Reading Homework

No poem today (Friday) as we worked on our Social Studies Inquiry instead.

Ideas for helping your child with their reading at home:
* Read the story and then retell the story in your own words, thinking about the sequence of events.
* Talk about your favourite character. What things have you found out about them? What kind of person are they? How would you describe them?
* Find rhyming words in the story - make a list of other rhyming words you know that rhyme with those words. Can you spell them?
* Does your reading sound smooth? Can you read it in a different voice? Think about how expression helps make your reading interesting.
*Talk about interesting or unknown vocabulary - what is another word you could use instead? e.g. summit/top, shop/supermarket/deli...

Don't forget that your child can also practise re-reading their poems, books from over the week, library books, chapter books, magazines, newspapers, or their favourite picture books. We love it when the children have a picture book they can read - feel free to bring it along and share with a group in Kohara.

Library Day Friday

Please remember to bring your library books back for our class library time on Friday.

Squirtle Has Returned!

Matthew located Squirtle on Wednesday to much delight from the class - Squirtle had been having a great adventure playing hide and seek in the Kohara fabric container! He is obviously quite good at hiding. We are so pleased to have Squirtle back. We missed him!

What do you think he got up to while he was missing? What other adventures do you think he might have gone on?

Cross Country Thursday

Mrs Bentall and Mrs Lawrence will be teaching Kohara on Thursday as Mrs O and Mrs Campbell are away at a course.

Good luck for the Cross Country - we look forward to hearing all about it on Friday.

Remember to bring:
Warm jersey and jacket
Drink bottle
Lunch
Sunhat
Inhaler if needed

Kohara will leave school at approximately 11.45 to be at the park by 12 noon.
Returning to school by 1.30pm.

Cross Country Now POSTPONED

Due to the ground conditions, the cross country is postponed until tomorrow (Thursday 30th March). Same time and place. Wear sports mufti.

Cross Country Still On

Cross Country is still on. Kohara will be at the park at 12 noon.
Children to wear sports mufti.
Please pack a jacket for the children and a warm jersey.

Cross Country

Children can wear sports mufti tomorrow for Cross Country (Wednesday 29th).
Please make sure they have suitable running shoes on.

See you at St James Park at 12 noon. Don't forget to pack a picnic lunch!

SQUIRTLE IS MISSING!!!

YES THAT'S RIGHT....SQUIRTLE HAS MADE A BID FOR FREEDOM!
SHE WENT MISSING YESTERDAY DURING THE DAY AND HASN'T BEEN SEEN SINCE.
KOHARA ARE SO SAD AND REALLY WANT HER BACK. IF YOU FIND HER HIDING IN A BAG OR COAT POCKET COULD YOU PLEASE SEND HER BACK TO KOHARA. WE WILL LOOK AFTER HER AND MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T FEEL THE NEED TO BREAK FREE!

Touch Rugby Uniforms

Tuesday (28th March) is the day for returning all touch rugby uniforms. These are to be taken over to the hall before school from 8.15am onwards and returned to Marc Findlay and Debbie Gillett.

Coaches - all touch gear is also due back Tuesday as well.

Zora's Box Construction

Look at the detail in Zora's house. Can you see the bed and the little drawers? The pillow was made out of soft pom poms which Zora covered with fabric and we love the way the bed and pillow are in proportion (that means they are the right size). We wonder who is going to sleep in this bed?

Lucia's Cushion

Check out Lucia's first sewing project in Kohara - her very own love heart shaped cushion. Sewing is a great way to practise showing perseverance as it can be very tricky for small hands to sew little even stitches. We think Lucia should feel very proud of her cushion - it will look great in her bedroom.

Week 9 (27-31 March)

Welcome to Week 9

Swimming
Swimming has finished as the school pool is now closed for the season. Information regarding returning pool keys will be notified soon. The children have made good progress with their water skills and confidence over the term and in our last few sessions we also looked at getting in and out of the pool safely without using the steps, and what to do in case of an emergency whilst swimming. It was great to practise these things with the children.

