Firstly, it was so nice to see you all over the past couple of days at Learning Conferences. We were highly impressed with the way the children all spoke about their learning and discussed their next steps. As a team, we feel so fortunate to have such a dedicated parent community and know that this results in the children being supported by us all to achieve their best.

We hope you were able to also take the time to look at the building designs and have a talk with Michelle or Sandy about our future learning spaces. If you didn't get a chance to go into the hall, the display will be put up in the school office foyer for you to view. We highly recommend you doing so.

STOP PRESS!   Olympic Performance (Celebration of Learning)
Over the next two weeks the children are creating dances to share their learning about the Olympics with you. Each hub has discussed what aspect of Olympic learning they want to share and will be using dance as their method of communication. We are really excited about this performance and know that it will be a true visual extravaganza. At this stage, we anticipate the performance to be around 40 minutes long.
We will be putting on a matinee performance for the school and for any parents, grandparents of whanau that can't make it to the evening performance as well as an evening show:

'Matinee' - Tuesday 13th  September- 11.30am- 12.30pm
Evening Show - Wednesday 14th September- 6pm - 7pm

The children will need to be at school by 5.40pm to get organised for the performance. We need to take a roll of the children at school for safety reasons. Please drop your child at their hub room before heading to the school hall to get a great seat. A gold coin donation will be warmly appreciated.
On Monday, we will let you know what your child will need to wear for their performance. Don't panic - no sewing will be needed!

Home Learning
As we prepare for our Celebration of Learning, we will not be sending home spelling words for the next two weeks. Mad Maths Minute and reading will continue as normal. The focus in reading will be on reading for enjoyment so we would like the children to choose books from home or the library that they wish to share. This is an important part of reading and a great way to help introduce your child to different types of books.

School of Gymnastics
This week and last week, we went to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics. The children had a fantastic time exploring new gymnastic equipment and it was wonderful to see many of the children demonstrate our key school value of 'We Love Challenge' by going on apparatus that they had never been on before. Many of these items were high and required courage to complete the task given by the instructors. Here we are in action...
 



Football - Beckenham vs Thorrington
As part of our P.E. programme, the children have been playing a variety of winter sports. This afternoon, a group of children from our team played against Thorrington School.

Learning Conferences

As you are aware we have Learning Conferences this week. School will finish at 2pm on Tuesday 30th August and Thursday 1st September.

The children are really excited to share their learning with you. At the conference the children will work through a learning reflection booklet. They will discuss the following:
1. What they like doing at school.
2. Reading, Writing, Numeracy and Inquiry
 * What they are proud of.
 * What they need to work on.
 * What they would like help with at home.
3. They will share their learning using examples from books and demonstrate strategies.
4. They have also completed a School Value self assessment.

We will share relevant data with you throughout the conference or as needed. If you have any specific questions about your child's learning, please discuss this at the beginning of the conference so we can ensure your questions are answered.

We are really looking forward to seeing you all over the next couple of days and know there is a lot for us to celebrate!

Kowhai Team

What a fabulous time we had practicing our gymnastic skills. Gymnastics is great fun!

Hi everyone,

WOW! What a busy start to the term we have had so far. Here is the latest update on learning and events.

Celebration Assembly
We have just discovered that the dates on the community calendar were incorrect and as a result many of you will be unaware that Kowhai are hosting the Celebration Assembly TOMORROW. Firstly, our apologies for this. It is going to be a very simple assembly with some of our children sharing a small rakau item. If you are able to attend, we would love to see you there!

Reading
Next week, we are integrating our Inquiry into our Reading programme. During the week, the children will be reading a range of texts related to the Olympics. The focus will be on reading to gain an understanding and use the information. Our teaching focus will be on questioning (asking and answering questions about a text), and making connections with the text and ourselves as 'Olympic Learners'.
The children will bring home browsing box books for their nightly reading. The aim and purpose of these texts, will be to develop reading fluency and speed. You can support your child with this by encouraging them to read fast and think about how to change their voice to suit characters.

Inquiry
Last week, the children had an action packed day rotating around different Asian countries as part of our Social Sciences focus into learning about other cultures and countries. We were impressed with the knowledge and learning that took place. It has been wonderful to hear the children sharing this experience and knowledge at home.
Over the next week, we are looking more closely at the purpose of the Olympic Games, what it means to be an Olympian and what athletes have had to do to be able to compete. The children will learn the importance of the, 'One World' motto as many cultures gather in Rio.

M.A.D Time
We have been lucky enough to have some wonderful parents come in and support our M.A.D Time programme this term, and as a result we have been able to give the children the following options:
1. Sock puppet making
2. Birdhouse making (woodwork with Tony and Mike)
3. Construction
4. Choir
5. Community connections- Thorrington Resthome
6. Paper Mache

Gymnastics
As part of our P.E programme, we are participating in a gymnastics unit. So far the children have had experiences with static balances, locomotion, landing and spring. We have been impressed with the high engagement and focus on improving the control of movements. We are heading to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics and will need one parent per home group to come with us on the bus. If you are able to help, please email or see your home room teacher.
Hub 5/6/7- Tuesday 23rd August 9.30-12pm
Hub 8/9 - Tuesday 30th August 9.30am- 12pm

Literacy Quiz
On Thursday the 18th of August, we have two teams competing at the South Christchurch Literacy Quiz at Somerfield School. They have been reading a selection of picture book and will be quizzed on their knowledge of these books. We wish the very best to the children competing.

Waterbottles 
Please ensure your child has a water bottle at school each day. We are actively encouraging the children to drink throughout the day, so thy remain hydrated. 

Spellathon
We are really pleased with the children's focus at learning their Spellathon words. This is a fantastic fundraiser organised by the P.T.A and your support in collecting sponsorship or donations is greatly appreciated. 
The dates for your diary are:
17th August- Cards returned to school
19th August- Testing day
31st August- Money and cards returned to school
2nd September - Morning tea to the first home group  to return all forms and money 

That's all for now!
Kowhai teachers