Category Archives: Kowhai

Orana Park Trip Final Information

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Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Re: Kowhai Team Orana Park Trip Monday 5 December, 2016

Just a reminder that we are heading to Orana Park on Monday 5th of December, from 9.30am-2.45pm to tie in with our inquiry focus this term. Our students will be learning about how animals adapt to their habitats as they tour the park with a guide.

In order for your child to be able to go on this trip, they must bring the following as this is part of our safety action plan:

  • School sunhat
  • School uniform
  • Sunscreen applied
  • Water bottle (Named)
  • A litter-free morning tea and lunch
  • A warm layer of clothing
  • Raincoat

Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.

We look forward to an amazing trip.  

Best wishes,

Paulette, Mike, Anna, Rebekah and Gayle

Athletics Afternoon Tomorrow

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Kia Ora Whanau


We have our Junior Athletics Day tomorrow, Wednesday 30th November 2016. We will begin at 1:45pm and be finished by 3:00pm. Please meet us outside, on the junior side of the hall. We will then move out into Beckenham Park.

Children are invited to wear their house colours for the day. Please make sure your child has warm clothes as the temperatures look to be much cooler than today and they will be outside for the afternoon.

If the weather doesn't allow, we will postpone the event until Wednesday 14th December 2016. Please ensure your child has their wide brimmed hat, water bottle and is wearing suitable shoes for the day,


Warm Regards
Koru, Kahikatea & Kowhai


Junior Athletics Day

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Junior Athletics Day

Kia Ora Whanau


We have our Junior Athletics Day coming up next week on Wednesday 30th November 2016. We will begin at 1:45pm and be finished by 3:00pm. Please meet us outside, on the junior side of the hall. We will then move out into Beckenham Park.

Children are invited to wear their house colours for the day.

If the weather doesn't allow, we will postpone until Wednesday 14th December 2016. Please ensure your child has their hat and water bottle and is wearing suitable shoes for the day,

Warm Regards
Koru, Kahikatea & Kowhai

Kowhai News Week 6 18th November

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Kowhai News Term 4 Week 6

We have had a great week despite the rumblings on Monday.  As a team, we have been so impressed with how the children have managed throughout the week.

Here are the essentials for this week:

Habitat Dioramas
Across the team, the children have applied their knowledge about habitats and animal adaptations by moving an animal to a new environment. This has involved the children thinking about the physical adaptations needed, changes to food, potential new predators and any changes to the animal's current behaviour. The children have written information reports on these animals and this coming week, they will be making a diorama to show their chosen animal in their new habitat.
If you have any crafty donations that would assist the children with constructing their diorama, please send them into school: cellophane, crepe paper, glitter, wool, coloured stones, astro turf, polystyrene etc.

Orana Park Trip
To conclude our inquiry into adaptations, the children will be going to Orana Park for the day on Monday 5th December. Each class will have their own guide for the day. The guide will take each class around the park to discuss the different animals with a focus on animal adaptations. We will need the help of 20 parents across our team to enable us to go. If you are able to assist us on this trip, please email or contact your home room teacher.  A notice with more details will come home on Monday.

Junior Athletics Afternoon
Our very first Junior School (NE-Y4) Athletics Day is fast approaching. The children have been developing their athletics skills over the past few weeks. Please come along to support your child at our Athletics afternoon on Wednesday 30th November 1.45pm-3pm. The afternoon will follow this programme:

1:50 - Welcome whanau outside hall
1:55 - Children moving out to their first rotation with teachers and warming up
2:00 - Run, Jump, Throw rotations x5 (approx. 10 mins each)
2:50 - Thank you and farewell whanau outside hall

Miniball Week 7
For those children who play miniball at Pioneer on Thursdays, here are the details for next week's games:

Thursday 1st December
4.30pm Bombers vs West Spreydon (court 2)
5pm      Bandits vs  Somerfield Kakapos (court 1)

Well, that's all for now. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Let's hope that Summer starts to appear!