Cross Country
Our school cross country is taking place this Wednesday 29 March from 11.30am-1.30pm down at St James park. The juniors will be leaving a little bit later than the older children and Kohara will be down at the park from 12 noon. There is no set race times as the races just run consecutively in order from oldest to youngest so our races will be just after the Year 3 group.

Parents and whanau are invited to bring a picnic lunch along and join us at the conclusion of the races for lunch (approximately 12.30/12.45 onwards). We will be returning to school by 1.30pm. Look forward to seeing you all there.

Fire Drill
Last week the school practised what to do in case of a fire and our drill went smoothly. Our Kohara children lined up sensibly, listened quietly to the teachers instructions and remained calm. Well done Kohara!

Reading Book Returns
A huge thank you to our parent helpers who have been busy returning our class reading books over the past few weeks. Your help is greatly appreciated, so thanks for taking time out of your day to help us with this.

Before School Jobs
If you are popping in before school in the mornings and have a few spare minutes before the bell goes we are always in need of writing and coloured pencils (on the children tables) to be sharpened or tables wiped down. There is usually a cloth and spray and wipe on the back benches and we are happy to lend you a pencil sharpener. Many thanks in advance if you are able to help with these wee jobs.

Toys
A reminder that toys (including the ever popular beany boos) should not be coming to school. These are becoming a distraction during our learning time. Our special news day is on Fridays and this is really only for something special (e.g. birthday news). Pokemon cards may be brought to school at your own risk and our class rule is that these must be zipped up in school bags during class time.

Classroom Release
Room 18 have PE with Mr Lukes on Tuesday afternoon from 1.30-3pm.

Staffing
On Tuesday morning Mrs Campbell and Mrs O are both being released as part of our Teacher Inquiry into Mathematics. Jill Kelk and Tania Stott will be relieving in Kohara until 11.45am.

On Thursday Heather Bentall and Tania Stott will be teaching in Kohara for the whole day. Mrs Campbell and Mrs O are away at a course.

Touch Rugby Gear Returns
If the children have any touch rugby uniforms that have not been returned to their team coach, these can be taken over to the school hall on Tuesday morning (28th March) from 8.15am onwards and Marc Findlay will be there to collect it. Team coaches are to return sports gear and uniforms at this time also.

PTA Event - Quiz Night
The PTA have their first major event for the year coming up on Friday 19 May at 7.30pm, our much loved QUIZ NIGHT!! Steve Tansey is booked as our quiz master and for those who have been to our previous quiz nights with Steve, they are always a great laugh. Start organising the babysitters and shoulder tapping your friends and family to put a team together (4-6 people per team). $60 a team. Come along in fancy dress and your team could also take away a spot prize. The bar will also be open for refreshments.

Mystery Bottles - the PTA are also holding a mystery bottle mufti day on Wednesday April 5 and would appreciate it if families could send along a donation of a mystery bottle for the Quiz night. It can be a bottle of anything as long as it is unopened and not expired... sauce, shampoo, drinks, syrups etc. Please send bottles along on the Mufti Day (wrapped if possible but unwrapped is also fine).

PTA - Disco
Don't forget the school disco is also coming up for the children on Friday 7 April. Junior children in Year 1 to Year 3 from 6-7pm, and Year 3-6 children from 7.15-8.15pm in the school hall. All children must be collected from inside the hall by an adult.

Hotdog Helpers
If anyone is able to help out with distributing hot dogs on a Friday during lunch time please let us know as the PTA are short of helpers for the roster. Even if you can help for one Friday, that would be greatly appreciated.

Concerns, Questions or Sharing Great Moments
Please remember if you have any concerns or questions at any time, pop in and see us either before or after school and we can arrange a time to meet, or send us an email if you prefer. We are your first port of call in regards to your child's learning and we are always happy to have a chat.

Likewise we also love receiving emails and photos of your children doing fabulous things! Over the last few weeks we have enjoyed seeing photos of children having fun at home with domino maths that they have learnt in class, and making paper chains to record the number of books being read at home. These are lovely to share with the class and we love celebrating these moments with the children as well!

