Week 10

Kia ora Tatou, 

It is with sadness that I write our last email for the year.  What a fabulous year we have had with your  children.  We have been so lucky to have such outstanding parent support, and your presence in the classroom has helped to create a warm, secure environment for the children. The many opportunities they have had over this year are due to such willingness and it has been gratefully received.  It will be hard to say goodbye on Wednesday but we are very much hoping that both the children (and their parents!) will continue to pop into the class to catch up from time to time.   

Classes for next year will have come home with reports.  Any queries please don’t hesitate to ask or email. 

We would also like to say a HUGE thank you to Gina Bellward, Jacobs mum, who has volunteered countless hours in the Kowhanga to support the children.  Through baking, art, literacy experiences and one-one assistance with children we have benefited from her kindness and many talents.   Gina, you are truely AMAZING!! 

With only two and half days left of the year we are very much in pack up mode.  The children will have brought home their end of year reports and most of their school books on Friday, with only a few items still to come home. 

Charlottes Web

Our current chapter book that we are reading together is ‘Charlotte’s Web’. Unfortunately we are only half way through, and it doesn’t look like we will get to finish it together this year.  The children have really enjoyed the story so far - if you have it at home or are able to borrow from the library I’m sure they would love to finish it with you. 

We are very much hoping that the children will continue to read, write and practice their addition, subtraction and skip counting over the holidays, and continue to use the strategies they have been recently been developing. While it isn’t always easy to get early readers from the library there are often parts of picture books that children can read along with you. We are expecting that their Reading Eggs login will continue through until the February (although don’t quote me on that one…). This has many readers that they can access, with comprehension activities. 

Hutt Valley High School visit

On Monday morning  at 9am our Hutt Valley High School buddies will return to our class to deliver their stories to the children.   The students have been writing short stories based on their buddies interests, and drawing their illustrations. 

Swimming 

We will then go to swimming, as per usual, at 10.15 (both Monday and Tuesday sessions will be at Huia Pool). Big thanks to Maria, Gina, Gulsoon, Liz, Jamie (and anyone else I have missed!) who have helped out at the pool.  Thanks also for ensuring that they come to school with their togs each day. 

Class Party and Secret Santa

On Monday at 12pm (when we return from swimming) we will hold our class party.  It would be appreciated if each child could bring a small plate of food to share. Please still pack morning tea, and possibly something small for lunch.  We will also do our Secret Santa at this time. These can still be delivered to the classroom on Monday morning.   

After lunch on Monday we will have our fun time.  The weather forecast isn’t looking particularly good with showers and southerlies forecast, but if it clears we will get out for that long -overdue water fun. 

Tuesday

Swimmimg continues, and in the afternoon the children will watch a Christmas movie in class. 

Wednesday

We have our final assembly at 11.30, due to finish at 12.30.  Children can be collected from the class at 12.30pm.  School officially closes at 1pm. 

Hopefully we will see you all before the end of term but wishing everyone a very happy, relaxing and family-filled Christmas and safe holiday. 

Claire and Amy 

Week 9

Hi all, 

I Hope you are  surviving the busyness that comes with this time of year and that you are managing to stay afloat.  I hope you are still finding some time to stop and have some time to relax. 

• Each morning (Monday-Thursday) we will have swimming at Huia Pool, with paid instructors.   The times will be the same: we will leave school just after 10am and return to school by 11.45am.  On Friday we will be having lessons at McKenzie Pool.  Any parent help is appreciated.  HUGE thanks to the Fundraising Committee and their many hours of fundraising for providing this fantastic and very necessary learning experience for our children!

• Lessons will continue on Monday and Tuesday of next week, with no lessons on Wednesday 14th. 

• On Monday afternoon we will have Discovery  for the children, which will include a variety of activities including woodwork, water fun, arts and craft. The children may want to bring a spare dry towel in case the water play gets exciting.  

