Kahikatea News for Term 3, Week 10

Kia ora Whānau

Thank you for all of your help and support over the term.

He waka eke noa - this is a canoe we are all in together, and we only keeping it moving by paddling together!

South Library Trip
We had a fantastic time exploring innovation and technology at South Library. We used Beebots, Scratch, undertook a library tour and saw a 3D printer operating! Scratch is a free app. It will be key in helping our students learn early programming skills, in line with the new Digital Literacy curriculum. 

Look at these little readers! 

Look what you can make with a 3D printer! Wow!

Watching the magic

Bee Bot Fun

Scratch Junior

Scratch Junior

Keep NZ Beautiful Week
We have picked up rubbish galore this week! We know that the rubbish in our local environment can easily blow into rivers and gutters, and out to sea. We encourage everyone in our community to make a difference by picking up the rubbish they see (even if it wasn't theirs!).

Mental Health Week
We learnt more about Te Whare Tapa Whā and the four (now five!) areas of wellbeing. See here for useful information and lots of ideas for working on your own wellbeing at home. 

Here are some photos of our tamariki doing yoga: 

Connecting with Community
Holidays are a perfect time for connecting with each other, and your local community. Some options: 
* The CCC Libraries have a number of interesting events and workshops for children.
* The Breeze Walking Festival includes free walks....check out the Gruffalo Exploration!
* Local planting and clean-up days are advertised on the Canterbury Enviro Calendar.

March for Climate Change

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We are proud to have students who have given up talent show to march in the Climate Change Rally. Here are one family, getting ready to set off.

Kahikatea Newseltter Wk 8 Term 3

South Library Visit

We are off to the South Library and Learning Center on the 18th and 20th of September.

We depart school at 12.30 and return by 3pm. Anna and Jules are going on Friday and Charlotte and Amber are going on Wednesday.

If you are able to assist help please let your child's teacher know.

Te Wiki o te Reo Maori 

Our tamariki enjoyed a busy week full of activities to support learning through the Maori language. 

Our Korero Corner this week.

  Games, books and activities 

Can you recognize these shapes? Can you name them in Maori? Can you name the parts of your tinana (body)? 

Bee Boots...are so much fun! 

Check out these clever tamariki programming their Bee Bots

Phonics and Reading

We are currently working with our Resource Teacher of Literacy to best target the reading needs of a number of our students. Through observations, we have noticed that some of our readers have not yet made the firm connection between letters and sounds (the alphabetic code).
This is an essential skill for learning to read. We are therefore strongly focusing on letter-sound relationships during reading lessons with some of our children who need it. In order to reinforce the connection we are using decodable texts. Almost every word in these books can be sounded out if unknown. As the books are not rich in vocabulary or sentence structure, it would be very beneficial if you could read to your child to continue to expose them to age appropriate language.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.
Other games and activities that would help your child make letter-sound connections are: 
I-Spy (using the letter sound and the letter name)
Snap or Memory using the words from the books on small cards
Play 'name 3 things' that start with/end with...

GLUE STICKS

Our glue stick supply is running very low. If you have a glue stick at home please send to school for our tamariki to use. These will be gratefully received!

Talent Show 

We have been super impressed by the amazing performances by our tamariki. Look at these gorgeous kids...

Talent Show Update

Kia ora Whanau,

Over the last 3 weeks Lisa and Amber have been running practices for students who are interested in being in the Talent Show. These have been during lunchtime and some afternoons.

This week we have 2 lunchtime rehearsals scheduled: in the hall on Monday and again on Friday. If your child has a costume, please send it to school with them on Friday.

By the end of this week Lisa and Amber need to select 3 (groups and/or individuals) to perform at the school Talent Show on Friday 27 September 1.40 to 2.45pm.

Kind thanks for all your support and inquiries regarding this event. If you have any further questions, please get in contact with Amber or Lisa.

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz
lisa.griffith@beckenham.school.nz

Arohanui,
Team Kahikatea.

Kahikatea Upcoming Events

Kia Ora Whānau

Two important announcements...

             
Visit To South Library 
We are excited to visit the South Library in the last week of term. Please click here for information about this trip.

Keeping Ourselves Safe 
Next week, we will begin our Keeping Ourselves Safe learning unit. 

Keeping Ourselves Safe is a series of lessons and resources provided to all schools by The New Zealand Police. The lessons are designed to help students learn and apply a range of safety skills that they can use when interacting with others. 

You can find information for families / whānau here.
As part of our learning, Constable Ross will be coming to talk with all of the students. 

Your child may bring 1-2 activity sheets to complete at home with you. Please work through these with your child if you have time, and return to school.  
Thanks for your support. If you have any questions, feel free to chat with your contact teacher. 

Kind regards
Amber, Charlotte, Anna & Jules