Kia ora koutou, Kowhai Parents and Caregivers,
Nau mai haere mai - welcome to the start of the 2018 school year! It's been wonderful to meet all the learners and their whanau over the last few days, and we look forward to working with each of you in what is shaping up to be an exciting year. We've had lots of children turn five and start school for the first time, and so we give a special welcome to West Melton school to: Jack, Charlie, Nova, Jade, Amy, Charlie, Chloe, Calvin, Lakyn, Isla, Tane, Will, Chelsea, Levi, Emily, Grace, Georgia, Leo, Jessica, and Ruby! We're expecting a further 10 children to start school over the next 10 weeks, so it won't always be this busy! It's been a busy start to the year! We're all feeling a bit tired and ready for a rest by the end of the day (and that's just the teachers!). We've spent a lot of time establishing our routines and expectations for behaviour. Your child might be able to tell you about our manaakitanga treaty that we wrote together on Monday and 'signed' with our handprints! We look forward to building on these expectations as we begin the more formal aspects of our programme over the next few weeks. We visited the school library on Wednesday afternoon, and all children were issued with library books to take home. These can be returned to school next Wednesday, and we will exchange them for new books! Communication from school Keeping in touch (K.I.T.) notices are sent home each Friday. They contain news from the week about what we've done in the Kowhai community, and notices about any events that are coming up. K.I.T. notices are always sent electronically, and you will receive an email from the office with a link to each week's notice. You can always check the archives on this page to re-read any old notices. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or need anything clarified, or if you have any items of lost clothing that you need people to look out for! All school notices will be sent home on Fridays. Usually these will be electronic and via email, so please check that the school office has your correct email address. Whole-school newsletters are sent every three weeks, and you will also receive information from the Board of Trustees and Friends of West Melton School from time to time. Swimming We are currently swimming on a Monday and Thursday afternoon. Please ensure your child has named togs, towel and goggles with them. Please also check you have named all uniform items (they do look very similar!) ;o) If your child has grommets, or requires assistance with changing, please let your pod teacher know. We have a swimming ratio of 1 adult to 10 children, and would welcome any parents who are able to assist with supervision between 1.45 and 2.30. Our main focus is water confidence and fun, and we will continue to swim as long as the water temperature is 'welcoming'! Signing in From next week we would like children to 'sign in' with their pod teacher. Each child will need to write their name on a laminated sheet beside their photo - this will be very similar to what we did last year. This gives good practice at writing our names, and provides teachers with an easy visual of which children are at school. It's also a very helpful list in the unlikely event of an emergency. Thanks for your support as we establish these early routines! Stationery Our thanks to you all for sending your child's stationery along so promptly. Some children had stationery items from last year that are not required this year. We have sent these home in school bags. Please remove these from your child's bag, and feel free to use these at home to support learning. Coming up There are a few parent meetings coming up that you might be interested in attending. Parent meetings are held throughout the year on Tuesday evenings (yes, we are aware this clashes with touch, pilates, the TFP quiz, and Boot Camp), and generally run from 7.00 - 8.30. Usually these meetings are aimed at parents only (they're not for children), but we acknowledge that children may need to attend if you're unable to find a baby-sitter.
Please have a look around the rest of our Kowhai Learning Community website. Under the tab 'Discovery Friday' you'll find a snapshot of each Friday's wonderful adventures that might help to expand on our poem each week, or to generate discussion or further learning at home over the weekend. The children will be involved in writing these posts each Friday afternoon, so please feel free to comment on them! Thanks for all your support over the last few weeks. It's been a really positive start to the year, and we're looking forward to a fantastic year of learning and engagement! Kia pai tō mutunga wiki (have a great weekend), Thelma, Sonja, Jo & Christina kowhai@westmelton,school.nz
2 Comments
Letitia Sullivan
11/2/2018 10:52:41 pm
Just wanted to say a big thank you to you all - what a great start to the year! Week 2 down! Thank you for making the start of school life fun, safe and special ...for the kids and the parents!
Reply
kowhai team
15/2/2018 11:08:58 pm
Thanks for the lovely feedback Letitia! :o)
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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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