Kaurihohore School Week Nine, Term One News
Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all.
Respect - Empathy - Kindness
Kia ora Koutou
This will be the last newsletter for the term.
This term has been a really productive one, and unlike Term One of 2020, we feel like we are managing to get a lot done. There is a happy, content vibe around the school, and despite a lot of tired eyes from the dark mornings, children are doing really well.
While the end of term is fast approaching, classes are still really busy places, we urge you not to let children have days off school unless they are sick or desperately need them, days off mean children miss out academically and socially so please don’t this to become a pattern of behaviour.
Gala 2021
Yes, the gala is going ahead this year. Our fabulous parent support group is working on this, and would love any help you could offer. Many hands make light work and with people taking responsibility for different areas, it makes the process a little less daunting.
However this event can not go ahead without your support and there will be many small ways you can help to make this day a fabulous one!
Set aside the date now: 20th of November, we will need a lot of helpers on the day!
What you can do now:
Save small wrapped lollies and little toys for our ever popular jolly jars, the more we can make of these, the better. Send these into school when you can.
Save any items at home that you may be thinking of donating for the White Elephant. Items need to be in good condition in order to sell, so please don’t save junk. Please note, these items can not be sent in yet and we will let you know when you can start sending them in.
Money raised from the gala will be put towards the all weather canopy that we are building, this is a massive project and we urge you to support the PSG in any way that you can!
Real Time Reporting
Sometime in the last week of this term you will receive via seesaw the first instalment of your child’s cumulative report. This will include some starting levels according to the curriculum and a comment based on the dispositions your child is developing as a learner. If you need a copy of this in another form, please talk to your child’s teacher. This report will be added to each term.
Over this year you will also receive updates on reading, maths and writing at least twice via seesaw, with your child’s progress and their next steps. Teachers will complete these when they have checked in with your child.
If you have any questions or concerns relating to your child, please send a message via seesaw, email or phone and set up a time to talk to your child’s teacher. Don’t put this off, it is easier to deal with questions or problems when they arise and before they have gotten bigger than they need to be. Real time reporting works well, it allows you to have the information in its up to date form, and also allows you to communicate with us as and when you need it, solving problems of having queries answered at the earliest possible moment. As with everything in life, clear, respectful, timely communication is key.
Spelling
As part of our learning about Structured Literacy over the last few years we are also realizing even more how much impact a child’s speech has on their spelling. While immature speech can be ‘cute’ it has a detrimental impact on a child's spelling progress and needs to be corrected in a gentle, but consistent manner. To learn to spell, children are taking sound, to print. This means what they hear as the sounds when they say them out loud, they then spell them down as they hear them. As they incorrectly do this over and over again, they soon map the spelling in these words incorrectly, meaning they believe this word is spelt right and don’t see the need to correct it. This is a similar concept as forming letters incorrectly, which is why we need to be working on correct formation from the beginning. We now know much more about the strong link between reading and spelling and how vital it is that children are pronouncing the sounds correctly to be able to spell them down. We also know much more about how children map the sounds in words to spell them, if they are doing this incorrectly over and over again, they map them incorrectly and this is very hard to break. However in saying this, with explicit, consistent teaching, this pattern can be changed no matter a child’s age. I have shared a couple of videos to help with this on our school blog. I will share this link on our school facebook page. If you want to know how to best help your child, or are concerned your child may have a specific learning difference like dyslexia, please talk to your child’s teacher, we can let you know ways you can help and offer assessments to give a better idea of what might be going on.
Easter Break
Once every few years Easter break falls within term time, rather than the holidays. With many very tired and unwell children, this is a timely break. School will be closed from Friday the 2nd of April until Tuesday the 6th of April. We will be back at school on Wednesday the 7th. Tuesday has always been observed as a holiday for schools, however because it is often term time, many don’t realise this. We hope that you get a chance to spend some quality time with your family over this break.
