Koru Newsletter, Term 1 Week 6, 2016

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Circle Time
This term, we are focusing on our key kete values of:
* Showing we care and
* Getting there together
Each week we use circle time to discuss how we can show these values. Circle time involves all students, and we sit in a circle and take a turn sharing ideas. We often have a picture book or fun activity to listen to first, and this helps us with our ideas. 
Recently, we have talked about what we can do if we have a problem....here are some of our thoughts:


We have also explored what great friends do:



We Get There Together During Discovery Time!
We have loved 'getting there together' during discovery time!  From this week, we now begin our day with numeracy. During this time, the children are involved in numeracy activity stations as well as direct teacher instruction. Friday afternoons will be a time for self-directed discovery.

 
    

Footsteps Dance Group
We were lucky to have footsteps dance group show us a fun superhero song with actions during the week. We also had a session on feelings with the Group. During this, we discussed our feelings and made feeling faces. 


   


Mutukaroa Learning Conferences
It has  been great to catch up with all of you to discuss your child's learning and of course, to meet you! I hope you are finding the resources in the learning packs helpful, and that the children are enjoying these. I am currently meeting with parents of children who have been at school for 20 weeks. During this meeting, we review their learning goals. We love your feedback, so please return the Parent evaluation forms to my office.
Thanks, Rowe

Getting Creative in the Intermediate Hub

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Last week was art week in our hub. Children chose whether they wanted to learn about pop art, word art or street art. Once the choices were made the learning begun. Over five afternoons the children explored, designed and created beautiful art. There are a few finishing touches to complete and then we look forward to seeing everyone’s work displayed on our walls.







Tomorrow, Wednesday, all camp forms are due in. Please get any outstanding forms back quickly. There are spare copies on top of the filing cabinet in Room 16.  The second notice, which includes our programme and the gear list, will be coming home next week.


Choir gets underway this Thursday. Those who are not involved in choir will be doing an alternate music programme on Thursday afternoons.


A number of Kauri children have organised teams for the PTA Top Team event on Saturday March 19. There is still time to get your entry in. The PTA have asked some of our senior children to help with the running of the events. Children who do this will receive leadership points for their efforts.




Our school duathlon is on March 24th, the day before Easter break. Many children took entry forms home today. There are extra forms at the school office. Please return entries to the box in the office foyer by next Thursday. If your child is keen to take part, please encourage them to get underway with their training this week.

Our next writing motivation is on Monday. We will share the exemplar with you, to give you an idea of what we are looking for in the children’s writing. Please ask your child to show you their writing later in the week. We encourage the children to keep working on their writing at home.

Refugees!

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In Team Pōhutukawa we are learning about refugees. We have been simulating the refugee experience in our hubs through a series of games.

The children have been sorted into families and each family has their own refugee story.

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 We have had to find our family while blindfolded (simulating the experience of being in a bombed city)

In both hubs we set up a refugee camp for a day.

Not a very comfortable place to work and sleep!
 





Waiting for the daily allowance of rice.

The next part of our learning is for the children to work together in groups to research a group of refugees. We will encourage them to think critically and empathetically when they ask questions and research their chosen group. We would love you to talk about their research and support them in their inquiry.

Another awesome week in the Intermediate Hub

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The children have enjoyed the variety of activities and learning they have been involved in this week. They hung on every word of 'The Good Lie' movie. This gave them a good base understanding of the challenges faced by refugees. Hopefully your child has come home and discussed the movie.

A big thanks to Tracy for her superb organisation of the school swimming sports. Thanks also to the students who helped with media coverage and organisation. Congratulations to all of those who took part. Tracy will be announcing the team for zones once she has processed the results. The south zone swimming sports are on the morning of March 14 at Jellie Park.

Next week is our art week. We are spending every afternoon learning about and creating visual art. The children have chosen from street art, optical art and art using block letter words.

One of the big weekly highlights at the moment are our basketball sessions with the Rams. The children are giving 100% for the full hour and basic skills are progressing really well. Below is a video of the boys' training this week.


Next week we are closing the kitchen, as we have had some issues with children being in the hub at lunchtimes when they shouldn't. Please make sure your child doesn't bring lunch that requires toasting, heating or hot water. All going well, we will be back to normal kitchen operation in week 6.

Dunedin camp is getting closer! We currently have four parents who have offered to join us and we would like two more. If you can be available from April 4 - 8 and would like to spend a week in fabulous company, please let one of us know. The full cost of camp is $315, however the actual cost will be lower than this. We are in the process of finalising fundraising totals and Audrey has applied for a grant to go towards transport costs. As soon as we know the actual cost, I will pass this information on.

A couple of reminders: please check and return contact details sheets if you haven't done so already and  get Year 8 girls' HPV vaccination forms back to the office.

Below is a picture of our Room 16 whiteboard for week 5. This outlines our timetable and may be helpful to have at home for some children, to assist with their organisation. We will include a timetable photo in the blog each week.


Koru Newsletter Term 1, Wk 4, 2016

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Alphabet Ideas
Team Koru  currently have a big focus on building on our alphabet knowledge (this includes the letter names and the letter sound). It would be fantastic if you could support this at home.You could do this by;
  • Using the packs that you would have received from Rowena through the Mutukaroa Programme. 
  • When your child is writing their name, talk about what letters make up their name.
  • Get your child to help write shopping lists and talk about the sounds that go with letters.


Contact Information and Cyber Safety form
If you have not handed in your 'Contact Details' sheet or 'Cyber Safety' form yet, please hand this into the office next week.


Word Pack
You would have received a 'Word Pack' from Rowena, please practice a few of these each night adding in a few more as your child gets to know some words. It is important to keep reviewing words until they are mastered.Your Mutukaroa learning pack also has a list of games to support learning these words in a fun way e.g. The Ladder game and the Slap game. If you have not received this pack  yet, it will be given to you at your child's learning conference. If your child started at the end of last year and has lost this pack please see your child's 'Point of Contact Teacher' so they can organise you another pack.

Team Koru News
Just letting you know that we will be sending out a fortnightly newsletter via a blog update.  Please make sure you check this so you know what has been happening and be aware of future events.
Please check the Notices Board  (in the entrance to Hub 10/11) daily as we use this to convey any important messages.

River of Flowers
On Monday the 22nd February Hub 10 & 11 participated in the chalk river of flowers to remember the people who passed away in the earthquake 5 years ago. The children demonstrated great respect and worked well together  during this activity.  We were also very proud of them during our whole school and community remembrance gathering on the field.  The children are a credit to all of you.
Most of these children have only been at school a few weeks.

Getting there together







A huge thanks to Steve for coming to play for Hub 10 & 11
Weaver's father Steve came into Hub 10 & 11 to play his electric guitar. Children asked questions about the equipment, requested songs, and some children even had a turn at playing the guitar! This experience created a platform for some wonderful discussions. We all think you ROCK Steve ! We hope you come again and if you would like to bring your band you are most welcome.





Daisy the kitten comes to visit Hub 10 & 11!
Quote from this sharing time - "She is softer than she looks!"