Koru News Term 4 Week 6

Posted on by

Kia ora e te whānau,

We have had a busy couple of weeks in the Koru team! Our values focus for the past fortnight has been 'We Make a Difference'. Here are some ideas that the children shared about how we can show this value:

We Make a Difference is when we:
  • include others
  • share our toys
  • help our friends when they are hurt
  • show 5
  • try our best
  • are a good friend
  • use our walking feet inside
  • say please and thank you
  • show good teamwork.

We are Mathematicians in the Koru Team!

We have had a big focus on basic facts in the past two weeks. We know that learning our basic facts takes a few steps:
1. Conceptual understanding: Knowing what operations like addition and subtraction mean.
2. Strategy use: Applying strategies such as counting on.
3. Mastery: Recall through practice.

This week, we focused on learning our number combinations to 5, 6, and 7. Tamariki learned that if they know these combinations, they can easily solve bigger number problems. For example, if we know that 2 + 3 = 5, we also know that 20 + 30 = 50, and 200 + 300 = 500 and so on!

Our Wednesday activity focused on 7. We shared all the things we knew about the number 7, e.g., 7 in te reo is whitu, some children have a sibling who is 7, 7 is 3 less than 10, 7 is one more than 6, etc. We also discovered that there are eight addition facts for 7.

0 + 7 = 7         7 + 0 = 7
1 + 6 = 7         6 + 1 + 7
2 + 5 = 7         5 + 2 = 7
3 + 4 = 7         4 + 3 = 7

Children had two icebergs and seven penguins, and their job was to show the combinations of seven by grouping the penguins. It was great to hear the mathematical language as tamariki worked with their buddy.











Chickens!

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been excitedly awaiting the arrival of our baby chicks. An incubator with eggs arrived in the office, and we were really lucky to go and visit. Sue explained the incubation process and what to expect next...



Then, on Tuesday, the 11th of November, staff received an early morning birth notice from Cade. Our clever chicks had begun to hatch!


Once they had some time to adapt to the real world, they were transferred to their new home. Mama Sue taught the chicks how to eat and drink by tapping a pencil on their food and water bowl.


Then, on Wednesday, we had the chance to go and meet the chicks, up close and personal. Each child gave the chicks a gentle, one-finger pat. The looks of joy were delightful!






Learning Through Play

We love Learning Through Play in the Koru hub! It is incredible to see the types of play that children come up with. During these sessions, one teacher is the intentional teacher, talking with children, prompting thinking, encouraging pro-social skills, and supporting the learning, while two teachers take small-group literacy sessions. It is so much fun!









Wishing you a happy and safe long weekend ahead,

The Koru team,

Katie, Stacey, Elizabeth & Niquita

Kōwhai News Term 4 Week 6

Posted on by

Kia ora everyone!

Welcome to the Kōwhai blog for Term 4, Week 6! The term is rapidly disappearing and while we have achieved so much already, there is still much to do.

Production

Over the next few weeks, we will be very focused on putting our production together. We have been busy rehearsing our dances and preparing props and costumes and it is now time to put it all together into one big extravaganza!

This is a reminder that you are all invited to come and see our performance on Thursday 4th December at 11:30am in the hall.

Ukulele

Everyone is continuing to enjoy their dance and ukulele lessons every Tuesday. In our ukulele sessions, the children have been helping to make up a song about the school, contributing lots of great ideas. We look forward to hearing the end result!

Chicks Hatching

As you may have already heard, we have some chick eggs incubating in our very own school office! They have been carefully guarded by Sue, Jo and Cade over the last weeks. We have all had the opportunity to visit and see the eggs and Sue has been telling us all about the kind of chickens that will hatch and what we are going to do with them. Thank you, Sue! 

And now the chicks have started hatching and it is very exciting! We have starting thinking about names for them all. What do you think? Can you think of any good ones?



Colour Run

The PTA have organised a Colour Run event to take place next Friday afternoon. So far, the PTA have raised around $9,000 which is absolutely amazing! If you would like to help raise money for this fundraising event, just click on the following link and hit the red “Set Up a Fundraising Page” tab: 

In order to drum up some more support for this event, we are also sliming teachers, one teacher per $1,000 raised. Yesterday, at the end of the school day, we slimed 8 teachers in total with Chris getting slimed twice! The children absoltuely loved witnessing this and are looking forward to seeing more teachers get slimed next Wednesday. We will have to see if any Kōwhai teachers get included next time round! 






Have a great long weekend!

