Category Archives: Kowhai

Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 7

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Kia ora whānau,

It has been another busy fortnight in the Kōwhai Team.


Keeping Ourselves Safe

Over the last two weeks, most homegroups have had a Keeping Ourselves Safe lesson with Constable Meg Moynihan, our local Police School Community Officer. The children were excited to see a police officer in the hub and had many questions for her.

Our current Keeping Ourselves Safe focuses are:

Focus area 2: My body is my own, Nōku tōku tinana 

In this focus area, students learn the names of body parts and that no one should touch their genitals unless it is for health reasons. They consider touch that they like, touch that hurts and touch that is confusing. 

Focus area 3: Unwanted behaviour and touch, Kore e hiahiatia te whanonga me te pā kino

In this focus area, students learn about saying “no” confidently, moving away, and reporting what has happened to an adult they trust. They also learn the difference between good secrets and bad secrets.

Balloon Racers

The children have been busy using the design process to plan and construct balloon-powered racing cars. Here are the steps of the design process that the children are following:
  1. Define the problem/need.
  2. Research your problem and come up with ideas you have for solving it. 
  3. Create a prototype. 
  4. Trial and improve the prototype.
  5. Reflect.
Here are some photos of their progress:





Reading Books

If your child is in a reading group that takes a reading book home, please support them to return their book to school on time. One easy way to help with this at home is to coach your child to always put their reading folder and book back in their bag as soon as they have finished reading their book. This way their book should always come back to school. Thanks for your support in this.


Positive Behaviour For Learning - Friendship

As part of our Positive Behaviour For Learning (PB4L) programme, the children learn different strategies for maintaining positive behaviour, improving their well-being and increasing their educational achievement.

We have a different PB4L focus each week. This week's focus has been on friendship. As part of this, the children have been learning about what a good friend looks like, sounds like and feels like.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team

Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 5

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Kia ora whānau,

We have had another very busy fortnight completing our calendar art and many more activities.

Keeping Ourselves Safe

We have started teaching Keeping Ourselves Safe (KOS), a safety programme from the New Zealand Police. These lessons will be taught by your child’s homegroup teacher, with support from Constable Meg Moynihan, our local Police School Community Officer. As Anna Reid is away, her homegroup will start the KOS programme at a slightly later date.

What will children and young people learn?

  • to work out when their safety is at risk
  • how to keep safe when they meet and mix with other people
  • who and how to ask for help if they, or someone they know, is being abused
  • to go on asking for help until someone does something to stop the abuse
  • that it is important to make and follow personal, family and school safety rules

What part do parents, caregivers and whānau play?

Parents and whānau are strongly encouraged to support Keeping Ourselves Safe. You can also talk with your child about what they have learnt in Keeping Ourselves Safe and help them with any KOS activities they bring home. Visit the whānau section of the NZ Police Keeping Ourselves Safe website for more information and frequently asked questions.

If you require more information about the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme or wish to discuss the learning, please speak with your child’s homegroup teacher in the first instance.

This programme is divided into focus areas and this week we have discussed the following:

Focus area 1: I am unique, He taonga ahau

For safety reasons, students need to know their name, where they live, and the names of the people they live with. When they can verbalise their feelings confidently, they can report times when they feel safe and unsafe. We also discussed online safety so the students have an understanding of what personal information should not be shared on line.

PB4L and Wellbeing 

Our school uses the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) schoolwide framework, to help our students understand and grow positive behaviours such as kindness, responsibility, respect and positive attitudes towards learning. We have a school-wide Word of the Week, and this week's is respect! Our students loved this song. We also have a learning focus, and this week's is mindset. You might enjoy watching this short video at home.

Gymnastics 

We loved our second trip to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics last week! The students were once more engaged in a variety of activities including swing ropes, trampolining, swing bars, balance beams, rolling, foam pit, rock crawl and more. The instructors were fabulous and were very impressed by the positive behaviour and listening skills of our students. We were all captivated by the dusting of snow on the hills on our ride home in the bus. 

The Christchurch School of Gymnastics offers after school and weekend classes if you wish to pursue this for your child.












Book Character Day

Last Friday was our Book Character Day and numerous book characters came to life.










Thank you so much for your continued support.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Ngā mihi, 

The Kōwhai Team

Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 3

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Kia ora whānau,

We've enjoyed another fun fortnight at school. Find out more below!

Wellness

A big thanks to families for sending children with warm clothes, jumpers, jackets and gumboots on our wetter days. We continue to monitor temperatures, air flow and ensure frequent hand washing at school, to help everyone stay well. Thanks also to families for keeping unwell students home.

Maths

Our students have embraced learning about fractions over the last three weeks. We are really impressed with their abilities to have a go at new, often challenging learning, and to justify their thinking through mathematical discussions. Key learning focuses include: 

  • Know words and symbols for fractions: ¹⁄₂, ¹⁄₃, ¹⁄₄, ¹⁄₅, ¹⁄₁₀ and fractions greater than 1 
  • Find halves, quarters, thirds and fifths of sets by equal sharing
  • Find halves and quarters of shapes using objects
  • Order fractions and explain which is bigger
Feel free to work on these at home too.

