Kauri Whānau at Koru Games

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The 40 children competing at Koru Games have been putting in a tremendous effort over the past two days. The spirit of Koru Games is all about fair play and sportsmanship and our children are showing this in bucket loads during the competition. Making friends, offering advice to the opposition and even creating a musical commentary are just some of the things that the Beckenham children have been doing to show good spirit. There have been wins and there have been losses. It is great to see the children's enthusiasm, values and grit remain regardless of the outcome. All teams are showing learning lots and their technical play is improving as the tournament progresses.

We have our final day of competition tomorrow. We meet at 8:20 in the Kauri Hub. A good night's sleep is most likely needed for most. Please, remember to pack the sunscreen.











Kauri Ski Day

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Well, it was definitely worth the wait! With a bad weather forecast - not many people ventured up Mt Hutt today, but we did and we had a great time. The weather was fine, the snow was spring-like (which means soft and slow) and the slopes uncrowded. We were so impressed with how so many of our whānau embraced challenge on the slopes and came up with beaming faces.

A huge thanks to all of the wonderful parent helpers who joined us and supported the children to take on more of the mountain.

Here are a few pics from the day...



























Term 3 Week 8 Koru Team Update

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Tēnā koutou katoa,

Another couple of weeks of fun and learning in the Koru team!

Kōmanawa's fourth space is up and running, with Stacey's Home Group finding a home space. Welcome to our newest tamariki and their whānau. We also welcome Noelene who will be in for Stacey on Thursdays.



Spring

Spring means daffodils and blossoms! We carried out some observational drawing and painting of the daffodils.  There was also an experiment to see if you can change the colour of the flower by using dye in the water. A group of children decided that the tree in Kōmanawa needed blossoms - it's looking beautiful.









Which angle is the best?

Testing was carried out to see which angle made for the fastest ramp and the greatest distance. Various ramps around the school were tried.




It was determined that the greater the angle the faster and more distance you could travel. Some ramps weren't steep enough and the trolley would go only some of the way. The Tahaki ramp was the most successful, followed by the dirt pile. The dirt pile was the most fun!

Construction

There have been a variety of constructions over the past couple of weeks. With plenty of questions to answer.
What makes them the most stable so they can go high?
How can cars best be housed?
What design makes the best palace for fancy marbles?








What is the best environment for animals?


What other buildings do you find in a town?


What is the best way to secure a tarp? How can the roof be made high enough so that movement is easy? What will add comfort to the hut?



We are looking forward to what fun and learning the next two weeks bring.

Ngā mihi mahana kia koutou,
Elizabeth, Stacey, Kristika, Noelene and Jo

Orana Park trip for Pōhutukawa this Monday and Tuesday

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Orana Park trip Monday and Tuesday

The weather looks great for our trip to Orana Park tomorrow and on Tuesday!
Some final reminders for the students: 
  • Wear school uniform to school and be at school at the usual time
  • Bring a good sized lunch and a full water bottle
  • Wear comfortable shoes as there is lots of walking involved
  • Bring any medication required (eg. inhaler)
  • Optional - rain jacket (Tuesday), school sun hat
Tracy and Rae's classes along with half of Steve's class are going on the trip tomorrow.
Katie and Gayle's classes along with half of Steve's class are going on the trip Tuesday.

We leave school at 9:30am and return at 2:30pm.

Thank you again to all of the adults who are accompanying us as active supervisors! 

We look forward to all of the fun and learning to come!

Kahikatea Newseltter Wk 8 Term 3

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South Library Visit
We are off to the South Library and Learning Center on the 18th and 20th of September.
We depart school at 12.30 and return by 3pm. Anna and Jules are going on Friday and Charlotte and Amber are going on Wednesday.
If you are able to assist help please let your child's teacher know.
Te Wiki o te Reo Maori 
Our tamariki enjoyed a busy week full of activities to support learning through the Maori language. 
Our Korero Corner this week.
  Games, books and activities 
Can you recognize these shapes? Can you name them in Maori? Can you name the parts of your tinana (body)? 


Bee Boots...are so much fun! 
Check out these clever tamariki programming their Bee Bots












Phonics and Reading
We are currently working with our Resource Teacher of Literacy to best target the reading needs of a number of our students. Through observations, we have noticed that some of our readers have not yet made the firm connection between letters and sounds (the alphabetic code).
This is an essential skill for learning to read. We are therefore strongly focusing on letter-sound relationships during reading lessons with some of our children who need it. In order to reinforce the connection we are using decodable texts. Almost every word in these books can be sounded out if unknown. As the books are not rich in vocabulary or sentence structure, it would be very beneficial if you could read to your child to continue to expose them to age appropriate language.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.
Other games and activities that would help your child make letter-sound connections are: 
I-Spy (using the letter sound and the letter name)
Snap or Memory using the words from the books on small cards
Play 'name 3 things' that start with/end with...
GLUE STICKS
Our glue stick supply is running very low. If you have a glue stick at home please send to school for our tamariki to use. These will be gratefully received!
Talent Show 
We have been super impressed by the amazing performances by our tamariki. Look at these gorgeous kids...