From the Kōwhai team

Kahikatea News: Term 4, Week 6

Posted on by

Term 4, Week 6 


What a whirlwind week we've had with just three days! We are zooming through our final term of the year, and there is some great learning going on in the hub. The arrival of our first school chicks has been very exciting. All of the children have had a chance to pop in and see them in the office. We got to pet the wee chicks and feel how soft they are. 


Paired Reading 

This week, we began using a new strategy during our reading sessions. The "Paired Reading, Paragraph Shrinking" strategy focuses on reading fluency and comprehension. The children work in pairs to read through passages of text. We have practiced how to help each other when the reading gets tricky. The children are settling into the new routine, and we hope to hear smoother, more fluent reading in the coming weeks. 









Kapa Haka

Our children have been working really hard to learn a haka with Whaia Cath during our Friday Kapa Haka sessions. We are ready to share this with you and will be performing in the assembly on Friday, 21st November. Assembly starts at 10am and is usually finished around 10.30am. We hope to see you there. 

We hope you all have a lovely long weekend!

Kendall, Amber, Sarah and Talia

Pōhutukawa News Term 4 Week 6 2025

Posted on by

 



Pōhutukawa Team News Term 4 Week 6 2025 

Ngā mihi e te whānau, welcome all to what has been happening in the Pōhutukawa Team for Weeks 5 and 6 of Term 4 for 2025, kia pai ngā rā whakata.

Transition Visits

As busy as it is at the end of the year, we are also preparing our students for next year with 'Transition Visits'. Next week we will be giving the 2025 Year 6's a chance to be with our incoming 2025 Year 5's as a cohort and have a Learning Through Play session together. As well as this, our outgoing Year 6's will be spending a morning in the Kauri team to learn about their programme and will spend a morning with next year's Year 8 students. These visits are a valuable chance for the tamariki to reconnect with some of their friends, and ask some questions they may have about 2026. We encourage you to talk with your tamariki about these visits and start the conversations about 2026 if you feel they're ready. Any momentum we can build now to set everyone up for a successful start to next year is gold. Mā tātou katoa te waka e hoe, we are all rowing the waka together.

Navigating the Journey

Our Navigating the Journey programme continues to roll along next week, we are into Growing and Changing - Te tipu me te huri o te tangata now, and our key concepts. Thanks as always for your continued support in continuing the discussions we have at school at home, too.


St Johns in Schools 

In Week 6 we had Nikki from St Johns come to deliver a course aimed at up-skill students in possible emergency situations! We had a great time and thanks to Nikki for delivering a fun, interactive and information packed seminar to the Pōhutukawa home groups. 

















Beckenham's Silkie Chickens! 


As of Tuesday 11th of November we have 8 Silkie Chickens hatch! Super exciting! Many children have been over to the office to see the new arrivals and even experience some chicks emerging from their shells! We look forward to the hub visits over the next couple of weeks and of course the naming process! 


Pōhutukawa Team Year 5 and 6 Summer Tournament 

Wednesday 5th November 2025

Futsal

Results

GOLD Team 4th place. (by count back, 1 goal away from 3rd!)

Sportsmanship Award: Louis English

  • Game 1 V Avonhead Black: W 4-2
  • Game 2 V Avonhead Red: L 6-2
  • Game 3 V Paparoa Street Blue: D 3-3
  • Game 4 V St Martins Kickers: L5-1
  • Game 5 V St Martine Strikers: W 4-2


RED Team 9th place

Sportsmanship Award: Jayme Scott

  • Game 1 V St Michaels Girls: L 4-2
  • Game 2 V Paparoa Street Green: L 7-2
  • Game 3 V Emmanuel: L 7-1
  • Game 4 V Paparoa Street Red: L 9-1
  • Game 5 V Ao Tawhiti 2: L 4-2










Orienteering 

Results

Open Grade - Rogaine (Mixed Team) 
1st: Lucy Lee, Sedas Muthukumarana, Aubrey Gardiner, Sam Hudson

Open Grade - Boys Team
1st: Laurence Blane, Leo Davies, Ethan Sayer, Eli Gardyne

Open Grade - Boys Team 
2nd: Toby Johnston, Woody Hayes, Joseph Wright, Corben Blackburn

Open Grade - Mixed Team 

2nd: Terence Lee, Rosi Barta, Nina Simpson, 

Open Grade - Mixed Team
3rd: Sam Hudson, Sedas Muthukumarana, Lucy Lee, Aubrey Gardiner









Special Mention




Well done to Lucy and Aubrey for demonstrating all the Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto kete values during the orienteering competition at the 2025 Summer Tournament. 

