Thursday, 3 March 2016
LOUD Shirt Day Friday 4th March
Tomorrow (Friday 4th March) is Loud Shirt Day. Wear your loudest, most colourful shirt to school and bring along a donation to help our Fijian community raise money to help support their family and friends back in Fiji. Thanks in advance for your support with this.
Vomiting Bug
We have a vomiting bug doing the rounds in class at the moment. If your child is away from school with this, please make sure they stay at home for at least 24 hours since the last time they vomited. Children coming back to school the next day spreads the bug around and means we have more children absent as a result.
Kahurangi's Lost Cardigan
Kahurangi has lost a named school cardigan. If you could please check the girls cardigans just in case anyone has accidentally taken the wrong one home, it would be much appreciated.
Help needed please
Our Wakas have been sitting on our benches waiting to be put together and hung. Monique and I are having trouble finding the time to attach the visual mihis and wire for hanging. Could we please have a couple of volunteers on Friday morning to do that and then we will hang them. First in wins!!!! Many thanks
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Junior Swimming Sports Postponed
The junior swimming sports have been postponed for tomorrow. A new date will be advised as soon as possible so don't put those pyjamas away just yet!
Tuesday, 1 March 2016
No Class Swimming Wednesday
No swimming Wednesday this week - the pool is still being repaired.
We will update regarding swimming sports on Thursday as soon as we know whether the pool will be up and running.
We will update regarding swimming sports on Thursday as soon as we know whether the pool will be up and running.
Monday, 29 February 2016
Swimming Sports Postponed
Due to filtration problems with the pool, our swimming sports have been postponed until Thursday. Same time - 11.45am. Hope to see you then.
Sunday, 28 February 2016
Week 5 (29 Feb - 4 Mar)
Swimming Sports
Fingers crossed for good weather on Tuesday for our junior swimming sports. Kohara's swimming time is 11.45-12.30 at the school pool. Don't forget the children need a pair of pyjamas to put on over their togs at the end for a pyjama race!! Postponement date is Thursday 3 March if needed.
Classroom Release Time
Room 18 children will have PE with Mr Lukes on Thursday morning.
Room 19 children will have Art with Mrs McHaffie on Thursday morning.
Staff Professional Development
As you may be aware, we are both part of a group of teachers who are continuing with a maths inquiry project at Waimairi this year. On Wednesday morning we will be released for half a day to continue our work on this project. Mrs Stoddart and Ms Kelk will be relieving in Kohara for the first part of the day.
Parent Interviews
Parent Interviews continue after school this week for Room 19 children.
Swimming Days
Monday - optional lunchtime swim for Year 1/2 children (if pool has reopened)
Tuesday - junior swimming sports
Wednesday & Friday - usual class swimming times
Library day is Friday.
Junior Kapa Haka is on Thursday.
Fingers crossed for good weather on Tuesday for our junior swimming sports. Kohara's swimming time is 11.45-12.30 at the school pool. Don't forget the children need a pair of pyjamas to put on over their togs at the end for a pyjama race!! Postponement date is Thursday 3 March if needed.
Classroom Release Time
Room 18 children will have PE with Mr Lukes on Thursday morning.
Room 19 children will have Art with Mrs McHaffie on Thursday morning.
Staff Professional Development
As you may be aware, we are both part of a group of teachers who are continuing with a maths inquiry project at Waimairi this year. On Wednesday morning we will be released for half a day to continue our work on this project. Mrs Stoddart and Ms Kelk will be relieving in Kohara for the first part of the day.
Parent Interviews
Parent Interviews continue after school this week for Room 19 children.
Swimming Days
Monday - optional lunchtime swim for Year 1/2 children (if pool has reopened)
Tuesday - junior swimming sports
Wednesday & Friday - usual class swimming times
Library day is Friday.
Junior Kapa Haka is on Thursday.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Kohara Swimming Sports
Our junior swimming sports is coming up on Tuesday next week (1 March) and our class swimming slot is 11.45-12.30 over at the school pool. You are welcome to come along and watch us have some fun races and games and see some of our swimming skills on display.
Please send the children with their togs etc on Tuesday and they also need to bring along a pair of pyjamas to wear over their togs at the end for a fun pyjama race!
The children look forward to seeing you there :)
Please send the children with their togs etc on Tuesday and they also need to bring along a pair of pyjamas to wear over their togs at the end for a fun pyjama race!
The children look forward to seeing you there :)
Amelia's Story
There was a fish and he was named Henry. He had a friend but he was not very friendly. Every day in the morning he pinched his tail to wake him up so what could Henry do? Then Henry had an idea. "I can say to him stop I don't like it" and they lived happily ever after.
Joshua's New Friend!
