Junior Swim Sports Cancelled (Wed)

Unfortunately the weather has meant our junior swimming sports are cancelled today (Wednesday). The ground conditions are too wet for the children to be sitting on, in between group activities.

We will work out another day for the Kohara children to have their pyjama race during part of our normal swimming programme as many of the children were looking forward to this.

Lost diamond out of Mrs Campbell's engagement ring.

Hi All
I just noticed this afternoon that the diamond in my engagement ring was missing. We will check in with the children tomorrow (Wednesday) but I would really appreciate it if you could ask them if they  saw anything shiny on the floor in the classroom. You never know!!
Many thanks.

Maths Patterns

Today there was some wonderful maths patterns being made - lots of them were symmetrical which means that both sides of the pattern are the same. We are learning the names of some of the more interesting shapes. Can you name all the shapes you see here?

Making pattern pictures with the shapes generates some wonderful oral language and conversations. There is also a lot of collaboration between the children as they learn to share their ideas, compromise on decisions and work together.

Special Mail Delivery!

Kohara was very excited today when we received some mail. Inside the package were two very special friends - Olly the Orangutan who joins us from Borneo, and Gary the Gorilla who has flown all the way from Africa. They tell us that they have some good friends who live at Orana Park here in Christchurch and that they are looking forward to learning lots with our Kohara children and exploring Christchurch with them.

Each night someone in Kohara gets to take them home for the night to write a short story about their adventures at home and maybe add a photo or two, or the children can draw a picture. Olly and Gary need to be returned the next day for sharing and so that the other children also get to have a turn with him. This term you can earn a time with Gary or Olly by doing the right thing (having courteous manners on the mat, being a kind friend or by working really hard on your learning). If they come to stay at your house they will bring their own book bag and diary home with them.

We are super excited to have them in Kohara. Today Olly loved having a book read to him by Sarah, Gary enjoyed being part of a reading group who had a story about chimps and Gary also helped Atlas and Mikey make a really cool maths pattern. We wonder what they'll learn tomorrow?

Olivia and Nova's Finger Puppets

Check out Nova and Olivia's first project - they have sewn these gorgeous frog finger puppets. First they needed to trace around a template, then they sewed the edges, and last they decorated it with eyes, legs and a crown! The girls needed to follow a sequence to finish these and we think they look fabulous. You can view them on the wall above our trophy cabinet/shelf in Kohara.

Week 5 (26 Feb-2 Mar)

Welcome to Week 5 :)

Junior Swimming Sports
On Wednesday 28 Feb from 11.45-12.30pm Kohara will be having our junior swimming sports - a mix of water confidence games, swimming demonstrations and our favourite - the Pyjama race at the end. Feel free to pop along and join us at the school pool from 11.45am.
Children will need their togs, goggles, 2 towels and a pair of pyjamas/nightie/shorts and t shirt to put over their togs at the end for the PJ race.

Swimming
Please send the togs on Monday, Tuesday and Friday for normal class swimming lessons and on Wednesday for swimming sports. There is also an optional lunchtime swim on Monday lunchtime for our Year 1/2 children if they wish.

Classroom Release Time
The Room 19 children have Art with Mrs McHaffie and the Room 18 children have PE with Mr Lukes on Wednesday afternoon. Due to swimming sports as well on Wednesday, the children will not have a reading book for homework on Wednesday night.

Catch the Vibe
Our social studies inquiry this term is centred around the theme of 'Catch the Vibe'. We have been talking with the children about the kind of vibe we would like in Kohara and how we can make this happen. We all agreed that we want Kohara to have a friendly and welcoming vibe. We are working on making people feel welcome by introducing ourselves to new people (including parents and visitors), smiling at people, using friendly words and actions and helping others. We have learnt that is is extra nice to greet people by name and we can ask them if we are not sure who they are. We are practising in many ways - greeting the teachers by name in the morning, smiling and talking to other children and their parents before school, and getting to know our older buddies in Ara Atu and Kahukura who make upour Rakaia River team.

PTA Meeting
This is now taking place this Tues 27th Feb at 7.30pm in the school library. You are most welcome to pop along and see what it's all about.

Did you know that all proceeds from the 4 Rivers cafe and the Friday Hot Dogs go to the PTA to help purchase resources for the school. Every cuppa and hot dog you buy directly benefits the children. You can also purchase reuseable coffee cups from the coffee shop - Julie and Vanessa will name these and children can return them to the coffee shop when they have finished with them and they will store them there until the next time they need them.

