Miniball Term 4 Pioneer

Posted on 7 September, 20177 September, 2017 by Paulette Newton

Term 4 Miniball at Pioneer Stadium

Next term, the children in Year 3-4 again have the opportunity to play miniball at Pioneer Stadium on a Thursday afternoon. The games are played at different times each week, from 3.30pm-6pm. At this stage, I am wanting to see how many children are interested in playing and if there are any keen parents that would be able to assist by either coaching a team or managing a team on a Thursday at Pioneer. Please note, there is a small team fee of $35 per person as this is an out of school activity.

Please fill in your details on the form (link below) to give me an indication of the number of children who are keen, and if we have enough parent support, by Friday 8th September. This will determine how many teams I can enter. Due to limited team numbers (8 per team). I will send another email to organise placements and teams in the next couple of weeks.
FORM:

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Paulette

Kauri Whānau Weekly Update: Term 3 Week 7

Posted on 3 September, 20173 September, 2017 by Nicky Dunlop

What a big week we had last week, with our ski day and learning conferences.

A huge thank you to all the parents who came along and supported the children on the slopes. We couldn't have gone without you. The children had the opportunity to embrace 'we love challenge' and they did this with great gusto!

Parent feedback is being collected about learning conferences. I have just read through the feedback that has been given so far. Thanks to the five parents who have responded from our team. It would be great to get more Kauri feedback, so we can build a clearer picture of whether we are hitting the mark with these conferences and what needs to be done to improve them. Please take a couple of minutes to fill in this form.

Speeches:

This weekend we are reading through the children's speech documents and providing feedback and suggestions. We are working on a short timeframe with speeches this year. They will be delivered to home-groups starting this Friday afternoon, for those who are ready, with the rest being delivered on Monday and Tuesday of week 8. We are devoting quite a bit of class time to speech writing this coming week, however most children will also need to work on their speech as part of their home learning. The aim is to be finished writing by Wednesday, so that time can be spent practising the delivery, both at school and at home. The best six Year 7 and six Year 8 speeches will go forward to our speech finals. This will take place in our new hub at Beckenham, on Wednesday September 13th, in the afternoon.

Sexuality Education:

We are about to begin our ‘Sexuality Road’ health unit. During these lessons the children will be learning about changing bodies and feelings, relationships, communication and decision making, reproduction and support systems. We teach this topic every year in the Intermediate Hub, to ensure that students cover issues relevant to them, at an appropriate age. The Year 7s and Year 8s are taught separately.

If you would like more information on what is covered, we will be running an information evening on Thursday September 14th, starting at 7pm. This will be held in our new hub at Beckenham. It is important that you fill in this form, if you are planning on attending this evening.

Production Props and Costumes:

The Trials of Alice in Wonderland is our Year 7 & 8 production this year. The children are either in the acting group or the props and costumes creation group. It would be great to have some parents to support our children with the costume and prop making. If you are happy to help out and have the time on a Thursday afternoon, please send me an email. nicky.dunlop@beckenham.school.nz

Finally, here are a few more pictures from our day up Mt Hutt.

Joe gets up close with the snow ... again.

Go Bella!

Koru Team Weeks 5 & 6

Posted on 2 September, 20172 September, 2017 by Sue Leadbetter

Our Proud Petals

Parent Conferences

Thank you to all those parents who attended our Learning Conferences this week and for Hub 10, last week. It was wonderful to see the children showing you around the learning spaces and to hear the conversations about their learning and goals. The children were very excited to share their achievements with you - thank you for all your interest and the way you supported and encouraged your child in this process.

We would appreciate your feedback through the questionnaire that was emailed out this week. Thank you very much.

Our Baby Photos & Fascinating Facts

Ch-ch-ch-changes

We have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the fascinating facts about our children in Koru team and have set up a fascinating facts gallery in our foyer in the West Hub. We would love you to come in and enjoy all the facts and photos. We based this learning around the Vogels adds that have been on tv.
The children have delighted in sharing their facts and guessing who has 3 kidneys, who has been on a plane by themselves, who has 2 different coloured eyes, who ate rat poison as a baby ....... Come and enjoy the wall with your child.

