Term 3 Week 6 Highlights in the Koru team!

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Kia ora ki ngā whānau,

What a glorious few weeks we have enjoyed recently! The children have been very actively engaged in their learning and are determined to make a difference in all aspects of their school life, including their social, emotional, physical and academic growth.

The Pūkaki Play Space:
We are delighting in the new Pūkaki Play Space, and loving the exciting opportunities it provides us. We've been involved in lots of planting (hanging baskets, sunflower seeds, succulents and beans, peas and sweet pea seeds), not only in order to 'decorate' the area, but also because the children had requested, at the end of Term 2, that they have the chance to learn more about, and be involved in, gardening and nature in general. The children love their Play-based Learning activities in this new space, some of the favourite activities being potion-making, building and exploring in the sandpit, building models on the platforms...
Working with our Ferndale friends and Friday's preschool visitors from Pebbles

Potion-making: chocolate or strawberry cake today?

Strawberry cake, it is!

More essential ingredients being added into the mix


Reaching and balancing

Beautifying the space

And who is this flexible wee one?

Will our boats float?




Talent Quest:
A reminder that in the Koru team we shall be holding the 'heats' for the Talent Quest on Friday, September 13th, and that one or two acts will be selected to perform in the Talent Quest itself, which is going to be held on the final Friday of term, September 27th, 1:40 - 2:45 p.m.
We shall be in touch with the families of those children who will be going on to perform on that final Friday.
There is mounting excitement and a lot of practice taking place!
Jump!

Wow - great skills


Keep practising - you can do it!

...and fantastic skills here too!

Book Character Day:
Book Character Day was absolutely fabulous and we all had enormous fun. Check out the school Facebook page for a selection of photos, and below, you will find even more, depicting our wee ones (and one or two older ones) 'dressed up to the nines'!
Guess who!

That mischievous cat!

Recognise this book character?

One very cute scarecrow

Thing 1 (or was it 2 or even 3?) came to visit us

And who might this be?!




Te reo Māori:
The children continue to work hard on their mihi practice, and many are now able to fluently introduce not only themselves, but also their parents, and are building up to including their family name (surname) as well.
The children are also confidently singing waiata and, a week ago, even led the whole school in the singing of Kia Ora Ra!
We're also looking forward to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori which begins on September 9th and runs through to September 15th. Christchurch City Library has many amazing resources to support this special week in our calendar. Teachers will be supplementing what we already have with the resources on offer through the library website.

Eco and Waste Warriors:
We all participated enthusiastically in the Clean Cubby Competition which has been running over the past fortnight. In the Koru team, children put their hands up for the job of Cubby Monitor and made regular checks throughout the day, ensuring that - yes - bags were zipped up, folders tidily tucked within and no clothing was left to fall out on to the ground or veranda. All children have been devoted to the notions of cleanliness and tidiness, and have vowed to continue to maintain their high standards. The Koru team won the cubby competition twice over the fortnight and was mentioned as an example, to some of the older students!
Many members of the Koru team also like to ensure that not only are their learning spaces clean and tidy, but also the wider outdoor spaces are litter-free. Thank you to our 5- and 6-year-olds for displaying the school values of 'We Care' and 'We Make a Difference'.
Keeping the veranda in pristine condition

...and the floor indoors as well

A vacuum cleaner at work!

Tidying the book shelves

Stacking chairs

...and cleaning the children's 'teaching station'

And last (photo), but not the least, as you will see...
Little (Peter) meets Large (Benjamin) - Netherland Dwarf and Flemish Giant

Parenting Week: 
'Strategies to help your family through the difficult times and enjoy being together'
Neighbourhood Trust is proud to bring you Parenting Week here in Canterbury. It's happening from 9th to 19th September and has around 30 events for any stage of parenting. They have a great line-up of experts including Mike King, Pio Terei, Dr Sue Bagshaw, Jenny Hale and Jax Hamilton, all right here.
Their Facebook page: Parenting Week, Christchurch has all the events listed and more information.
www.facebook.com/parentingweekchch

We look forward to another wonderful week ahead.
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Jo, Stacey, Kristika and Elizabeth

Kōwhai Week 6 Newsletter

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Hi  Everyone,

We hope that you have all have a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the wonderful weather!
Here are the essentials for this week:

Trip to the School of Gymnastics

We are going to the school of Gymnastics over tow days for the children to have the opportunity to explore and use professional gymnastic equipment. 
Monday- Nick and Kate's home group
Tuesday - Paulette and Rowe's home group

We ask that on the day that you child is going to the School of Gymnastics, they are not wearing any jewellery, have shorts, pants or bike pants to enable them to access all the apparatus. We will be travelling by Red Bus. Please refer to the previous blog post for more details.