Have a great week. Look forward to seeing you all at Cross Country on Wednesday :)

School Pool Closing on FRIDAY 24 MARCH

The School pool will be closing for the season on Friday this week (24 March).
If the weather is fine, Friday will be our last class swimming session.

Families who purchased a pool key for the summer season will be able to return their pool keys after this date for a refund of their $20 bond.

Hannah the Musician

This term Hannah was very brave. Not only did she share her ukulele skills with Kohara but also with our Year 5/6 buddies in Kahukura. They were really impressed and when we asked if anyone in Kahukura could play the ukulele - a few put their hand up but all of them were too shy to share their skills with us! We were really proud of you Hannah and we loved the way you were confident enough to have a go at performing in front of a bigger audience.

Chocolate Cake Project

Recently baking has been a big hit in Kohara and many of our children are enjoying learning how to follow a recipe in sequence and follow instructions.

Blake, Lochie, Anika, Awatea and Luca enjoyed baking a chocolate cake. It sounds like they had an absolute blast adding ingredients, mixing, stirring, cracking eggs, and eventually taste testing! They even adapted the recipe to make it gluten free.

Baking is a really great activity at home and at school as there are so many links to maths - quarters, halves, measurement amounts (what is a cup, what is half a teaspoon...) and time (how long will it take, what time is it when we put it in the oven, what time will it be ready...) as well as for sequencing  - knowing what to do and in what order.

Oscar the Artist

Oscar loves Art so for his first project he decided to do a painting project. But this wasn't an ordinary painting project using a brush!! Oscar used watered down paint and a straw to blow the paint across his page to create a monster. He then added google eyes and used a vivid to add a big smile. Oscar named his monster Smiley - you can see why.

You can check out his project in the Kohara Art Gallery!

Rugby Fun

On Thursday last week our Kohara children who play either rugby or touch got a real treat meeting some Crusader players and then spending the afternoon out on the field learning and practising some skills with them.

They showed us how to spread our hands ready to catch the ball, and how to point both our arms at the player we are throwing the ball to as we release the ball - this helps us direct where we would like the ball to go. The children enjoyed some relay challenges and practised scoring tries using both hands to ground the ball.

At the end they were lucky enough to receive a goody bag from the Crusaders players too - what a great day!

Pancake Makers

Ever wanted to know how to make pancakes? Well now you can ask Anika, Khori, Luca and Hannah as they all recently had a go at making their own pancakes. It sounds like they enjoyed mixing the batter and taking turns to put the ingredients in. They told us they tasted delicious - but we have to take their word for it as the pancakes didn't last long!

The girls showed lots of responsibility too by washing and drying their dishes afterwards, keeping things nice and clean for our next group of keen Kohara bakers. Ka pai girls!

Week 8 (20-24 March)

Welcome to Week 8 :)

Swimming
Our class swimming continues this week, weather permitting, so please remember to pack the togs.
Lunchtime swim on Tuesday for any Kohara children who are keen (from 12.45pm onwards once dismissed by the duty teacher).

Cross Country
Our school cross country day is coming up next week on Wednesday 29 March. Our junior children will be down at St James Park from 12 noon for our Year 1 and 2 race events. All whanau are welcome to pack a picnic lunch and join us there for lunch from 12.30ish.

The older children in Years 3-6 will be down at the park from 11.30am.
All children should be back at school by approximately 1.30pm.

Classroom Release
Room 19 children will have Mrs McHaffie on Wednesday afternoon for Art.

Junior Kapa Haka
Kapa Haka is on Tuesday from 1.30-2pm.

Library
Please remember to send library books back to school before Friday. Children should be putting their library bags in the class containers before Friday's library visit.

Poetry Folders
A reminder that poetry folders should be put in the green boxes down the R19 end of Kohara, not left in school bags. Please encourage children to do this before school, along with putting their reading folders away in their tote trays.