This is one of the problems that some of us have worked on recently: 

I picked up a handful of M&M’s. 
1/3 of them were red. 
What might a drawing of the M&M’s look like?

Photos from a class who completed a 'fraction friend' activity...







Gym Trip

We loved our trip to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics, and are looking forward to returning next week! The instructors were kind, and the activities were varied and included swing ropes, trampolining, swing bars, balance beams, rolling, foam pit, rock crawl and more.







Keeping Ourselves Safe

Our students will soon be teaching Keeping Ourselves Safe (KOS), a safety programme from the New Zealand Police. These lessons will be taught by your child’s homegroup teacher, with support from Constable Meg Moynihan, our local Police School Community Officer.

What will children and young people learn?

  • to work out when their safety is at risk
  • how to keep safe when they meet and mix with other people
  • who and how to ask for help if they, or someone they know, is being abused
  • to go on asking for help until someone does something to stop the abuse
  • that it is important to make and follow personal, family and school safety rules

What part do parents, caregivers and whānau play?

Parents and whānau are strongly encouraged to support Keeping Ourselves Safe. You can also talk with your child about what they have learnt in Keeping Ourselves Safe and help them with any KOS activities they bring home. Visit the whānau section of the NZ Police Keeping Ourselves Safe website for more information and frequently asked questions.

If you require more information about the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme or wish to discuss the learning, please speak with your child’s homegroup teacher in the first instance.

Discovery Fun









Kōwhai Gymnastics Trip and News Week 1, Term 3

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Kia ora e te whanau, nau mai hoki mai.

We hope that you enjoyed the break. It has been lovely to hear students share stories about their holidays. It sounds like lots of fun was had whether they stayed in Christchurch or travelled elsewhere. It is hard to believe that term 3 is here already! The students have had a great first week and have started settling back into the routine.


Gymnastics Trip - Parent Helpers Needed

As a team, we will be teaching a Health and PE unit about our bodies and how we move these, focusing on gymnastic movements. During weeks 3 and 4, the Kōwhai team will be travelling to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics for a couple of sessions. Working with a professional gymnastics school will help us educate the students in a safe environment with expert help. The dates and times for the trips are as follows:

Thursday August 3rd 2023

  • Charlotte's Homegroup: 9:00-11:30
  • Rowe's Homegroup: 10:30-1:00
  • Nick's Homegroup: 12:30-3:00

Thursday August 10th 2023
  • Charlotte's Homegroup: 9:00-11:30
  • Rowe's Homegroup: 10:30-1:00
  • Nick's Homegroup: 12:30-3:00
Anna M and Anna R's classes will be divided up and spread amongst the 3 groups. We are looking for some keen parent helpers to attend and help out. If you are available and would like to come along and help, please complete this form by Monday, 24th July.


Calendar Art

This term, students will have the opportunity to explore the iconic artistry of Romero Britto and create their very own calendar art, bursting with Britto-inspired brilliance. From his playful use of vibrant hues to his distinctive patterns, Britto's artworks radiate joy and positivity. We are very excited to get creating and can’t wait to see the finished product!

Balloon Racers

This term, our inquiry focus is on technology and revisiting forces and motion. The students will embrace their inner inventors and set their imaginations soaring as they construct their very own balloon racers. Through this hands-on project, they will explore physics, discovering how forces shape the world around us. As students engage in the process of designing and refining their racers, they will build collaboration and reflection skills.

For the balloon racers, we are after some construction materials. If you have any of the following, could you please send them in as soon as possible?:
  • cardboard
  • small boxes for construction (e.g. cereal boxes/boxes smaller than a shoe box)
  • small plastic containers (e.g. recycling)
  • milk bottle tops
Tēnā rawa atu koe – thank you.


Here are some photos of what's been happening this week. 










From the Kōwhai team

Kōwhai News Term 2 Week 9

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Kia ora whānau,

Welcome to the Kōwhai blog for Week 9!

Whānau Hui

We had lots of fun at our Whānau Hui this week. Thank you for coming along to take part in our Matariki celebration. There was lots of excitement in the air, culminating in an amazing performance given by the Kōwhai Kapa Haka group. Well done everyone! Here are some photos of what we got up to:










Waka

Over the past few weeks, our students have been engaged in building waka (Māori canoes) as part of our learning on New Zealand migration. Some children have built their waka using sticks, string and paper while others have built them in Minecraft. Here are some photos of their work:









AI Art

This term some of the children have been exploring the use of generative AI to create stunning digital portraits. Here is some of their work:

 


Reading Folders

If your child is bringing home Pip and Tim books, it is important that they bring their reading folder back to school every day. We suggest that the children always put their reading folder straight back into their bag as soon as they have finished reading at home. That way the folder will always make its way back to school safely. Thank you for your support with this.

Sickness

We are in the middle of the winter illness season. Please remember to keep your child at home if they are unwell. We are trying to minimise the spread of germs by encouraging the children to wash their hands before eating and sanitise or wash their hands as needed throughout the day.

End of Term

As the term draws to a close, we hope you have a restful and enjoyable break with your children, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for another exciting term ahead.

Happy holidays!

From the Kōwhai team