On Friday night, our Year 7 & 8 choir members took part in a wonderful performance at the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival. After a solid dress rehearsal in the morning, their dedication and enthusiasm carried through to the evening performance, where they sang beautifully.
A huge thank you to all the parents who came along to support the choir, and a special thank you to Megan C (from the Pōhutukawa Team), who has been an invaluable support for the choir over the past two years. A big thank you as well to Margot H for playing piano during our school rehearsals.
Production:
As part of our Aotearoa New Zeland Histories and Identity learning this term we have decided to run a production. The production will be a timeline of inportant historical NZ events. We are currently in the research/learning stage and then will head into creative mode in the next few weeks. Watch this space!
School Donations:
We have raised close to $500 with our Kauri sausage sizzle next week. This is just over half of what we need to fund the buses to Cass Bay.
If you are yet to contribute to school donations, now would be an amazing time! We greatly appreciate all donations you make towards donations. These go a long way towards providing a rich and diverse programme for our tamariki.
The suggested amount asked for is $150 but we are happy to take whatever you can give, you can also set up automatic payments more information can be found by visiting THIS link.
Thank you!
2025 Leadership Positions:
It is the time of year when we are asking our current Year 7 students to apply for 2025 leadership positons.
These applications need to be in by next Friday 1st November.
We are currently working on putting together a book that will be gifted to each Year 8 at the end of the year. The children have until Next Friday, Nov 1st, to get their memory writing done and to ask for a friend and a teacher to write a memory as well. Please check in with your child as to how they are going with this and encourage them to get their memory written in time. They also need to send to Nicky a photo of them as a 5 year old—huge thanks to the 40 people who have already sent in photos.
Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all, what a busy start to Term 4 we've had! It’s been great to make the most of this warm spell of weather to be able to be outside on the Park these past 2 weeks preparing for our school Athletics Day yesterday. We also had a lot of keen students competing at the Huxster MTB relay on Wednesday, and the Choir has been preparing for their big night tonight at the Christchurch Music festival. Special shout out to Megan for supporting them at dress rehearsal today and at their performance at the Christchurch Town Hall tonight. Have fun and sing your hearts out!
Athletics Day
The tamariki embraced the challenges and ran, jumped, threw, and supported each other through a very successful day. It all of our students itwas not only a great way to show out kete value 'We Love Challenge', but also a chance for our students to connect and show support to our junior school... and of course for some it was a much anticipated chance to showcase their amazing athletic abilities! Well done to all students for making these really successful day, and congratulations to those who have qualified for the Zones.
The South Zone Athletics day will be held at Hansen Park on Tuesday November 4th. As students can only compete in 3 events, we will help those who have qualified for more than 3 events, to make the decision about which events to compete in. This sometimes opens up other spots for more students to compete. Thank you for your patience as we work through this decision making process with the budding athletes. We will be sending out more information about the South Zone Athletics Competition next week after these conversations.
Long Jump Next Tuesday - Parent Help Required
On Tuesday afternoon we will be walking to Hillview Christian School with the Pōhutukawa students who have opted to do competitive long jump. We have 40 students, and require some parent help to ensure a successful trip. We aim to leave school just after 1:20 pm, walk to Hillview Christian School, do the long jump, and return by 3 pm. If you can assist, please email your child's Homegroup teacher. We thank you in advance for your support.
Huxster MTB Relay
Hearty congratulations to the amazing contingent of Year 5-6 students who competed at the Huxster Mountain Bike Relay on Wednesday.
The Huxster Mountain Bike event is a time trial through various tracks at McLeans Island. The objective is to complete as many laps in a given time around a circuit. Our students competed in pairs
Well done to all the competitors for taking on the wero, challenge and giving it their all. Huge congratulations go out to Zach G and Ben S for finishing in 1st place, and Izzy C and Laura S for placing 2nd in their categories. Amazing!
Thank you to Melissa Hurst for the photo of the kids in front of our flash new gazebo!
Our CCC classes are continuing and this term we are covering digital technology (coding), learning languages (NZSL), biology (human anatomy), and physical education (Ki o Rahi). Lots of great learning to be had, as well as plenty of learning conversations to be had at home. Life Education Trust is a charity that educates and empowers children to make healthy choices so they can live full and healthy lives. The key questions we will be covering with them and the students are How do we know how others are feeling? and What is peer pressure and how can we deal with it? Lots of great learning to be had, as well as plenty of learning conversations to be had at home, too.
AVAILLL
This term we are running the AVAILLL literacy programme, which entails students "reading" selected films with the subtitle feature turned on. While the students read/watch the films they engage in activities to develop vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and spelling. The emphasis is on understanding how words are constructed and the activities reflect this. The aim of the programme is to develop vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and spelling.