• On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon we will be watching the school Talent Quest. On Thursday afternoon we are lucky enough to have Grace Davey (Milton’s mum) bring her very talented music students to school to share their amazing talents.  

• Our Carols Evening is on Wednesday night, and the Fundraising Committee are kindly providing a sausage sizzle for all, starting at 5.15pm.  Carols will kick off in the hall at 6pm. 

• On Friday the children will visit their class for next year and their reports will come home. Books will also come home on Friday. 

• Next Monday 12th Dec we are planning our class party when we return from swimming. We are keen to make this a shared lunch, and we are hoping that each child could bring a unisex Secret Santa present to pop under the tree. A notice will come home about this tomorrow. In the afternoon we will partake in some seriously fun activities, which will be the children’s choice.  We will keep you informed….and feel free to join us! 

• Next Tuesday afternoon (13th) we will celebrate the end of term with a Christmas movie in the Kowhanga. 

• School finishes next Wednesday 14th December at 1pm, with the final assembly beginning at 11.30am. 

Yay, I think that is it, but we will pop anything else up on Seesaw if we have forgotten anything…. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

A visit form Hutt Valley High School

On Monday we were lucky enough to have a Year 9 Hutt Valley High School class spend some time in our Kowhanga.  The children shared a little bit about themselves with their big buddies, who will spend the next couple of weeks creating a personalised story for the children.  We had a fabulous morning and loved all the attention from big kids!

Tri-hexaflexagons!

Tri-hexaflexagons!

Today we were lucky enough to have Mr Nash visit our Kowhanga to teach us about sides, and the tricks of inside and outside.  Mr Nash made mobius strips and we made guesses about how many sides are created when paper is twisted and joined.

First we cut a loop of paper that had two sides, and we wanted to see what would happen if cut it length ways.

This created two loops, both with skinny sides.

Then we created a twist in the paper before we cut it length ways.  We checked and it only had one side.


 This created one large loop with two sides. 

Then we twisted the paper twice  and cut the paper length ways.  This had two sides.

This created two loops which were linked like a chain.

What will happen if we twist the paper three times?

Then we created two loops which were twisted and linked together. One of them had a clockwise twist, one of them had an anticlockwise twist.

It created two interlocking hearts!

Then we made a trihexaflexagon where we turned the inside of a hexagon to the outside.  We created a secret third side...

Find a line, crease it, push it's bottom in, there's the secret side!

Week 8

Morning all!  

We had a couple of successful days of swimming on Thursday and Friday where we grouped the children, spent some time doing structured lessons and had some time playing games.  Thankfully the pool was heated and much warmer under the water than above!  We were so impressed with the level of independence from all the children with dressing and undressing. So fabulous!  There is no swimming next week and we will begin again on Monday 5th December at Huia Pool.  

Our Education Outside the Classroom begins next week with lots of fun activities planned.  While it is a busy week we will continue to read with the children wherever possible.  The children will still bring a reader home with them each day and it would be appreciated if you continue to read with them at night, as this is our last week of guided reading.  If you have any readers still at home please start to send these back as all readers have to be back in by the end of the week.  

Monday: 

Visitors 9am-11am

On Monday morning the Kowhanga will welcome a Hutt Valley High School Year 9 English class, and our children will spend time with a buddy talking about their interests, likes, dislikes, and family.  We have already spent some time during writing planning for this, and the high school students will take this information away and create a personalised storybook for each child. We plan to get together before the end of the year to receive these books.  We are excited that some of our teaching parents from Hutt Valley High will also join us.  A fun opportunity to make some connections.  

Athletics fun day: 11am - 12.30pm 

If the weather  permits the Junior Syndicate will be partaking in an athletics fun morning where they will play a variety of games that help develop the fundamental skills of athletics.  This will include sack races (jumping) (three legged races (coordination); Tidy Your Room and The Gauntlet of Fire (throwing) and some other activities.  Parents are welcome to join us. 

