Monthly Archives: March 2019

Kauri Whanau Weekly Update: Term 1 Week 7

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What extraordinary times we are living through at the moment. Our love and support goes to those in our team who we know have been directly affected by the events of last Friday. Yesterday we aimed for a very normal day at school. We acknowledged how well the children had done during the lockdown and how it was important not to talk about the details of what happened with peers at school, but to let us know if they did want to talk with an adult. The day went smoothly with the children responding positively to their learning.

Below is lots of important information about our upcoming camp to Wainui in the last week of term.

Camp Fundraising

In light of Friday's events we have decided to postpone the Bingo Comedy Night, scheduled for this coming Saturday, until next term. Ticket sales were steady until Friday and then dropped right off. I have contacted Jarred and once we have a new date we will let you know. Leigh is contacting those who have already booked tickets.

Cheese rolls sales are steady. Please use this link to place your order. It has been heartening to hear about children approaching friends, extended family and neighbors to boost sales.

We are assuming the Bingo night will make at least $1000 in term 2,  and once the cheese roll orders close next Monday, we will finalise the cost of camp. Please do your best to support our cheese roll fundraiser.

Can you join us for some afternoon walks?

Our first camp activity is a tramp to camp. The children will be walking the last section of the journey to Wainui, around 2 hours walking. In order to build up fitness for this, we will be walking up Huntsbury Hill regularly from next week. If you are able to join us on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday afternoon, please click the link below. We will be leaving school at 2pm next week and possibly at the earlier time of 1:30 in the week before camp. Please fill in this form if you can join us.

Camp

Today we will be sending home a health profile form for all Year 7s. Camp parents will also need to complete this form.  We already have these for Year 8 from leadership camp. If any situations have changed for our Year 8 children since leadership camp, please update us by emailing your child's homeroom teacher.  We will also send home a paper copy of the gear list explained below. Our camp, from April 8 - 12, will be in the middle of autumn. While we hope for warm dry weather, we need to be prepared for the cold and wet. It is essential that every child has a waterproof coat. We need to sight your child's waterproof coat before camp. Please send it along to school sometime over the next week.  Please let us know if you need help sorting this for your child.

Camp Gear List (supplied by Wainui)

Please ensure all of the items below are named. Gear needs to be packed into a sturdy bag.

Warm Sleeping Bag or Bedding
Fitted sheet
Pillow
Pyjamas
Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, soap,  deodorant (not spray), shampoo etc.
3 towels
Raincoat
Warm waterproof jacket
2 warm jerseys
6 T-shirts
3 pairs of shorts
3 pairs of trousers
Socks and underwear
Thermals longs and tops
Swimming togs
Warm hat / beanie
Sunscreen
Sun hat
2 pairs of lace up shoes, including one pair of sneakers that can be used for water activities.
Gumboots or jandals
Torch
Small Backpack
Water Bottle
Any Required Medication
Plastic bags for transporting wet clothes and shoes home
Lunch for the first day
A book

Optional Items

extra clothes, bedding, toiletries, cards, diary, wetsuit, camera etc

Do not bring

Money or valuables
Spray deodorant
Pocket knives
Sweets or energy drinks
Electronic equipment*

* Children will not have cell phones / electronic devices on them during the day. If they would like to make contact with home in the evening, we will make sure they have access to their phone to do this. We will be taking plenty of photos and will aim to put together a photobook after camp.

Camp Food

We will be self-catering at Wainui to help keep costs down and will ask for every family to donate some baking. We would also like some parents to volunteer to prepare a chicken pasta bake for our first night's dinner. We will provide the ingredients and send these home on the Friday before camp. Please fill in this form if you are happy to help prepare one of these dishes. 

Sports News

Huxter Mountain Bike Relay


Winter Sport

We are starting to look for coaches and team managers for winter sport for term 2 and 3. The more managers we have, the more teams we are able to send to Winter Sport. Coaching or managing a team ensures your child a place on the team, should they want it. Coaches need to be available for one lunchtime practice a week, while Team managers need to commit to attending games with their team on Friday afternoons from 1 to 2:30 pm. 

We need coaches and managers for the following sports: rugby, football, hockey and netball. Rugby coaches and managers are required to attend a short training course before they are able to referee games. This is to promote a safe and fair game.  Please complete this form if you are able to support us with this.


Congratulations to our children who participated in the Hanmer 4 Hour mountain bike relay on Saturday. 







