Kahikatea News: Term 4, Week 5

Kia ora whānau!

We decided to push out our blog this week so we could include some photos of all the swimming fun! We are sure you will enjoy seeing what everyone has been getting up to.

Swimming!

On Monday, all our classes were organised into their new swimming groups. Everyone did a fantastic job of following instructions and being patient, as there was quite a bit of organising involved!

Since then, swimming has been amazing! Everyone is getting involved, giving things a go and really making the most of their time in the pool. It has been so awesome to see our swimmers growing in confidence in the water and showing off their fantastic skills.

Just a reminder that swimming is happening every day this week and next week. A big thank you to all our parent helpers who have helped us out so far. We really appreciate your support!

Here are a few snapshots of the fun!

Literacy Change for swimming

With swimming taking place, we have changed our literacy programme. This week and next week, we will be doing homegroup literacy each day rather than our usual literacy groups.

If you would like a book for your child to bring home to read, please flick your child's literacy teacher an email, and we can organise one for you!

Tree planting 

Last week, Kahikatea had the opportunity to get involved in some native planting! These plants will eventually be planted around our school, helping to make our environment even greener.

Amber and Talia's classes worked alongside Pōhutukawa to plant a variety of native plants. Before getting stuck in, we had a big chat about staying safe when handling potting mix. The children absolutely loved getting involved! It was also lovely to see our tuakana-teina relationships in action, with children working alongside and supporting one another.

In the afternoon, Sarah S and Sarah J's classes headed out around the school to do some weeding and help keep our grounds looking clean and tidy. Although perhaps not quite as exciting as planting, everyone got stuck in and had a great time! They were certainly demonstrating our school value 'We Care' by looking after our school environment.

Student Council Fun Run – Friday 27 November 🏃

Our Student Council is continuing their mahi to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters Christchurch as part of our Shaun the Sheep art project.

This term, the Student Council is organising a sponsored fun run on Friday 27 November, from 12:00–12:40 pm.

The idea is simple! Children sign up and gather a few sponsors for the number of laps they can complete around the school field in 30 minutes. Running or walking is absolutely fine! Parents and whānau are also very welcome to join their children on the day if they are free and keen.

We are also hoping to gather some spot prizes for our lucky participants!

Sponsorship forms will be coming home over the next few days.

This is an optional event, and we really appreciate your support for this awesome cause!

Ngā mihi nui, 

Talia, Sarah S, Amber and Sarah J

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.