This is how K3 does... lunchtimes

We had a great first week back last week, last week. 

It was so good to be able to play with our friends again.

Some of the K3 kiddos moved a bit too fast for Mrs T to catch. 

This week in K1-3

We all had such a lovely first week back at school. We have missed the wonderful sounds of our gorgeous people laughing and playing together.  Drop off and pick ups at the gate have also helped many of our children grow in independence - the pride on their faces, as they walk in all by themselves, is absolutely gorgeous.  

Independence is a huge part of Kakano’s learning. Independent and self motivated learning begins with the most simple of things and you can help your child to be a self manager - Are all of their belongings clearly named?  Can they open and shut their own lunchbox, drink bottle and bag? Can they tie their own shoes? Can they turn their jersey in the right way? Can they pack their own bag?  We know it’s easier to just do things for them but we want them to know that we trust them to do things for themselves.  

Reminders:

• Lockdown reading packs need to be returned by the end of the week

• Borrowed Chromebooks need to be back ASAP

• School drop off time is now 8:30-9:00. School pick up time is 2:45-3:00. If it is wet you will need to pick up from Kakano.

• Children need to be wearing winter uniform from now, please

• There are no drinking fountains in operation - Please, send a named water bottle

Learning this week:

This week is Samoan Language week, we plan to celebrate this by learning a few words in Samoan and a little bit about Samoan culture and art.

Literacy

We are focusing on decoding strategies. These are the tools and skills that we use to figure out new words - sounding out, rereading, using words we already know… Most of these tools can be used in both reading and writing.

Maths

We are learning to describe how we solved a problem. When kids can explain their thinking, and the steps they took, they are better able to refine and improve their strategies. Meta-cognition (thinking about your thinking) is a key tool for learning.

Religious Education

We are learning about the Holy Spirit. This week our focus is on ‘believing’.  What does believing mean? How does what we believe change the way we act? 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will see you tomorrow.

Kakano Teachers

Week 6 Term 2 2020

Yahoo we can be back at school!

We just want to thank all the parents and whanau who have supported their children with the work we have provided.  We have loved seeing all the posts on Edcua about all the adventures you have completed throughout lockdown.   You have all done an amazing job. You deserve a well-earned coffee break, but please, don't stop posting now that we're back at school.

In a nutshell - What will school look like under Alert Level 2?

Cleaning

- Sanitiser stations are set up in each classroom along with soap dispensers and paper towels

-Hands, high touch furniture and equipment will be sanitised throughout the day.

Illness

- If your child is unwell, do not send them to school.

- It is expected that a child would be away for at least 48 hours if they have been unwell.

Contact and Tracing

- Parents must not enter any classrooms, please.

- If you need to contact your child’s teacher please email, or send a written message with your child.

- Parents must fill in the tracing form BEFORE entering school grounds

Go to tracing.co.nz

Our location code is 080045

Complete details and save them for next time

Submit

Parents will need to show their  check in confirmation to enter the school grounds

Kakano Drop off 8:45-9:00 Kakano Pick up 2:30-2:45

- Before/After school care is available if you are unable to drop off/pick up in the stated times. Call Maryanne Roling at Glenholme After School Care for more information. GASP 0211215599.

- Hands must be sanitised at the gates. Follow the arrows, please

- Students are to go to classroom/gate immediately = no playground before/after school. 

 - All gates, except Carnot Street, will be locked at 1515.

- Parents are encouraged to drop off/pick up from the gates rather than entering the grounds

- Any students who comes to school after 9am will need to come in via the Carnot Street entrance and be accompanied by an adult when they report to the School Office.

Back to business

We are so excited to have your children back at school on Monday. Learning will continue as usual within our classrooms. Kakano 1 will be in Room 6, Kakano 2 will be in Room 7 and Kakano 3 will be in the usual Kakano learning space. Don't worry, all children will get the opportunity to see their friends at morning tea and lunchtimes.

Our focus over the next week is to settle the children in and re-establish relationships with our wonderful children. It has been a while since we have been together face to face. We need to build new routines and get the children back into day to day life at school. They will all be very tired at the end of each day so please ensure they have some down time when they get home.

We will also be retesting our children over the coming weeks in order to plan programmes that meet their learning needs.

Brain Breaks-fruit please!

Our little darlings have been used to eating when they want to. We have no doubt they are going to be ravenous when it comes to our brain break. The children will have milk, provided by school, and can grab a piece of fruit from their lunchboxes. The fruit helps them to re energise their brains to keep them working and learning. They may need some extra food in their lunchboxes tomorrow just to get them through the day.

Reminders:

• Bring a named water bottle

• School uniforms or mufti can be worn for the first week

• No shared food - this includes birthday shouts

As always please email us if you have any concerns. I am sure it will be a great week for us all.

Home Learning

Here are a few examples of the amazing learning happening for Kakano 3 kids.

Rian has been doing some pretty amazing word work. He has had a very busy time learning life skills. He has also been baking, painting and learned how to change a car tyre - very handy.

Jenna played elastics and did some yummy baking - I love your careful reading of the recipe, Jenna. Jenna and her big sister also wrote and performed their own version of Humpty Dumpty - it's awesome!

Arabella has had an exciting time at home. She has built all sorts of cool things with her Dad and check out this treasure hunt that Arabella and her brothers did.

