Kia Ora, We have made it!! It's the end of the term! We all hope you have an amazing holiday. This week we welcome Poppy to Kōwhai, we are so pleased you are here! Mihi Whakatau Week 1 next term we are having a Mihi Whakatau to welcome our new learners. If your child has started this term we welcome to join us as we welcome your whānau to our school. Braided Rivers Trip This week we have sent home a notice all about our trip to the Waimakariri River. We are going on Friday 25 October and we need lots of parent help! Please return the notice as soon as you can and we look forward to visiting the river. Disco This is coming up on Friday 18th October 5:00 - 6:15 pm First Week Back During the first week back of next term we will not be sending reading books home. We will be using this week to assess children. This is a great opportunity to read lots of books to your child. Transition Survey We are gathering information from students, parents and teachers on the best ways to support our learners when they move into a new classroom at the beginning of the school year. If you could please take two minutes to fill out the survey that would be appreciated.
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Kia Ora,
Only 2 weeks until the holidays!! This week we welcome Summer and Angela to the Kōwhai Community. We are so pleased you here. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori Kei te pehea koe? (How are you feeling?) This week is Te Wiki o te Reo Māori and we have been singing lots of waiata and using lots of greetings and, learning new Māori words. Last week we learnt a lot about Maui and his adventures and, created our own stories on fish hooks. These are on display in our community and we would love it if you came in to share our stories. Goal Setting It has been great to see many of you this week (and some of you still to come next week) to discuss your child's learning and set some new goals. Thanks for taking the time to do this, we know you are all busy but it is such a great chance for the children to see us working together for their benefit. Community Consultation On Tuesday 17 September our Board of Trustees are having a wine and cheese evening for parents to come along and, share their thoughts and ideas on the direction for the school over the next few years. It would be great to see lots of Kōwhai parents there! If you do attend you could earn your child a token for their whanau!! There are more details of this in a notice that would have come home today! Magna Tiles We would love to say a huge thank you to our wonderful Friends of West Melton team for giving us some money to buy some new resources . We used our money to buy the very popular magna tiles! The children have loved using these and have made some truly amazing things!! School Disco Put it in your diary - Friday 18th October and the Year 0-3 Disco will be 5:00 - 6:15 pm Keep up the great work everyone and have a lovely weekend Thelma, Sonja, Jeanette, Julia, Janette and Jo [email protected] 8This term is going way too fast! This week we welcome Jeremy, Lauren and Trey. We are so glad you are here.
We also welcome Janette Bowen who is going to be our additional teacher for Term 3 to help with our increased numbers. Janette is a familiar face in Kōwhai as she has been working as a reliever with us this year. Student-Led Conferences Don't forget these are coming up in Week 8. It might be a good time to check in with your child to see how their goals are going in preparation for these meetings. If you haven't booked, you can book on the website: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and our school code is juuzy . If your child has just started school in the last few weeks you will not be expected to make a time. Morning Routine Thanks so much for your support with our morning routines we have noticed a huge improvement with this. Don't forget to remind your child to say good morning to their pod teacher each morning. This term we have a focus on looking after their own belongings and hanging up their bag. Lets hope this transfers to home!! End of Term-itis Yes it is a real thing!! At the end of each term we find that everyone gets tired (even the teachers!) and there can be more tears and emotional break downs than normal. This can look different in different children and you might hear it in many different ways (I don't want to go to school, I hate everything, I want my mum etc). To help us treat End of Term-itis you can try what we like to call 'positive forecasting at home. This is when you say things to the children like ... I know you are going to have a great day today, or You are so lucky to be going to school, I wish I could go or I know you are going to be so brave today. We find this works well in Kōwhai and hope it works for you. Seesaw We share lots of our learning on Seesaw, especially our adventures on Discovery Friday. Just a reminder to those who haven't signed up already to Seesaw and for our new families, here is how you can connect. Seesaw is an app where we share your child's learning with you. How to sign up:
School Photos We had our photos taken this week and an email with a link to view was sent out from the office. An envelope will be coming home today with the eldest child in your family and will have instructions on how to order and pay. These are due by Thursday 12 September. Celebration of Learning We sang our little hearts out today at Celebration of Learning and we were super proud of our children! We have added a video to Seesaw for you to see! Our two presenters were awesome! Enjoy your weekend, Thelma, Sonja, Jeanette, Julia and Jo [email protected] Wow, Week 4 already!! A special welcome to Cade, Emily and George who joined us this week. We are so pleased you are with us.
