Kia Ora koutou,
Wow, we have made it to week 4 already and to our second K.I.T. notice. We would like to welcome Jim and Ruby who have now joined the Kōwhai Community. We are so excited you are here. We have had a busy two weeks since our last notice with so much happening. We have been busy learning all about Statistics and Measurement in maths and have made some awesome graphs that are up on our wall. We have been using measuring tapes, rulers, hands, feet, cubes and anything else we could find to measure as many different things in our space as possible! Ask us to measure something at home. Reading We are well underway with our Literacy programme and have enjoyed seeing the children so enthusiastic to work with the teachers on their reading and writing. Over the next week children will be coming home with high frequency words on card. These can be used to play games, as flash cards or any other creative ways you can think of to help your child instantly recognise these words, which will help them when reading new text. Phonics and Handwriting We have started our programmes and we are learning shapes and sounds to help us become better writers and readers. You can sing the phonics songs at home with your children (these are in their alphabet books - sorry the tune is going to get super annoying!!). Goal Setting It has been lovely to see most of you already for our goal setting sessions. These have been a really positive way to start the year and we have loved creating some very cool goals with you and your child. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of you on Thursday night (28 February). Library Just a reminder that our Library day is Thursday. Children will only get books every second week and can return their books to the library or to our blue library box which is on the bench. Swimming We will continue to swim on Wednesday and Friday as long as the weather remains kind to us. We are loving seeing the children's confidence grow while in the water. Seesaw This year we will be using Seesaw which is an app that allows us to share photos and videos of your child and their learning straight to your device (phone, tablet, computer). Today we will send home a Seesaw code for you to access your child's private account. There will be a range of posts including group and individual for your child. It is a really special way for you to see what is happening during the day for your child and we love seeing the likes and comments from you all. If you have any questions about Seesaw ask your child's pod teacher. You can scan the QR code (sent home today) or you can follow the link below: How to sign up:
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Kia ora koutou, Kowhai Parents and Caregivers! Welcome to the Kowhai Community and our first K.I.T. (Keep in Touch) notice for the year. You will receive a KIT notice fortnightly on even weeks. Welcome back to our learners who started with us in 2018 and a special welcome to our New Entrant learners that have joined us this year: Sam, Fletcher, Sophie, Monica, Calix, Leighton, Isa, Gethin, Asher, and Hudson. We also welcome Mrs Julia Cider and Mrs Jeanette Neal to the teaching team in a job-share position. We are very lucky in the Kowhai Community as at present as we have low numbers with four teaching positions and four pod groups. We currently have 41 learners and will finish the term with 54 learners which is a low ratio. We are making the most of the low numbers and feel that we are getting to know everyone really well. To strengthen this, it would be appreciated if you could send back the “Getting to Know You” form if you haven’t already, as well as the individual photo that we requested. Thank you. The first two weeks have just flown by, and we're all here scratching our heads and wondering where the days have gone, and how they went so fast! Probably because we have had a wonderful time and they say, “Time flies when you're having fun”! This week we continued to focus on developing positive relationships with the children and consolidating the routines we have introduced so far, as well as introducing more new ones. We are impressed with how well they are all doing. Thank you for your support. Next week we will begin our more formal literacy programme with instructional groups. Some children will begin to bring home reading books. Our pre-emergent and new, new entrant children won't have books yet, as they will be focusing on learning the literacy routine(s) and we will be checking their readiness for reading. Please ensure that all children place their reading packet in their pod box every morning, in preparation for learning. Meet the team - Left to right Jo, Thelma, Sonja, Julia and Jeanette Thelma Herring is our Leader of Learning (Team Leader) and has been teaching at West Melton school for fourteen years. Thelma has two adult daughters and worked in the Emergency Department at Christchurch Hospital before she trained as a teacher. Thelma is a keen member of West Melton Physical training online boot camp and continues to follow her daughters’ sporting endeavours. [email protected] Sonja Beaumont has been teaching for 17 years and has taught in Timaru, London and Wellington and started at West Melton last year. Sonja has a daughter at West Melton school, and a son at the Cat's Pyjamas preschool who will soon be joining us in Kowhai soon. Sonja leads our school-wide Jump Jam sessions, is on the Literacy focus team and is the staff representative for Friends of West Melton. [email protected] Jo Buckenham has been teaching for sixteen years, and has previously worked at Banks Ave, Ilam, and Pukekohe East Schools. Jo has three boys, who all attend West Melton school. Jo leads our Gifted and Talented programme across the school and is on the DT and NPDL focus teams. Jo is a keen member of West Melton Physical training and an active member of the West Melton community. (She could be found most often at either Boot Camp or Two Fat Possums). [email protected] Julia Cider leads the Literacy team, is the Reading Recovery Teacher and Bus Controller. She will be working in Kowhai (job sharing with Jeanette) from 11 am. Julia has two children, James (21) and Abbie (19). Both attended West Melton School, which set them up really well for the lives that they lead now. She moved to New Zealand 15 years ago from London, and trained to be a teacher in Christchurch. When Julia lived in London, she worked in Human Resources at PricewaterhouseCoopers. In her spare time she loves being with her family and friends, and enjoys travelling, keeping fit and healthy living. [email protected] Jeanette Neal has been teaching for 17 years, including 4 years at West Melton School. She has two daughters at West Melton, Aleia in WMI and Paige in Manuka, along with a ‘delightful’ 3 year old son at Cat’s Pyjamas. Jeanette works full time at WMS, and teaches in Kowhai until 11am, then she heads off to her ‘office’ where she embarks on the SENCo (Special Education Needs Coordinator) role. In her spare time Jeanette enjoy sports, boating and gardening. She is excited to be working alongside the amazing Kowhai teachers and parents this year. [email protected] Swimming - Our swimming days are Wednesday and Friday afternoon, but we will only go if the conditions are suitable (ie warm!). Library - Our library day is Thursday afternoon, even weeks. DOTT Time - Next Thursday afternoon we have our first DOTT (duties other than teaching) time as a team from 12.30- 4pm. This will happen every second week (odd weeks). During this time the “Fab 5” will come in and teach the children in their pod groups, in the following curriculum areas; PE, Art, Drama, Music and Environment education. The children love “Fab 5” time! Discovery Friday - Today Dr Smalley, our specialist science teacher, came to Kowhai and talked about the brain with the children! The children had lots of great questions and he was very impressed with them, as were we. Kowhai Kindness - we have started our Kowhai Kindness wall display. The children have drawn pictures to demonstrate how they show Kowhai Kindness, and we've made a rainbow with their handprints. We also talked about "being the best that we can be" which is our inquiry topic for this term. Throughout the term we will be reading lots of books, but there are two that will be a focus to help our learners manage their worries (Hey Awesome and Hey Warrior). We have also been singing the song "Don't worry about a thing" (Three Little Birds by Bob Marley). Returned exercise books - Most of the children will have brought home two exercise books yesterday. As mentioned on the note there was a mistake with Office Max however they have remedied the problem, hence why we sent home those books. Wood - We would love some wood for the outside construction table if you have any spare at home, or know of a contact. Please note that we are not able to accept treated timber. Kia pai tō mutunga wiki (have a great weekend) Thelma, Sonja, Jo, Jeanette and Julia [email protected] |
K.I.T. noticesK.I.T. notices are published every second Friday. They contain information that we hope will help to keep you up-to-date with what is happening in our learning community as well as the wider school. Please feel free to comment on each week's post with any news items or community notices of your own, or to ask any questions you may have! Archives
December 2020
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