Kahikatea Term 1 Week 6

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Kia Ora Whānau
Would you like to join us for Discovery? 
We welcome 1-2 parents in each week to share their culture or skills on Wednesday mornings 9.20-10am or Friday's 2.15-2.45pm. We have the materials - you have the knowledge!
Things you could share:
* A song, game or activity from your home culture
* A food related or cooking activity
* A sport or outdoor activity
* An art or craft
or something else.
Please come and talk or email a teacher if you would like to join us.
Parent Helpers
We are always happy to have parent help and there are some days when our program are a little different. Please check with you child's hub teacher to find out which day and time is best for parent help.
Reading At Home
Your child will be self-selecting their home reading book each day. Reading at home should be relaxed and enjoyable.
“For students, independent reading of materials they choose themselves: Builds the habit of reading, Allows them to practise reading strategies with books that interest them, Builds their vocabulary and helps comprehension, Helps them sustain concentrated reading for a set time, Promotes fluency, Puts the responsibility for solving problems with words and meaning into their own hands, Helps build their confidence about trying unfamiliar books.”  Effective Literacy Practice -Years 1 to 4. Ministry of Education 2003.
If you have any questions about our reading program please talk with your child's teacher.
Kind regards, Kahikatea Teachers

The Beckenham Ballers miniball team play at Pioneer each Thursday afternoon.  
Parents Returning Reading Books 
If you would like to see how the 'system' for returning our reading books works the wonderful Sally will be here at 9am on Wednesday to show you what to do. Kia ora Sally!
Swimming in Term 2 
Yes! We will be attending swimming lessons at Aqua Gym from Monday the 27th May. Details and further information will be forthcoming.
Scooters & Bikes 
When children arrive at school on a scooter or on your bike they are not permitted to ride through the school grounds or ride it up and down verandas. Please ensure your child/children park their wheels as soon as they get to school. There are two bike parks, one is behind kōmanawa and one you can access via Sandwich Rd.
At the end of the day they must walk their bike/scooter through the school grounds.
Discovery Action & Outdoor Challenges 
   



 



   

Inside Creativity
    

Self-Managing Mathematicians



Special Newsletter, Sunday 17 March, 2019

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Kia ora koutou

Thank you all for the support you gave to our staff during the extremely challenging afternoon that last Friday developed into. Whilst we practice lockdowns at school with staff and children, we became very conscious that we have not ever really communicated to whānau what your role in a lockdown is, and so we appreciate that you trusted our messaging and the processes that we were asked to follow by the Police. This made our job of looking after all 470 of our children, much easier to do.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to everyone in our wider community who has been impacted in some way by the acts of violence that took place in our city on Friday. That such a thing could happen to people in our city is beyond our comprehension.

We know, as adults, how challenging and confronting it has been over the past 48 hours to process and to try and make sense of what has happened.

How challenging might this be for our children?
How do we ensure that they continue to feel safe?

These are the questions that are on all of our minds, as we head back to school tomorrow.

Our leadership team met for two hours this afternoon, to ensure that we have a plan that will support our staff, our children and you, our community, over the days ahead.
I would like to share this with you below.

Flag:

The New Zealand flag will be flying at half mast tomorrow, to pay our respects to those who have passed, and to their families and communities.

8:30am 

We encourage you to set your children up for as normal a day as possible tomorrow. When the doors to hubs open at 8:30am, you being able to leave them with a smile and a 'see you at 3pm' wave will reassure them that you are confident that they will be safe. One of the things we will be saying to children who might be looking anxious, is to reassure them that school is a very safe place, and that you are confident of that too. 

Coffee and a place to chat tomorrow morning:

We know that when you catch up with other parents in the morning, possibly for the first time since the events on Friday, you may want to talk with them about your experiences and your feelings. To enable you to do this without worrying the children, we would like to make the staffroom available for any parents who would like to take their coffee in (or make a coffee in the staffroom) and to sit and chat there, away from children's ears.
We know as adults, it can help to talk to process, so please feel welcome to use this space if you would like to. 

Monitoring children's conversations

We know that each family will have had different levels of conversations with their children about Friday's events. We would ask you to caution your children about talking with other children about the details of the events as not all children will be as aware of the details as others. We will be actively trying to monitor conversations and direct them to positive discussions, and we cannot be ears in every conversation children have during the day.

Focusing on the positives

Our focus at school will be on reassuring all of the children that school is a safe place to be. We will be following the guidelines sent to us today by Dr Kathleen Liberty which I will also send to you as a separate attachment in another email immediately after this. Dr Liberty is the researcher whom we have worked with for the past 5 years on understanding the effect of trauma on children entering school. She has spent her weekend putting this resource of evidence-based strategies together especially for teachers and parents in Christchurch.

Extra support for staff and children

We have brought in relievers tomorrow so that we have an additional staff member in each team , to support both our staff and our children. We are very conscious that our staff are also processing their own responses to this tragedy, some are supporting their own children, and some will also be attending funerals in the coming days.

We will have rooms set up where children can be brought to during the day if they need 'time out' or support with anxiety or feelings that are overwhelming. We will be encouraging them to talk about small, positive steps that they can take to focus on the reliable and constant positive areas of their lives.

Mana Ake

Our team of Kaimahi (staff) who provide support to us through Mana Ake (mental health and wellbeing for Canterbury Children) will be on standby this week as schools return and will be available for our most pressing needs. If you have concerns about how your child is managing, please contact Sue Leadbetter or myself and we will be able to make a referral for support.

No early finish this Wednesday

Please note that the union meetings scheduled for Wednesday this week have been postponed, so we will not need to finish early.
School will now stay open on Wednesday 20th March until 3pm as usual.

We look forward to seeing all of the children back at school tomorrow.

