Kia ora, e te whānau,
We've had another busy and brilliant fortnight in the Koru team, with our newbies settling in beautifully and our children who are having their visits before starting school, showing lovely confidence as they become familiar in their new setting. A very warm welcome to all of our new tamariki and their whānau, and thank you to our older children who are ensuring that the new children are feeling safe and secure at school! You are showing 'We Care' and 'We Get There Together'.
Athletics Day:
What a fun and fabulous time the children all had at our Beckenham te Kura Athletics Day on Thursday! The Koru team children participated in a range of games and activities, including throwing, running and jumping, incorporating a wide range of movement skills and using a variety of equipment. The children displayed the full range of our school values throughout their athletics activities, including: 'We Care', 'We Make a Difference' and 'We Get There Together' (our focus value last week) as they looked after their brand new friends who had only had a short time at school; 'We Love Challenge' as they took part in activities that really stretched them physically; and 'We Love Learning' throughout the lead up to their Athletics Day, as they practised and displayed new skills, in order to join in as best as they were able on the day itself. Well done, to our tamariki - we loved seeing you try your best and participating fully at our school Athletics Day! Tino pai tou mahi. Please scroll down for a selection of photos taken on the day.
Literacy:
Children are continuing to make great progress in their Literacy learning, and we know that you'll find it very exciting to witness this as your children share their resources and books with you at home.
When children first start school, they will bring home a little letter and heart word pack in their Literacy folders. As they become confident with their sounds, their heart words, and they learn how to blend sounds together, they will begin to bring home their first reading books.
At all stages of the children's Literacy learning, your help at home is incredibly valuable. You can use both letter cards and heart word cards as flash cards and children can practise reading them at speed. Another great way to support your child's learning is to help them to practise writing the letters and their heart words. Being able to write the letter for each sound and spell the heart words, is important at all stages of your child's learning.
Here are some links to short videos which we hope you will find helpful. Some families of older children may have viewed some of these videos earlier in the year, however, we thought it valuable to share them again, not only for the parents/caregivers of new children, but also as a refresher for those of older students:
- The Sounds of New Zealand English
- How To Help At Home (All Stages)
- Stage 1 Structured Literacy
- Stage 2 Structured Literacy
- Stage 3 Structured Literacy
- Stage 4 Structured Literacy
- Stage 4+ Structured Literacy
- Stage 5 Structured Literacy
- Stage 6 Structured Literacy
