Kia ora koutou parents and caregivers,
Phew! The end of week 9 - we are nearly there! It's been another very busy and tiring week in the Kowhai Community, and we are certainly starting to look forward to the up-coming holidays (and that's not just the teachers!) We know there are some children and their families taking very exciting (and slightly early) holidays to exotic destinations - we wish each of you a safe journey, and look forward to hearing about all your adventures next term. Learning Conferences We know we've mentioned this in the last few K.I.T. notices, and we promise this will be the last time! Next week we will be holding Learning Conferences for all children across the school, regardless of how long they've been at school, or whether they have received a report or not. (Reports go home on Monday for children who have been at school for two terms, four terms (one year), or six terms. Reports are in sealed envelopes, and usually placed in your child's reading packet.) Learning Conferences are 20 minutes long, and your child will play a central role by telling you about their learning (what they have been doing at school) and sharing some of their 'best' or favourite work with you. This 20 minutes allows for about 15 - 17 minutes of talk time, and 3 minutes for the teacher to prepare for the next Learning Conference. Many of us have back-to-back bookings for Learning Conferences, so we need to stick very closely to our allotted times. We thank you in advance for your help with this! Of course, if there is more to be discussed than can be covered in the 20 minutes, or if you have specific concerns that you do not wish to discuss in front of your child, then you are welcome to arrange another time to meet with your child's teacher(s). Your child will need to be at their Learning Conference, and the children are often very excited to share their work with you. Expect some nervous giggling! Your child does not need to be at school on Friday (unless they have a Learning Conference, in which case they would attend with you), as teachers will be busy with Learning Conferences. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below, or approach your child's pod teacher. WMI gala day Our Intermediate students have received lots of orders for their fabulous products! Thank you all for your support of this fundraiser! Orders closed on Monday, but we know that some stalls are making 'extra', just in case some children didn't get their orders in on time. If you haven't ordered, but were really hoping for some slime, or a hot chocolate, or some fudge, or some yummy treats, you could still bring your money on Wednesday and try your luck! And some of the t-shirts may be able to be ordered after Wednesday (once the Intermediate students have caught up with the back-log!) The gala day will be operating at lunch time, and some stalls may be open at 3.00, depending on availability of their product! Library A reminder that our library day is Tuesday (for children in Allchurch, Buckenham or Sands), or Wednesday (for children in Herring, Simons or Stuart). Emails have been sent about any books that are overdue, and these overdue books can be returned at any time (the library is open most lunchtimes). Bingo Babes Definitely an adult only event here! If you're looking for a great night out, plan ahead to attend the Bingo Babes evening at the Community Hall on August 5th. Tickets are $25, and are available from the school office. Lots of our teachers have been before (for one or two it's the highlight of their social calendar!) - so if you have any questions, ask away! If you own a business that would like to support or donate something towards this fundraising event, please contact Di van der Zwet (347 8448, or [email protected]). As always - any questions, lost property, community notices etc are welcome to be left in the comments! Have a fabulous weekend - it's officially July, so the end of junk-free June (well done, Mrs B and Miss Allchurch!) :o) Thelma, Nicole, Jo, Christina, Louise & Natalie kowhai@westmelton,school.nz
5 Comments
Kia ora Kowhai parents and caregivers,
Welcome to school! This week we were pleased to welcome Levi to our community. We hope you have a great time in the Kowhai Community Levi. Matariki We have enjoyed celebrating Matariki this week. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate so we missed out on flying our kites. Luckily we were still able to enjoy some of our delicious Matariki soup! Thank you very much to everyone that provided us with vegetables for this and to those parents who helped us to prepare the vegetables and make the soup. Check out the photos below. New Entrant Information Morning and Crazy Cool Beginning School Club We had a busy morning today with a visit from parents and children that will be joining our Kowhai whanau soon. The parents spent time with Mrs Herring while our wonderful WMI students looked after the children at the Crazy Cool Beginning School Club. Learning Conferences A reminder to book in for your individual learning conference at the end of Week 10. Instructions were sent home last week and all bookings need to be made online. Please see your child’s Pod teacher if you missed out on getting the notice. Children are only required to attend school on Friday (the last day of Term 2) for their learning conference. Online Shop This term the office has introduced an online shop where you can order and pay for stationery, uniforms and pizza. The link can be found on the homepage of the school website or here. WMI Gala Day Our WMI students are having a Gala Day on the 5th July to raise money for their Wellington camp. They have been working hard this term and have come up with products which they will be selling. The eldest or only child in your family should have brought home an order form for this. Children need to pre-order and pay for the items they want to purchase by Monday 26th June. There will also be other items that can be purchased on the day. See your child’s Pod teacher for more information or if you have any questions. Have a lovely weekend. Thelma, Nicole, Jo, Christina, Louise & Natalie kowhai@westmelton,school.nz Kia ora koutou, Kowhai whanau! We hope you've had an awesome week. It was Kowhai's music choice for the bell this week, and we all loved dancing along to 'Happy'. If you need a 'pick-me-up' over the weekend, give this a blast! Welcome to school!