Have a great weekend, everybody. Kia pai ngā rā whakatā
We hope you all had a lovely holiday. Term 4 is an exciting term with lots of activities planned, and with the sunshine and wonderful warm weather, the children have been happy and settled back in school so quickly. We thank you for all the support to ensure such smooth transitions.
Labour Day Weekend
A quick reminder that school will be closed on Monday as it will be Labour Day holiday, and will resume on Tuesday 29th. We hope you'll have a relaxing and fun long weekend with your whānau.
Swimming (Water Safety Programme)
Swimming will start next week (week 3) on Tuesday 29th October and go until Friday 1st November, then week 5 from Monday 4th November to Thursday 7th November. Please note that there will be NO literacy books sent home in these two weeks due to the time taken for these water safety lessons.
It would be a good idea to pack extra snacks and food in your child's lunchbox during these 2 weeks if possible to ensure our tamariki have full bellies after swimming. Please ensure that your child comes to school on swimming days with a NAMED swimming bag, clean towel and togs. You can also have a look at our Swimming Social Story with your child to know what to expect.
Thank you to our whānau who offered to help during the trips, you can either meet us at Pioneer or come with us on the bus. The departure time of each group is as follows:
Group 1 - Sarah's Homegroup + some of Amber's students: 9.30am
Group 2 - Ella's Homegroup + some of Amber's students: 10am
Group 3 - Quynh's Homegroup + some of Amber's students: 10.30am
The bus will be waiting on Eastern Terrace.
Please note: No Literacy Group Lessons will take place on the days we are swimming.
Swimming- Parent Helper Information
Ngā mihi e te whānau, warm greetings to you all,
Thank you for being a parent/whānau helper for our swimming session/s.
Please read carefully through the this information as this provides details about what to do as a parent/whanau helper during our time at Pioneer Pool.
Helping Children
We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable at all times, so if you assist children in the changing rooms, please give verbal guidance. You do not need to dress or undress the children.
Encourage the children to be as independent as possible and prompt them with what they need to do.
Encourage children to use quiet voices in the changing room and keep their belongings in one place.
Two or more parent/whānau helpers should be present, while others can wait at the changing room entrance to check that children have all their belongings.
Parents can assist children to put their belongings into one of the cubbies provided.
Parents/whānau are not required to be in the pool with children.
Please let the teacher in charge know if you have any questions or concerns.
If a child needs to use the toilet, please show them where it is (these are in the teaching pool area, you will not need to use the public toilets), send the child in, and wait outside.
Many thanks for your help with swimming this year!
Please email your child’s teacher if you have any questions.
Home Group Spaces
We moved homegroup spaces at the end of term 3, so here's a fresh walk-through of where we're based at the moment:
Ella - Atrium
Amber - Breakout Space
Sarah - Nook
Quynh - Theatre
Athletics
The tamariki from the Kahikatea team did so well at athletics on Thursday, what an awesome bunch! We saw a lot of demonstration of our values 'We Love Challenge' and 'We Get There Together' during our practice sessions AND the actual event, ka mau te wehi - how amazing! Below are some photos.
Sunhats and Sunscreen
A friendly reminder that term 4 is a hats term, children are required to wear a hat when going outside. If they don't have a hat, they will need to stay in the shade by Tahaki building or the hall during playtime. Your child can bring their own sunscreen to school if they wish, please ensure that this stays in their bag during the day and your child takes responsibility for looking after it.
Maths- A Focus on Fractions
Sarah's Homegroup has been learning about fractions, what they mean and what the symbols look like. The children then made a fractions robot in each group, they were super engaged and keen to make their robot look unique. What a cool activity!
Muesli Bar Wrappers
Ruby's whānau in Quynh's homegroup who have been sharing that, each year, they participate as instructors of the E3 expedition and make sustainability goals. This year they have gone back to this one around muesli bars which was last done back in Dec 2022. Below is the story told by the family.
* each person on E3 consumes 3x muesli bars per day. Avg per day = 16 people X3= 48
* 48 X 11 days = 528 bar wrappers. WOW THATS A LOT!!!!
* That’s just for 1 E3
But what does 528 wrappers look like? Hence the video of 100’s of wrappers falling out of that bucket.
That’s 528 wrappers for each E3 that are not going into a landfill.
And the remaining pics are the alternative. Over 1000 muesli bars so lovingly made by a few caring people who care about the planet… care about creation & care enough to demonstrate to you & all of us that meaningful change is achievable. All part of the great 10 Years of E3."
The family are setting a goal of collecting 2000 muesli bar wrappers to demonstrate how many wrappers have been saved from going into landfill by making their own for the expedition. In Kahikatea, Ruby and friends have started collecting these wrappers from other children's lunchboxes. If possible, we would also love to collect these from you, just hand them to Quynh or your child's homegroup teacher.
