Room 15 2022

  Kia Ora Kāhikatea whānau Wow, Week 9 already! The term is flying by.  It's been a different kind of week with many children in our classes away. The children have impressed us by the resilience shown, both by those isolating and learning from home, as well as those at school where they have had to adapt to new routines and changes. Thank you for your continued support in keeping your child home if they are sick and testing if they show any symptoms. Hopefully, we are through the peak of covid in Kahikatea. We have noticed during learning through play that children are playing and interacting with different groups and making friends with those they don't usually play with. Fort building is still a favourite even on wet days as well as the blocks which have been used to create army bases, a kingdom, a castle and even a school. Swimming We are swimming this week.  Please bring your togs every day. Library Tuesday: Room 15 Roller Skating Fridays at lunchtime if your c...

Welcome to Week 8 of a very unique first term 2022. We hope all those families affected by covid-19 are holding up well and the children and caregivers who have contracted it recover quickly. We are all praying for you in class. Children are now returning to school from isolation mostly reporting only mild symptoms. We are one of the least affected schools in Rotorua, last week our roll was still at 75% with only a couple of teachers affected. Many schools in Rotorua have temporarily closed.  We continue to follow strict Omicron protocols at school to ensure that we have as little spread as is possible, including: Good ventilation in classrooms and any place that children and staff are  Sanitising when we enter school and buildings Cleaning surfaces in classrooms during the day Social distancing where practicable Mrs Dobson and Mrs Mines are busy in their role as DRSs. Thanks to them for organising the Bread and Water Morning Tea last week when the children were aske...

  Kia ora,  We hope you are enjoying the sunshine and have had a fantastic weekend so far.  Thank you for supporting our fundraiser on Friday, we managed to raise $522 which will be sent to Unicef for Ukraine.  Last week we started our Structured Literacy programme in the afternoons. Having had a taste of Structured Literacy last year, the children adjusted to the new routine well. We are looking forward to seeing the benefits this programme will have for reading and writing. We are after some tin cans for a provocation this week. If you have any spares, please send them in with your children.  Coming up this week:  Monday - Friday is swimming. Monday - Thursday is the Ice Block fundraiser (see below).  Tuesday - Library.  Thursday - Rice Day.  Messages from Mr MacMillan Rest assured that we are doing our very best to follow the Covid protocols that the Ministry of Education has set down for us. This includes g ood ventilation in classrooms a...

We have had another successful week of play-based learning. Our focus for the past fortnight has been The Nature of Science, which the children have enjoyed.  One provocation has been about the life cycle of a plant and what needs to be in a plant's habitat in order for it to survive. The children planted their own seeds in recycled yoghurt pots and will record what they notice happening over the rest of the term. 

We are once again lucky to have Henk in our school, giving professional swimming lessons to our children. All Year 3 and 4 children have really enjoyed their sessions with Henk, learning about improving swimming techniques. 

Kia ora and welcome to week 6.   We had a lovely two days swimming with Henk last week.  We are so fortunate to benefit from his expertise.  We will be swimming every day for the next three weeks.  Please remember to bring your swimming gear every day. We are impressed with the independence shown by many of our students in completing their "must do's" across the week.  Keep up the good work.  Quite a number are doing a bit of Maths-Whizz at home every day and have got 4 progressions or more for the week.  Our library days are as follows: Rm 15 - Tuesdays Rm 17 and Rm 16 - Wednesdays News from Mr Macmillan: Covid -   If your child tests positive you need to let the school know ( even if the child had already been isolating or away from school). You need to let Mr Macmillan, Mrs Cato, or the School Office know, please.  If your child is unwell please keep them at home. Updates are being sent via the School App  - general update t...

Today the children in Room 15 finished their pepeha artwork. We are so pleased with how it has turned out and that everyone was able to share the special places their family whakapapa to. Check out some of the artwork below: Some of the children have been using the Stop Motion Animation app on the ipads to create stories during play-based learning. Here is one about a garden, some honey bees and a bee keeper. 

Today we celebrated Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of lent and when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert after he was baptised. Due to Covid restrictions, we did the liturgy in our own classrooms. Children all received the ashes of their lenten promises as crosses on their foreheads.  During lent we remember to... Fast from hurtful words and speak kind words. Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude. Fast from anger and be filled with patience. Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope. Fast from worries and have trust in God. Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity. Fast from pressures and be prayerful. Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy. Fast from selfishness and be compassionate. Fast from grudges and forgive others. Fast from words and be silent so you can listen. We wish you all the best for this season of lent.

Today is Shrove Tuesday.  It is the day before Ash Wednesday.  Long ago, after people went to church to confess their sins on Shrove Tuesday, they often returned home to have a feast.  They would use up all the "fat foods" or treats in preparation for fasting during Lent. One of the dishes that was often made was pancakes. And that tradition has continued to this day. Some people make rolled-up paper-thin pancakes called  crèpes  with yummy fillings. In many places around the world,  people enjoy eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. That’s why it’s sometimes known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day.  Rooms 17, 16 and 15 had fun making pancakes as a play provocation.  There was a group of mathematicians who worked out how many pancakes we would need for all three classes.  We then shared a pancake picnic together on the field at morning tea time.  Here are some photos of our preparation and picnic.