This week we were pleased to welcome Micah and Bonnie to school. We hope you enjoy your time in the Kowhai Community. Learning Conferences Today we sent home notices with each child about booking for your individual learning conference at the end of Week 10. Instructions are on the sheet, and all bookings need to be made online. Bookings are open from now. #go Teachers are currently preparing reports to be sent home at the beginning of Week 10 - these will be for children who have had six months, one year or eighteen months at school. Even if you do not receive a report, you are invited to attend a learning conference. And a reminder, children are only required to attend school on Friday (the last day of Term 2) for their learning conference. Matariki Next week is our school-wide celebration of Matariki. There will be lots of special events happening across the school. On Friday we will be marking the occasion by meeting on the front court at 2.30 for a waiata, karakia and kite flying session. You are welcome to attend, or send your child with a kite in the morning. Don't have a kite? Feel free to make one on the weekend! #notacompetition Fingers crossed for a mildly windy day, or we'll all have sore legs from running around. On Thursday the Kowhai Community will be preparing vegetables to make a shared soup to eat on Friday. Please send a vegetable along with your child next week. We'll take these from Monday, and are anticipating carrots, potatoes, kumara, yams, onions, pumpkin (if you've already peeled it and diced it), or any other root vegetable that you can think of. #helpful Rolleston Cluster Hauora Week You may not know, but this week has been our school cluster Hauora week. Teachers have been to conference sessions after school looking at healthy lifestyle choices, reducing and responding to stress and anxiety in children, yoga, fitness and good sleep habits. This has been a fantastic opportunity for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary teachers across the Rolleston Cluster of schools (including Burnham, Rolleston, West Rolleston, Clearview, Weedons, Rolleston Christian, Lemonwood Grove...) to hear about and learn a range of new techniques. Last night we finished a busy week with a session with Allison Mooney. We learnt about different personality types, how to spot them in our children and colleagues, and how to improve relationships with them. Tonight Allison is hosting a session for parents at the Rolleston College auditorium. We would highly recommend Allison and her presentation if you are able to attend. Worried that you missed out on (free) tickets? Word on the street is you can just turn up tonight and you'll be fine. Have a brilliant weekend. Thelma, Nicole, Jo, Christina, Louise & Natalie kowhai@westmelton,school.nz Kia ora parents and caregivers,
Welcome to our week six KIT notice. We hope you enjoy finding out what we've been doing in the amazing Kowhai Community. Furthermore we hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and the Crusaders beating the Highlanders. WELCOME This week we welcomed Tyler and Jayden. C We hope you both have a great time in the Kowhai Community. BUS TICKETS Congratulations to the many, many children who received a bus ticket (or two) this week. A special congratulations to Anna who got one of hers pulled out at the Celebration of Learning today, to have a Picnic with the Principal for lunch. Receiving a "bus ticket" is a type of positive reinforcement, like a mini certificate and is linked to our school vision and values of ICE DRIVER. Once your child has attained five bus tickets they will receive a certificate through the mail. There is also the opportunity to have their name pulled out at the Celebration of Learning to choose a prize (five children) or have a Picnic with the Principal for lunch (another five children). Unfortunately they don't get a ride on the bus although we're working on something in the background. LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE The children may have come home today talking about being locked in the Kowhai Community, or being told to hide in a breakout room/space for some time this afternoon with their teacher(s). This was a chance for the whole school to practise