Fire Drill
We will be talking with the children this week about our expectations during fire drills prior to an upcoming practice. This includes walking in an orderly line out to the back field and waiting quietly while the teachers take the roll and check all children are accounted for.

PTA
If you've ever thought about joining the PTA, then this Tuesday is a perfect time to join as it is our AGM. Come along and join us at 7.30pm in the school library on Tuesday 21st and see what it's all about plus we have drinks and nibbles to welcome you along. The PTA is a friendly bunch and we have lots of fun organising activities and events throughout the year. There is no set time commitment - you can be as involved as much or as little as you'd like. Plus there will always be a familiar face there as Mrs O is on the PTA as well as some of our Kohara mums and dads - Jen (Mylo's mum), Sheryl (Hannah's mum) and Mike (Gemma's dad). It would be great to have some more parents representing our junior children - we'd love to see you there!

Staffing
This week both Mrs Campbell and Mrs O will be out of Kohara on Friday afternoon as part of our continuing involvement in a Maths Inquiry Programme that we are part of. Ms Jill Kelk and Ms Tania Stott will be teaching in Kohara from 11.45pm.

Hot Drinks from our 4 Rivers Cafe
It is great to see children ordering their hot drinks well before 8.45am allowing them plenty of time to finish them before class starts. Great work everyone!

Rakaia River Hui
We are enjoying our get togethers with our Rakaia River classes on a Friday afternoon. It is a great way of building relationships between our younger and older students and the children are having fun trying out lots of active activities like yoga, basketball, table tennis, scavenger hunts, parachute games and sporty fun!

Have a great week!

Bolt and Squirtle Are Writers Too!

Well what a surprise we got today when we came in after lunch and couldn't find Bolt and Squirtle! Then Hannah noticed they were over at the jellybean table writing! They even had a writing chart to help them spell their words. We thought it was great that even though they are learning to write, they tried hard to sound out the words and write down the sounds they could hear. We might need to help them write their letters the right way around though. But with practise they will soon be able to do it.

Singing with Ali

We are so lucky to have Archie's mum Ali come along and sing with us in Kohara. Archie's mum is a very talented singer and we loved our first session of singing with her. This term we are learning a Beatles song all about friendship, as well as some old favourites. Look out for the words to our new song coming home on Friday as our 'poem' of the week.

Kohara's Butterflies

Kohara have been practising being responsible citizens by learning to look after living things. We have cared for our caterpillars so well, we managed to hatch just about all of the cocoons into beautiful Monarch butterflies. Here is a photo of our very last butterfly before we set it free.

Gabriel's Success

In Kohara we celebrate our classmates and friends when they accomplish a challenge. We were so proud of Gabriel when after lots of attempts he succeeded in getting in the school pool using the ladder!! Congratulations Gabriel. When you persevere, anything is possible!

Kahukura Buddies

Kahukura are one of our buddy classes from our Rakaia River group. They are Year 5 and 6 buddies and we are enjoying getting to know them. Here are a few photos of one of our recent get togethers where we enjoyed trying out lots of activities in Kohara with them. They were very kind teaching us how to play some of our classroom games and explaining the rules to us.

Scootering by Blake

Scootering

Today I learnt how to do a 180 and a 360 and a grind.
A grind is when you're scootering and you jump on to something and your deck is on the thing.
Your deck is sliding!

By Blake

Lucy's Gnome

Check out Lucy's gnome. It lives in her garden but at night it gets up to mischief and often Lucy finds him hiding in different places. He is called Gnomy. Lucy wrote him a letter and he even wrote her a letter back!

Johnny's Diorama

Johnny started his project from his interest in sharks. He planned to sew a shark and selected an outline of a shark for his pattern. There was blue material in the basket, which he selected, and away he went. He stitched and stitched and when he had put the stuffing in and added the detail his shark was complete..........BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!

Then Johnny decided to create a habitat for his great white shark. It has lots of things you would expect to find near a shark's home - sea weed, sand and shells. He painted the inside of his diorama blue like the ocean and added a fishing boat up the top. We hope the fishermen don't catch the shark or they might get a real surprise!

