Week 8 (19-23 June)

Welcome to Week 8 :)

Classroom Release Time
Both Room 18 and Room 19 children have CRT on Tuesday afternoon - Room 18 have Art with Mrs McHaffie and Room 19 have PE with Mr Lukes.

Papanui Library Visiting
On Thursday afternoon, we welcome Denise Jack from the Papanui Library who is visiting Kohara to share stories and information about Matariki.

Spelling Challenge
How many words can you write that rhyme with 'in'? Have a go with your child to see how many words they can think of and spell - feel free to share with us via the blog (leave us a comment) or write them down and send them along to class. Hearing rhyming patterns is a great way to build reading and writing skills. You can develop this at home by reading lots of rhyming stories, listening to rhyming songs and poems, and talking about rhyming words. Dr Seuss books are great for this, and  the children love Mrs Campbell's box of Dr Seuss books at school.

PTA
A huge thank you to Anna (Oli's Mum for organising the PTA Big Build on Sunday. The team of helpers have made 6 fabulous outdoor picnic tables for our lunch areas which will be well used and appreciated by the children. A big thank you to everyone who helped out with this. Check out the photos on the Waimairi PTA Facebook page.

The PTA June meeting is on this Tuesday night (20th June) starting at the earlier time of 7pm in the school library. New faces always welcome - why not pop along and see the other great things they have in store! There is no pressure to join, you are welcome to come visit and see if it's for you.

Matariki Celebration & Hangi
Mark Wednesday 28 June in your diary as this is the day of our community hangi. Come along and join us from 7.30am, breakfast will be provided for the children (BYO spoon and bowl) and then the children will enjoy a morning of activities within their river groups. You are welcome to pop back at lunchtime to enjoy the hangi and tasty treats from our international families and then visit classes to share in our science learning from over the term. More details in the school newsletter and our school Facebook page. We look forward to seeing you there.

Winter Weather
With the arrival of winter, please ensure that your child has a warm jersey/sweatshirt at school and a jacket on those colder days. This is important in case of any emergencies where children may be assembled outside.

Bey Blades & Fidget Spinners
These are discouraged from being used in the classroom during our learning time. Children can bring them (at their own risk) to use before school and at break times. However, we take no responsibility for lost or misplaced toys or disputes! Our suggestion is that children keep them in their bags, zipped up, for use at playtimes only. Other toys are encouraged to be kept at home.

Circle Time
Kohara have recently begun having Circle Time on a Friday. This is a great opportunity for us to come together as a group and focus on social skills and strategies for helping children to work through any issues they are worried about. So far we have covered what to do when someone says something unkind, what to do if someone is bothering you by touching you in a way you don't like, and what to do if someone is using words you don't like (like rude words or swear words). Our puppet Tom role plays situations with the children and they are great at offering him advice and helping to share strategies. Circle Time is also a great way for us to practise our oral language and listening skills as well as cooperate in games. Ask your child what they love most about Circle Time as it's been very popular with the children.

Library 
How fabulous to hear from Fran our librarian that Kohara have the best class record for the number of books issued to us so far this year! Thank you for helping to remind your children to return their library books to Kohara during the week ready for our class visit on a Friday. We also celebrated several Kohara children who were winners in the recent library colouring in competition - ka pai Kohara! Great to see our children enjoying the library both with our class and also in their own time.

Have a great week :)