Kia ora te whānau, 

We hope you have managed to stay warm this chilly week!

Term 3 has started off with a flurry of activities and the tamariki have got straight back into the swing of learning. They are so familiar with our routines and daily tasks by term three it doesn't take very long at all for everyone to settle into their roles and begin engaging in their learning. Here are just a few photos of all the wonderful learning which has occurred this week!

Recorder sessions - This term our tamariki have a wonderful opportunity to engage on a weekly basis with Rachel our visiting music teacher. Every Wednesday they get to learn how to play the recorder through tuition, games and playing the instrument. The tamariki really enjoyed this activity, and we look forward to seeing them grow in confidence and skills as the weeks progress. 

Cricket - Another exciting addition to our timetable in weeks 2,3 and 4 of this term is the opportunity to learn about cricket and how to play. Canterbury Cricket have provided some wonderful coaches who are supporting our tamariki to gain a love of the sport and pick up some new skills through games and practice. It was fabulous seeing how engaged the tamariki were, trying out something new and showing great sportsmanship.

Numicon - Numicon continues to be a very popular mode of learning in the Kahikatea hub. This week our focus has been based around the concept of measurement and in particular, centimeters and how we use estimating when we are comparing and ordering objects. The tamariki have been engaged and focused in their learning. 

Learning Through Play - Learning Through Play is a very important part of our curriculum in the Kahikatea hub and is something our tamariki look forward to every week. This week we focused on International Friendship Day by creating friendship bracelets, a joint art project, and we talked about what it means to be a good friend. 

Reminder - Scooter-athlon 

Next week, our Kahikatea Team will take part in an exciting Scooter-athlon on Friday 7th August from 1:30 pm – 3.00 pm. Parents are invited to come along and cheer on the tamariki.

The Scooter-athlon will follow a run → scooter → run format, giving students the chance to experience a fun, active, multi-stage race. Students are encouraged to wear their House T-Shirts, bring their own scooter and helmet, wear closed-toe shoes, and follow safety rules. Year 7/8 students will act as marshals to help run the event safely. Please note: If it is raining, the Scooter-athlon will be postponed. Any changes will be shared with parents via Hero.

Please let your classroom teacher know if your child does not have a scooter or if you have a spare one you are happy to lend. Your child will need to provide their own helmet. We can’t wait to see the tamariki scoot, run, and have fun – nau mai te wero! We love challenge!

 

Kahikatea News: Term 2, week 11

 

Kia ora e te whānau,

Term 2 of 2026 has come to an end and we have celebrated this busy term with some wonderful events and activities! Thanks to all who attended learning conferences; what a wonderful opportunity for the kaiako (teachers) to connect with our parents and whānau and to highlight the success of our pupils. We have had PTA breakfast and PJ day, book character day and of course, funky hair day to celebrate the last day of term! We have enjoyed multiple sporting events, and we hope the tamariki enjoy a safe and well-earned break with an opportunity to recharge and relax.

Here are a few snapshots of what Kahikatea have been up to this week.

Hillview Cross Country Challenge!

A huge highlight of this week for some of our tamariki was to represent their school at the Hillview Year 1-4 Cross Country Challenge. It was a wonderful event, and the children showed fantastic sportsmanship and a "can do" attitude! Embracing the school value of "We Love Challenge"!

Numicon - Numicon continues to be a very popular mode of learning for our tamariki and we are enjoying the opportunity to use a wide range of resources and classroom collaboration to extend the children's mathematical knowledge. This week we looked into comparing and ordering numbers to 100, and it created some wonderful problem-solving opportunities for the tamariki.

Funky Hair Day- Friday was FUNKY HAIR DAY!! As always, the tamariki shone bright and showed us their fantastic and creative hairstyles! They absolutely loved comparing their styles with each other, and there were lots of beautiful smiles all around. This was a fantastic way to raise money for the Starship Hospital, who do such incredible and vital work in Aotearoa.

Importance notice for Term 3:

Scooter-athlon- Next term, our Kahikatea Team will take part in an exciting Scooter-athlon on Wednesday 5th August from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm. Parents are invited to come along and cheer on the tamariki.

The Scooter-athlon will follow a run → scooter → run format, giving students the chance to experience a fun, active, multi-stage race. Students are encouraged to wear their House T-Shirts, bring their own scooter and helmet, wear closed-toe shoes, and follow safety rules. Year 7/8 students will act as marshals to help run the event safely. Please note: If it is raining, the Scooter-athlon will be postponed. Any changes will be shared with parents via Hero.

Please let your classroom teacher know if your child does not have a scooter or if you have a spare one you are happy to lend. Your child will need to provide their own helmet. We can’t wait to see the tamariki scoot, run, and have fun – nau mai te wero! We love challenge!

The Kahikatea teaching team wish you a safe and restful break, and we are looking forward to seeing you in Term 3.

Ngā mihi nui

Sarah J, Amber, Talia and Sarah S

Kahikatea News: Term 2 Week 9

 Kia ora te whānau, 

It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of another term. 

Kahikatea performed in our whole school assembly last week. The parent turnout was amazing, the kids were so thrilled, and they did so well.

The Kahikatea staff have been delighted by the progress our students have made so far this year. It has been wonderful to see their learning and development flourish, with this growth clearly reflected in their reports.

Reminders:

• Learning conferences are on Tuesday, the 23rd and Wednesday, the 24th of June. School will close at 1:45pm both days.
• A reminder to please bring reading folders on a Thursday, as this is the day when we switch books and children take them home. We will collect all readers over the break, so no books will go home in the last week of term. If you have any books at home, please bring them back in so that we are able to do a stocktake.
• Friday, the 3rd July, we have a wacky hair day. Please bring a gold coin donation.

Here are some of our recent learning celebrations:

Literacy:

The children continue to work hard and remain focused during our whole-class and small-group reading and writing sessions. The writing they are producing is outstanding! Below are some images of students' writing and of  Amber running a whole-class reading session, which the children enjoyed immensely.

Maths:

The use of the Numicon mathematics programme is proving to be a great success. Students are more clearly able to articulate their ideas and findings using mathematical language. They can translate the use of Numicon shapes and rods into problem-solving tasks. Below are some examples of Numicon work we have been participating in this week as we work with recording addition and subtraction problems.

Geography:

We are well into our Geography topic and have spent the past two weeks looking at maps of New Zealand and studying the North, South and Stewart Islands. We have looked at where Christchurch/Otautahi is located, the region of Canterbury and other towns and cities that are important to our tamariki. We have looked at keys and how mountains, rivers, forests, etc, might be marked on a map. We learnt about the name Aotearoa and where it came from, and have listened to the Māori myth of Maui and the Giant Ika (myth of how NZ came to be). Students have spent some time drawing their own maps of N.Z.

Look at the amazing felted banner our students have been working on with Nicky:

Staying Safe Online: Scams

People in New Zealand are losing millions of dollars to scammers each year – and this is just the figures reported to Netsafe so the actual figure is likely much higher!

It’s important that you and your tamariki know what to look out for to avoid scams. Netsafe have put their best advice together to help you stay safe online and stay away from scams.

Read their scam tips here.