Gemma's Pencil Jar

Gemma created this pencil jar for her Dad to use in his office. She put a lot of thought into what things her Dad would use and the compartments she would need for each. It has a pencil sharpener, a soft place to keep a cell phone, nooks for keys and rubbers, a glue stick stand and a compartment for keeping pens, rulers and pencils. Lots of details Gemma!

Zora's Present

Zora made this fabulous present for her Mum. You can use it to store chocolates or other special things as it has little compartments inside where you can keep them. Look at the detailed designs Zora added to make it look really special. What a lucky Mum!

Addison's Pencil Case

Addison has made a fancy pencil case for keeping her pencils and stationery in. We love the way she has decorated the outside to personalise it.

Crusaders Visit

On Thursday afternoon, the children who play either touch or rugby will have the opportunity to meet with some Crusader players and enjoy some skills with them out on the field. Lucky children!!

Wednesday Info

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we welcome Ms Jill Kelk who is relieving for Tracy as she has a funeral to attend.

Sun Hats

Following our check on sunhats and quick release cords last week we have noticed a number of children have not returned their hats to school. Please check your child has a navy blue wide brimmed sunhat at school every day and that it is well named.

We will continue to encourage this from our end as well.

Swimming Surprise!

Kohara got a surprise to see Bolt and Squirtle in the swimming pool on Friday while they were getting changed after their swimming.

Bolt and Squirtle are still learning to swim so they grabbed a float board to help them. We think it's great that they are having a go even though they find it a bit challenging! Ka pai Bolt and Squirtle for trying your best!

Welcome to Bolt and Squirtle

This week we welcomed Bolt and Squirtle to Kohara.

They are both Orca's and we are enjoying getting to know them. So far we know they LOVE hanging out with children who show responsibility in Kohara and each night they get to go home for the night with someone who has stood out as being a responsible citizen in our class. Your family get to enjoy having an adventure and they even have their own book for the children to record their adventures in.

Week 7 (13-17 March)

Welcome to Week 7

Swimming
Swimming continues this week.
Class swimming sessions on Wednesday and Friday.
Optional lunchtime swim for Y1/2 children on Tuesday lunchtime.

Reading
Thank you to all the fantastic children who are remembering to put their reading folders in their tote trays each morning and putting their reading books from the week before into the grey reading container on a Monday morning.

Crusaders Visit
The children who play touch or rugby will get the chance to meet some Crusaders players on Thursday. How exciting!! We're sure they will tell you all about it!

Library Day is Friday

Kapa Haka
We are continuing Kapa Haka on Tuesdays but are trialling a different time of 1.30-2pm for the junior children starting this week.

Craft Club Tuesday lunchtimes from 12.45pm.

French Club no French club this week.

Ukulele Lessons
Due to numbers, the ukulele tutor has changed our Kohara ukulele lessons to 10am on Tuesdays. This will allow for a smaller group size for lessons.

Social Studies Inquiry
We have been discussing what responsibility looks like and have decided to become superheroes of responsibility. In Kohara this means we are aiming to:
* Always try our best
* Be kind
* Help others
* Get our work done
* Be on time
* Use our manners
* Be honest if we make a mistake
* Try and fix things when we make a mistake
* Let others get on with their learning
* Make good choices
We have also been sharing ways we show responsibility - these will be on display in Kohara over the coming week.

Have a great week :)

Lost T-Shirt

Lochie has misplaced his red school t shirt - possibly muddled up last week after swimming. His t-shirt is named on the tag. Could the boys please check their t-shirt labels at home and let us know if you find it as it is only new this year. He can then do a swap as he has a t shirt that is not his.

GIRLS CARDIGANS!

HELP HELP....Could you please check your child's cardigan. Sophie Costers brand new size 6 has gone walk about. Vanessa (and Sophie) will be very grateful.

Baking Help Needed

Shiva and Lauren are baking chocolate chip cookies and would love a parent helper to help them with their baking please. If anyone is able to help, please let us know. We are thinking possibly on Friday?

