Play based learning - making music

This week one of the teacher-led provocations was making musical instruments from a variety of materials.  We chose to make shakers and noticed that we could produce different sounds by adjusting the size of our rolls, how much rice we put in and by filling them with different things.  We compared the sound made.  The curriculum area we were covering was The Arts.

Weekly Notices, Term 1 Week 5

 

Welcome to Week 5 and our first week of swimming in 2022. Last week we introduced the children to their Maths groups, so we now have both our Maths and Reading programmes up and running. Our next step is to reintroduce the Structured Literacy programme to the children, following on from the testing completed last week.

It was really good to be able to celebrate Mass together as a school last Friday on the field. We heard lots of comments from children saying it was so cool being outside for this celebration. This Wednesday starts the season of Lent and Ash Wednesday Liturgies are planned

As you have probably heard there have been cases of covid at St Mary's and all appropriate action has been taken in getting those involved to isolate and in dealing with close contacts. Please read the covid updates that are sent out regularly.

Mr Macmillan and all teaching staff would like to remind you that if your child is unwell they must stay home. Ministry of Health Advice is:

What you need to do

• You and your whānau should watch for symptoms

• If any develop, get tested immediately

• Then, stay at home until you receive the result

 

Symptoms of COVID-19

·   A new or worsening cough

·   Sneezing and runny nose

• A fever

• Temporary loss of smell or altered sense of taste

• Sore throat

• Shortness of breath

Less common symptoms include diarrhoea, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, malaise, chest pain, abdominal pain, joint pain, or confusion/irritability.

Swimming

Kahikatea will be commencing swimming this week from Wednesday and this will continue over the next few weeks. It is an expectation that children participate in swimming unless they have a valid reason not to do so. Please send a note or a text if you wish to excuse your child from swimming. Henk from the Rotorua Swim school will be teaching the children over the next few weeks.

Headphones

If you haven't done so already please make sure your child brings a pair of headphones to school to use with the class Chromebooks. It is essential they all have their own personal pair, especially with covid rules in effect.

Have a great week!

Lorette Tiedt and

Team Kahikatea

Play-based Learning - Art Week

Our provocation focus for the past fortnight has been The Arts. The children have enjoyed sketching, tracing, colouring and crafting. 

One provocation involved using protractors to make flowers. This was challenging because protractors are a new piece of equipment to year 3's. 

On Monday morning we had some very heavy rain and the drain outside our classroom overflowed! The children used this opportunity to make paper boats to see if they would float. 

Having introduced maths workshops this week, the children have Must Do's (follow up activities) to complete before Friday. Here's some children getting their Must Do's done early. 

Have a great Wednesday!

 

Library

 Yay it's library day tomorrow for Room 17 and Room 16.  

Weekly Notices, Term 1 Week 4

 Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to week 4, we hope you have had a lovely weekend thus far. The year 3's have settled really well into school and have adjusted to classroom routines beautifully. Last week we introduced guided reading into our morning programme and this week guided maths groups will take place as well. As posted last week, Maths Whizz is able to be used at home. Sunshine Classics will also be up and running this week. 

On Friday we started sharing what was in our "Me bags".  It was so interesting for everyone to find out more about our classmates.  Thank you for all the great effort put into choosing items to include.  The children all listened very respectfully to the person sharing.  We will listen to a few more each day this week and next. 

Weekly notices from Mr Macmillan 

Covid19

Below is a flowchart that will also be included in the newsletter. It explains what to do in the event of someone in your home being a close contact or getting Covid.

Mass

Mass has been organised for this Friday on the school field at 9.00am (tbc). Details will follow. Ash Wednesday Liturgies will need to happen in year teams this year. Details will follow shortly.

Swimming Sports 2022

We will be holding our annual Swimming Sports 2022 on Thursday 10th March. This year only Year 4-6 students will be attending. Please click on the link below to ensure we have the correct details for all our students. Swimming Sports Form

We hope you have a fantastic week. 
Lorette Tiedt and Yr 3 Kahikatea Team. 

Maths Whizz

 

The year 3's completed their Maths Whizz assessment yesterday and are now good to go using it at home. 

 It would be great if you could encourage your child to use Maths-Whizz regularly at home.  Aim for 60 - 90 minutes usage and 4 progressions per week.

Visual art provocation

 Today as one of the learning through play provocations we looked at real sunflowers.  We noticed patterns and lines and how they connected.  We drew what we could see and then looked at colours.  We used fat wax crayons to colour them and then used dye to paint the background a contrasting colour.

Here are some photos of our work.