Kahikatea Year 1-3 Newsletter Term 3 Week 2

Welcome Back!

We are back into our school routines and are loving the support you are providing to your child/children during drop off and pick up times. We will continue to have one of our teachers at the main entrance on Sandwich Road to meet you and your child/children every morning. 

Teachers are in meetings 4x a week and these generally start at 3.15pm. If you do need to share information or catch up with your child/children's teacher do email them and you can make a time to meet if needed. 

katie.mcfarlane@beckenham.school.nz

charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz

jules.may@beckenham.school.nz

amber.donovan@beckenham.school.nz

lisa.griffith@beckenham.school.nz

Sydenham Cricket Club Visit

On Thursday 30th July our friends from Sydenham Cricket came to give our tamariki the opportunity to learn some batting and fielding skills. Information has been sent home should your child wish to learn more or join a team. 

Ukelele & Recorder for Year 3 Students in Kahikatea

On Tuesday our Year 3 children are joining the Year 3/4 students in Kowhai to learn recorder or ukulele (they will have the opportunity to learn both). Thanks to the Kowhai teachers for supporting our tamariki at this time. If your child would like to bring their own recorder, then you can find these for about $13-$15 dollars from the music store Rockshop, or you could have a look at The Warehouse as well.

If you do choose to bring your own recorder in, please make sure it is clearly named.

Discovery/Learning Through Play

We are still very grateful to receive donations of boxes. Our discovery time is now in the afternoon and our students are encouraged to explore new learning independently or in collaboration with their peers or with a teacher. 

We are looking for: 

Any old jars (jam, relish or otherwise!) anyone cares to donate...sturdy plastic containers like vegemite jars are also great. 

Readathon

This Friday your child/children will be bringing home their Readathon card. The final return date for this is 21st August, NOT 14th August. Apologies for this error. 

Thank you for you support of this important event. 

Hillview Cross Country 

During Level 3 the decision was made that our school was not going to attend the inter-school event. We have now been informed that they are going ahead with the event on the 4th of August. Our tamariki will not be attending, but if you would like your child to attend as an individual then please contact your child's teacher and they will pass the relevant information on to you.  You will need to make your own arrangements if your decide to attend.  

Kahikatea Newsletter Term 2 Week 12

Kia ora e te whānau

What a busy term we have had settling back into school life after lockdown.  We are very proud of all our wonderful tamariki in the Kahikatea whānau and all the wonderful things they have achieved in their learning. Below are some photos of the activities they have been enjoying as we continue to learn and explore transformation and Matariki this week.

Pōhutakawa Concert
We were invited to watch the Pohutakawa whānau share their singing groups today and really enjoyed all the wonderful songs they performed for us.  

Handwriting with Bounce and Skip

Now that we are settled back into Level 1, Bounce and Skip may make an appearance at your place.  Each home-group has its own special set and our wonderful handwriting monkeys love to spend the night at home with one of our wonderful tamariki.  
Bounce and Skip have the tricky job of watching our daily handwriting carefully and selecting the child they think is focusing on the task and reaching their handwriting goals.  

Learning Conferences
We have really enjoyed having the time with each of you and your tamariki, sharing their learning journey so far, and their next steps with you.  We do appreciate you taking the time to meet with us, and hope that our conferences were able to provide you with some valuable insight into your child's progress and the learning goals we are working towards together.

What's happening in Christchurch over the term break
Below are links to some fun activities or places you may like to visit with your tamariki over the term break:

Tūrangi: Christchurch City Central library
https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/turanga/turanga-whats-on/
Canterbury Museum
https://www.canterburymuseum.com/whats-on/
Christchurch Art Gallery
https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/exhibitions/?section=events&type=family-activity
Free events at Kids Fest 2020
https://www.kidsfest.co.nz/events/?event-type=&location=&event-date=&age=&free-child=1&keyword=


Learning through play Loose Parts
We are looking for donations of the following to support our play-based learning:  

• Old newspapers and non-glossy magazines

• Unwanted craft items e.g. wool, string, material scraps

• Old clean socks 

• Large suitcases or old chests (for storing dress ups)

• Boxes for creations (eg biscuit boxes, soap boxes, etc) 

• Clean plastic milk bottles 

• Plastic caps (from milk bottles etc) 

• Old kitchen pots, pans, spoons, etc.

Parent Help

We are looking for some parents to volunteer their help during reading, by playing literacy games or supporting a group on a task, any day between 9.10-10.10 am. 
We also would love some volunteers to put reading books away. Putting reading books away can be done before school or at a time that suits you. If you can help, please email charlotte.verity@beckenham.school.nz


Thank you
As we head into a 2-week term break, we would like to take the time to thank you for all the kind support you have shown to us over the last 2 terms through all the unexpected changes and interruptions, and for working with us to provide educational support for your fantastic tamariki in their learning both at home and at school.