Week 11

We have another busy week ahead in Kakano. 

Things you need to know:

• School starts at 8:45, please make sure your child is at school by this time.   If they are late they need to go to the office as they will be marked Late on the roll.

• If you have not yet returned the report forms sent home a week ago please do so ASAP.  If you need a new form please get in touch with me via email.

• Our weekly visit to the School Library is this Friday 

• Sausage Sizzle and Juicies can be purchased on Friday ($1.50 for each).

• It is still important for our children to maintain good hygiene.  We still clean all surfaces twice a day and ask the children to sanitise their hands as they enter the classroom.  If your child is unwell they need to stay at home so we do not have germs being spread around the classroom.

Here are some pictures of what the children have been up to over the past few weeks in Kakano. We have had groups of children building with Mr G, lots of fun with puzzles, independent writing, over very own Lego Masters, Sacred Heart of Jesus Liturgy and lots of other great things happening.

Thank you for all your support,

Sara

Week 10 Notices

A reminder that due to the lockdown our term has changed and although it is now week 10, we still have 3 weeks to go as it is a 12 week term! The children have all been coping so well at school and we encourage you to keep up all of the great support at home to ensure a smooth finish to this long term.

As we are in level 1 now a number of our school routines are back to normal. School for ALL year groups starts at 8:45am. The morning roll is completed at this time so please, if you are late, sign in at the office on your way in to make sure your child has been marked present for the day. The school gates are open from 8:15am for students to start being dropped off. The teachers have been so proud of all the students coming into class on their own so confidently! We congratulate you as parents for teaching them this independence and we notice how much more settled they are in class in the mornings from being able to do this. 

It is important for you to know that the teachers are always welcoming and available for parent concerns or queries around your children. The mornings are quite busy and we may not get enough time for discussions as this is time we need to spend with the class. However, once the school bell has gone and the children have been picked up at the end of the day we are much more free to speak with families. So please come and see us! It has been a long time since we’ve caught up with a lot of you and if you’re able to come into school for a chat at that time then you are welcome to.

Thank you for keeping your children at home if they are unwell. We are still working hard to keep good hygiene a priority in Kakano. You can help us by making sure your children are able to wipe their own noses if they are feeling sniffly and by coughing/sneezing into their elbows. Our children are already very good at sanitizing their hands where appropriate.

On Friday we have a liturgy in the hall at 9AM. Our school masses in the church are not going ahead yet but we will still be coming together as a school to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

Mid-year reporting and conferencing 

We have decided due to the Covid-19 outbreak to do our mid-year reporting a little differently this year. We are very interested in how your child went while learning from home. We would like to use this information, as well as our observations from school to set goals around the New Zealand Curriculum Key competencies. On Friday you received a rubric form to complete, keeping in mind how your child went while learning from home. PLEASE RETURN THE RUBRIC/REPORT TO YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER BY WEDNESDAY. Teachers will also complete the school part of the rubric and this information will be sent home during the first week back next term. In week 2 term 3 we will offer 3 way conferences so that we can set goals with you and your child around these for the future.

The week ahead brings singing on Thursday and our usual Friday, that is library day and sausage sizzle/juicy day.

Hope you have a great rest of your weekend and we look forward to seeing the children tomorrow!

Art in Kakano

Over the past few weeks, we have been using our weekly poems to inspire our Artwork.  We have been using guided drawing to create our very own pieces of art.  We have also been learning how to colour by filling in the white space and how different colours can make people feel warm (red, yellow, orange) or cold (blue, green, purple).

We also learned that we could use our ideas to tell a story about our art.  We are authors and illustrators in Kakano 5!

If you would like to see the art in real life you can pop into class after school.  Here are some pictures of what we have been doing. 

 

Week 9 Notices

It is week 9 already!  

Things you need to know for the upcoming week:

Reading:

The children will have the same reader for two days, this is to give the children the opportunity to read with fluency and to practise the strategies they are learning with the teacher.  You can help your child at reading each day with your child.

