Mariam's Experiment!

Mariam trialled paper planes. Maybe she was inspired by you Juhwan?

A Racing Car

Brooklyn has finished his project. A speedy racing car. Great thinking was used for creating the wheels!

Josie's Witch

Check out this AMAZING project!! Josie started off with a pretty good witch but then added lots of details and turned it into a marvellous witch! This witch even has a pet swan. We are so proud of your quality work Josie.

Uzziel, Uzziel, Are you in there????

What a great disguise!

Ryan's Volcano

Ryan has completed his second project, this time a volcano. He used a library book to see what colours and details he needed. We had great fun learning how to make orange paint. Did you know that red and yellow mixed together make orange? Can you spot the lava squirting out the top and the lava rocks made from polystyrene?

Glitter Masks

Kate and Keira worked through the process of making a mask independently.

A plane that REALLY flies!!

Theo created a plane of the future perhaps.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to our first 7 year old!

Honour's Tiger Mask

Who is that under the tiger mask? Grrrr we hope they are friendly!

This is Honour's mask that she made out of cardboard. She has used string for the sides and black paper for the whiskers and has then coloured it in using tiger colours. Great work Honour. You showed a lot of perseverance.
 

College Students

Kohara hosted 5 student teachers from the College of Educatiob this morning. They were very interested in seeing our class in action and talking to the children about their learning. Some of the children also got the chance to have a story with them at the end. 

Building Talent

Check out this awesome chair that Rico and Isaac made for today's block challenge. Amelia had the great idea of building a chair and Kohara came up with all kinds of designs and sizes.

Junior Swimming Sports

Next Wednesday 4 March, our junior classes are having a fun swimming sports day. We'd love to see you there. Kohara are swimming between 11-11.45. All children are expected to participate as the emphasis is on fun - please make sure children have their togs at school and 2 towels please.

Postponement day is Thursday 5 March.

Also can all Kohara kids please bring their pyjamas to wear over their togs for a pyjama race at the end!!

Jacob and Zac's Soccer Game

A love of soccer was the inspiration for this project. It has a player tunnel no less! So how do you play it boys??

Week 4 Reminders

Remember to bring your reading folders to school every day and to return your library bags and books to the library containers in our classroom. Last week's reading books will be collected in on Monday morning. These go in the grey container under the teacher's chair down Mrs Campbell's end of Kohara.

Parents - if you can help return books to the reading room, we'd love some more volunteers on our roster which is located just outside our classrooms on the noticeboard. Thanks to those who have already added their names for this term. This job can be done at any time that suits you before or after school and only needs to be done once during the week you are rostered on.

This week Mrs O'Sullivan has classroom release time on Tuesday morning and Mrs Campbell has classroom release time on Wednesday afternoon. The children will be with either Mr Lukes for PE or Mrs McHaffie for Art during these times.

Swimming Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Library Day: Friday

Fitness

Kohara have been enjoying using our brand new skipping ropes for daily fitness. The children get to choose when they would like to go outside and have a go. It's part of being a self managing learner! We are great at sharing them and taking turns.

Piano Block Challenge

Here are a couple of our block creations. This time the children had to try and create a piano using blocks.

Max and Darth Vader

Max has been inspired with his sewing - this is his second sewing project this term. Check out Darth Vader's lightsaber and black cloak.

Dana's Bird Mask

You might not recognise Dana in this photo as she has been transformed into a beautiful black bird. Look at the fantastic details she has added to make it more interesting. Dana also created some arm feathers she can wear as well - watch out for her flying by!!

Aaron's Hot Air Balloon

Aaron was interested in Addison's idea of  creating a hot air balloon. He used paper mâché over a balloon to make the top part and then joined the baskets on with string. Aaron told Kohara that there is one basket compartment for people and one for luggage! He even experimented with duplo people to see how many it would hold.

Mirai Makes Pikachu

Mirai modelled his stuffed Pikachu creation off a little toy Pikachu he had at home. It was a challenge to find the right colour material! We love the details he added for the face.

James and his Creeper

Here is James with his first finished project for this year - his minecraft creeper. James used his knowledge of minecraft along with google to help work out the shape he needed first which he cut out of two matching pieces of material. He then added lots of interesting details.

Lidia's Caravan

Lidia has made a very detailed and colourful caravan. Look closely - can you spot the doors that open and the windows with gorgeous curtains? Mrs O might use this for inspiration for her caravan she brought this year!

Ryan's Project

Ryan's mum is going to be smiling when she sees the gorgeous handbag Ryan has made for her! Mrs O is rather jealous! Look at all the great details - you can open and close the button and it has a very cool plaited strap.

Isaac's Tiger

Isaac has created this very cool tiger which he has made for his little brother (once we've finished displaying it on our trophy shelf!) Isaac used google images to help him decide what details he needed. He has used wool for the tigers whiskers.

Nicolas Gets Crafty

Nicolas has made another Kohara superhero to add to our collection! Look at the great job he made creating Wolverine.