Look at Joshua and his new friend! Our butterfly only hatched this morning and already he is making friends. We know it's a boy because it has two black dots on its wings.
Shyla wrote about it today:
Shyla wrote about it today:
I saw the butterfly and it was really funny but along came the teacher and she laughed and laughed and Joshua laughed too because he did not see the butterfly!
Sunday, 21 February 2016
Week 4 (22-26 February)
Hard to believe it is week 4 already! We are looking forward to meeting with you all at parent interviews over the next fortnight and finding out more about your wonderful children.
Teacher Maths Inquiry
We are both part of a small group of teachers who are currently involved in a teacher inquiry into the teaching of mathematics. This is a inquiry project we began last year and that we have chosen to continue with in 2016. As part of our teaching inquiry we have some release time during the year - the first of which is this Tuesday from 11.45-3pm. Ms Jill Kelk and Mrs Bindy O'Callaghan will be relieving in Kohara during this time.
Swimming
Optional lunch time swim on Monday for Year 1/2 children.
Class swimming on Wednesday & Friday.
Please ensure children have their togs at school on these days unless they have a medical reason for not swimming as we are busy preparing for our upcoming junior swimming day.
Library
Library day is Friday. Thanks to those children who remembered their library bags as well last week - this makes it a lot easier to keep track of library books. They can be returned to the library containers any day this week - there is one at each end of Kohara.
Kapa Haka
Junior Kapa Haka is on Thursdays.
Reading
Thank you to those who have already signed up to our reading roster to help shelve our reading books. We really do appreciate your time with this.
A reminder that children need to return their weekly class reading books to the grey container in Room 18 on a Monday morning please.
Parent Interviews
Parent interviews are scheduled over the next fortnight. These are 15 minute interviews and are a chance for you to tell us about your child - their strengths and interests, after school activities etc. This provides us with really great information to help hook your children into projects over the year that they are interested in. We look forward to meeting with you all soon.
Friendship List
Thanks to everyone for returning their contact information for our friendship list - we will send you home a copy this week.
Teacher Maths Inquiry
We are both part of a small group of teachers who are currently involved in a teacher inquiry into the teaching of mathematics. This is a inquiry project we began last year and that we have chosen to continue with in 2016. As part of our teaching inquiry we have some release time during the year - the first of which is this Tuesday from 11.45-3pm. Ms Jill Kelk and Mrs Bindy O'Callaghan will be relieving in Kohara during this time.
Swimming
Optional lunch time swim on Monday for Year 1/2 children.
Class swimming on Wednesday & Friday.
Please ensure children have their togs at school on these days unless they have a medical reason for not swimming as we are busy preparing for our upcoming junior swimming day.
Library
Library day is Friday. Thanks to those children who remembered their library bags as well last week - this makes it a lot easier to keep track of library books. They can be returned to the library containers any day this week - there is one at each end of Kohara.
Kapa Haka
Junior Kapa Haka is on Thursdays.
Reading
Thank you to those who have already signed up to our reading roster to help shelve our reading books. We really do appreciate your time with this.
A reminder that children need to return their weekly class reading books to the grey container in Room 18 on a Monday morning please.
Parent Interviews
Parent interviews are scheduled over the next fortnight. These are 15 minute interviews and are a chance for you to tell us about your child - their strengths and interests, after school activities etc. This provides us with really great information to help hook your children into projects over the year that they are interested in. We look forward to meeting with you all soon.
Friendship List
Thanks to everyone for returning their contact information for our friendship list - we will send you home a copy this week.
Monday, 15 February 2016
Lost Property
We have a number of things left behind at the pool after our family picnic. If they are yours you can find them in the lost property box in the hall foyer.
Friday, 12 February 2016
Week 3 (15-19 February)
Kapa Haka
Junior Kapa Haka starts on Thursdays from this week.
Swimming
Monday - Year 1/2 lunchtime swim (optional)
Wednesday/Friday - class swimming
Reading
Reading books from last week can be returned on Monday to the grey container in Room 18. Please encourage your child to put their books there before school on a Monday.
Classroom Release Time
Tuesday 11-12.30pm
Room 18 will have PE with Mr Lukes
Room 19 will have Art with Mrs McHaffie
Library
Library day is Friday
Sunhats
Please make sure children have their navy wide brimmed sunhat at school every day.
Parent Interviews
Bookings for parent interviews close on Friday 19th February so please make sure you book a time. You can do this at the office if you need to or online.
Junior Kapa Haka starts on Thursdays from this week.
Swimming
Monday - Year 1/2 lunchtime swim (optional)
Wednesday/Friday - class swimming
Reading
Reading books from last week can be returned on Monday to the grey container in Room 18. Please encourage your child to put their books there before school on a Monday.