Maths:

We are learning about shape.  Encourage your child to name shapes and describe what they look like: 

• How many sides? 
• How many corners?
• Are the sides straight or curved?

Writing:

We are going to be looking at what happens on a farm and the food that farms provide for us.  You could ask your child at home about what they know about NZ farms and our food production.  

The children have been motivated over the past week to write on their own.  We have had many letters written to the fairies.  It is great to see the children engaging in writing independently and seeing themselves as authors.

Other Bits and Bobs:

• Uniform - all children need to be in correct winter uniform.  Please make sure your child has the right winter socks.
• Library - our library day is Friday, the children need to return their library books if they want to issue new books.  Please make sure books are returned to school by Friday.
• Sausage Sizzle - this is run every Friday, your child can purchase a sausage for $1.50 or a Juicies for $1.50.
• All drinking fountains are out of action - please make sure your child has a water bottle (filled with only water, they do not need flavoured milk or juice at school)

Keep an eye on Educa over the next week or two to see what your child has been doing in class and remember to leave a comment to celebrate your child's learning.

Have a great week,

Sara

Fun and Games with Whaea Amy

On Thursday we played some new games with Whaea Amy from Sport Bay of Plenty.  We loved playing games and learning about things that make us healthy.  We knew that running, jumping, walking and playing is good for us and keeps us healthy.  We also learnt that exercise keeps our brains healthy and helps us to feel good.

Week 8

What another lovely week we had last week, it is great to see how settled all the children are at school.  There has been a lot of excitement about the fairy garden. Several days the fairies visited overnight, the children have become very interested in this we even have some wanting to make furniture for the fairy garden.

Thank you to everyone who has their children in the correct school uniform, please remember to name all of your child’s uniform.  Also if you have purchased shoes with laces please teach them how to tie the laces independently, we have also started to work on this at school.

Twice a week your child will bring home a new reading book, these will stay in their book bag until the following Monday, we ask that you get your child to read these every night. Please let me know if your child is not wanting to read at night and I can talk to them about it. This is how we are going to get your child reaching their goals and moving up the reading rocket.

It is really important to reread these stories to encourage fluency in your child’s reading and also allows them to develop a comprehension of stories.  This is just like when you would read a picture storybook several times and your child can talk about what happens in the book, the characters etc.

We have noticed a lot of the children do not have fruit or vegetables that they can eat at brain break, they are then getting very hungry before morning tea at 11:05am.  We suggested a range of foods in their lunch box including fruit/vegetables as well as foods from the other food groups, not just all packet food. Here are some amazing lunchbox ideas.

 

We go to the library on Fridays, please have your child’s library bags with books back to school on Friday morning so your child can pick two new stories to bring home and enjoy. 

Thank you to everyone for returning the reading packs sent home during lockdown.

I hope you have had a lovely long weekend,  and look forward to seeing all the children tomorrow.

Week 7 Notices

We all had such a lovely week back at school with the children, it was great to see so many smiling faces and to hear their laughter as they played with their friends.

This week is Samoan Language week, we plan to celebrate this by learning a new song and learning about Samoan culture and art.

A reminder that all children need

wear correct winter uniform.  

The children were so proud of their new independence being able to walk into school and complete their morning jobs on their own.  It was wonderful to see children taking responsibility for their own things and their learning.  Being able to self-manage is such an important skill and the children in Kakano are developing this essential life skill each and every day.

We continue to clean and use the hand sanitiser regularly.  We have had small groups of children who have taken on the task of making sure all the tables are wiped down throughout the day.

If you have not yet returned the pack of school readers your child took home at the start of Lockdown can you please pop these into your child’s bag ASAP.  We are wanting to have all resources returned by the end of this week.

We have had a few school jerseys go missing this week, can you please check that your child’s winter uniform is clearly named and that the uniform your child has is their own.  It is very common for 5-year-olds to pick up someone else’s jersey without realising it is not their own.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will see you tomorrow :-)

Kakano Teachers