Reading Returns Roster
Thanks to everyone who has put their name beside a week this term to help re-shelve our reading books. We really appreciate your time - thanks so much :)

Library day is Friday
Kapa Haka day is Tuesday.

Upcoming Dates
One for the diary - Cross Country is coming up on Thursday 22 March.

Have a great week.

Richie's Milk Run

Just sitting at home watching Graham Norton and on the ads comes Richie's Milk Run.  Who wouldn't want Richie to deliver milk to our school! If you have a moment send in your request for Richie to come visit. I've already sent one!
Have a lovely weekend.

Baking Parent Helper Needed

We would love to have a parent helper to help a group with a baking project on Tuesday next week (27th Feb). Due to school policy, you would need to have been police vetted through the school to be able to help on this occasion.

If you are keen, please let us know via email - first in, wins!!
monique.osullivan@waimairi.school.nz

Missing Scooter - NOW FOUND!!

Elliot has misplaced his scooter - it is a red MGP with a red base and handles and a grey bar. There is an identical one at school that he took home by mistake last night and returned today but his one is still missing. Someone may have mixed them up in error. Could the children please check at home if they have one similar. Many thanks.

Friday Reminders

Friday is our class swimming day and our class library day.
Please send swimming togs and library books to school.

We are preparing for the upcoming junior swimming sports next week so it would be great if all children have their togs at school.

Mufti Day Friday

Remember to send the children in mufti on Friday (23 Feb) to help celebrate the Chinese New Year and to raise money to support the international food section at the upcoming school fair. The theme for Friday is RED clothes - a lucky colour in the Chinese culture.

Car Parks and Out of Bounds Areas

Today one of our staff members found some children playing in the staff car park at lunchtime and two other children playing just outside the school gate. We have spoken with the whole class about how dangerous this is and reinforced that these are not areas that children may play in. It would be really great if you could also reinforce this by having a conversation with your children around safe areas to play at school (the scooter park, playgrounds, field, library and courts are all safe places to play). Duty staff will continue to monitor these areas as part of their duty. Thanks so much for your help to reinforce this really important safety message.

Gate Safety

With the recent bad weather, it is timely to remind the children about keeping safe coming in and out of school with the extra traffic at drop off and pick up time. The children (and parents) should only be using the gate / entranceway nearest the pool - not the side by the staff carpark please.

Also please help spread the word that the turning area at the end of Tillman Ave is not a drop off zone. Please avoid double parking along Tillman Ave as well - it is much safer to park a short distance away and walk in. Thanks of your help with keeping all our Waimairi families safe.

PTA Meeting Rescheduled

This weeks PTA meeting has been postponed to next Tuesday 27th February 7.30pm in the school library. Everyone is most welcome - we'd love to see you there.

Mufti Day Friday 23 Feb

This Friday 23 February there is a mufti day to celebrate the Chinese New Year - 2018 Year of the Dog.

Children to wear red as this symbolises good luck in the Chinese culture.

A gold coin donation please with all donations going towards the international food stalls at our upcoming school fair.

Jacob and Elliot growing their brains

Jacob and Elliot were found in the lounge teaching themselves to sketch animals. They loved working together and were able to identify the good things in their sketches and what they would improve next time.

Dustyn, Lucia and Arlo's Numicon Learning

Numicon is a maths resource we have for children to use. It is a visual way of seeing numbers represented by a variety of shapes and sizes. Arlo, Dustin and Lucia put all the numicon pieces together to create this long pattern. Then they measured it to see how long it was. They used non standard measurement to work out it was 2 and a half children long! Then they used a combination of rulers and other objects to see how long it was - 2 metres, 60 centimetres plus a felt pen and a crayon long!

What other ways do you think they could measure it?
We have all sorts of things to measure with in Kohara - tape measures, small and long rulers, ice block sticks, cubes and much more...

The children also found out the the short way of writing the measurements - m for metres, and cm for centimetres.

Tess the Musician

Tess has completed her first project in Kohara - a drum set that she planned, created and painted before using it to create some beats! The different drums make a variety of sounds when Tess plays them and she has thought carefully about how to make them different sizes and with different noises.
Ka pai Tess - we loved hearing your music.

The Chrysalis

It was very exciting the other day when we actually saw one of our caterpillars making it's chrysalis right before our eyes! As we watched we noticed a small green patch, which quickly spread before it completely covered the caterpillar up. Then we noticed that the caterpillar had shed it's skin as it had dropped onto the table below. Now we are waiting patiently for our butterflies to hatch - we have quite a few that have made their cocoons already.