Mid-race, these outstanding students stopped their own competition to help a student from a different school who was having an asthma attack. Showing courage, they quickly assessed the situation: one stayed with the student while the other ran back tot he start line to fetch a teacher. They communicated clearly, executed a sensible plan, and then guided the teachers directly to the student in need. 

Well done, Lucy and Aubrey! Your actions were brave and show true leadership in keeping yourselves and others safe. Tino Pai! 



AVAILLL (Audio Visual Achievement In Literacy, Language and Learning) Programme.

Pōhutukawa Team Reading Programme for weeks 7-10, term 4


We are excited to be able to offer our students the AVAILLL (Audio Visual Achievement In Literacy, Language and Learning) Programme.


“It taps into the student’s enjoyment and comprehension of popular media in order to advance reading ability.  …….. In the programme, many of the activities include the technique of what is termed to “ReadWatch” a movie. This is often followed by reading sections of the movie’s novel which are not included in the film. The programme is oriented to the key skills of reading comprehension, fluency, vocabulary and spelling.”


All movies are rated G or PG.


"You’ve READ the movie, now SEE the book!"



Top Team Challenge: Parent Volunteers


Kia ora e te whānau,

Team Pōhutukawa and Kauri will be participating in the Top Team Challenge in Week 8.

Students across both teams will be split into groups of approximately eight and will take part in activities that encourage cooperation, physical skills, and problem-solving.

To make this event successful, we need the support of our community through parent volunteers to help explain the activities to students and ensure fair play.

When: Monday, 24 November, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Where: Beckenham Park.
What: Act as a parent helper running a station, providing instructions, and ensuring fair play (no special skills required).

Please email your child's home group teacher if you are able to help

Ngā mihi nui,
Team Pōhutukawa and Kauri Staff


All You Need to Know About TikTok


Tiktok is one of the fastest growing social media apps. It’s a platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos – and many young people love it! From new dance crazes to funny clips to animal videos, Tiktok can inspire creativity and bring joy.


But it’s important that parents and whānau help their tamariki navigate Tiktok safely. Today we’re sharing the Netsafe Tiktok Family Safety Toolkit so you can help guide your whānau to a fun and safe digital experience.


Ngā mihi o ngā rā whakatā, enjoy your weekend everyone!

The Pōhutukawa Teaching Team

Chris, Gayle, Nick, Megan, Rae, Georgie, Viv, Stacey, Lucy and Laura

Kauri- Term 4, Week 6

Posted on by

 Kauri- Term 4- Week 5


First Aid- Drs ABC

Kauri this week has learnt about CPR, strains, stroke, seizures, asthma, panic attacks, emergency protocols and more. This was a great time to brush up on our knowledge and learn about first aid.


 


Athletics

 What a fantastic day we had at our athletics event! It was great to see all students giving their best and showing enthusiasm. A huge thank you to our whānau for your support, it really makes a difference to our day.




Trees for Survival

Kauri have been busy potting up Trees for Survival with our buddy classes from Kahikatea. Our students truly showed “We care” as they guided their buddies through the task; showing kindness, patience, and care for both others and the environment.








Myth Writing

Kauri have been working hard on some amazing myth writing! Students have been retelling old myths with exciting twists as well as creating entirely new stories. The creativity and imagination on display has been fantastic. It is great to see the increase in confidence in writing especially with use of vocab. 

Limericks

 We’ve also started exploring fun poetry, beginning with limericks. Here’s a sample from one of our students:

 "There once was a cat from the bay,

 Who loved to go out and play.

 It chased a bright kite,

 All through the night,

 And napped till the break of day!"

(R.U)

 We can’t wait to see more humorous and clever limericks from Kauri!


Summer Tournament

Congratulations to our Summer Tournament Teams who all achieved great results in each of their sporting codes. 



Passions – Cooking

In Passions, students have been exploring the joys of cooking. Following recipes step by step helps reinforce sequential thinking, just like working through a task list! Some of us had a minor mishap with forgetting baking powder, but that’s all part of the learning.






Production- Legends Unleashed

Production is underway, and there’s a real buzz of creative energy in Kauri! As students collaborate and take on new challenges, we’re seeing fantastic teamwork and growth in social and emotional learning. This is an exciting time, and we can’t wait to share the results with everyone.

Kauri Production Evening - one night only!!!

Wednesday 3 December 4.30pm-6.30pm.