Tuesday

Athletics fun day - postponement day

 Middles and Seniors talent quest  in the afternoon 

Wednesday

Trip to Jubilee Park

Thanks to the parents who are able to join us on this trip.  While the long range weather forecast isn’t looking promising we hope that it will clear.  Please ensure your child has a packed morning tea, good walking shoes and a warm jersey/coat.  There is a hill at Jubilee Park which is AWESOME to slide down - if anyone has any large  cardboard boxes lying around at home we would be very happy to take these off your hands and make some sleds!  

Middles and Seniors talent quest in the afternoon

Thursday

Junior Talent Quest in the afternoon

For anyone that would like to share their talents!  This is entirely optional.  

Friday

Dress Up Day 

Come dressed as WHATEVER you want to (children, not parents, although parents are welcome too!)  We will have discovery resources available in the morning for children to create accessories if they choose.  We will also have a wee disco/dance party. 

Week 9: 

Swimming 

We will have swimming each morning at Huia Pool, at the same time (leaving school just after 10 and returning to school by 11.45am.  We will be travelling by bus. 

Discovery

In the afternoons we will be setting up woodwork, art and craft activities for the children.  Please send your child to school in clothes that are suitable for having lots of fun in.  Children are welcome to bring named water toys to school and we can store them in the classroom during the week. 

Week 10: 

We are tentatively planning to have our class party on Monday afternoon (12th Dec) and we have our fingers crossed that there won’t be any full school events that will change this …but we will confirm this next week.  The loose plan is to have a shared lunch after swimming (around12pm) and then spend the afternoon doing something super-fun. The children will decide what this will be. 

Yay, I think that is it!  

Take care and have a relaxing weekend. Any queries flick us an email. 

Week 6

Firstly, many thanks to our superb team of parents who joined us on Wednesday for our trip to the SPCA.  We were fortunate to have had the only fine day last week and we made the most of it with a walk through the town belt to the Velodrome for lunch.  We returned back to the SPCA via a ‘secret’ hill track which involved lots of climbing. Such enthusiasm!  Over the next few weeks we will continue to look at how we can care for animals, and we will let the children lead us in their inquiries into pets.  

Thanks again to the parents who responded to our survey about learning in our Kowhanga.  The workshop went really well and there was lots of interest from other teachers.  We very much appreciated your constructive feedback and we will certainly move forward next year with the feedback in mind.  If you would still like to comment on anything the survey is still open. 

Our writing focus continues to be on how we can ‘hook’ our reader; use of description to add interest; and mastering punctuation in our writing.  It is always exciting to see the quality content the children include in their writing after a real experience, such as our SPCA trip, or hands on learning in class, and they all wrote with vigour last week!  

Our Friday construction sessions will continue this week - the children are LOVING it!  I am sure you are all very appreciative of the wonderful, HUGE creations they are bringing home on a Friday afternoon (!!!)  Experiences such as these allow for the development of so many skills: team work, creativity, innovation, communication…the list goes on.  Love it!  

In a couple of weeks we will begin our full -school swimming lessons, which will be held at Huia Pool and McKenzie Pool.  We will need parent help for these trips: if you think you may be available to join us we will be very happy to hear from you.  Our two  sessions will be on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th November at McKenzie Pool (the end of next week).  We then break for a week, and continue with lessons on Monday 5th December, and then through until Tuesday 13th December.  More information will come home this week with times etc.  We require the children to be able to dress and undress independently before and after the lessons, and it would be great if you could practise this at home.  

  In our Kowhanga we try to motivate children less with rewards, like stickers and treats, but rather motivate children to succeed through their own sense of challenge and achievement.  We do however have a class system that we call 'bucket filling', and celebrates kindness, awareness of others, teamwork, and celebrating their own and others successes. The class works together on this common goal, earning pom poms which go into a jar.  When the jar is full we plan to celebrate together in some way - a water day, a trip, a party, the children will decide.  This will probably be during Week 9, and we would love families to join us (if you are free).  More information to come as our jar gets closer to the top! 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - it’s nice to have a bit of a break in the weather! 