Can you help?
With the number of bugs that have been around this year we are running short of tissues for the children to use and would appreciate it if anyone could contribute to our supplies.
We're also in search of things you no longer need at home, to support discovery learning. These include:
* Construction materials: old clean containers, small boxes, old cotton reels
* Technology & tinkering materials: old phones, cameras, calculators, screwdrivers, allen keys, any old technology
* Nature items: acorns, chestnuts, shells, pebbles
* Craft: wool, string, tape, left over ribbon, wrapping or other paper.
Please bring to the West Wing and give to any of the teachers.

Circle Time
Dorinda has been leading us in Circle Time this term, which has provided fantastic learning for teachers and children. The classes work together, learning the routines and rules of Circle Time, and participating in fun games. The games this term have focused on our value of Getting There Together, and allowed us to practise co-operation, turn taking, sharing and listening to others' ideas, and encouraging others.

Taking New Steps in Discovery Time
We have been impressed with children as they begin to show so much agency during discovery time. Many children are confidently trying new things, by playing with different materials or working with peers they didn't know well prior to our move into the new Learning Space. They have had to solve problems, source materials and work together to get results. It has also been lovely watching creativity spring out into the new space.

Honey spread on brown, brown bread
Last week we had our first session "cooking" in our new maker space (kitchen area). After our poem the previous week, 'Honey spread on brown, brown bread', the children made their own toast and spread it with Honey or Marmite. It was lovely to use our Maker Space and to fill the hub with delicious smells. The children loved independently making and spreading their own toast (with a little help from Anne). The communication skills, self management, language around fractions (cutting into halves and quarters), fine motor skills and problem solving skills involved in an activity like this make it as rich in learning as it is exciting!

Kauri Whānau: Awesome Ski Day

Posted on 30 August, 201730 August, 2017 by Nicky Dunlop

What a stunning day we had on the slopes today. The children embraced the challenge, supported each other and made the most of their day on the mountain. So much fun!

Kauri Whānau Update: Term 3 Week 6

Posted on 28 August, 201728 August, 2017 by Nicky Dunlop

Ski day this Wednesday:

The forecast is looking good for our ski day on Wednesday. We'll have a very early start with all children needing to meet on Eastern Tce at 6:20am. This is due to our lessons being scheduled for 9am.

Key reminders:

Be at school, Eastern Tce, by 6:20am
Come dressed is: thermal top and long-johns, long woollen socks, warm top, weather-proof pants and ski jacket. We can take off layers in the bus / car.
In a day pack: gloves, goggles or glasses, large bottle of water, large lunch and inhaler / medication as required.
In jacket pocket: some energy food for snacking on the slopes.
Optional: activity for bus / car trip, camera, $5 to spend at cafe.
All children will be provided with a helmet, skis, boots and poles.
We will return to Eastern Tce by 6pm.

Learning Conferences:

We are looking forward to catching up with you at learning conferences tomorrow and on Thursday. You can still book a conference by going to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and entering the code ay2w2

Please come straight into the hub when you arrive. The children will gather their books and start sharing their learning with you. Your child's home-group, maths and possibly reading teacher(s) will drop by to discuss progress and next steps. There will be a list on the large whiteboard to remind the children about all that they have to share.

Winter Sport:

The winter sport season has finished. A huge thank you to all of the parents who regularly gave their time to coach teams. Without you, the children would not have had the opportunity to play. Also a big thank you to Jenny and Gayle for all of the extra hours they put in to coordinate this weekly programme.
Congratulations to our Year 7 & 8 hockey team who were placed 9th at the Canterbury Winter Tournament last week.

Speeches:

Today the children got underway with their speech writing. They are writing a 3-4 minute persuasive speech. While most of this will be written at school, some writing will need to happen at home. Please encourage your child to work on their speech.

Celebrating our Cantamath achievements:

We were thrilled with the number of children who achieved excellence and highly commended awards for their display work at Cantamath last Wednesday.

Highly Commended: Adam, Georgina, Tilly, Isla, Miriélle, Juliette, Daisy, George, Luke, Saraya, Kaia, Bonnie, Jarred's maths class project
Excellence: Caleb, Jessie, Christopher, Santiago, Constantin, Marlonique, Rosie, Alex, Fynn
Outstanding: Two pieces of work were awarded outstanding awards this year. We were very proud that Nicky's maths class project was one of them. We designed our own font and created a giant scrabble board that will displayed outside by the junior playground at Beckenham.

A big well done to our Cantamath teams who sweated it out for 30 minutes of challenging questions.