Dear
Team Kāhu Families,
I
hope our students have all
enjoyed a well earned rest and are raring to go for Term 2!
Term
1 certainly flew by with plenty of
excitement;
The students
have gelled well as a group, across as well as within classes, and they are
thinking innovatively about how they can maximise their impact for the wider
school through their leadership roles.
We all enjoyed
our ‘Waka Odyssey Visit’ and the chance to celebrate this special Wellington
event early in the term. As usual the
students were a credit to our school and community and it was great to see some
get their ‘moment of fame’ speaking so articulately on the New Zealand National
Commission (UNESCO) video!
Your support in
encouraging the students to take an active role in the Learning Conferences
after Easter is greatly appreciated. It
is fantastic to see the learners themselves leading the conversation about
their celebrations and next steps and being encouraged by your positive
responses and questions. Our aim in
taking this approach is that the students will take increasing ownership of
their learning throughout the year.
We
were most impressed with the incredible artefacts, depth of knowledge and understanding
displayed by our students as a result of Term 1’s ‘Hands of Time’ Inquiry,
which culminated in the incredible ‘Muritai Museum’. All of Team Kāhu stepped up enormously to
support with this event at the end of a busy term and it was a wonderful
celebration of the learning. We were
overwhelmed by the incredible support of our community - from the fascinating
artefacts that were loaned to us, to the moving stories shared with us by
visiting community members, written accounts or through homework
interviews. As a result of this, our
students’ sense of connection with their own community and the events of that
day in 1968 was tangible - Thank you!
Looking ahead
to this term, we are delighted to welcome Jon Mackie to the Kāhu teaching team! As you may know, Jon will be teaching in Room
22 from Monday - please join with us in making him welcome as a much
appreciated member of the Muritai whanau!
Term
2 is set to be a busy one with a strong focus on the classroom programme. Below
is a run-down of what your child
will be focusing on.
Inquiry.
Term
2 is all about Science!
‘Eureka!’ is
the name for this term’s Inquiry. Within
the context of ‘The Material World’ strand - focussing especially on
insulation, and interwoven with our Maths and Literacy program, we will be
exploring change and how this can be observed, measured, controlled and
responded to.
The big idea: ‘To answer their questions, scientists use
‘fair tests’, comparing their results by measuring them’, aims to develop
the following key understandings for our students:
- To answer a question scientists plan
carefully designed investigations
- A fair test involves controlling all the
variables except those that are manipulated and responded to
-
Scientists
measure, compare and interpret their
results to arrive at conclusions
-
Observing,
measuring, controlling and responding to change is a key element of science
- Scientific knowledge and skills help us to
make informed decisions about our own lives and cultures and the world around
us
Students will
learn how to conduct fair tests and record scientific investigations, including
drawing accurate labelled diagrams. They will learn to observe, make
inferences, critique data and interpret scientific representations.
The culmination
of this learning will be a student led investigation into an area of interest
and presenting findings to an audience.
Students will either continue along the Science line, if they wish to
compete for a place in the NIWA Science Fair (early in Term 3), or branch off
into a Personal Passion Project (more about these below). Finished projects will be on display for you
to view during our ‘Celebration of Learning’ towards the end of the term.
Calling Community Experts!
We
are on the hunt for experts! In the spirit of last term’s place based
inquiry, we are always keen to connect with the wealth of expertise in our
local community. If you have a background in this field and you would be willing
to come in and talk to our students as a ‘real world expert’, or work alongside
them in their inquiry, it would be hugely appreciated. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher
or Annette on the email given below.
On the scrounge!
To allow all
this exciting learning take place we need equipment that can be used for
exploring insulation. If you have any of
the following, please do ask your child to bring it to their classroom teacher:
●
Yoghurt
pottles
●
Wool,
cotton, foam (from old cushions or stuffed toys), an old duvet, polystyrene,
polar fleece
●
Fabric
scraps
STEM Visit
As an additional
layer to developing our students understanding of the STEM subjects (Science,
Technology, Engineering & Maths), on Friday 18th
May all the classes will be visiting the Roxy Cinemas for a ‘Docs4Schools’ free screening of the documentary ‘Point of
no Return’.
You can find out more and view the trailer for this at: http://docedge.nz/schools/docs-4-schools-in-theatre/.
In the afternoon, we have been very fortunate to have been
offered a session with the experts at Weltec in ‘Thermodynamics and Heat
Transfer’, where students will see the testing of materials in action as well
as how insulation is incorporated into engineering, construction and
architectural design.
We will require 5 parents to support us on this
trip. If you are able to come along,
please let your classroom teacher know ASAP.
Writing.
We
will be focusing on two main genres in Writing this term, beginning with descriptive writing - using
the senses and close observation. The
focus here is to develop the use of rich and descriptive language and get to
grips with the more sophisticated demands of paragraphing, punctuation,
spelling and grammar required in this genre.
Following this, students will have the opportunity to put their
scientific knowledge to good use in explanation and instructional writing,
which links naturally with our ‘Eureka’ Inquiry. The aim of
these lessons will be to build students’ capability in nonfiction
expository writing; planning and organising ideas in
paragraphs and following an appropriate structure.
