Chickenpox Update

We are continuing to have a number of children still coming down with the chickenpox in Kohara. Please remember that the children are contagious for a few days before the spots appear and remain contagious up until the last spots have scabbed over. Please help us reduce the spread of this illness by keeping children away from the school grounds before and after school i.e. at drop off and pick up time as they are highly contagious whilst they have the spots. Whilst some children are immunised against the chickenpox we have many children who aren't and we are also mindful of two of our staff who are currently pregnant.

Thank you for your support with this.

Pyjama Day Tuesday 5 June

Next Tuesday 5 June we are having a mufti day to support Maisie in Pounamu who is having her hair cut off to donate to the Cancer Society. The theme is pyjamas/onesies or else the children can just wear normal mufti if they don't want to wear their pyjamas.

Please bring along a gold coin to donate to a great cause.

If you'd like to watch Maisie's special haircut - it is happening at Meet Up in the hall on Tuesday morning from 8.50am.

Kindness

In Kohara we have been talking a lot about kindness and what kindness means to us. Often Olly and Gary choose to go home with children that are showing kindness during the school day.

Here are some of our thoughts about kindness...

Kindness is when you help people and say "Hey want to hang with me?"
Mikey

Kindness is when Anika's mum takes us horse riding and I get to have a playdate.
Lucia

Kindness is when someone helps me when I fall over.
Cailee

Kindness is playing together and helping people when they need help.
David

Kindness is when you make toast and a time for your family to be together.
Taylor

Kindness is when you are kind to help your dad and mum and your brother and a cat and a dog.
Monty

Kindness is helping people get out of the tree when they are stuck.
Lochie

Kindness is when my family help me out. I feel happy and zapped and thankful.
Atlas

Kindness is helping people up and saying "Do you want to play with me?"
Jackson

Kindness is letting other people have a turn on the playstation instead of me.
Mylo

Luca the Scientist

Luca was really keen to try a science project so she decided to make a boat which can float. Luca used her prior knowledge of things that float to choose a plastic base for her boat. She has added a mast and a seat, even a steering wheel and a light for the sailors to use at night. We were really impressed with the paint job too!

Now it is time for Luca to test her science thinking out! Will her boat float? Will is stay afloat? How long might it float for?

Sullivan, James and Fletcher Get Crafty!

Sullivan, James and Fletcher have been very busy on their collaborative project. A few weeks ago they thought they were finished but then they thought of more improvements so away they went to add even more details. There is a boat dry dock where the boat can park up for repairs complete with lights down the side for night time, ramps, and even a rolling water part to help the boat float back out to sea! There is even parking alongside for the motorbike they made. The boys have also made a boat, plane and submarine - all of which are really detailed. Next time you are in Kohara, check it out on our trophy cabinet as there are too many details and interesting part to list here!

Tess and Sarah's Dance

We are loving the focus on singing and dancing projects in Kohara at the moment and Tess and Sarah performed a fabulous rendition of Thunder by Imagine Dragons, complete with a dance as well as the singing! We loved how Tess and Sarah thought carefully about the actions - many of them matched the lyrics in the song.

The girls said they started by learning just the song words as they were quite tricky to learn and after many practices then they started to develop the ideas for their dance. They had some moves where they both performed together at the same time, and then other parts where they had solo actions. We were really impressed as it takes a lot of bravery to get up in front of the whole class to perform. Congratulations girls.

Bella's Barn

Bella may have been inspired by Pippa's stable as she designed her own barn. It has an H and F on the roof which stands for horse and foal. Bella has really thought hard abut the things she wanted for her horses and we love how it is different to Pippa's but still has everything a horse would need. Bella chose to use yellow sticks for her hay and for her grass she has used green string on green paper to add texture. Bella's horses look pretty happy!

Pippa's Stable

Pippa has completed her horse stable. She has done an amazing job of furnishing her stable with everything a horse could want! There is hay, water and food troughs, a small enclosure for the foal and even some grass outside with horse jumps and an obstacle course with cones. We love how Pippa made an open window for the horses to look outside too. Pippa's friend Bella taught her how to make the horses look like they were standing up - great teamwork!

Singing Superstars Sofia, Siale-Maia and Nova

Kohara were treated to a fabulous singing performance of 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window?' by Sofia, Siale-Maia and Nova. The girls said the hardest part was learning the words in the verses as the words changed. They found the chorus the easiest part to learn. Kohara enjoyed it so much we had a repeat performance so we could all join in! Ka pai girls - you showed great cooperation and perseverance with learning the words.

Week 5 (28 May-1 June)

Welcome to Week 5 :)

Classroom Release Time
This week Room 18 children have Art with Mrs McHaffie and Room 19 have PE with Mr Lukes on Wednesday afternoon.

