Kia ora, e te whānau,
A very warm welcome to Fin and Greyson who have both joined our team recently. You've made a wonderful start to school, tamariki - well done!
It's been a very busy time for Koru team members, as we spread out to include our new learning space, Kōmanawa. Elizabeth's Home Group is starting and finishing the day there, and some Literacy groups are also being taught in Kōmanawa. The tamariki have fully embraced our new space, and are treating it with great care and respect. Welcome to Finlay and Greyson, who have started school and joined our Koru team.
- Boxes, please - a request from us to, please, save any boxes you might normally put out in your recycling bin and send them into school instead - the children are loving creating and decorating in the Maker Space in Hangere and we find that we're always in need of boxes, generally small to medium in size, although shoe boxes and even those slightly bigger can also be turned into homes for fairies, dioramas and so on. We'd also love any little bits and bobs such as ribbon, lace, buttons, small pieces of fabric, feathers, etc., for decorative purposes. Many thanks if you're able to help out with any of these items.
- Beckenham's Got Talent - your children may have been talking with you about the Beckenham Talent Show which is traditionally held at the end of Term 3. A member of our School Council will be coming to the Koru team soon to explain what is involved. There will be more information coming out shortly however, in the meantime, if your child has a particular 'talent' (for example, it might involve singing, dancing, gymnastics, hula hooping, telling jokes, performing magic tricks, etc.) they could be practising at home, in readiness for the Koru team show which will take place prior to the whole school Talent Show. One 'performance' from the Koru team will be selected to be performed at the whole school show. Children are welcome to join up with some friends and enter the Talent Show as a team. Please note, there will be more information to come very soon.
Cyber Safety for our young children:
Staying Safe Online: Bullying
One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying – it can happen to anyone, and it can be hard for parents and whānau to deal with. Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto takes online bullying seriously and would encourage you to chat to your tamariki’s teacher if you have any concerns about online bullying.
Visit Netsafe’s Online Bullying Advice for Parents to read more.
Maths Whānau Evening:
What a fabulous and enlightening evening this was. Rob Profitt-White has been working with kaiako (teachers) here at Beckenham Te Kura over several years now and how fortunate we were to have been able to have him presenting to whānau last night! It was great to see so many of our Koru team families present and we do hope that you found the evening enormously valuable.
An update on Maths in the Koru Team:
In the Koru team, as you know, we just LOVE Maths! Here is a reminder about aspects of Maths and the different forms Maths takes in our programme:
- a weekly problem-solving session
- Hot Spot warm ups, with a focus throughout each week on developing number knowledge, Move and Prove and Notice, Think, Wonder (see below for descriptions of these activities)
- small group lessons, during which the children are taught to use their number knowledge in order to strategise to solve number problems
- at times throughout each term, a focus on other Maths strands (aspects of Algebra, Geometry and Measurement and Statistics)
- a Maths game lesson
- and once a week on Fridays our handwriting lesson is devoted to specifically learning and practising the correct numeral formation.
During problem-solving, the children will be presented with a story and a challenge and will have the opportunity to work in small groups or pairs to solve the problem. The children will often use a whiteboard and other resources to support their problem-solving. Here's an example of an open-ended problem for which it's possible to have many different outcomes:
20 Koru children brought their pets to school for Pet Day at school.
There were 4 different types of pets; dogs, lambs, calves and cats.
How many of each animal might there be?
Notice, Think, Wonder:
Notice, Think, Wonder involves the children simply offering up their observations and thoughts in response to an image which we will have displayed for them. Here is an example of a Notice, Think, Wonder image:
Move and Prove:
This activity begins with the children being shown a slide such as this:
...accompanied by a question, such as 'Which one doesn't belong?'
The question is discussed initially, as a whole group, and then children are asked to 'turn and talk' with the person beside them and discuss why they think the way they think. Once this has happened, the children are asked to move to a position on the mat which has been designated as either 'a', 'b', 'c' or 'd'. If a child finds it difficult to make a decision straight away, we have a space in the middle of the mat, which is the 'pause' area and children who are waiting there are given time to make their decision while others are asked to justify their choice. If a child who is sitting in the middle is persuaded by another child's justification, they are then able to move to sit with that child. As you will see from the image above, it's possible that there might be several 'correct' answers, depending on the way you view and think about the possibilities presented, and we inevitably notice that the children are able to come up with very interesting and well-considered justifications for the choices they have made!
Maths games:
Once a week, the children play either a familiar Maths game or are taught a new game. Here is an example of one of these games:
Please follow this link for a wealth of activities and ideas for you as you support your child's developing Maths knowledge and strategies: NZMaths Families and Whānau. There are many excellent ideas here, for example, ideas for sharing Maths with your child using everyday experiences such as cooking, watching sport, recycling. We urge you to explore this site!
Here is a selection of photos showing some of our tamariki at work during a Maths lesson:
What fantastic days our wee ones are having at school - so much amazing learning in all aspects of their lives at school. We're very much enjoying this warmer weather and trust that you all are too! Have a wonderful weekend ahead and we're looking forward to all of those beautiful, wide smiles back at school on Monday.
Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou,
Stacey, Georgia, Nicola and Elizabeth
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