Next week we also have a group of keen bakers - Awatea, Blake, Lochie, Anika and Luca. If anyone can help bake a chocolate cake next week we'd love your help. Any day that suits :)

Week 6 (6-10 March)

Welcome to Week 6 :)

Classroom Release Time
This week Room 19 have a PE session with Mr Lukes on Monday morning after Monday Meet Up until 10.30am, and Room 18 have PE with Mr Lukes on Wednesday afternoon from 1.30-3pm.

Kapa Haka on Tuesday.

Library Day on Friday - remember you can send library books along any day before Friday :)

Lunchtime Activities
French Club - Monday Lunchtimes from 12.30pm (take your lunch to He Tangata)
Craft Club - Tuesday lunchtimes (after being dismissed by the duty teacher)
Year 1/2 Swimming - Tuesday lunchtimes (after being dismissed by the duty teacher)

Class Swimming
Wednesdays and Fridays - please keep send ing the togs along.

Social Studies Inquiry
As part of our Social Studies Inquiry this term, we are looking at what it means to be Responsible in Kohara. This week we will be exploring what this might look like, what we might see, and ways in which we can be a responsible citizen in our classroom.

You might like to discuss what being responsible look like at your house (e.g. helping to keep your bedroom tidy, helping with jobs at home when asked, feeding a pet, doing their reading homework each night...)

Cross Country
Cross Country is coming up on Wednesday 29 March. We will be starting to work on our fitness leading up to this date, so it would be great if children had suitable running shoes on each day over the next few weeks.

Have a great week.

Lunches

We are continuing to remind children about expectations around eating lunch as some children are not waiting for the duty teacher to dismiss them but are taking themselves off to play before the duty teacher has checked their lunchbox. This is resulting in lunch not being eaten and a few worried parents.

The first 15 minutes the children MUST stay seated to eat their lunch. The bell goes at 12.45 which is a signal for the duty teacher to start releasing only those children who are finished eating. If they are not finished it is expected that they remain there until they have finished, put up their hand and the duty teacher will release them to go play.

If your child requires support with this, please let us know and we can talk through strategies with your child if needed.

Empty Soap Dispensers Needed

Isaac needs some empty soap dispensers for an experiment he is doing at school. He is after the pump type containers (e.g. liquid soap). If anyone has any around home they don't need Isaac would really love them please.

Whanau Hui

Term 1 Whānau Hui.

We pleased to invite you to join our Whānau Group at 7:30pm on Wednesday 8 March in the school library. This group is for anyone with an interest in Māori engagement and achievement at  Waimairi School. Among other things we will be planning our annual hangi and considering ideas for 2017 matariki celebrations. 

French Club

French club resumes from Monday next week at 12.30pm in He Tangata (Room 16/17). Children to take their lunch with them.

Swimming Sport Fun

Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the Kohara children today at our junior swimming sports. As you can tell by the huge smiles on the children's faces, they had a fabulous time and it great to see our children so confident, enjoying being in the water and participating in the activities. They loved being able to show off their swimming skills that they have been practising as well.

If you have any great photos, please email them to us as we'd love to include some on our blog.
tracy.campbell@waimairi.school.nz
monique.osullivan@waimairi.school.nz

Hot Drinks for Chilldren

Please encourage children who are ordering hot drinks to do this well before the bell goes for class - our rules around hot drinks for children are changing and the coffee shop will stop taking orders for children after 8.45am to allow children to have ordered and finished their hot drinks before class starts. We would also ask that parents do not bring hot drinks over to the classroom once class has started.

Thank you for your help as we all adjust to these changes. Your support is appreciated and we love the fact that you support our 4 Rivers Cafe so well.

Headlice

Unfortunately headline are doing the rounds again - there was a notice sent home today with information. Please check children's hair on a regular basis as these do seem to come and go frequently at school.

Sunhats

We have 16 children without sunhats at school and we would like to make that number zero!!!!
Please hunt out school sunhats and send them to school, especially with this lovely warm weather we are having.