Kowhai Teaching Team

Kowhai News Term 4 Week 4

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Dear parents and caregivers,

This week we celebrated some more amazing students at our team hui who have been applying the school values to their everyday learning. We are so proud of their hard work. Goal setting, self-management and persistence were a common theme this week. These lucky children will be baking pizzas on Friday.
Inquiry
Hub 8/9 and 7 have been learning all about different habitats. We are investigating where animals live, and how different animals are suited to their habitat. We are exploring what would happen if animals had to swap habitats. Could they survive? What adaptations would they have to make? We can't wait  to create our own diorama of a habitat to showcase our learning. 
Hub 5/6 have been investigating the characteristics of various animals that enable them to live in a particular habitat. We have applied this knowledge to invent a new animal and have identified the key attributes they need to surivive in a particualr habitat. This coming week, we will be exploring how changes to an environment can impact on animals and what they need to do to adapt to these changes in order to survive.

 Home Learning Folders
Each week the children have the opportunity to go to the library. We have noticed that many of the children are not bringing their Home Learning folders to school each day. We would really love your support with this, as having these at school each day helps the children to be organised for their learning. Inside the Home Learning folder they need to keep their reading book (school book or library book), home learning book and their spelling notebook. Anne also requires the children to have a bag to enable them to issue books at school. This protects them as they travel to and from school. If your child has lost their folder, any type of bag will suffice to keep the items they need at school together. Thanks!

S.T.E.M Challenges
Make an animal out of lego
Race cars without touching them
The children in Hub 5/6 have been participating in a variety of S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) challenges each week. The focus on these activities have been for the children to be creative and active problems solvers who can work together whilst maintaining a growth mindset. Here are some of the challenges so far. This coming week the children will be creating a paper plate pinball track. We can't wait to see their results!

M.A.D (Make A Difference) Time
This term the children have been given the options of:
Photography - Learning how to use the ipad to take photos, how to take a variety of photos, editing and creating photo frames.
Stop Motion Animation- Learning how to make an animated story using lego.
Drama- Learning drama  skills and applying these to create a short performance.
Thorrington Resthome- Visiting our local resthome to make connections with the elderly residents. The children read stories, chat and sing them songs.
Sewing- The children are learning a variety of sewing skills as they create a monster pillow.
Christmas Crafts and Cards- We are lucky enough to have the assistance of Nicola Arnott who is teaching the children how to make various Christmas crafts and cards.


Pizza Making
The children have been having a fantastic time with the kind assistance of Melissa Reid, making and baking pizzas each Friday. We feel very fortunate to have the use of a kitchen in our team. We would love to extend our kitchen use across the team by providing each of the hubs the opportunity to use the kitchen to learn more about food technology. We would love to hear from any keen parents who would like to take a small group of children for fun kitchen lesssons from 9am-10.30am. We only need the help of 1-2 parents for each hub. If this sounds like you, please contact your hub teacher.


PTA Tip Top Fundraiser
The PTA are working hard to try and fill all the shifts for the Tip Top Ice Cream sales fundraiser at the A&P Show in November. Please click on this link to find more information and book a slot: Tip Top A&P Show Fundraiser
Hats
Please remember - to keep our children safe during the summer months, we ask that all children wear a brimmed sunhat while outside during learning or play time. This is now compulsory throughout Term 4, and again at the start of each year in Term 1. Children who do not have a sunhat will be asked to play in the shade during break times. Please support your child in remembering to bring their sunhat every day.

Important Dates (for your diary)
Mufti Day - Friday 4th November - gold coin donation to raise money for House Flags
Celebration Assembly - Kowhai leading Thursday 10th November 2.30pm- 3pm
Run Jump Throw Athletics Afternoon - Wednesday 30th November 1.45pm-3pm

That's all for this week
Kowhai Teaching Team