Learning Expo Thanks to those parents who came along to the Learning Expo it was great to see you there to see what is happening in our school. Student-Led Conferences Last week an email went out from the office with the link to the newsletter that included a link to book a time for our next round of Student-Led Conferences. It might be a good time to check in with your child to see how their goals are going in preparation for these meetings. If you haven't booked you might want to have a look at the newsletter to see what it is all about and then book on the website: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and our school code is juuzy . If your child has just started school this week you will not be expected to make a time. Increasing Independence We have got lots of children who are working hard on their goal of being more independent in the mornings by unpacking and hanging up their own bags and saying goodbye to mum or dad with a brave smile. We know this can be a tricky time for parents as well and if you would like some support with helping your child to do this in the morning please let one of us know and we can provide some assistance. We are loving the chance to catch up with you all in the mornings and check in with how things are going and are loving seeing you all make connections with each other. As our numbers grow we are hoping that you may be able to assist us in making the mornings a little less busy for the children by encouraging your child to be more independent and say a quick goodbye (especially if your child has been coming to school for a longer time) and then connecting with each other outside the classroom or down the meeting end of our classroom. This is especially important on a Tuesday morning when we have new students visiting with their parents. On those days we have a large number of children and adults in the room and this can be quite overwhelming for some of our students to come in to, especially in the bag area. We would really appreciate your support with this and if we can help your child settle in, in any way please let us know. Science Dr Smalley is working with us this term on learning all about braided rivers and the animals that live in and around them. We are hoping that we will be able to go on a trip down to the river later on in the term. Check out the video on Seesaw to see what Dr Smalley got up to today! Court Theatre Performance The court theatre are coming to perform for our school on Tuesday 20 August and the cost is $5 per child. You can pay for this on our school shop. New Hall, First Ball Don't forget to buy your tickets for the Ball coming up on September 7, this is fundraising for our Year 7/8s to go to Wellington!! The Kōwhai teachers are looking forward to seeing you there!! There are links on the community page to buy tickets! Have a great weekend and go the All Blacks Thelma, Sonja, Jeanette, Julia and Jo [email protected] Welcome back to Term 3, we hope you all had a great holiday. Special welcome to Amelia and Ella who started with us last week. We are so pleased you are with us. Mihi Whakatau Thanks so much for those who came along last Friday to the Mihi Whakatau, It was a lovely to see so many families and to officially welcome you to our school. Gala Day Thank you, for supporting our Year 7/8 learner's in their fundraising efforts for their Wellington Camp, later this year. The kids had an amazing time looking at all the stalls. Podcast Sonja (Mrs Beaumont) has been listening to a podcast and found it very useful as a parent and wanted to share the link on here, if anyone else is interested in listening to it. https://melissaambrosini.com/podcast/how-to-raise-grateful-capable-kids-in-an-over-entitled-world-with-amy-mccready/ Seesaw Just a reminder to those who haven't signed up already to Seesaw and for our new families, here is how you can connect. Seesaw is an app where we share your child's learning with you. How to sign up:
Enjoy your weekend! Thelma, Sonja, Jeanette, Julia and Jo [email protected] Kia Ora,
A big welcome to the Kōwhai Community, to Thea who joined us this week. Matariki - Kowhai Community Breakfast Thank you, so much to everybody who was able to attend our community breakfast last week. This was a huge success and it was great that so many parents (whanau) were able to attend. We appreciated you making the time to come and spend time with us. As a result of this success we are thinking about holding another breakfast later in the year. Teddy Bears Picnic - Wow, what an awesome way for the children and teachers to spend the last day of term. We have shared teddy bear rhymes and put one into their poetry book. We also spent time learning facts about "real" bears; be sure and ask your child(ren) what they learned about bears. I wonder if they'll remember about the "Spectacle Bear". They also had an art lesson on drawing teddy bears/toys and then they got to paint them. We will display these on the wall, ready for Term 3. As well as the above, the children got to make and share fairy bread with their teddy/toy. This was an opportunity to extend their maths knowledge in relation to fractions where we have been talking about halves and quarters this week. Polar Fleece - Size XS If your child is missing a polar fleece, we have a brand new (un-named), sixe XS one in Kowhai that nobody has claimed, yet. If you think this is your child's, please come and ask one of the teachers to get it for you, from our storage space. There are also a few children who are missing their tops so if you could please use the holidays to check the names on your children's clothing and make sure you have the correct ones at home. Term 3 Mihi Whakatau - Friday 26 July at 10.30am If your child started school during Term 2, please keep this date free, as you will be invited to attend this event, where we welcome you as a whanau to our school. It starts at 10.30am and is followed by kai (food) in the Rauhi space (staffroom). Communication - reminder Because we are sending out our K.I.T. notice fortnightly, some important information may come out by email. Please regularly check your emails so that you have the most up to date information and you can stay informed. If you are not getting emails, please check in with the office to confirm that they have the correct address. By liking the West Melton School Facebook page you can also receive regular updates on what is happening at school! Photos If you have joined our community recently please feel free to bring along a photo of your child in a frame for us to add to our classroom. Seesaw Just a reminder to those who haven't signed up already! How to sign up:
This will be our last K.I.T. notice for Term 2. We would like to take the chance to thank you all for your ongoing support this term. We feel very lucky to teach your children and love being part of such a supportive community. Have a wonderful holiday and we look forward to seeing you all again next term! Have a great break. Thelma, Sonja, Julia, Jeanette and Jo [email protected] Kia ora,
This week we welcome Brax, Holly, Kaia, Maya, Alexander and Malachi. Welcome to Kōwhai, we are so pleased to have you here. Mr Smith We have been very lucky to have Mr Smith from the Canterbury University of Education working in Kōwhai for the past two weeks. He is learning to be a teacher and has spent his time observing how learning happens in Kōwhai. Mr Smith will be returning to Kōwhai later on in the year to work with some of our children. Mrs Herring Until the end of the term Mrs Herring is helping Mrs Jackson and Ms Riley with their responsibilities as the second Deputy Principal. This will mean that she is out of the classroom in the afternoons. For next week we have Mrs Bowen in for her and in the final week we have Mrs Pengelly. We are hoping to see lots of special extra things for Kōwhai now that we have friends in high places!! School Disco It was great to see so many of the Kōwhai children at the disco having a great time and having a dance with some of the Kōwhai teachers! Be Safe Inquiry We have been so busy learning about how to keep ourselves safe. We have been looking at ways to keep safe at school and all around us. During the week we were lucky to have Constable Rick come in and talk to us about crossing the road safely. He reminded us to use the school crossing when it is operating and when we cross any road to cross with an adult and to look both ways to make sure it is clear before crossing. Today we were lucky enough to visit the Fire Station!! We learnt what to do if there is a fire at our house. Get down, get low, get out and meet in a safe spot. We also talked about the importance of knowing our address if we need to ring for help. At home you might like to decide on a safe spot together and talk about your address. Below we have included some photos of some future fire fighters. If you would like to sing along with our keen firefighters follow the link below! #sorrynotsorry www.youtube.com/watch?v=emv-Yn6g1r4 Wood We have a contact near Wigram that supplies us with wood for our woodwork table. If you think you might be passing by there then come and see us for the address and you could pick up some for us. You will just need a .box to collect it in. Thanks Not long to go until holidays!! Jeanette, Julia, Sonja, Thelma and Jo [email protected] This week we welcome Finn and Charlie to Kōwhai, we are so pleased to have you with us!
Student-Led Conferences A big thank you to all of the families that attended our Student-Led Conferences. It was really great to meet with you all and for the students to share their work with you and to set new goals for the next ten weeks. We really value this time to meet so that we can all work together as a team. Inquiry This year we are focusing on 'Being the Best We Can Be'. For this term we are focusing on 'Being Safe' (Check out our safety videos on Seesaw), if you have any expertise or contacts on ways we can share this with our children please let your child's pod teacher know. (We are currently looking at going to the Fire Station later in the term.) School Disco On Friday the 14 June there will be a school disco. This is run by the Friends of West Melton and is a popular school event. It runs from 5 until 6:15. It is $5 entry (which includes water and a packet of chips) and there are usually glow stick products available to purchase. Tickets are available to purchase in the Wharenui on Wednesday and Thursday mornings or Thursday afternoon. You can also purchase tickets on the night! Resources We would love any empty cardboard boxes that you would normally just drop in your recycling please! These are great for our construction table. We would also love any natural resources that you may collect over the weekend (leaves, acorns, shells). Nails We are in desperate need of flat head nails for our woodwork table! If you have any laying around or you would like to donate some we would be very grateful!! The kids are making some amazing things with the woodwork. Parent Help A big thanks to Cam and Olivia who are currently coming in to parent help in Kōwhat, we really appreciate the time that you give up to help our kids. If you would like to come in and help (this can be by helping with play, baking, reading, making playdough, playing an instrument, or sharing an interest with the children) we would love to hear from you. Independence We are noticing a huge difference in the mornings in Kōwhai with children being super independent and coming in by themselves and setting themselves up for the day! Keep up the good work everyone! A short and sweet K.I.T. notice this week. Enjoy the weekend and Go the Black Caps!! Jeanette, Julia, Sonja, Thelma and Jo [email protected] Welcome to Week 4 of Term 2! This term is really flying by!