Lunchtime Options

• Our senior playground leaders are running organised games for year 1-4 children every lunchtime. Children can meet at 12.45pm after the end of eating time bell has gone, over by the big tree outside He Tangata.
• Craft club is on every Tuesday lunchtime in Room 22 starting at 2.45pm.
• Our library is open at morning tea and lunchtime for quiet reading or colouring in activities.

Farewell to Mrs Parnham
Join us on Friday just before home time outside the school office for our special farewell to Mrs Parnham who is taking up a promotion in Auckland. We are really going to miss having Leanne around Waimairi and wish her well for her move up North.

Junior Disco
The PTA are hosting a disco for the children on Friday 22 June.
Juniors (Year 0-3) from 5.30-6.30pm. $2 entry and glow products will be available for purchase on the night.

Christchurch Marathon
We only need 2 more helpers for this Sunday 3 June for the morning to help on a water station for the Christchurch Marathon. If you can help the PTA with this by volunteering a few hours of your time, please let Monique know.

Library
Please send books and library bags along for our Friday library session. Books can be returned anytime, you don't need to wait until Friday. You'll find our yellow library containers in the middle space of Kohara by the bookshelf.

Reading Book Returns
We would love a helper to put away this week's books - anytime from Tuesday onwards (books are returned by the children on a Monday). Many thanks to our wonderful helpers who have helped with this already this term.

Connect Waimairi Volunteers
We are still searching for two lovely classroom connectors who would be interested in being the class reps for Kohara. If you would like more info, please come chat with Monique or Tracy.

Winter
With the winter weather upon us (sadly!) it is time make sure that all children have a jacket at school everyday, particularly important if there was an emergency evacuation as children would be outside in the cold. Please also ensure that these are well named.

Coffee Shop and Hot Dog Sales
Did you know that every hot drink or hot dog you order at school raises money for our school and our wonderful children? Our PTA are just fantastic, and at last months PTA meeting they put $60 000 aside for a playground and landscaping in the rebuild. A large percentage of this was profit from our school fair so if you see our hardworking PTA members around, be sure to congratulate them!

Sickness
Currently chicken pox and a nasty stomach bug are doing the rounds at school as well as the usual coughs and colds.

Science
Does anyone have any contacts with anyone who works with bees/beehives? We are after a contact person to come in and speak with the class about their work. If you know of anyone, please let us know.

Have a great week.

Sarah's Elephant pillow!

Sarah has designed her own Elephant pillow. She chose an outline of a picture and used that as her pattern. It was cut out and Sarah stitched the pillow and added detail. We think the smile on the Elephant pillow isn't as big as Sarah's smile!!

Brayden's fantastic warship

This warship has been Brayden's project prior to going to Namibia and even on his return. There were many problems to overcome and lots and lots of perseverance but we think the final edition with a control tower, guns, TNT barrels is a quality project.

Fletcher, Sullivan and James (who was at reading!!!)

Wow!  Look carefully this picture tells a story. Working together, collaborating and problem solving were involved in this activity.

NEWSPAPERS

Hi All

We desperately need newspapers for our classroom. If you have any just hanging around please send them our way.
Thanks

The Giant by Luka

The Giant by Luka

The giant is awesome because he did not get out.
His foot was under the building.
The giant is angry because the people were playing soccer on his head!

Luka, we love how you used the photo to  imagine how the giant was feeling. Your stories are getting longer and more detailed. Great work.

The Giant by Sofia

The Giant by Sofia

The giant is stuck in the grass and he got dirty.


Well done Sofia. You are working hard to make your stories longer. Its was great to see you thinking hard about the photo and thinking about what might have happened next for the giant.

Thank You by Lola

Thank You by Lola

Thanks Mum for cleaning my room.
I felt happy becauseI can watch tv.

You have a lovely kind Mum to do that for you Lola. We are impressed with how well you are sending out your tricky words and you are learning so many words now that you can write by yourself. Great work!

Horse Dream by Lucia

Horse Dream by Lucia

I love horses. I dreamed of having one because I love them.
I love riding a horse because they are beautiful.
We need Dad to win a lotto ticket.
Then he will buy me a horse and I will keep it in my big backyard.


Fingers crossed for you Lucia!! It's nice to dream about special things. I wonder what other dreams the children in Kohara wish for?

Skateboarding by Sam

Skateboarding by Sam

I went skateboarding. I flipped. I nearly did a double flip.
I scratched my skateboard.
Me and my brother, it was about who can do the most tricks and I won.
It was fun but I was scared the first time I went down the hill fast.
Then we went home and I had lunch.


Sam is such a keen writer. He can't stop writing and writing and we love how long and interesting his stories are getting. Great job Sam.

Thank You by Jarrett

Thank You by Jarrett

Thank you Mum for letting us go to the park.
I felt happy because like the monkey bars.

We have been talking about kindness in Kohara and it is really nice to thank people who do kind things for us. Jarrett, it was lovely to read about how kind your Mum is to take you to such nice places like the park.