SPCA

SPCA

Yesterday we went on an exciting trip to the Wellington SPCA to learn more about the welfare of animals. A bus trip, watching surgery and exploring the town belt added to this exciting day. Huge thanks to the many wonderful parents who joined us 😊

Week Three

Good morning and happy rainy Tuesday! 

Reunion

We had the most amazing reunion on Saturday with a stunning performance from our children that brought tears to the eyes of our guests (and me).  So super proud of our Kowhanga, we had a great turnout, two thirds of the school, and we all had a fun day with perfect weather.  Huge thanks to you all for sacrificing your long weekend, bringing baking and getting your children to school by 8.30am, it was a huge ask but so very appreciated.  I expect there will be lots of photos of the event as Brooke Woollett was on the job.  We will be put these on the blog when they come through.   

Survey

We are also super appreciative to those of you who have completed the short survey about our Kowhanga.  Your comments are invaluable and they will help shape our presentation, but equally they will help to refine our teaching practice next year.  If you haven’t completed the survey and have a couple of minutes please follow the link in this weeks email.  Responses are anonymous. Thanks so much! 

Fundraising Committee Plug 

We have a group of parents who are super dedicated to fundraising for our children, and who make a massive contribution to the ongoing resources we have at school. Our TVs, IPads, the high anticipated new sandpit, furniture, netball hoops, trips, concerts, the list goes on.  At the end of this year a number of these amazing parents will be moving on and the committee is keen to get some new faces, with a get-together planned for Monday 14th November.  I reckon we could get a fabulous group of Kowhanga parents together - it’s not all hard work (lots of fun too - a good once-a-month social get together!))  If you are keen let me know and I will send you through the details. 

Diwali

Diwali is approaching and we are very lucky to have Vi (Devesh’s mum) join us next Tuesday 1st November for a day of celebration.  We will be learning about Diwali in class this week in anticipation of our activities next week. Thanks so much Vi for giving us your time. 

The week ahead: 

This week we will ease into our focus on the Pets, which will continue over the next few weeks.  We are currently planning a trip to the Wellington SPCA on Wednesday 9th November with more information to come home soon. This should be a great day out.  

We wil continue to practise our Poi in preparation for our assembly presentation on Friday 4th November, the same day of our school Bring’n’Buy.  French  lessons continue tomorrow with Susannah and baking on Friday with Gina. 

Our sports focus continues to revolve around athletics skills.  Don’t be surprised if your children come home with some catchy phrases that we use to help refine their skills : 

“take a call, and let it go” (throwing, in preparation for vortex and javelin)

“la-di-da” (javelin) 

“check the time, make a bow and let it go” (discus) 

I think that is it!  Take care and see you tomorrow, 

Amy and Claire 

Term 4 Week 2

Hi there and Happy Sunday! 

Firstly, apologies, I mentioned last week that we would be sharing in assembly at the end of Week 2 (this coming week), and that the school would be having a Bring ’n’Buy.  These will both  be at the end of Week Four.  Sorry!

Looking ahead: 

We will be visiting the Petone Settlers Museum this Tuesday 18^th October, leaving Hutt Central at 12.45pm after an early lunch.  We will arrive back at school by 3pm.  Many thanks to those parents who have said they are able to join us. 

Claire and I will both be released on Wednesday. Penny Musgrave and Andrea Spink will be teaching in the Kowhanga. 

On Thursday our Kowhanga will be visiting the Hutt Library between 10.45 and 12.30pm.  Please let us know if you are available to join us. 

There will be no assembly on Friday afternoon as the school will be preparing for the 150 year Reunion. 

On Saturday school is open, and the children have been asked to arrive at school by 8.30am, meeting in our Kowhanga.  Children can be collected from school from 12.30 /1pm.   There will be no school on Monday or Tuesday. 