Wearable Art Show

The children have been working incredibly hard to create their wearable arts items. It has been quite a challenge for many of the children to turn their plan into a wearable piece. We have been highly impressed with the high levels of problem-solving and persistence the children have shown.
We will be sharing their constructions in a Wearable Arts Display on Thursday 5th September, Mapuna (School Hall). Please have your child at school by 6.15pm so we can get them ready for the performance which will begin at 6.30pm.  We look forward to seeing you all there!

Readathon

Thank you for supporting this wonderful fundraiser that has been organised by our incredible PTA. The cards and money need to be returned to school this week. Each child will receive a  bookmark for participating.


Swimming Hui

We are having a discussion about our swimming programme in the staffroom on Tuesday at 2.15pm. This is an opportunity for you to share any thoughts or consideration in regards to our current swimming programme and ways we might improve it for future years.

FYI- Parenting Week

‘Strategies to help your family through the difficult times and enjoy being together’

‘Neighbourhood Trust' is proud to bring you Parenting Week here in Canterbury. It’s happening from the 9th to 19th September and has around 30 events for any stage of parenting. They have a great line-up of experts including Mike King, Pio Terei, Dr Sue Bagshaw, Jenny Hale and Jax Hamilton, all right here.
 Their facebook page: Parenting Week, Christchurch www.facebook.com/parentingweekchch has all the events listed and more information.

Indonesian Cultural Festival
If you would like to have a taste of  Indonesian culture, there is a show this coming Saturday 7th September at Middleton Grange.




That's all for now.
Kōwhai Teaching Team

Kahikatea Newsletter T3 Week 6

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Parenting Week


‘Strategies to help your family through the difficult times and enjoy being together’

‘Neighbourhood Trust is proud to bring you Parenting Week here in Canterbury. It’s happening from the 9th to 19th September and has around 30 events for any stage of parenting. They have a great line-up of experts including Mike King, Pio Terei, Dr Sue Bagshaw, Jenny Hale and Jax Hamilton, all right here.
 Their facebook page: Parenting Week, Christchurch www.facebook.com/parentingweekchch has all the events listed and more information.

Image may contain: text


Toys


We are looking for toys that can move or toys that can talk. We are starting a technology unit and would love students to bring any toys, that can move or talk, to school. Please could these be named and brought to school as of Monday week 7. As part of this unit we are going to be using the new school Bee bots. Please chat to your children as the week goes on to see what they have done with our new school resource. 

Image result for beebots

Book week Dress up


What a fun day we have all had! It was so lovely to see everyone who dressed up in their favourite book character. Thank you to each and everyone at home who helped to make the children look as fabulous as they did. 





PTA Readathon

Thank you to all the whānau members who have supported our students with their Readathon challenge. It has been lovely to see how many children have been excited about reading over the last fortnight. As teachers we have loved the enthusiasm that we are seeing from so many readers in our hub. Please remember that cards and money are due back to school on Friday 6th September. 

Keeping Ourselves Safe

Coming up in week 8 we are working alongside Constable Ross to understand what it means to keep ourselves safe.

Sydenham Cricket Club

During week 5 we were fortunate to have Sydenham Cricket Club take each home space for a 30 minute cricket session. The children enjoyed learning some basic cricket skills. 

















Talent Show

Thank you to all the family members who are helping support the children who are getting ready to audition for the school Talent Quest. Music has been sent home this weekend for our performers to practice. Amber and Lisa will be holding auditions during Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes this coming week. 

T3 W6 in Pohutukawa

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Christchurch Schools' Music Festival

Massed Rehearsal next Monday

The Pōhutukawa Festival choir will be heading to Avonhead School next Monday, the 2nd of September, to attend our area rehearsal. We will be leaving school by bus at 12:15 and will return by 3pm.

Tickets

We will be performing on the evening of Thursday 7th November. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketek. This year marks 80 years since the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival began. Titled ‘You’re the Voice’, this year’s programme features songs from the past eight decades of the festival, as well as some new ones. Some parents or grandparents may remember singing some of the songs themselves as children in the massed or representative choirs during their youth! This year is also the first year that the festival will be held in the Town Hall since the earthquakes. We encourage you to get hold of your tickets asap, as the Town Hall has limited seats in comparison to our previous venue, Horncastle Arena. 