Reading.
Reading
will continue to be used across all areas of the curriculum. In addition, guided reading groups will focus
on developing students’
evaluation skills (making generalisations based on
the ideas and information given, and backing up their thinking with evidence
from across a text).
Making the link between Reading and Writing, students will
analyse the features of descriptive, explanatory and instructional texts to
synthesise these in their own writing. Students will actively participate as part of reading
groups exploring the ideas, features and structures of both fiction and nonfiction texts, as well as using a range of
web based reading resources, which allow students to
interact with texts online.
Mathematics.
Students will
continue to develop their strategies for solving problems in a range of of
contexts. They will be encouraged to
discuss, explore, question, clarify and explain their thinking as they work,
demonstrating their strategies through multiple representations: materials,
pictures, words and symbols. Students will work both individually and in
groups, with ‘workshops’ that address specific areas of need. We are looking forward to building students’ flexibility
with knowledge and strategies from Term 1, with a particular focus on
developing number (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division)
alongside measurement which links to our ‘Eureka’ Inquiry.
During Term 2
we will also have a visit from the ‘Get
Wise’ crew to
develop students financial literacy.
PPP - Personal Passion Projects
This project is an opportunity for our senior
students to learn through delving into their passions! We will introduce this
to students at the end of Week 4. For
homework in Week 5 (from 28th May) your child will be asked to develop and
share a proposal for their project with their teacher. This will be a plan of
action that will spread throughout the next five weeks of the term. Students
will have at least one morning each week dedicated to working on their passion
project but it is expected they will also need to use some of their own time at
home to complete it. Students who have
elected to complete a Science Fair Project will do this instead.
The Arts.
This term
our Art focus is heavily
entwined with our Inquiry. Students will
be taking time to closely observe and draw and recognise the difference between
a drawing and a diagram.
Music will be
provided by Carol Algar during our Technicraft rotations.
Kapa Haka also kicks
off this term in preparation for Polyfest.
Physical Education.
This
term our focus is Cross Country
and Gymnastics. Fitness is programmed in for every
morning (weather permitting). We will also be cross country running to build up
our fitness in preparation for the Year
3-8 School Cross Country event on Thursday 24th
May. Suitable footwear for running will
need to be at school every day.
Health
From the middle
of the term we will be running two programs which are underpinned by the health
curriculum:
The NZ Police Kia Kaha Program to support students understanding of
bullying - what it is, how it can impact students and their peers and exploring
strategies and skills for preventing or dealing with bullying.
The Family
Planning ‘Sexuality Road’ program. This
is a sequence of 11 sessions that we will run over the coming three terms. During this program students develop
competencies for health and positive sexuality, build resilience, learn to
demonstrate empathy and develop skills that enhance personal
relationships. Many of you will have
attended the Year 5-8 workshop run last year about this program, but should you
wish to find out more about the program or view the resources, please do not
hesitate to get in contact. borgonje@muritai.school.nz
More
information around this program will be sent out closer to the time.
Technicraft.
This
will continue as last term with students rotating through; Fabric, Woodwork, Music, French
and Cooking.
Other things to note...
Trips -
On Tuesday 22nd May
those students who have put their names down for National Young Leaders’ Day
will be taking the bus to Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua for a day of inspiring
speakers and activities aimed at developing the leadership of young people. To find out more http://www.nyldnz.org/about/
Please note that this
event is now full.
Homework.
Weekly homework
will be set this term. This will
continue to comprise of a reading log and maths practise (focussing on their
identified knowledge goals from in class) using a range of websites. In addition to this there will be a spelling, grammar or
punctuation task to be completed.
Additional Inquiry work may also be included throughout the term. From 28th May onwards this will
include preparation work for, or work on student’s Personal Passion Projects or
Science Fair Projects. Please take it as given that there is homework EVERY week
unless you receive an email to specifically say otherwise! We are always happy to negotiate homework
with families on an individual basis.
Wet Weather.
With
the winter months fast approaching, many of us start to get a bit touchy being
stuck indoors all day! Wet lunchtimes can often be difficult so we welcome
students bringing to school indoor games, such as board games or cards.
Learning Journeys and Celebration of
Learning.
At the
end of this term the classrooms will be open for the afternoon for your child
to share their learning with you from the first half of the term. Your child will
have two platforms to record and share their work with you; their clearfile and
online on Google Drive. The date for this celebration is still to be
confirmed, but further information will be sent out from the office. We will be asking
the students to reflect on their next steps from
the Learning Conferences so they can update
you on their progress in Term 2 as part
of the celebration! We will, of course, be available to talk with you too
should you have any questions. So go on, ask the boss if you can leave work an
hour early to join us!
Finally
if you have any concerns or questions regarding our classroom programme or your
child's learning, please don't hesitate to make contact with us. Feel free to
pop in before or after school, or the easiest way to touch base with us is
email:
Thank
you again for your support,
Team Kāhu
Teachers