Willem's Army Tank

Willem has made a fabulous job on his army tank. We were impressed with how he mixed the paint to a dark green so it can be camouflaged!

Headlice

Headlice appear to be doing the rounds again... Please take the time to check your child's hair (it's a good idea to check on a regular basis throughout the school terms). Don't forget to wash school sunhats if you need to :)

Reminders

A reminder that Poetry folders need to be returned to school every Monday please. These are kept in the children's tote trays.

Also ALL children need to have a reading folder and bring it every day. This year the children keep their reading books for the week in their reading folders and we collect the books in on a Monday.  This gives the children opportunities to re-read their favourite stories during the week.

A big thank you to those families who sent their child's library bag along for our first visit to the school library on Friday. Any kind of material bag is fine - you can reuse last years or use a re-useable fabric shopping bag. The school office also sells the blue library bags if you prefer to buy a new one.

Thanks for your support with this - it makes it a lot easier to be a self-managing learner when you have everything you need at school.

Farewell Phoenix

On Friday we said farewell to Phoenix who is moving to a new school closer to where she lives. We will miss her smiley face and creativity in Kohara.

Tea Set Project

Stella, Josie and Lucia created a model tea set. Notice the detail! They have shared it with Mrs Coleman and next week we will make the real thing!!

Busy Bees!

We are continuing to work hard in Kohara this week. We are learning class routines and how to be self managing learners. Most of us have created our plans for our first projects and the teachers are enjoying learning more about what the children are interested in.

Juhwan and Dana are busy practising their basic facts. 

Miguel and Jackson are doing a quality job on their poetry.

Zac, Seb, Brooklyn and Natalie are solving basic facts equations.

Zac, Max and Jacob are enjoying relating to others through card games.

Lachie hard at work in our quiet room practising his spelling during free writing.

One of Mrs Campbell's maths groups are putting Statistics into practice.

Zac is putting detail into his sketching.

Layla'h is creating maths patterns using shape blocks.

Ben is enjoying creating detailed shape pictures.

Wow Kohara, this is just some of the great learning that happens in our classroom! 

Block Challenges

In Kohara we have a different block challenge each day. These inspire some interesting discussions and fabulous vocabulary. The children enjoy working out what each picture is and sharing their knowledge and experiences with their classmates. Here are a few of our creations this week.

Juhwan's Planes

Juhwan's first project was to make a plane that is actually three planes in one! He has used origami techniques to make it. We decided to test it's flying capabilities and Juhwan chose to fly each plane separately. He measured each plane's distance and got some interesting results. Why do you think the orange plane flew the shortest distance?

Phoenix's Handbag

Check out this great handbag that Phoenix made for her first project this year. It's made from thick paper, hand sewn with wool, with a button to keep it closed and a colourful fabric strap. We think she looks very stylish!

Amelia's Frog

We have some awesome sewing projects on the go at the moment. Here is Amelia with her stuffed frog. She added details to the frogs face as well as making her frog a bed, complete with a very comfy pillow.

Max's Superman

Here is Max with his first project in Kohara this year. He has created a Superman character out of material sewn together and filled with stuffing. Look at all the great details he has added! Ka pai Max.

 

Parent Interviews

You should have received a notice or email about upcoming Parent Interviews. If you are unsure which teacher you need to book with, just ask your child which teacher they finish the day with. This is a chance to come along, meet us, and touch base at the start of the year. We look forward to seeing you.

Thursday Staff Development

This Thursday 12th February, Mrs Campbell and Mrs O'Sullivan will both be attending a staff development session from 11.45am - 3pm. Kohara will have Mrs Hull and Mr Allert relieving during this time.

Fun Learning Opportunities

There are a number of extra learning opportunities starting this term that the children are welcome to opt into if they would like.

Lunchtime Swim
Year 1/2 children are able to enjoy a lunchtime swim in the school pool every Wednesday if they would like. Just make sure to pack the togs!

Sewing Club
For those keen on sewing, this will be held on Wednesday lunchtimes in the Library from 12.45 (once the children have finished eating their lunch).

French Club
French 1 (Beginners French) is taken by Mrs Pageot on Wednesdays from 12.30 (for those with little or no French).
French 2 is held on Mondays at 12.30 with Justine Lee - for intermediate speakers of French or higher.

Waitangi Day

Just a reminder that school is closed on Friday 6 February as it's Waitangi Day. Have a great long weekend and we look forward to seeing you all back at school on Monday.

Chess Experts

Chess is a great thinking game. In Kohara we have lots of great thinkers! Zac, Natalie and Seb are having lots of fun playing chess together.

Writing

This week in Kohara we are learning about Free Writing. This is a time when we get to practice writing lots of sight words and learn how to spell them. Mrs Campbell got us some colourful egg timers that we use to time our writing and our goal is to get faster and write more each time.

Here is Mirai's free writing today. How many of these words can you read?

Here are lots of us practising our free writing. We love being able to choose where we work and where we sit!