Buddy Reading with He Tangata

Kohara had the opportunity to work with the children from He Tangata recently to do some buddy reading. We found out we had many connections with He Tangata as lots of the children have siblings in that room. The Kohara children loved being read to by their new friends - we look forward to continuing this throughout the term as it is a lovely way to develop relationships with the senior children and our Kohara children love knowing a few new faces in the playground and around the school.

Missy Comes to Visit

We had a special visitor in Kohara - Archie's new kitten Missy. Kohara enjoyed finding out about Missy and having a pat. She felt very smooth and she was very friendly. Thanks Archie for letting Mum bring Missy in!

Swimming Fun

Kohara have been enjoying using the pool especially on some of these hot days lately.

We have been focusing on pool safety - how to get in and out of the pool in different ways safely including getting out quickly in the case of an emergency.

We are also focusing on water confidence games as well as practising our swimming techniques.

Lochie the Big Brother

Last Monday Lochie became a big brother!! He was so excited to share his news with Kohara and show us his photos of Bodhi. Lochie tells us that Bodhi loves cuddles with him and is very smiley. Lucky little Bodhi having such a kind and caring big brother to help look after him. We look forward to meeting Bodhi soon.

Week 4 (19-23 February)

Welcome to Week 4 :)

Whanau Picnic Dinner
Thank you to everyone who came along to our Rakaia River family picnic and swim. It was so awesome to see such a big turnout of families. We hope you enjoyed getting to catch up with new and familiar faces and making some connections with other Waimairi families. It was great weather for it!

Meet the Teacher Interviews
Meet the Teacher Interviews are coming up over the next few weeks. Details for logging in online to make a time were in the school newsletter. If you need help to make a time you can also do this through the school office. These 15 minute interviews are a chance to meet class teachers and share with us a little bit about your child - what their strengths are, the activities and sports they love, their friendships and peer groups, and to share any concerns or questions with us. We look forward to catching up with you then.

Swimming
Our class swimming days are Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Please send swimming gear on these days. On Mondays there is also an optional lunchtime swim for our Year 1 and 2 children if they wish.

School Drop Offs
The classrooms are open to the children from 8.30am onwards - before this time, children are not supervised by the teachers as we are often out of the classroom preparing for the school day or attending staff meetings. This is particularly important in the event of an emergency before this time.

Junior Swimming Sports
The junior classes have their Junior Swimming Sports Day on Wednesday 28th February. Each class will have a 45 minute scheduled time to share their class swimming activities with you. More information will be coming home soon with details for each class.

Sun Safety
Thank you to those children remembering to bring their school sunhats. Children are often outside throughout the day so it is really important that they have these in their bags each day. Sun screen is also freely available in the classroom for children to use at lunchtime.

Classroom Release Time
This Thursday Room 18 children have Mr Lukes for PE and Room 19 children have Mrs McHaffie for Art from 11-12.30pm.

PTA
This Tuesday 20 February we have our first PTA meeting for the year at 7.30pm in the school library. We love to see new faces, so you are most welcome to pop along and see what we are all about (visitors are welcome!) There is no pressure on members to take on big roles within the committee as many hands make light work and everyone contributes as much or as little as they'd like over the year. The main fundraiser for this term is our school fair on Saturday April 7.

Our lovely PTA also run the 4 Rivers Coffee Shop at school and the weekly hot dogs on Fridays. This is another great way to support the school - each coffee, hot chocolate, flavoured fluffy or hot dog directly supports resources for our wonderful children. Hot dogs can be ordered outside the hall before school on a Friday morning for $2.50 (gluten free option available on request) and the children collect their hot dog at lunchtime from the hall.

Library 
Our class library day is Friday.

Kapa Haka
Our junior Kapa Haka is on Tuesday.

Reading
Last week the children will have started bringing home class reading books to share with you at home. These are kept in their reading folders for the week and we will collect them in the following week. Please encourage your child to put their reading folder in their tote tray before school each morning so they are ready for their reading group when called. Feel free to re-read the books from other days if your child would like to.

On Fridays the children will bring home their poetry folder with a new poem to share with you. Enjoy re-reading other poems from earlier weeks as well. Poetry folders need to be returned the following school day to the green boxes on top of the tote trays. On days when the children have Classroom Release Time sometimes our home reading is a new poem on these days instead of a reading book.

School library books and favourite books from home or the public libraries are also wonderful for home reading - whether it is you reading to your child or them reading to you.