 We have started French lessons with Amelie’s mum, Susannah, every Monday morning.  The children are learning greetings and basic phrases,  and are embracing the opportunity to learn another language, as well as te reo.  Thanks so much Susannah for sharing your time and knowledge with us.

 We have been so impressed with the progress all our children are making with their basic facts (instantly recalling addition and subtraction facts) and we appreciate the additional practice you have been giving the children at home.  There are some good online programmes you can access at home:

www.studyladder.co.nz

www.mathseeds.co.nz– you can access a free trial

www.mathzone.co.uk

www.learningplanet.com

www.mathscats.com

Our PE focus this term is on running, jumping and throwing, and developing these fundementals skills for participation in competitive athletics in years 3+.  We often timetable our PE for 2.30pm – feel free to join us if you spot us playing a game.  The kids love it! 

Yay, enjoy the rest of this lovely Sunday!  See you all tomorrow. 

Claire and Amy   

Our Old Fashioned Dress Up Day

Hutt City Library's blog post on Hutt Central Schools 150 years!

https://heritage.huttcitylibraries.co.nz/2016/10/09/hutt-central-school-150-years-old/

Term Four, Week One

Hi all, 

Welcome back, and to a busy Term Four.  We hope you have had a stress-free, EASY school holiday period! 

We throw ourselves straight into our 150 year celebrations with a dress up day this Thursday, taking us back to our grandparents era and before.  Please don’t feel the need to buy special dress ups for this: utilising what you have at home is great!   When we visited Pataka we looked at fabrics and styles of pioneering NZ.  Boys wore shorts until the age of 14, colours were neutral and girls wore skirts with an apron over the top.  Zips and velcro didn’t exist, and hats were compulsory (this is just a guide - just a token item of clothing will suffice!)  We will spend some of this day transforming our class into an ‘olden day’ classroom.  Fun! 

As part of our focus on times past we have a trip planned to the Petone Settlers Museum to look pioneering life in the Hutt Valley.  (Week 2). A notice will come home about this next week.  We are very grateful to the Fundraising Committee for funding the buses there are back, which has meant no charges to families.  Awesome!  

We are due to visit the Hutt Library on Thursday 20th October.  Any parent help will be appreciated. 

Term Four requires all students to wear bucket hats during morning tea and lunchtime.  Please ensure your child brings one to school each day, or even better, keeps a hat in their tote tray.  Sunscreen is also highly recommended, and while we don’t keep sunscreen at school we can certainly help children apply their own sunscreen at lunch is required. 

Fitness this term will focus on athletics skills, working towards a fun Athletics Morning at school in November.  These fundamental skills focus on running, jumping and throwing through a number of different games and activities. 

Our Discovery time on Fridays will continue with our Kowhanga construction theme, and we will reuse materials to create structures, art and sculptures. 

We would appreciate any materials that could be used for this. e.g. cardboard, egg cartons, bubble wrap, shoe boxes, plastic bottles, paper.  Thanks in advance!

At the end of week four we will be having another infamous Bring’n’Buy.  If you happen to be having a clean out please save your old toys, books or games and bring them into school from the beginning of Week 2.  Thanks.

We are grateful to Fiona Johnson Belle for the time and effort she gave our Kowhanga last term to teach us poi.  We will be sharing our waiata and poi with the school on Friday 21st October during assembly.  

Just a reminder: school will be open on the Saturday of Labour Weekend as part of our anniversary celebrations.  Children are asked to come to school for the  morning. School will be closed on Tuesday 25th October.  

Wow, I hope I have covered everything…you may get a SeeSaw post in the next couple of days otherwise!  

Can’t wait to see all your beautiful children,  

Claire and Amy

Week 10

We had a very enjoyable Grandparents Day on Friday and we thoroughly enjoyed having grandparents in the class.  We created photo frames, both for present and absent grandparents, we had some interesting discussions about school life in years past, and we sang songs together.  Our fabulous grandparents shared their attention and time with all the children in the class which we thoroughly appreciated.  What a fun day! 

