spinners
Over the past week, we have noticed a variety of 'toy' style items coming to school. Across the team, we have reminded the children that the only items that are to come to school are those that are required for learning (lunch, water, Home Learning folders and warm jackets/jerseys). Toys (including small animal soft toys), fidget spinners and Pokemon cards are not allowed at school.  If a child wants to trade Pokemon cards, this can be done after school with a parent bringing in the cards after 3pm. We would love your support with this, as these items can interfere with classroom learning. Thanks so much!


Thank You!
A huge shout out goes to the parent helpers who came with us on our exciting city trip this week. You were all absolutely amazing and we could not have gone on this trip without you.  It was great to see so many Dads on the trip too! this children had a fantastic time exploring the city and seeing the art works that have been put up to add colour and create interest for locals and visitors alike.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead!
Kowhai Teaching Team





Kowhai Team Newsletter Week 2 Term 2

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Wow! What a busy week!

Firstly, thank you all so much for coming along to our Learning Conferences this week. We were so impressed with how the children confidently shared their learning with you all. It is always so exciting to have the opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of our tamariki and identify next steps. Having a strong home and school partnership is essential for our children to feel truly supported and able work towards their learning goals. As a team, we really appreciate being able to work with such a caring and committed parent community. So thank you!

Rhythm Interactive

We had an amazing visit from Rhythm Interactive on Monday. Due to our hall being out of action at the moment, we took a short walk to the Methodist church hall just one block away from the school where we experienced a rhythm extravaganza. There was a drum for every child and there were 2 rhythm experts who took us through the whole experience. They taught us all sorts of different rhythms and they managed to teach us using only facial expressions and gestures - no talking. It was brilliant and the children absolutely loved it. It was a real test of their ability to watch and listen carefully and also to mirror which rhythms they were playing. The sound the children made resonated around the whole hall and everyone was into the groove. Fantastic!




Inspiration Stations
For our inspiration stations in  Hub 7/8/9 we have had a focus on living things. We have had many crafty activities involving observation drawings, collages, researching living things we are interested in, life cycles, creating pamphlets and a naming plants challenge. It has been wonderful to see the high level of interest and the questions that have been sparked because of this intriguing topic. We look forward to finding out more in our inquiry.




In Hub 5/6 we have had a focus on the children taking more ownership for their learning. Our key competency focus has been on Thinking and Self-Managing.  We have been promoting the children to:
Have their own ideas and follow through with them
Planing ahead and gathering resources Practising until success is achieved 
Make choices that provide a challenge Asking questions to extend thinking and understanding about topics Thinking creatively Making connections with previous ideas
Persisting when things are difficult

The children have been exploring the concept of patterns, where patterns are made, patterns with numbers and letters and patterns in art. The children have also actively explored their own interests into the living world, researching topics of interest and sketching still life images. We have really loved how children have supported each other with their learning and really challenged themselves to extend their thinking and understanding about these concepts. 

Trip to town- Wednesday 17th May
A huge thank you to all the parents who have kindly offered their assistance on Wednesday with our trip into the city. We will send out a reminder email the day before and if the weather looks to be wet, the postponement date will be the following Wednesday 24th May. 



On Wednesday we were very lucky to have Hugh McCarroll (Sophie M’s Grandad), who has been in the news recently for becoming a finalist in a NASA competition to invent a hands free space toilet for astronauts. He was able to teach us about the process of entering a competition like this and teach us more about space. We loved the passion Hugh showed and we hope he can come again to talk about more spacetastic topics, and answer more questions.  Check out the link below to find the article and video of Hugh.
Space Poop Challenge


That's all for this week. Have a wonderful weekend with your family!
Kowhai Teaching Team


Kowhai News Term 2 Week 1

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Welcome back to Term 2. We have really enjoyed hearing about all the fun filled activities the children have been able to experience over the holidays. What a lucky bunch!
Here are the essentials for the week ahead...


TRIP TO THE CITY AND THE MARGARET MAHY PLAYGROUND:
We are continuing to explore ideas about the concept of Identity with a particular focus this term in art. We have planned a wonderful trip to the city to investigate the transitional art that has evolved as a response to the earthquakes. We will travel to the city by bus and walk through the city, taking pictures of artworks and participating a city scavenger hunt. We will then make our way to the Margaret Mahy Playground for lunch and a play before taking a bus back to school.

The trip will take place on Wednesday 17th May. We will leave school at 9.30am and will return to school at 2.30pm. There will be a small cost of $3.50 per child to cover the buses. This amount will be added to your school account.

to enable this trip to go ahead, we do need parent helpers for this trip. If you are able to assist us, please let you child’s home group teacher know. Thank you very much.

MAD Time

We have started our first session of MAD time (Make A Difference time). The children have selected an area they are particularly interested in for the term. The different MAD projects include Woodwork with Mike, Passion Projects with Paulette, Sketching with Anna, Italian with Susan, Korean Dance with Rebekah. We also have a small group of children going to Thorrington Resthome to visit the residents.



Pizza Making- Parent Help Needed
This term, the children who receive certificates will be given the opportunity to make pizzas for lunch. This is one way that we can utilise the kitchen in our team. We will notify you either via the phone or email to let you know if your child is making pizzas. As a school, we will provide the pizza dough and sauce and your child will need to bring along the toppings they want on their pizza. We do need the lovely assistance of a parent each week to support the children with making the pizzas. This will be from 11am-12pm. If you are able to help, please add you name to the roster here.

Term 2 Inquiry Focus  
Our Inquiry focus for Term 2 sees us continuing to 'dig deeper' into the concept of Identity exploring it with a scientific lens with the children learning how environmental change can affect our identity. Over the course of this inquiry, we will be learning to make comparisons between living and non-living things, think about what living things need to survive and how changes in environment(s) can have an effect on living things. We will also be looking at roles and responsibilities in human and animal communities and what it means to be a citizen. We can wait to see what action the children want to make with their learning.

Learning Conferences 
Next week, school will close at 2pm on Tuesday 9th May and Thursday 11th May as we have Learning Conferences. As a school, we highly value this opportunity for the children to share their learning with you, celebrating their achievements and identifying their next steps. If you are yet to make a booking, please go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and use the code b5qec
We look forward to seeing you all next week.

Hockey
Next week we are lucky to have coaches from Canterbury Hockey coming to school to teach the children basic field hockey skills. The programme is called Small Stix and will consist of 4 skill based sessions and will culminate in a hockey festival to celebrate the children's learning on the 6th of June. 


Rhythm Interactive


On Monday, we are are very fortunate to be experiencing Rhythm Interactive at Beckenham School. Due to the hall being out of action, the Methodist Church on Malcolm Ave are kindly hosting the whole event. The children will not only be listening to the percussive skills of the Rhythm Interactive team as they get banging and beating on their drums, but they will also get stuck in themselves, filling the hall with their own rhythmic sounds. It is so exciting! If you want to know more about it, have look at the following YouTube clip from a previous visit to Beckenham School: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziyo8Zk4eOg.


That's all for now. Have a wonderful weekend with your whanau!
Kowhai Teaching Team