Have a great week :)

Elliot's Submarine

Elliot  has just completed his submarine project and he has now written about it in his Book Blog. Your ready to start a new project now Elliot. We wonder what it will be?

Monty's Maui Fish Hook

Monty had a clear idea what his first project in Kohara was going to be. He planned what it would look like and what materials he would need. He painted it and then reflected on what he had made and what skills he had used and what he would do differently if he made a fishhook again. WOW is all we can say Monty!

LAST CHANCE LAST CHANCE!

This weekend the Friendship List will be compiled. If you have sent back your Contact List form then please ignore this message but if you haven't and you would like to be on the Friendship List please contact us tomorrow and let us know so we can include your details.
Many thanks.

TOYS AT SCHOOL

We have asked the children not to bring toys to school.  Toys often cause problems as others want to play with them. Please keep them at home and please ensure they are not in their school bags either.
Thanks for your help with this.

Headlice

Headlice is doing the rounds of our class and a few others at the moment. Please check your child's hair and girls may wish to tie their hair back at school.

Week 3 (12-16 Feb)

Welcome to Week 3 :)

Swimming
Our Kohara swimming days are Monday, Tuesday and Friday. We are in the process of grouping the children for swimming tuition so please ensure children have swimming togs at school on these days.
All Kohara children also have the option of a lunchtime swim on Monday lunchtimes if they wish.

Whanau Picnic Dinner
We look forward to seeing you at our whanau picnic dinner on Thursday 15th February between 5.30pm and 7pm. We will meet on the back field for dinner - bring whatever your family would like to eat. The pool will be open afterwards for the children to have a swim.

Library
Our class library day is Friday. Please return library bags/books to our yellow containers in the middle of Kohara.

Fruit Break
In Kohara we do not have a set fruit break during the morning. You might like to talk with your child about having their fruit as part of their morning tea and we will encourage this at our end as well.

Sunscreen
Sunscreen is freely available in the classroom for children to use during the day. Please remind your child that they can get sunscreen to put on at lunchtime when they go to eat their lunch. We do try and remind them on very hot days but they are welcome to help themselves as needed (or if we forget!)

Sunhats
All children must have a school sunhat to wear at school every day. These are kept on bag hooks outside or in their school bags. Please check these are well named.

Kapa Haka
Kapa Haka starts this Tuesday after lunch for our juniors.

Reading
Our instructional reading groups begin this week. Please check that children have their reading folders in their tote trays every morning - encourage your child to get in the routine of putting it in their own tote tray in the morning before school. Your child will usually have a reading book or a poem to read most nights.

The children are able to keep their books for the week in their reading folders so you can enjoy them over the week. We will collect them in during the following week. There is no reading log to sign - just enjoy reading together or listening to your child read.

Reading Book Returns
From next week we would love some parents to help out on our reading book returns roster. This is on the noticeboard just outside Kohara. This job can be done at any time that suits you (before pick up or just after drop off etc)and involves sorting the books into the right colour groups (the colours are on the back of the book) and then returning them to the right containers back in the book room beside Room 21. We are happy to show you the ropes if you need. If you can help out, please add your name to a week on the roster.

Maths
Kohara are learning about Statistics in Maths at the moment. We have found out that this is a great way to find out information. We have already found out about Kohara birthdays, our favourite ice cream and our eye colours. Check out our wonderful bar graph displays in Kohara next time you pop in.

At home you might like to do some statistics of your own - you could group your favourite toys or hot wheel cars. How many different ways could you group them? Which groups have the most/least in them?

Have a great week :)

Waimairi Whanau Hui

The Waimairi Whānau Hui is on Friday 23 February at 5.30pm.  All families are welcome! The group meet every term to discuss te reo Māori, Kapa Haka, Matariki, our annual Hangi and other relevant school events. Anyone who is interested is welcome to come along.

The first Hui for this year will be mainly a social event.  There will be a quick kōrero around upcoming events.  If it is fine, we will open the pool and have a picnic dinner by the pool.  So bring your kai and togs!  If it is wet, we will meet and eat in the library.

If you have any queries please feel free to contact Miss Katie Lord in Whanaketanga (Room 7 & 8).

Under the Sea with Bella and Luca

What great detail Bella and Luca have added into their picture. It definitely wasn't a sunny day at the beach. Look at those clouds and the ferocious ocean. It's good to see that the whale got some dinner though!!

Sullivan, James and Fletcher's shape train

Sullivan, James and Fletcher used the shape box to create a shape train. There was lots of maths thinking and talking and we think this creation shows quality, detail and sequence. Great effort boys!