We are lucky enough to have a number of our tech-savvy grandparents on Seesaw, sharing and commenting on the children's work. Please let us know if you would like your grandparents /family etc to access your child's portfolio - they are most welcome.  

This is our last week of term three and the weather is looking decidedly average.  We have a full school games morning planned for tomorrow, involving playground games from history - knucklebones, hand games, marbles, elastics etc.  I expect that if the weather is anything like today this event may be postponed until later in the week, but it would be appreciated if your child can bring a coat and warm clothing to school, just in case. 

On Wednesday we have a fundraiser - Pizza Day.  Your child will have brought home a notice about this last week.  If you did not receive this please let us know and we will get one to you.  Pizzas are $5, optional, and will be delivered at lunchtime.  There will be no Thai lunches on Wednesday.  

You will have read in the school newsletter that the school will be open on Saturday 22nd October (Labour Weekend) to celebrate 150 years.   School will be closed on Tuesday 25th October. 

At the beginning of term four we will be having another Bring n Buy to raise money for the senior school camp next year.  If you are having a clean out of toys at any stage over the next few weeks we would appreciate any donations! 

Please let us know if you would like to take home some readers to keep the momentum of regular reading.  We can also provide maths and literacy worksheets for those that want them over the holidays.  We will have these available on Thursday and Friday. 

Amy is out of the class on Tuesday (but around school) and Claire is on a course (offsite) on Friday.  

Have a lovely rainy Sunday! 

Claire and Amy 

Week 7

Last weeks movie fundraiser

Big thanks our fantastic mums who joined us for the movie Bad Moms last Thursday.  What a laugh!  It was awesome to see such a big Kowhanga contingent. Nice one! 

Pataka trip tomorrow 

We are visiting Pataka in Porirua tomorrow morning as part of our Changes unit, leaving just after 9am.  It is important that all children are at school before the bell rings at 8.55am. Unfortunately we won’t be able to wait for those that are late and they will be accommodated in another class. Please ensure that children have appropriate clothing, morning tea/lunch and a drink bottle in their bag.  

Parents who are joining us - can you please flick us a quick email to confirm that you are still available to come along.  Thanks. 

Calendar Art

Over the last few weeks Claire has been busy organising Calendar Art as part of a Hutt Central School fundraising initiative. They look fabulous and will be ready to view in the school office at some stage over the next couple of weeks.  We will keep you posted. 

Union Meeting on Thursday

On Thursday afternoon a number of teachers will be attending the Paid Union Meeting for all NZEI members in relation to the proposed changes in education.  This is the extract from the school newsletter last week: 

The NZEI and PPTA unions are holding a Paid Union Meeting from 1:30pm on Thursday 8 September 2016. It is important that as many school staff can attend as possible and so we encourage you to pick up your child from 12.30pm on that day. Please send the return slip attached to this Newsletter to school. If an adult does not come to school on Thursday 8 September to pick up your child we will look after them until 3:00pm. If you would like your child to make their own way home, please let the classroom teacher know in writing.

Onesie/PJ day 

On Friday the school councillors have organised a onesie/PJ day to raise money for the Wellington Free Ambulance.  Children can come to school in their PJs.  Please bring a gold coin donation to help Wellington Free Ambulance. 

Grandparents day

Your child will have brought home a notice and invitation for Grandparents Day, to be held between morning tea and lunch next Friday 16th September.  We are asking that children invite their grandparents to join us in class for activities, discussions, and lunch.  Multiple grandparents welcome, but equally if grandparents are unable to attend there will certainly be plenty to share around! 

Comings and Goings

We are both released on Wednesday - Andrea and Mrs Muzzy will be in the classroom.  

See you tomorrow! 