Learning Through Play
Personal Space - Boundaries
In Kahikatea, we have been talking about and discussing boundaries, and what we can say when someone is being too close to our personal space. The video below is a fabulous resource, as the catchy melody and simple language make it so much fun for our tamariki to remember the key phrases. Please have a look with your child and sing along, we guarantee it'll get stuck in your head rather quickly.
There has been so much happening in the Kōwhai hub already, and it's only week 2! Here's an update on the latest happenings in Kōwhai over the last two weeks.
Maths
All Maths groups in Kōwhai have enjoyed learning about the language of Chance and Probability in their Maths groups. Some of our tamariki were involved in a Probability Carnival held in Pūkaki.
Writing
For our Writing this term, we have begun with Procedural Writing, then later in the term we will be moving on to Poetry Writing. You may need to be prepared for them bring home instructions for making Tangy Lemonade, Delicious Pizza, or Fizzy Sherbet!
Athletics Day
This week, we held our whole school Athletics Day and it was great to see everyone out on the park participating in their various events and disciplines. In the Kōwhai team, all the homegroups had 5 rotations: high jump, long jump, discus, shot put and sprints. It was amazing to see everyone give it a go and doing their very best. Congratulations to you all!
Swimming
We will be heading off to our Swimming Lessons next week and also in Week 5. Please remind your tamariki to pack their swimming bag with their togs, a towel and goggles, if they have them, on Tuesday.
Being SunSmart
It has been great to see so many children remembering to wear their hats at school, especially with all these sunny days we have been experiencing. Please do continue to make sure that your child has a hat at school every day and that it is clearly named. There is always the option of keeping hats at school, either in tote trays or in an allocated hat tub. We also encourage everyone to have sunscreen on. This can be applied before coming to school and we also have sunscreen at school if anyone needs to top up or they forget to put sunscreen on. Thank you so much for your support with this.
Staying Safe Online: Snapchat and Privacy
Snapchat is a popular messaging app that lets users exchange pictures and videos (snaps) that are meant to disappear after they’re viewed. Many young people love Snapchat but it’s important that they understand how to protect their privacy on the app.
A very warm welcome back to our fourth and final term of the 2024 school year. We especially welcome the families of the new children to our Koru team: Atlas, Isabella, Oliver, Ruby, Remy and Johnny. They've all made a lovely, positive start to school. Well done, tamariki!
Routines:
All children have embraced our routines and have fallen back into the swing of things with impressive ease. Earlier in the year, the children helped to develop our Learning Through Play guidelines, as follows:
Use gentle hands and gentle feet
Treat everyone with kindness and care
Use quiet inside voices
Tidy as you go
Follow instructions quickly and quietly
Be part of the team at tidy up time
Don't tip everything out of a container, just take what you need (unless it's a jigsaw puzzle!).
These guidelines were the children's ideas and we revisited them at the start of this term, just as a reminder, and also so that our new children would be familiar with them.
Other routines, which the children have embraced once again, include: unpacking their bags when they arrive at school in the morning, including putting their Literacy folder in the right container; remembering their poetry books and library folders on Friday; lining up after break times; 'showing five' whenever they are sitting on the mat; and following the expectations in their small Literacy group lessons (sitting up, chair pulled in, focusing on the learning and 'whiteboards are for writing, not drawing').
Friendship list:
Georgia will, once again, be sending out an invitation to those of you who would like to have your details added to our Friendship List, so please keep an eye out for an email about this.
Term Overview:
We have a very busy term ahead of us. Some of the topics that we'll be focusing on include:
our school-wide focus areas (including How We Play, Moving Inside, Speaking and Listening and Tidying)
our Word of the Week continues (including Being an Upstander, Honesty, Inclusion, Showing Respect, Friendship and Determination, along with several other key values)
Life Education (with a focus on friendship - further details in the next Blog post)
Cyber Safety (and again with further details to come)
Athletics Day yesterday:
Thank you so much to those families who were able to come along and support the tamariki during their Athletics activities today. The children all did SO well and, at the same time, had a lot of fun! Congratulations to each and every child for the wonderful effort put in, and special congratulations to those who also ran in the house relay. Some of our wee ones even stepped up and ran in the relay, having only had a few days at school. Now that takes confidence! We have just a few photos from our Athletics Day, but will be able to post more in the future, so keep an eye out for them.
Here are a few photos from our first fortnight back at school:
We're loving this warmer weather! Thank you so much for sending your children to school with sunblock and their hats.
All best for a lovely long weekend ahead and we look forward to seeing those wide smiles and sparkling eyes back at school on Tuesday.
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