We would like to welcome Jimmy, Sam N and Sam P to Kōwhai, we are so pleased that you are here! Over the next two weeks we have lots on! On Wednesday 29 May there is a national teachers strike, this will mean that the school will be closed. On Thursday 30 May the Kōwhai teachers will be presenting at the New Entrant Information morning and will be unavailable in the morning. (The children will be taking part in their normal Fab 5 programme.) During the afternoon and evening of Thursday 30 May and during the day of Friday 31 May we will be meeting with you all and your children to share their learning and set new goals at Student-Led Conferences. We are really looking forward to seeing you all and have the students share their learning with you. Please note that because the teachers will be involved in Student-Led Conferences on Friday there will be no formal instruction, we ask that your children only attend conferences that day. Monday 3 June - Queens Birthday (no school) Pizza Wheels Keep up the great work with your pizza wheels! Once you have filled in your pizza wheel, you can put your wheel in the box on Mrs Cider's yellow table and then on Friday we will stamp them all and return them to you for the weekend. If you need new ones come and see us and, we can give you a new one. Goal Sheets Today we will be sending home our goal sheets from our last goal setting meeting (last term) with the reflection completed by your child. Please take some time to go through these with child and have a discussion around some new goals that you might like to share at our meetings next week. Seesaw If you haven't signed up for Seesaw don't forget to follow the link below and select your child from the list. How to sign up:
End of the Day help Sometimes at the end of the day we are super busy trying to get everyone packed up ready for home and we don't get a chance to tidy up our outside area. If you happen to be waiting outside Kōwhai at the end of the day and have a spare moment or two we would really appreciate some help with putting the covers on the sandpits, and sweeping up some of the sand. There will be brooms out by the door for you to use (or we would love any donated old brooms!) and it would be greatly appreciated!! Have a great weekend and a wonderful "long" weekend (next weekend!) Thelma, Sonja, Julia, Jeanette and Jo [email protected] Welcome back everyone to Term 2!
Man the term is flying already! This term has seen us welcome, William, Franklin, Max, Molly, Kade, Toby and Sophie. We are really looking forward to having you in Kōwhai. If your child has started recently this K.I.T. notice page is a great place to scroll back through and see if there is any information that may be relevant to your child. It is also a great place to come to once a fortnight to have a read of what has been happening or what is coming up!! We hope you all had a nice break and are refreshed ready for Term 2. We are reminding children to start the day by unpacking their own bags, greeting their pod teacher with a good morning and a handshake/high five before beginning play. It would be great if you could please help us remind children to do this also. If your child can't find their pod teacher (because of sickness, a meeting or being away on a course) please encourage them to greet another teacher in the team. For our new families (or any families that haven't had a chance too yet) please bring in a photo of your child that we can display in our space. We love having the photos around as it makes our space feel more homely. We have some spare frames to put them in or you could send it in already in a frame. Student-Led Conferences An email came out earlier this week about our Student-Led Conferences. These are in Week 5 (Thursday 30 May - Afternoon/Evening) and Friday 31 May (during the day). On the Friday children are only required to be at school to attend their conference. There will be no formal instruction on this day as the teachers will be attending conferences. Have a read through the information that was sent out as it outlines our school-wide assessment and the rationale behind it. Appointments can be made through the following website: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz - our school code is : rarst . Please book in with your child's pod teacher. We look forward to meeting with you and your child at this time. The children will be sharing their learning with you and we will have a chance to set some new goals. Cross Country What an amazing day we had at Cross Country on Monday. The children all ran well and we were so proud of their determination and efforts to complete the course. Fab 5 Our Fab 5 time this term is every second Thursday (odd weeks) at 8:50 - 12:30. This may mean that the Kōwhai teachers are sometimes unavailable on those mornings as they may have other meetings to attend. Please encourage your child to greet the Fab 5 teachers as they would their pod teacher. The children will then take part in a variety of activities (Music, Drama, PE, Science or Visual Art) with our lovely Fab 5 teachers. CORE Education Filming CORE Education are a professional learning and development organisation in New Zealand who work with schools around Professional Development. They are coming out on Monday to film some of our students and teachers around the work we are doing through Play and New Pedagogies for Deeper Learning (NPDL). This film will be used to promote the work they are doing within school and will mostly be background filming and snap shots rather than talking to children. If you do not want your child to be included in this filming please come and see one of the teachers or if you have any other questions please contact Jo ([email protected]). Have a great weekend Thelma, Sonja, Julia, Jeanette and Jo [email protected] class, |
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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