Claire and Amy 

Chrissie Straayer

16:26 (7 minutes ago)

Making Super Structures

Today we re-used card and pipes to create two massive huts in our Kowhanga. We decorated them using our original art and we plan to use the huts as chill-out spaces for reading and quiet, independent work. AWESOME! 

Junior Syndicate Trip to Pataka

Week Four

Happy Sunday!  

We are heading into Week 4 of the term and fingers crossed for some slightly better weather than last week!  It has been a fun couple of weeks with lots of experiments and discoveries about the wonders of water.  Thanks for bringing in your experiments from home - the children have enjoyed sharing them. 

We will wrap up our water topic this week with a focus on what we use water for.  We have our fingers and toes crossed that something big and red will come and visit our Kowhanga on Tuesday around 11am and we will be able to confirm this on Tuesday morning.  Feel free to join us - siblings welcome. To prepare for this visit we will talk about fire safety on Monday afternoon.  

In a couple of weeks we will be visiting Pataka in Porirua as part of our up and coming unit on Change Across the Generations.  More information to come out this week.  

Our maths focus will look at fractions.  Children will bring home some homework this week on fractions, on top of their usual reading/spelling/class story.  Many thanks in advance for your support with this. 

On Thursday morning the children will participate in a cricket skills session delivered by cricket experts.  There is no charge for this. 

It is library week this week and we will be getting involved I X number of activities throughout the week. Check out our library blog: http://huttcentralschoollibrary.blogspot.co.nz/

And  the library week website: 

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/library-week

Yay, have a great week! 😊

Is Oil Lighter than Water?

We have been experimenting with water in lots of different ways in our Kowhanga. This experiment involved water, oil and food colouring. We wanted to find out what would happen if the two substances mixed together. 

We discovered that water is denser than oil, which is why oil sits on the top of water, because it is lighter! The food colouring was the most dense, and sank to the bottom. 

We also discovered that our results differed depending on how much oil we added to the water. Interesting stuff! 

#The Fairest of them All

We were lucky enough to enjoy a performance by the NZ Playhouse this morning called #The Fairest of them All. We loved watching it and thought it was pretty funny and entertaining. 

Term 3 Week 1

Hi all, 

Welcome to Term Three! We hope your school holidays have been enjoyable - can't wait to see all those lovely faces on Monday.  😊😊

Our inquiry focus will continue investigating the wonders of water. We will introduce 2016 Olympics in Week 3, and later in the term we will focus on Change in preparation for Hutt Central's 150th celebration in October. 

This Wednesday we will be lucky enough to watch a performance by the NZ Playhouse Co.  Big thanks to the Fundraising Committee for funding this. 

Our PE focus for the term will look at fundementals of gymnastics, and we will continue with sending and receiving small and large balls. 

Winter days can be rather chilly when the children are playing outside - please ensure your child brings a coat to school each day.  They could also keep a hat in their tote tray. 

See you tomorrow! 

Amy and Claire 

Week 10

Hello all, 

It was fantastic to catch up with you this week during parent teacher interviews.  Thanks so much for making the time to come in.  

Next week is our last week of term, with a number of things planned. 

• On Tuesday we have 'Cover your Hair to Care' day and we will be wearing wigs, hats, scarves etc to support cancer research.  Please bring a gold coin donation for our coin trail.  
• We will be celebrating Maori Language Week next week with lots of Te Reo in the classroom.  We hope that your child will come home eager to speak what they are using in class. 
• On Wednesday the fundraising committee will be selling Hells Pizza for lunch.  If your child did not come home with a slip yesterday and you would like to order  please let us know.  
• On Friday we will be farewelling Rosalie O'Neill, who has been the Hutt Central School Office Manager for the last 27 years.  Assembly will start at 1.45pm, and the children will have an early lunch break between 12.15-1.15pm. 
• Reading over the school holidays: we will have independent readers available for your child to take home over the holidays.  Please let us know if you would like to borrow a few extra. 

