Kia ora ki te whanau,
A very warm welcome to all of our new children and their families, and welcome back to the children and their families who started with us in Term 1. We trust that the children have all had a wonderful holiday, enjoying family time together. We are really looking forward to getting to know all of our new children and families, and seeing new friendships blossom through this next term.
The children have had a marvellous first day (back) at school, and we're looking forward to a fun first week, and term ahead.
Our focus for this week is showing care and kindness towards others (especially towards those who are new to school), and showing respect and care for our equipment and the environment.
Bears, Bears, Bears!
We're also going to have a 'bear' theme this week, with 'We're Going On a Bear Hunt' and 'Bears in the Night' providing a framework for the children's play throughout the week.
Although most of our Term 1 children have already had a Teddy Bear Day, we are going to have another Teddy Bear Day on Friday, along with a teddy bears' picnic (which will simply be the children's own lunches!). Please send (named, with your child's name) teddy bears to school on Friday. If your child doesn't have a teddy bear, they're welcome to bring their favourite soft toy instead.
Start and End of Day routines:
It's very helpful if you are able to say goodbye to your children out on the veranda each morning. You can encourage your children to take responsibility for their belongings by reminding them to unpack their own lunchboxes, drink bottles and reading folders, and then to store them in the right places once they're indoors. Likewise, at the end of each day, it is really helpful if you wait out in the courtyard where you can easily be seen by your child's home group teacher, so that teachers are able to farewell each child once you've been sighted. You are welcome to come inside if your child has something they would like to show you, once all of the children have been farewelled. Teachers will always endeavour to come out on to the veranda to catch up with you, after all children have been collected by parents or caregivers.
A reminder:
Please ensure that, once your child's Literacy folder starts coming home (again), and you've finished practising the letter cards and heart words with your child, the folder and its contents are returned to your child's school bag and come back to school every day.
Here are some beautiful Day 1 photos, with the children engaged in a variety of activities during Learning Through Play - how lovely to see new friendships forming so quickly!
Have a great week, everyone, and we look forward to many learning adventures together throughout the term ahead.
Ngā mihi mahana,
Jo, Nicola, Chelsea, Stacey and Elizabeth