Week 5 Newsletter

Posted on 4 June, 20165 June, 2016 by Ms Hulme

Talofa 'aiga,

We have had another busy week in the Kahikatea team, with our particular focus on Space (Planet Earth and Beyond). The writing and experimenting that the children have been involved in has demonstrated to us their enormous interest and motivation in this subject. We shall continue to publish samples of writing here on our Blog, but please do check out your children's writing books in the classrooms as well.

Next week is going to be very busy for us all:

teachers are involved in a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday, focusing on the teaching of writing
on both Wednesday and Thursday, teachers will be involved in teaching and observing each other, as we continue our focus on the teaching of writing
on Wednesday, we have our hockey 'festival' session between 9:30 and 10 a.m.
and on Thursday, we are having the second of our Arts Extravaganza days, with children rotating through 4 different sessions, which will include Drama/Dance, visual art (2 different sessions), and music.

As a result of not only the above, but also the fact that next week is a short week anyway, our Home Learning is going to have a different look. Teachers will be in touch with you regarding the type of approach that their Home Learning will take.

Blog notifications:

Please note that you are able to subscribe to being emailed whenever a new post is added to our Blog. This is not compulsory, however you may find it quite convenient. To access this, you can find the space to add your email address at the top right hand corner of our home page.

A reminder about upcoming events:

Matariki will be starting on June 6th and will run throughout the following month
the Koru and Kahikatea teams cross country will be held on Thursday, June 16th (another newsletter reminder will be coming out about this at the start of Week 7); this event will be starting very promptly at 9:30, so perhaps arrive a few minutes earlier!
Science Alive's Space Discovery Dome will be coming to Beckenham School on Monday, June 20th - another event to look forward to!
the Court Theatre will be coming on Thursday, June 23rd to present their performance of Matariki for us.

The rising of the Matariki star cluster signals the celebration of the Maori New Year in New Zealand

Matariki Kite Day celebrates the symbolic connection of heaven and earth

We hope that you all have a wonderful long weekend, and look forward to seeing the children again next Wednesday.

Children as Writers Slideshow

Posted on 3 June, 201622 July, 2016 by Nick Bruce

Recently Murray Gadd, a New Zealand writing expert, hosted a presentation at Beckenham School on children's writing. Here is his slideshow.

Planet Earth and Beyond

Posted on 2 June, 20162 June, 2016 by Jenny

This hands on demonstration helps us to explain how the Earth orbits the Sun.

We created a model of the Moon's surface using flour and baby oil. Then we dropped pebbles onto the surface to show how craters are formed on the Moon by meteorites.

The Sun

Posted on 2 June, 20162 June, 2016 by Jenny

The hottest thing in our Solar System is the Sun. The biggest thing in the Solar System is the Sun. The coldest planet is Neptune.

By Ishaan

The Super Sun

The Sun is 400 times farther away from us than the Moon. The Sun is about 150 million km from Earth. The Sun is a ball of fire and gas. The Sun is in the middle of our Solar System. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for the Sun. The Sun gives us light, heat, day and night. I love the Sun. The Sun is 5000 degrees C.

By Fergus

Space

There are planets called dwarf planets in the Solar System. Pluto is one of the dwarf planets. There are 4 more dwarf planets. There are 5 dwarf planets in total. The dwarf planets go round the Sun. So do the other planets. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Satin, Uranus and Neptune. The reason why Pluto is not a planet anymore is because it got too small to be a planet. The Sun is made of gassy fire. Some people think that the Sun is yellow, but it is actually white.

By Maisie

Coping in a Changing World – Art in Hub 7

Posted on 1 June, 20161 June, 2016 by Gayle McNaughton

In term 2, Hub 7's inquiry topic is focusing on 'Coping in Changing World'.

As part of this inquiry our visual art has been motivated by the changing seasons. We have been looking at the ways that the change in seasons affect our landscape, colours of foliage and sky, light, textures and temperature. See our paintings below - a work in progress.