Orana Park Trip

Hopefully you will have received a paper copy of the notice informing you of our planned trip to Orana Park. If not, here is the information:

We are heading to Orana Park on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th of September, from 9.30am-2.45pm, to tie in with our inquiry focus of innovation, our science topics (habitats, classification, adaptations) and our writing of animal information reports this term.

As we are such a large team we are required to visit the park in two groups. On Monday Tracy’s home group, Rae’s home group and half of Steve’s home group will visit the park. On Tuesday Katie’s home group, Gayle’s home group and the other half of Steve’s home group will visit the park.

We will need the help of some adults to enable us to go on this trip. We will be leaving school at 9.30am via bus and we will have an emergency vehicle. If you are interested in assisting us on this trip as an adult supervisor, please email your child’s home group teacher before Friday 30 August. We will contact all adults who have kindly volunteered to help, to confirm whether your help is required.

The buses are being generously funded by the PTA. The cost per child will be $10 and a request for your contribution to this will be on your Term 3 account.

For the trip, your child will need to be in comfortable footwear and in school uniform. They should bring a jacket in case of inclement weather. If your child suffers from asthma, please ensure they have their medication with them in a named plastic bag, with instructions about administration. Your child needs to give this to their class teacher prior to departure.

On the day, students will need to wear school uniform and bring:

  • A water bottle
  • A substantial morning tea and lunch
  • A warm layer of clothing (especially a windproof jacket)

Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.

Thank you to those adults who have shown an interest in being supervisor for the trip. We will contact everyone next week to confirm required help.

Winter Sports uniforms

Once winter sports uniforms have been washed and dried, could they please be returned to school and popped in the pink box in the wee foyer area between the library and the office.






T3 W6 in Pōhutukawa

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Christchurch Schools' Music Festival

Massed Rehearsal next Monday
The Pōhutukawa Festival choir will be heading to Avonhead School next Monday, the 2nd of September, to attend our area rehearsal. We will be leaving school by bus at 12:15 and will return by 3pm.

Tickets
We will be performing on the evening of Thursday 7th November. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketek. This year marks 80 years since the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival began. Titled ‘You’re the Voice’, this year’s programme features songs from the past eight decades of the festival, as well as some new ones. Some parents or grandparents may remember singing some of the songs themselves as children in the massed or representative choirs during their youth! This year is also the first year that the festival will be held in the Town Hall since the earthquakes. We encourage you to get hold of your tickets asap, as the Town Hall has limited seats in comparison to our previous venue, Horncastle Arena.  

Orana Park Trip

Hopefully you will have received a paper copy of the notice informing you of our planned trip to Orana Park. If not, here is the information: 

We are heading to Orana Park on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th of September, from 9.30am-2.45pm, to tie in with our inquiry focus of innovation, our science topics (habitats, classification, adaptations) and our writing of animal information reports this term.
As we are such a large team we are required to visit the park in two groups. On Monday Tracy’s home group, Rae’s home group and half of Steve’s home group will visit the park. On Tuesday Katie’s home group, Gayle’s home group and the other half of Steve’s home group will visit the park.
We will need the help of some adults to enable us to go on this trip. We will be leaving school at 9.30am via bus and we will have an emergency vehicle. If you are interested in assisting us on this trip as an adult supervisor, please email your child’s home group teacher before Friday 30 August. We will contact all adults who have kindly volunteered to help, to confirm whether your help is required.
The buses are being generously funded by the PTA. The cost per child will be $10 and a request for your contribution to this will be on your Term 3 account.
For the trip, your child will need to be in comfortable footwear and in school uniform. They should bring a jacket in case of inclement weather. If your child suffers from asthma, please ensure they have their medication with them in a named plastic bag, with instructions about administration. Your child needs to give this to their class teacher prior to departure.
On the day, students will need to wear school uniform and bring:
A water bottle
A substantial morning tea and lunch
A warm layer of clothing (especially a windproof jacket)
Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email  message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.

Thank you to those adults who have shown an interest in being supervisor for the trip. We will contact everyone next week to confirm required help.

Winter Sports uniforms

Once winter sports uniforms have been washed and dried, could they please be returned to school and popped in the pink box in the wee foyer area between the library and the office.