Classroom Release Time
Tuesday 11-12.30pm
Room 18 will have PE with Mr Lukes
Room 19 will have Art with Mrs McHaffie
Library
Library day is Friday
Sunhats
Please make sure children have their navy wide brimmed sunhat at school every day.
Parent Interviews
Bookings for parent interviews close on Friday 19th February so please make sure you book a time. You can do this at the office if you need to or online.
Parent Night Summary
The hows and whys of Kohara...
Kohara was born through our appraisal system. This raised some questions.
*At that time the junior children had Discovery Time and this was their favourite time of the week and our question was 'why was that?'
* What activities involved higher order thinking and weren't just for classroom management?
* Children learn through their peers - how were classrooms catering for that?
* Who are we to say what and when the children are learning?
* We wanted to honour the NZ curriculum by developing confident, connected, actively involved, life long learners.
* We wanted the children to live the key competencies (self management, thinking, relating to others and participating and communicating) through authentic experiences.
* Reading, writing, mathematics is still the most important part of our programme.
* We believe in knowing our learners.
* We have high expectations for all our children.
* Our key words in Kohara are quality, detail and sequence. These words were selected because detail is important in reading and writing, sequencing for literacy and numeracy, and quality is important for all areas.
* You could call Kohara an inquiry programme, where children are creating, inquiring, learning, and practising skills. Kohara means to enthuse/passions - this is central to our class programme.
* We say if you can do that at morning tea or lunch time, then it's not learning in Kohara (e.g colouring in for the sake of colouring in). This makes learning more meaningful.
* Studies show that creativity in education for the children's future can't be underestimated. If you are interested in learning more please youtube Sir Ken Robinson/TED talks.
* In Kohara our focus is on the process, not the product. We promote a growth mindset - skills like perseverance, risk taking, not giving up, we may not know it YET but we will get there.
* The block challenge allows for meaningful conversations, negotiating, discussing options, collaboration, problem solving and creating ideas. Children have a specific challenge each day, it is not free play and they are encouraged to use detail to make the picture.
* Sketching supports detail, fine motor skills, writing, letter formation and spatial awareness.
*In Kohara, our main difference from 'old school, traditional classrooms' is what the children are doing when they are not with the teacher.
So what are they doing when they are not with the teacher...?
* The children have choice over when they complete some learning tasks (independent writing, free writing/spelling practice, poetry activity etc) and these must be completed by lunchtime. Some children prefer to do this at the start of the day whilst others like to do it later in the morning. We have class systems in place to monitor that these tasks are done and the children are already quickly picking up these new routines.
* Kohara is all about both/and and not either/or so this means while literacy and numeracy remain our core learning it is complemented by our Inquiry approach as well. It is by no means less structured, as the children have many systems and layers of expectations in place (many you may not notice unless you talk to the children about what they are doing and why). The children still enjoy art, PE, music, and drama as well as project learning based around their interests.
*Through our individual and group projects which will get underway soon, the focus is on the process and the growth mindset and skills that they need to do to complete their project. The children plan, organise equipment, create, record the finished product (photos/writing) and then evaluate their learning. Our projects often inspire other children, or lead to further related projects.
* Our projects keep the children engaged and interested in learning. By pursuing their passions, they are more likely to be focused and be actively involved in their own learning.
* Kohara has no set timetable. At any time of the day you will find children writing, doing maths, reading, creating, problem solving, working cooperatively, discussing, organising, sharing, and doing many many more activities that are on offer.
* We usually have one teacher who is working with instructional groups for literacy and numeracy whilst the other is roaming and facilitating or supporting the learning of the other children. The children may have either teacher for reading, writing or maths and we deliberately cross group them to ensure we get to know all our children and their learning needs.
* A huge benefit is the relationships that we build as we are talking and working along side your child. We get to know all our children extremely well over the year.
* We have one book for most of our learning. Our book blog is a precious record of their learning over the year. Please feel free to look at your child's journey throughout the year. This year we also have a sketching book to encourage this aspect of our programme also.
* In Kohara we promote that we are one class although there are occasions when we split into R18 (Mrs Campbell) or Room 19 (Mrs O'Sullivan) - usually only for reporting/interviews and for classroom release time. In Term 1 Room 18 children have Mr Lukes for PE and Room 19 have Mrs McHaffie for Art while we have our release time.
We look forward to a great year with your children and learning more about what makes them tick! We can't wait for you to share more about your wonderful children when we meet for parent interviews. If you have any queries at any stage please feel free to pop in after school or send us an email.
Kohara was born through our appraisal system. This raised some questions.
*At that time the junior children had Discovery Time and this was their favourite time of the week and our question was 'why was that?'
* What activities involved higher order thinking and weren't just for classroom management?
* Children learn through their peers - how were classrooms catering for that?
