Kia ora, e te whanau,
What a lovely first week back at school following the holidays, this despite some very inclement weather! The children have loved reconnecting with teachers and friends. We warmly welcome our new children and their whānau: Kura, Theo, Ciaran, Arlo, Jessica and Mia Rose. It's wonderful to have you all at school with us, and well done to all for settling so beautifully into school life.
A very warm welcome also to our new children, and their whanau, who joined us towards the end of last term - Julia, Amani, Beau, Sailor, and Harriet. It is so lovely to have these children in the hub with us as well. They too have all settled in beautifully and our 'golden oldies' have been wonderful in making everyone feel very welcome.
It became apparent, and you will have read this in a recent Hero message from Sandy, that we have experienced a glitch in Hero which has meant that some of our communications have failed to reach you. We are therefore resending this Blog post, as it contains many gorgeous photos and lots of news about what the children were up to towards the end of last term.
Elizabeth and Nicola's home groups were lucky to be able to rebook their Junior Park Explorers outing to the ponds, after their initial trip was postponed. This visit took place in the second half of Term 2. Our educator, Pete, did a fabulous job of being both captivating and informative with our group. We learnt lots about our native birds, the role trees play in our ecosystem, and where bugs like to live.
Making our bird call to find our friends with the same bird call.
Yay, we've found our bird friends and linked 'wings'.
Searching for birds around the ponds with Pete.
We had to be really quiet on our bird search. When we spotted a bird we used this signal to point it out.
"I've found one."
Using magnifying glasses to search for bugs under the trees.
"Look, I've found a bug!"
We played a fun game where we learnt about what happens to birds and bugs when they lose their homes.
We enjoyed dressing up!
Each bird and bug had to go home to their tree each night.
Oh no!! This home, to many birds and bugs, is being cut down!
Some children have since returned to the ponds area to place some logs of wood on the ground in order to create some new bug habitats. We are looking forward to checking on them over the next weeks to see if any bugs have moved into the new homes.
Using a rake to scrap back the fauna to find an ideal place for the log.
Covering up the log.
"I wonder who will adopt this home?"
"This looks like a good place."
Using the leaf matter to cover the log up.
Using our bird signal to show he has spotted a bird.
"I've found one, too."
We are very lucky to have Whaea Cath joining us on Friday mornings. The children love her bringing her guitar in, and we have been singing some of our favourite waiata, and learning some new ones with her too. What a treat!
Singing the action song, 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' in Te Reo Māori.
Learning the Matariki song.
Singing the Baby Shark song in Te Reo Māori!!
One of our school-wide PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) focuses has been 'cooperation'. We have been practising this skill in a variety of ways during our Learning Through Play time.
This group has been showing cooperation in building this 'guinea pig enclosure'.
Cute little guinea pigs!
We loved the cooperation the tamariki displayed when designing and building their enclosure!
Each day, after our little play time we join in with an interoception activity. Simply put, interoception is the sense that allows us to answer the question, "How is my body feeling?" (for example, hot, cold, thirsty, hungry, full, tired) at any moment. This is a great opportunity to calm and reset as we prepare for the next learning block.
In this activity, we lay down, breathed in and scrunched our toes, then breathed out and relaxed our toes.
We then identified, by pointing to where we felt the 'stretch' in our bodies.
As our numbers continue to grow, Nicola's Home Group is using Kōmanawa first thing in the mornings and also throughout the afternoons. The children still unpack their bags and use the cubby holes outside Hangere. Their lunchboxes, drink bottles and literacy folders are still stored in Hangere. Each morning, after unpacking their bags, Nicola's Home Group children then go over to Kōmanawa to find an activity to start off their day. Teachers will be outside Hangere before 8:55 a.m., to help children, by continuing to remind them about this.
A couple of final reminders:
We are aware that in the Koru team we have a student with an all-nut allergy. Therefore we are asking that if nuts/nut-based products aren't necessary for your child's lunchbox, please consider not including them.
The team is also aware that some children have other dietary requirements and that their diet may need to be nut-based, so will need nut products to be included in their lunch box.
The teachers will continue to remind the children that at school we eat our own food rather than share with others, along with reminders about handwashing and putting food wrappings in lunch boxes to take home. These reminders will also include asking children to wash their hands after eating nuts, in order to remove any potential residue.
Readathon:
Let's get involved in our Readathon over the next two weeks, and at the same time, support our school by gathering some sponsors. Have fun with this, everyone!
We hope you are having/have had a lovely relaxing weekend together. Keep warm and dry, and we'll see all your little ones back at school tomorrow.
Ngā mihi mahana, and take care,
Elizabeth, Nicola, Georgia, Stacey, and Jeanette
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