Kia ora whanau,
Welcome to the fourth term of the year, and what a busy one it looks as if it's going to be! It was such a treat to see all of those wide and happy smiles back at the school gate this week. We give an especially warm welcome to Hunter, Millie and James who all had their first day at school on Monday. What a wonderful job they're all doing of settling in beautifully at school. Mīharo, tamariki!
All children have returned to the school routines very happily, and are enthusiastically embracing their learning, including those crucial areas of learning like showing 'We Care', embracing challenge, helping each other out when the need arises and making a difference by keeping the learning spaces tidy and well-organised.
A huge thank you goes out to the parents who have created the absolutely gorgeous fairy houses for the Koru team's raised garden area. The children are loving the play in this area, and have been having some great ideas for the things that they could make or bring in from home to decorate the garden even further. Some of their ideas include:
- little plants (flowers, little succulents and herbs)
- tiny terracotta pots
- little beds for the fairies to sleep in
- decorations for the houses
- stones, painted or plain
- a little lake!
- little hollows and tunnels
If you have any of the above items at home, or perhaps resources which could be put together to create any of the above, all contributions will be gratefully received. Next week, we're going to have a go at making our own little fairies out of old-fashioned wooden pegs. If you have any fabric which would be suitable for clothes or wings, any little buttons, tiny fake flowers, or any other items which you think might be useful, we'd love it if you were to send them along to school. Thank you so much, in anticipation!
Learning Through Play:
The children have jumped back into their Learning Through Play with energy and enthusiasm. They have had some special Koru time in Treemendous, and there are also several little schools in operation, both indoors and outdoors (see below).
We love the examples of our school kete values being evidenced in the children's play in the photos above. You could ask your children to describe the values they can see in action in these photos!
Structured Literacy:
Both teachers and children are loving getting back into Structured Literacy lessons! The children are showing wonderful focus and engagement, and are feeling very proud of the progress that they're making. Please ensure that your children are practising reading their heart words fluently and confidently, as well as writing them. Practising writing the heart words at home will help your child enormously with their confidence in Literacy groups at school. They can also be putting their letter cards together to form simple 2 or 3 letter words, or for those children who have been at school for a longer time, they can be putting their heart words and letter cards together to form sentences, which they can then read to you.
Great work, tamariki! What fantastic spelling and writing.
Handwashing:
We're back into the routine of washing our hands regularly at school, along with using hand sanitiser. We thought you might like to see an example of how diligent the children are when it comes to handwashing. They are experts!
Hats:
A reminder, please, to ensure that your child brings their named hat to school every day.
We trust that you all have an absolutely wonderful long weekend, and please remember that Tuesday is a Staff Only Day, so we'll see the children back at school, bright-eyed and with wide smiles, on Wednesday next week!
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
The Koru teachers: Elizabeth, Nicola, Chelsea, Tracey and Stacey