the Emergency Lockdown Procedure. We hope that we'll never have to use it however we need to be prepared for any circumstance. We explained that it could be due to excessive weather/a storm, a scary dog on the loose, etc., however some children have told other stories of their own hence the reason we are mentioning this. In case you need clarification of todays event. LEARNING CENTRE VISIT On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have some children from the Learning Centre come to visit us and look around our learning space. It was great for some of the children to see some familiar faces of friends that will be starting soon. PARENT VISITS (INQUIRY) Over the last couple of weeks we have been lucky enough to have two parents come in and share how they use creativity and innovation in their jobs. Many thanks to Helen (Anna's mum) and Tammy (Tegan's mum) for giving up their time and talking to us. It was great for the children to hear how these attributes are required and used in the "real world". PLAY DOUGH We'd love some more play dough if anyone has time and is happy to make some. It won't matter if we get more than one lot - the more the merrier! The children love using it for learning/playing. PARENT CONFERENCES These are coming up on Thursday 6 July from 3.30pm-8pm and Friday 7 July from 8am-4pm. You will receive more information in regards to this very shortly eg, how to book, school hours, expectations. REPORTS Some children will be receiving a progress (6 or 18 month) or anniversary (12 or 24 month) report in week 10. If your child got a report last term they will not receive one this term. Similarly if your child hasn't been at school for 20 weeks they will not receive a report. NUMERACY EVENING Thank you to those who came to this evening - it was great to see so many Kowhai parents there! A copy of the presentation and handouts will be posted to the blog this week. LITERACY EVENING We received a follow-up letter/query from this in regards to what and how things are taught in our community. As a result of this, we thought others may have the same queries therefore with parent permission we have posted the letter/queries onto the "Your Questions" part of our blog along with the reply. UPCOMING EVENTS Friday 16 June - Alison Mooney, Parent Workshop at Rolleston College, 6-8pm Friday 23 June - New Entrant Information session for new parents/families and the CCBS (Crazy Cool Beginning School) get together for the children Thelma, Nicole, Jo, Christina, Louise and Natalie [email protected] Welcome parents to another amazing week in the Kowhai Community! We are ALL looking forward to the long weekend and Miss Allchurch and Mrs B are definitely looking forward to the end of June, if they seem irritable this week it is because they are going through sugar withdrawals from Day 2 of junk-free June!!!
COURT THEATRE PERFORMANCE Wow!! The performance from the Court Theatre yesterday was amazing! The children and teachers all really enjoyed the performance and learnt a lot about Maori culture. If you haven't already paid $5 through your school account then please can you do this as soon as possible. CATS PJS VISIT On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have some children from the Cats Pajamas come to visit us and look around our learning space. It was great for some of the children to see some familiar faces of friends that will be starting soon. LIBRARY Just a reminder to look for any lost library books at home over the long weekend. Some reminder notices were sent home last week. ARBOR DAY Today is Arbor Day, (I'm sure you are all celebrating at home with official Arbor Day parties.) To celebrate at school we had some of the Totara Community take us through an Arbor Day themed letter hunt around the school, highlighting some of the amazing sustainable features at West Melton School. UPCOMING EVENTS Wednesday 7 June - Maths Parent Workshop from 7pm Friday 9 June - Celebration of Learning in the Wharenui from 9am If you are going away for the long weekend, travel safe and we look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday for a short week!! Thelma, Nicole, Jo, Christina, Louise and Natalie [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
Categories |