Term Dates
Please note that all dates and other information are kept as up to date as possible via our school blog, you can access this at kaurihohoreschool.blogspot.com
Term Two
Begins 3rd of May
Ends 9th of July
Term Three
Begins 26th July
Ends 1st October
Term Four
Begins 18th of October
Ends 12.00 December 14th
We have not yet set a return date for 2022 and won’t do this till much closer to the end of the year. However you can find guide dates by searching term dates 2022, this will give you an idea of the earliest date a school can come back and the latest date schools can return. All schools are mandated with the responsibility for setting their own return and end times within this framework.
Below are some known dates so far:
Good Friday - 2nd April
Easter Monday - 5th April
Easter Tuesday - 6th April
Room 1-3-4-5 - Extended EOTC Day - Please return permission forms
Term one Ends - 16th April
Moosies and Juicies
The junior classes are selling these to cut back on costs for the upcoming junior day out. You can purchase these for $2, please have orders in by the Wednesday each week. You can arrange payment into our bank account, or via cash to the office, just please let us know. This week these will be given out on Thursday due to Friday being a holiday.
Our Environment - Our Community
Over the next few years we will be having a big focus on Kaitiakitanga, we are wanting children to identify problems in our environment or community and work on generating solutions to these problems. Starting locally leads to thinking globally. We also want to work on renewing and reinvigorating areas of our school to make it a better place to be. We would love your help with part of this, by eliminating rubbish from your child’s lunch box and working on alternatives to things that come in plastic wrapping. There are loads of ideas online if you are not sure how to do this. If everyone makes a small change, we can make a big difference. You can also help us by encouraging your child to look after their belongings and take them home from school, rather than leaving them lying around the school. If they know their clothing will not be replaced and that they need to take care of it, they will look after these items.
Crofts Poles And Timber - Our Current Projects
We are happy to have the ongoing support of Crofts Poles and Timber, they are assisting us in our Environmental improvements around the school. Our current project is to mulch the remaining area of our fence line, ready to plant Manuka and Kanuka in a few months. This links in with our bee project.
Crofts will also be supporting Rūma Piwakawaka in their project to beautify the monkey bar area. They will be supplying bark and timber for this area, we appreciate their support.
We then have further plans to mulch other areas of our school to extend the native bush area and in the future explore ways to create a sandpit area for the juniors that links through to the Native bush, we are excited by this partnering as it gives a much needed boost to our project timeline.
Mulch Moving
As mentioned above, we have a pile of mulch that needs moving as soon as possible so it has time to sit. If you have any time to spare in the next few weeks, we would love it if you could come in and help. You’ll need a wheelbarrow, spade or shovel and just a little time. Come and see Dianne or Paul if you think you may be able to help with this.
Easter Raffle
Thank you to everyone who supported this raffle, this has been drawn today. We have raised $3004 which will go directly towards structured literacy in our school. Congratulations to the winners, we hope this makes your Easter just a little bit sweeter.
Games
If you have any unwanted board games, cards or other types of games that are in complete condition we would love them for school to distribute across the classrooms. Games are a great way to encourage a range of very important dispositions and most importantly they are fun! Anything you have that is in complete condition that you are willing to give away would be appreciated.
Rūma Piwakawka, Kahu, Pukeko, Kōtare - Extended EOTC Event (1, 3, 4, 5)
A note went home regarding this trip last week. Could you please return your form as soon as possible if you have not already done so. The contribution for this will be $8 as we have raised enough through moosies and juices to fund the food portion of the day, but not flip out. Socks are included in this price. Please send your contribution to the school office as soon as you are able to do so.
Need to do now…
1)Remember that the 6th of April is a holiday for schools
2))Junior school return forms to the office for our trip and $8 contribution when you can, before we go on the trip.
3)Last day of this term is 16th of April, this is a normal length day.
4)First day of Term 2 is Monday the 3rd of May
Food for thought...
Noho ora mai - stay well, look after yourself and look out for others!
Leslee Allen
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