Kahikatea News: Term 4, Week 2

 Kia ora,

Welcome back to a fun-filled and jam-packed term that is sure to fly by! We have been enjoying getting outside in the stunning weather in the lead-up to Athletics Day last Friday. Thanks to everyone for your support in ensuring your child has their sunhat every day.

A reminder that we will begin our swimming lessons in week 5, beginning Monday 9th November. We encourage you to work with your children on being able to dress and undress independently. It is a great idea to start labelling items of clothing also.

We were so impressed with the attitude, positive sportsmanship, and encouragement our tamariki gave each other during our Junior Athletics Day last Friday. Here are some action shots:

Handwriting (Transcription)

As a school, we use the Kinetic Letters handwriting programme. In Kahikatea, we aim to develop pupils’ accurate and consistent letter and number formation, focusing on shape and size before progressing to slope. Through regular, structured practice, pupils develop greater automaticity in their handwriting, allowing letter formation to become more fluent and less effortful. As handwriting becomes more automatic, it places less demand on working memory, freeing up cognitive capacity for pupils to focus on the content, organisation and quality of their writing. Our aim is for handwriting to become a natural, fluent process that supports pupils to express their ideas with greater confidence and independence. We write on our stomachs in the lizard position, which engages our core and gives us a strong frame.

We are all working on capital letters now, which is very exciting! If you would like to help with numeral formation at home, ask your child to write the digits 0-9. Many tend to write some (usually 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9) backwards; model the correct way and ask them to repeat.

Recorder:

As a team, we are developing our musical skills through learning to play the recorder. We have learnt to recognise and play the notes A and B, focusing on correct fingering, breath control and producing a clear sound. We are now building our understanding of beat patterns, learning to recognise and maintain a steady beat and play rhythms accurately. Through regular practice, we are developing our confidence, coordination and ability to play music together.

I have added some pictures of beat patterns below; ask your child to sound them out for you.

Kapa Haka:

We have begun our Kapa Haka sessions with Cath again this term. The students are really enjoying learning about the tikanga and use of the poi.

Art with Nicky:

We love having Nicky Dunlop, our resident art specialist, working in our team! She creates the most incredible visual art with our tamariki and gives them some amazing experiences. Here are some of the robots using pastel and dye that she has been working on with Sarah J's class.

Kahikatea News: Term 3, Week 10

 Kia ora,

As Term 3 comes to a close, we would like to take a moment to celebrate all the learning, growth and achievements that have taken place throughout the term. Thank you to our students and whānau for your continued support and commitment. We hope everyone has a safe, relaxing and enjoyable break, with plenty of time to rest, recharge and enjoy time with family and friends. We look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for an exciting Term 4!

Reminders:

A couple of reminders:

Athletics Day is coming up in the second week of Term 4-more info to come

Swimming sessions: Our two-week block of swimming sessions is coming up in weeks 5 and 6 of next term. If your child is not an independent dresser, now is a good time to encourage your child to dress and undress independently and quickly. Click HERE if you would like to help.

Please remind children not to bring any toys (large or small) to school. We are noticing an influx of small items coming in. This can cause great distraction throughout the day.

Hats-Please remember each child will need a sunhat in Term 4.

Maths-Symmetry

We have been learning all about symmetry! We have explored what symmetry means, looked at lines of symmetry, and discovered lots of shapes and objects that are symmetrical. We’ve had fun spotting symmetry all around us and learning how to identify it. We have been using our Numicon resources to create some amazing symmetrical shapes and patterns.

Heritage Dress Up Day!

Heritage Dress Up Day was a huge success, and it was so wonderful to learn more about each other and our cultural heritage. We managed to raise $280 for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Life Education:

Our Life Ed sessions were so interesting and informative, and we loved meeting Kirsty and Harold. We discovered more about our body systems and learnt about how good physical activity is for our bodies.

Here are our class pics with Harold:

Sarah J HG

Talia HG

Amber HG

Sarah S HG

Handwashing Session:

As part of our learning about our bodies and staying healthy, we had one of our parents, Anna Horgan, in to run a session with our students. Anna visited each home group with her very helpful assistant, Lucy, to teach us about germs and the importance of washing our hands.

It was a fun, engaging, and... hands-on experience! Thank you for giving up your time Anna.

Board Games fun!

We had a fantastic time playing board games for Maths on Wednesday and Thursday this week. We were very inclusive,  taught each other new games, and demonstrated our value of 'We Get There Together'.

Farewell to Toto:

Toto has been with us for six weeks and has made a huge impression on our tamariki. We wish her all the best for her future career as an educator; we know she will be brilliant and make a difference to many!