Kia ora koutou Kowhai whanau!
This is it! We've nearly made it to the end of another school year, and this will be the final K.I.T. notice for 2017. It's a long one, sorry, as there's lots we need to let you know about before next week. You might want to pour yourself a wine, coffee, or large glass of water, and you will definitely need snacks to get through this one! :o) It's been another busy week in Kowhai - we've been practising our singing for our final assemblies, we've enjoyed swimming in the pool, and we've been busy hearing about how things will change for us at the end of the year. Our formal teaching programmes in reading, writing and maths have now finished for the year. Next week we will continue informally with these programmes (to maintain some sense of structure through the day) and our work will have a Christmas focus to it! With this in mind, we'd like to ask for all reading books to be returned, please, so that these can be sorted and stored for the Christmas break. Please have a look at home for any books that may have found their way under beds or behind sofas and return these as well (no questions asked!) We've done a great job of returning library books - there are just five or six to go (they may turn up when you're hunting for reading books!) :o) Reports On Tuesday afternoon we will be sending home written reports with those learners who have been at school for 6 months (two terms), one year (four terms), eighteen months (six terms) or two years (eight terms). Do look out for these in your child's reading packet. If you are unsure whether your child will be receiving a report, please check with your child's pod teacher. Looking towards 2018 In 2018 our Year 1 and 2 children will be moving upstairs to the Manuka community. Those children who started school during or after Term 2 of 2017 will be remaining in the Kowhai community as Year 1 students in 2018. On Monday morning, all children across the school will spend some time in their 2018 learning community. They will spend some time with their pod teacher, and find out who the other children are in their pod group and in their learning community. This allows the children to get to know each other, as well as to gain some familiarity with their physical environment for 2018. We think this helps to reduce anxiety over the holiday break, and provides parents and children with valuable information before school starts for 2018. On Monday your child will bring home an introductory letter from their 2018 learning community, identifying their pod teacher and outlining some important information for the start of school. Please take the time to read and discuss this with your child. Swimming Our sincere thanks to those parents who have helped us with swimming this week! It's been amazingly hot and we are so grateful we've been able to have all children in the water for a cool down. Next week we will be swimming on Monday and Thursday afternoon (from 1.30 - 2.45 both days). If you are able to help out, please feel free to turn up! And if you'd like to join the children in the water, that would be fantastic (just make sure you bring your togs). ;o) Bus vests As we approach the end of the school year, we ask that all bus vests are washed and returned. These will be collected from children on Monday 11 December. If a child does not return a bus vest, a $15 replacement fee will be charged to your school account. Illness We've had a few cases of staph infections and confirmed strep infections in our community and across our wider school. Please be aware of this if your child is complaining of feeling unwell! We're really sorry that bugs are continuing to spread this close to Christmas - a good break and some well-earned rest should put an end to this! Winning whanau group Across the school all children are grouped in whanau groups. They can earn whanau points for various reasons during the year, and these are accumulated throughout the year. This morning we found out that Ross whanau (red) had won the whanau challenge overall, with more than 10,000 points! Well done, Ross! Those children who are in Ross can wear mufti to school on Wednesday (no charge), and can bring their togs for an afternoon swim. This is a special whanau reward for their hard work through the year. How to support your child over the holidays We know the holidays can feel like a long time without any formal learning. Just like adults, children need a break from the hard work they do day-to-day, and your holiday activities will be helping build their oral language, vocabulary and understanding of the world around them. If you are looking for some more structured activities to help you focus on learning at home, the website below has some fantastic ideas for both holiday times, and during school! Ideas are grouped by year level, so you may find something useful for older siblings as well!