* Who are we to say what and when the children are learning?
* We wanted to honour the NZ curriculum by developing confident, connected, actively involved, life long learners.
* We wanted the children to live the key competencies (self management, thinking, relating to others and participating and communicating) through authentic experiences.
* Reading, writing, mathematics is still the most important part of our programme.
* We believe in knowing our learners.
* We have high expectations for all our children.
* Our key words in Kohara are quality, detail and sequence. These words were selected because detail is important in reading and writing, sequencing for literacy and numeracy, and quality is important for all areas.
* You could call Kohara an inquiry programme, where children are creating, inquiring, learning, and practising skills. Kohara means to enthuse/passions - this is central to our class programme.
* We say if you can do that at morning tea or lunch time, then it's not learning in Kohara (e.g colouring in for the sake of colouring in). This makes learning more meaningful.
* Studies show that creativity in education for the children's future can't be underestimated. If you are interested in learning more please youtube Sir Ken Robinson/TED talks.
* In Kohara our focus is on the process, not the product. We promote a growth mindset - skills like perseverance, risk taking, not giving up, we may not know it YET but we will get there.
* The block challenge allows for meaningful conversations, negotiating, discussing options, collaboration, problem solving and creating ideas. Children have a specific challenge each day, it is not free play and they are encouraged to use detail to make the picture.
* Sketching supports detail, fine motor skills, writing, letter formation and spatial awareness.
*In Kohara, our main difference from 'old school, traditional classrooms' is what the children are doing when they are not with the teacher.
So what are they doing when they are not with the teacher...?
* The children have choice over when they complete some learning tasks (independent writing, free writing/spelling practice, poetry activity etc) and these must be completed by lunchtime. Some children prefer to do this at the start of the day whilst others like to do it later in the morning. We have class systems in place to monitor that these tasks are done and the children are already quickly picking up these new routines.
* Kohara is all about both/and and not either/or so this means while literacy and numeracy remain our core learning it is complemented by our Inquiry approach as well. It is by no means less structured, as the children have many systems and layers of expectations in place (many you may not notice unless you talk to the children about what they are doing and why). The children still enjoy art, PE, music, and drama as well as project learning based around their interests.
*Through our individual and group projects which will get underway soon, the focus is on the process and the growth mindset and skills that they need to do to complete their project. The children plan, organise equipment, create, record the finished product (photos/writing) and then evaluate their learning. Our projects often inspire other children, or lead to further related projects.
* Our projects keep the children engaged and interested in learning. By pursuing their passions, they are more likely to be focused and be actively involved in their own learning.
* Kohara has no set timetable. At any time of the day you will find children writing, doing maths, reading, creating, problem solving, working cooperatively, discussing, organising, sharing, and doing many many more activities that are on offer.
* We usually have one teacher who is working with instructional groups for literacy and numeracy whilst the other is roaming and facilitating or supporting the learning of the other children. The children may have either teacher for reading, writing or maths and we deliberately cross group them to ensure we get to know all our children and their learning needs.
* A huge benefit is the relationships that we build as we are talking and working along side your child. We get to know all our children extremely well over the year.
* We have one book for most of our learning. Our book blog is a precious record of their learning over the year. Please feel free to look at your child's journey throughout the year. This year we also have a sketching book to encourage this aspect of our programme also.
* In Kohara we promote that we are one class although there are occasions when we split into R18 (Mrs Campbell) or Room 19 (Mrs O'Sullivan) - usually only for reporting/interviews and for classroom release time. In Term 1 Room 18 children have Mr Lukes for PE and Room 19 have Mrs McHaffie for Art while we have our release time.
We look forward to a great year with your children and learning more about what makes them tick! We can't wait for you to share more about your wonderful children when we meet for parent interviews. If you have any queries at any stage please feel free to pop in after school or send us an email.
Kohara Picnic
Wow thank you all for a fabulous turnout to our family picnic/swim last night. How amazing to see so many of you - thanks for all squeezing in to listen to our talk. For those who were at the back and maybe couldn't hear as well, we will post a summary on the blog soon. Thanks again for a great night and we look forward to seeing you all soon at our upcoming parent interviews.
Library Day Friday
Today is Library day. Thanks to those who have already sent library bags to school :)
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Contact Information
If you have not returned your child's Contact List details (from the class newsletter sent home in week 1) can these please be retuned ASAP as we need these so we can send out the class friendship list. Many thanks.
Sketching
Our swan plant provided lots of inspiration today for those children who chose to practise their sketching skills. One of our key words in Kohara is detail and there was certainly lots of detail being observed and added to our sketches. Look carefully and see if you can spot caterpillars, cocoons and even a butterfly.
We also learnt today that sketching is a great way to improve our fine motor skills which also helps us with writing and handwriting!
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