Ngā mihi nui

Sandy and the team at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto

Kōwhai Team Newsletter Week 6

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Hi everyone, 

After the event on Friday, we hope you have all managed to have a safe and calm weekend with your family. We were highly impressed with the way the children coped with the lockdown on Friday. As a teaching team, our sole focus was to ensure the wellbeing of all our tamariki by keeping the children happy and calm. This included giving no information about the events that were unfolding across the city. Thank you for being so supportive and patient in this situation as we understand how challenging it must have been for you all.

 Here is the latest news and fantastic learning from Kōwhai team


 Trip to the Art Gallery

Julia Morison Headcase, 21 2015. Glazed stoneware, paint, tacks. Courtesy of the artist  In Week  8 of this term, all home groups in Kōwhai are going to be participating in an art lesson run by the gallery educator from Te Puna o Waiwhetu. The lesson is entitled Head Case. In this lesson, the children will Discover Julia Morison’s fantastic collection of 100 clay heads. In the Education Centre, students will learn how to manipulate and control clay as they make an alter ego of their own. This lesson will challenge your students to think creatively and explore the properties of clay and will take approx 90minutes.
Home groups are booked in for their lessons as follows:
  • Kate and Rowe’s hub departing school at 9:15 a.m and returning to school by 2.45 p.m on Monday 25th March
  • Nick and Paulette's hub departing school at 9.15 a.m and returning to school by 2:45 p.m on Tuesday 26th March    
All children will need to bring the following:

School bag - Packed lunch, drink bottle, sun hat, polar fleece and a lightweight rain jacket.

Hydrating (Drink to Think)

While we have always encouraged the students to drink plenty of water throughout the day as a team we have decided to make drinking water regularly throughout the day a focus for all students. During each transition time (when we swap from one learning activity to the next - discovery to maths, writing to reading), we are going to ask the students to have a 'drink to think'. We have talked about the benefits of drinking lots of water, from hydrating our brain and muscles to flushing out any toxins, so the students understand the importance of drinking water. Hopefully, you will notice your child's water bottle returning home empty, or having been refilled during the day!


Literacy (Reading Support) Help Needed

Image result for helpWe would still love the assistance of 2 parents who would be able to listen to individual children read on either a Wednesday or Thursday. Reading 1:1 daily, has huge benefits for the development and acquisition of both reading and writing skills. We have a small group of children that we would like to support to accelerate their current literacy skills. As a tutor reader, all you need to do is listen to a child read and praise and prompt their efforts made. We are open to ANY times that parents or grandparents are able to help on these days. Please let your homeroom teacher know if you can help.
Kōwhai Choir

Some of our tamariki may be coming home excitedly talking about being in our amazing choir. We are currently running this on Wednesday mornings during Discovery time as a choice children can opt into. 
This past week,  we had about 35 wonderful voices joining together. Children who attend these sessions with passion and frequency could be asked to perform to an audience. The children have been given a choir booklet to practice the lyrics of our performance songs and some children may take these home to practice. These booklets need to be brought back to school daily in case we have a spontaneous practice, therefore just store these in their reading folders. They should also have a plastic sleeve to protect the covers.
We will let you know of any 'gigs' we have. Our first performance will more than likely be during an Assembly at school. Here is a link to the slideshow of songs.

Please do not hesitate to contact Dorinda or Rowe with any Choir Questions you may have.

Top Team

We had an amazing time on Tuesday at our team Top Team event. The children really impressed us with their ability to work together in their teams to complete a variety of challenges. It was great to see them actively problem solving and encouraging each other to do their best. A huge thanks you goes out to our wonderful parents who gave their time to support this event.











Writing

This week we gave students a writing motivation so they would be able to write a successful recount. In Rowe and Paulette's literacy group, they gave the children some cupcakes and told them they had a mystery ingredient. We focussed on using descriptive language and personal voice to help, 'paint a picture' for the reader. Here are some samples (not the whole piece) of their incredible recount writing.

 "What's in the black tray that is perched on Paulette's lap?" At that very moment, Paulette ripped off the tea towel dramatically and there in the tray was a pile a green cupcake with blue frosting. I was unsure if I wanted to eat them or not. Then... By Haile

 "Is it cookies? Is it candy? What is in the tray resting on Paulette's lap. The tray was an enormous, dark and mysterious tray. Just like a wizard, she whipped off the striped tea towel hiding the mysterious items which were waiting to be discovered. There inside the tray, were many sparkling, emerald coloured alien looking cupcakes. Max

It was Monday morning and Paulette had a mystery tray on her lap with a tea towel covering it. "I've got a mystery item from Ballantynes. What do you think it is?"
The children looked in surprise as Paulette revealed tiny green cupcakes. They were as green as aliens from Mars and as spongy as Sponge Bob floating under the ocean. Jamie

Wheels in the School Grounds

As a school, we have noticed an increase in children (school and preschoolers) riding wheels in the school grounds before and after school. This can be problematic and has at times caused injuries that could have been prevented. We would love your assistance with this. The children have been asked to park their bikes in the bike storage area and to keep their bikes locked. If you have preschoolers on wheels, can you please make sure they are walking their wheels when they enter the school grounds. This will help to keep everyone safe. Thanks!

 That's all for now
Kōwhai teaching team