Prize-giving on Thursday On Thursday we will celebrate the end of the school year with our annual prize-giving. The children will share three songs that we have been learning, and we will have a brief recap of all the great learning we have done this year. Parents and other whanau are welcome to attend. The Kowhai prize-giving will be held in the school wharenui from 11.30 - 12.30 on Thursday December 14. Please ensure you are seated before 11.30. :o) Final day for 2017 School will finish for the year at 12.00 on Friday December 15, and school buses will leave shortly after this time. Our final day is traditionally a time of farewell for our Year 8 students as they graduate from our school, and a time to farewell any staff or other students who may be leaving. We gather in the morning for a 'walk-through' and guard of honour for our leavers, and then there is an annual water fight between staff and WMI students. We're fairly certain that the staff have won the last few years... Following the water fight we generally finish the last of the end-of-term tidying and packing up, and have some Christmas singing before the final bell at 12.00. Please make sure you have collected all of your child's belongings (clothing, scooters, bikes, lunchboxes) at the end of the day! Any clothing, scooters or bikes that are not collected are stored securely in the school office for the duration of the holidays, while lunchboxes (and their contents) are disposed of. Lost property There is a large collection of lost property in the cloakroom of Tī Kōuka (the brick building in front of Kowhai). This is usually 'displayed' after school during the final week of the year, so that children or parents can collect any lost items! If you have any items of clothing (especially swimming togs or towels) that have made their way home to your house, please feel free to send these back to school so they can be reunited with their original owner. We are currently looking for one pair of girls togs and one very special black Star Wars Garmin watch. The watch was a very new birthday present that may have been traded as its owner wasn't quite aware of its value. Christmas carols - Kirrin Island You may have seen an advertisement for the Christmas carols to be held at Kirrin Island from 6.30pm on December 17. The Kowhai children have been invited to sing one of the Christmas songs they have been learning (we won't tell you which one just yet!). Please comment below if you will be attending the carol singing and are happy for your child to take part in this event, or email Christina ([email protected]) to let her know. Thanks! Thank you We are grateful to you all for your help and support over the year. It has been an absolute privilege to have your child or children in the Kowhai community, and we have all thoroughly enjoyed our time together! An extra special thank you to those parents who have volunteered their time to help in the classroom, or in many other ways - you have helped to make things much easier for teachers and children alike! Farewell... Finally, we farewell Louise and Natalie at the end of this year. Our thanks to you both as teachers for the attention and dedication you have shown towards the children in your care. You have worked hard to ensure that each child's emotional needs have been met and to ensure that learning has happened for all. As colleagues we want to thank you for the time and effort you put into your teaching and 'your' children, for the 'extra' things you do (the library and lunchtime boxing clubs), and for your collegial support. We wish you well as you move on to new adventures and we hope to hear about the fantastic things you achieve over the coming years! And that's it! The only thing left to do is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a relaxing holiday break with your whanau and friends. Drive carefully if you are traveling, and stay safe whatever your holiday plans are. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2018! Nō reira, noho ora mai rā, Thelma, Nicole, Pam, Jo, Christina, Louise & Natalie kowhai@westmelton,school.nz
38 Comments
Kia ora koutou Kowhai parents and caregivers,
Wow! It's December already! Not long now until the Big Man himself comes for a visit - we hope you're as excited as we all are. Today we all enjoyed getting outside and learning some early tennis skills. Thanks to Miss Allchurch for organising this for us! As part of our Transformation inquiry, we have been busily transforming cream. We're not going to tell you any more details! Have a chat with your child and find out what happened! This week we welcomed Hazel to the Kowhai Community. We hope you have a wonderful start to your school days, Hazel. Swimming With the weather heating up, our school pool has been prepped and primed and is now ready for action. The weekend looks like a scorcher, and next week looks warm as well. We've booked out a couple of sessions for the Kowhai children for next week, and will be swimming on Tuesday and Friday afternoon. Please send your child with their togs and towel, and ensure all belongings (togs, towels, socks, undies, clothing, goggles) are named. Our focus for the next two weeks will be water confidence, and ensuring all children are comfortable with entering and exiting our school pool. If you are able to help on a Tuesday or Friday afternoon with pool supervision or dressing of children, please see your child's pod teacher, or leave a comment below. Summer volunteers - pool Anna Jenkins (one of the teachers in Manuka) is looking for community members to help maintain the pool over the summer season, which would allow us to open our pool outside of school hours. Volunteers need to be willing to cover pool duties for approximately two weeks in total over the season (some weekends and some weekdays), and get a free pool key! Volunteers would need to:
Disco The Friends of West Melton have organised a school-wide disco on Friday December 8. You would have received a notice about this at the end of last week - check the Friends of West Melton Facebook page for more details, or see your child's pod teacher if you have specific questions. Library books We are still looking for library books! Please have a good hunt around your house and see if you can find any missing school library books. It is possible that books have been issued to another child or teacher, and have been taken home by mistake. In particular we are looking for the following books:
Have-a-go morning A reminder that we are looking forward to hosting our have-a-go morning on Wednesday. A notice about this was sent home last Friday. Children are allowed to wear their whanau colour t-shirt - please check with your child's pod teacher (or ask below) if you are not sure what colour you need! Please ensure your child has suitable footwear (sport shoes), sunscreen and adequate drink and food for the morning. You are welcome to join us from 10.00 for all the fun, or from 12.20 for a picnic with your child. A reminder that our Kowhai end-of-year prize-giving will be held on Thursday 14 December in the school Wharenui, starting at 11.30. We would love to see you there. School finishes for the year on Friday 15 December, at 12.00 midday. Buses will be running at this earlier time, and all teachers will be off-site from 12.30. Have a wonderful weekend - find some shade if you can! Be aware that we are all (teachers and children) very tired and slightly grumpy. We've had a chat today about being kind to each other, and choosing kindness (even the adults!) Kia pai to ra whakata, Thelma, Nicole, Jo, Christina, Louise, Natalie & Pam kowhai@westmelton,school.nz |
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 |