Have a fabulous weekend and take care, 

Claire and Amy 

Week 9

Two weeks until the school holidays - the children are starting to show signs of end-of-term-itis and winter tiredness, I expect they will be well ready for some down time over the holidays!  Their eagerness to learn hasn't lessened and they managed to get through a busy week last week with a walk to the Hutt Library (thanks so much to all those parents who walked with us);  Emily Naylor, captain of the Blacksticks visiting our Kowhanga; and basketball skills continuing on Thursday.  

We had a great time investigating water last week with lots of thinking and questioning, sharing ideas and a desire to seek out answers. Our afternoons were spent experimenting, and these hands-on experiences triggered lots of exciting writing.  We will continue to look into the water cycle this week, and we will start to look at how water is used (in anticipatation of a visit from something big and red the following week...)  Many thanks for your support with your child's questions about water.  They have enjoyed coming to school and sharing what they have found out. 

We are looking forward to catching up with many of you this week during interviews on Wednesday and Thursday.  Information as to how to book interviews is in last weeks newsletter, or you can pop into the office and Penny can book these for you.   If you are unable to make it this week and you would still like to come in please let us know and we can make an alternative time. 

Take care, enjoy the rest of your Sunday and see you tomorrow!

Claire and Amy

Week 8

Kia Ora,

Te Reo: We have been learning how to say coloursin Te Reo the last few weeks and have gotten pretty good at our colours song. See if your child can sing it for you :) 

Reading: We are seeing some exciting progress with the children and their fluency when they read. Thanks for all the support you give them at home, all the extra millage definately pays off. 

Matariki: Today we made matariki star biscuits with Gina. First we mixed all the ingredients together and then we each got to roll out and cut a star shape. Once they were cooked we iced them with different colours. Then we ate them - YUM! Check out some photos below. 

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Hutt Library: On Tuesday we are heading to the Hutt Library. We leave at 10.45 and get back by 12.30pm. If you are able to join us we would love you to come, please email and let us know. 

Topic: The children have been keen and interested in our new inquiry focus on Water and we are looking forward to exploring this more. 

Reports: Reports will be going home next Friday. Interview times will be available to book for Week 9 - more information regarding booking should be coming home on Monday. 

Enjoy your weekends and have fun at the disco tonight :) 

Amy and Claire.

Yann's Visit

On Monday morning Remy's dad Yann came to tell us all about his job. We learned about eating with the queen. When the queen visits New Zealand she goes to government house and when they eat dinner they have 6 courses. Every person has their own waiter or waitress. Every person has 5 knives, 5 forks and 3 spoons. The waiter stands behind the chairs and serves the food. They have food that is grown in New Zealand and some of it comes from the garden at government house. The food they eat is very yummy and made by clever chefs like Remy's dad. We think he has a great job!

Week 7

Kia Ora All, 

It has been another busy week in our Kowhanga with what is shaping up to be a busy week ahead. 

On Friday of Week 7 there is the school disco. Junior disco starts at 5.30pm and is 'Movies' Theme so dress up as your favourite movie character. Tickets can be purchased for $5 at the office. 

Matariki - we have been learning all about Matariki this week and have done some great artwork around this too. Talk to your child and see if they can tell you what Matariki is all about. We will carry on our focus around Matariki through out June. 

 

Maths -  The children have loved learning about money during maths as well, check out some photos of them below playing money games, doing money rubbing and playing 'shops'. We are moving on from Money next week and starting to look at Time. We are continuing to work on place value using 100s, 10s and 1s as well as basic facts to improve our recall. We are continuing to learn about adding groups of objects together and write the equation; counting on from the biggest number first. Some children will be learning to count through 10s.

  

  

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Reading - thank you for continuing to read with your child each night. 

Basketball Skills started with great enthusiasm this week. The children enjoyed practising new basketball skills with Terry from Hoop Club and getting the chance to shoot some hoops - I was impressed with their perseverance. 

Have a great weekend!

Amy and Claire.