Arianne has been doing lots of Lexia and some beautiful art. Look at the gorgeous ANZAC poppies she made. So creative, Arianne.

Beaude acted out Humpty Dumpty with a real egg and a wall that he built. He has done some great writing AND he's been writing songs to sing while he plays his guitar.

Carlos has been so busy at home that he'll need to come back to school for a holiday. He has learned how to bake, how to play chess and how to skip. In his spare time, he's helping Dad with some building work.

Hayden and Rayden have been doing some great learning with Mrs Rennie. They have been learning about the senses - see, touch, taste, feel and smell. They also make Mrs T laugh every time she talks to them on Zoom - so much energy and happiness!

On ANZAC day, Madeline got to look at her Dad's medals and try on his Air Force hats. Madeline has been making sure that Dad knows his sight words - I bet his Air Force bosses weren't as tough as Madeline. She has also made some beautiful art with leaves and is doing lots of exercise every day.

So much maths, science, technology, reading, art... Wow! 

Keep those Parent Stories coming Kakano 3. I love them!

Week 4 Term 2 2020

Gold Stars and certificates all round!  You are all doing an incredible job helping your children to grow and learn. The educa parent stories and the video chats have been so much fun and show a huge range of the most amazing learning experiences. We love being able to catch up and share these online with you.  Kakano 1-3 kids are so lucky! Thank You for your amazing support this term.

"Home Learning"

Bingo Board: The bingo board is a collection of learning through play ideas that are based on our Concept. Our concept, this term is Adaptation - how and why things change. This week the play is focussed around changes in Science! We love science.  Make sure you use your 5 senses to figure out what changes are happening, how they are happening and why they are happening.

RE: An RE activity is included in the Bingo Board, each week.  It would be great if you could share the RE work you are doing at home with your children on Educa. This week we are beginning the Month of the Rosary by learning/reviewing the Hail Mary.

Maths: Each day a new Maths game or challenge will be shared on Educa.  These activities are aimed to support your child's understanding of how numbers work.  Maths-Whizz is also a great online tool to use for maths.

Reading: Monday and Wednesday are reading days at school, and these are the days the teachers will share reading activities to do at home.  You can encourage your child to read every day at home, this might mean they are rereading books that they are familiar with or that you are reading a favourite book to them.  We know that when children read the same book they are practising reading skills and the more we practise a skill, the better we get.

Writing: Tuesday and Thursday are our writing days.  I have been so impressed with the way children are sharing their wonderful writing ideas.  Sharing our ideas is one of the most important parts of the writing process.  Lexia can also be used to support our reading and writing skills.

Poem: The poem each week aims to support children practise their reading skills and we will always try to add a fun activity to go alongside the poem.

Zoom: We will get ourselves organised and get a timetable out as soon as possible.  We are hoping to put a timetable on educa so that kids can select times/groups that suit them. That should be interesting. 

As always, if you have any questions, worries or queries we are just an email away. 

Have a wonderful week!

Fort Competition

We had some pretty impressive entries for the reading fort competition - check this out!

Well done, team! These forts are incredible!

Week 3 Term 2 2020

Thank you so much to everyone who filled in the survey so promptly to let us know who will be returning to school during Level 3. There are still restrictions in place and this includes social distancing. Please keep safe and look after yourselves and your families.

Last week we had group zoom sessions for ‘show and tell.’ There was lots of excitement at seeing friends and familiar faces and we had lots of fun. We were just thrilled to hear everyone's different stories. Thank you so much for encouraging your children to join in online with us. We hope to do some sessions online this week. Mrs T, Miss Ryan and Mrs D will be at school from Tuesday and will share the responsibility of online and in class tasks. We will keep you posted on the availability of online zoom sessions this week.

There have been a huge amount of parent stories uploaded onto Educa. It has been a wonderful way for us to keep in touch and see the enormous amount of learning that is going on. We are so impressed with the originality and flair that families are showing when helping their children with their activities. Keep loading the parent stories we just love receiving them and seeing what our cherubs are up to.

For those of you still a little wary of educa here are some helpful links to help you to upload your own parent stories.

https://help.geteduca.com/en/articles/2563464-create-a-parent-story

For communication with family/friends

Messenger Kids is full of resources that you might find helpful for keeping
relationships going with their friends.  https://messengerkids.com/parent-resources/

Click on the link to find ideas for Parents to keep your kids safe online.

Online learning will continue again from Wednesday this coming week.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) a Teacher Only Day to prepare for our little onsite bubble
of kids, so we won’t be available online. 

Literacy

Thursday will be a reading focus day. On Wednesday our focus is on writing.
Friday will be our usual Poem day. Activities will be sent via Educa. Lexia
will be used to support their literacy development. Please, no more than
15 minutes a day on Lexia. Our children learn better through real-world play
and activity. Let me know if you think Lexia is too hard - I am doing a reset for
a group this week.

Maths

We will send a maths challenge on Wednesday and Thursday via Educa for you
to have a go at. It is wonderful to see everyone in the family having a try at them.
I've had a number of people say that Maths Whizz can be a bit tricky - I think you
might be right. The maths challenges and real world maths is just fine so
don't push it. We don't want you or your child in tears over Maths Whizz.

If there is anything else we can do to help support you at home or any questions
you may have, please let us know. Stay safe in your bubbles and take care. We
look forward to continuing working alongside you in this unusual learning journey.