Kia ora, e te whānau,
Here we are at the tail end of Term 2 and your tamariki are doing so well, as they strive to keep up the momentum with their learning! It's been a very busy fortnight, including Learning Conferences, our Matariki hui, several children having their transition to school visits and a big focus for our wee ones on the curriculum area of Science at the moment, specifically Electricity.
Firstly though, Friday was tinged with sadness for us all, as we farewelled Sonya, our teaching assistant. The children had made some beautiful cards for Sonya and these we gave to her, along with their very sweet messages about what the children were going to miss about her. Sonya has been a pillar of support in the Koru team, over the past two terms, and we will certainly miss her love, care, skill and talent, along with her creative flair and, as one of the children put it, her amazing tidiness!
We wish Sonya all the very best in the future - we know she'll be treasured by her new colleagues and the children she works with.
At the same time as farewelling Sonya, we have also been welcoming Denise, who is taking over the role that Sonya has held. We're really looking forward to having Denise with us in the Koru team, we can't wait to get to know her well and we welcome her with wide open arms into our whānau.
We were really sorry to have had to postpone our Junior Park Explorers excursion on Friday, however we're all looking forward to a warmer, drier outing once we're able to set a new date some time in Term 4. We'll be looking for more parent helpers at that point! The children coped with the disappointment very well, and are to be congratulated for doing so.
Science:
We have been taking a dive into 'Electricity' last week and will continue with this focus in the week ahead. We are having great fun as we hypothesise and experiment, share our ideas and make connections with prior experiences.
Last Monday, the children discussed:
- What is electricity?
- Where does electricity come from?
- Have you ever felt an electric spark from something or someone?
- Have you ever had a power cut and not had any electricity?
- Have you ever seen an electric car?
On Tuesday, the children learnt about what energy is and where it comes from, as well as having a look at renewable and non-renewable energy.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the children were introduced to the word 'circuit'. We looked at open and closed circuits and learned that a closed circuit is required for electricity to flow. We experimented to find out what electricity would flow through and what it wouldn't flow through. The children predicted that electricity wouldn't flow through plastic, but that it would flow through metal. Using an 'energy tube', we tested our predictions and found out that those predictions were right!
When the energy tube is 'turned on' the circuit is closed and that's when the tube flashes and makes an eerie fluttering noise. We discovered that our bodies conduct electricity, so as long as we had a hand on the metal ring at each end of the energy tube, the circuit would be closed. We even tested, if we were to sit in a big circle and all hold hands, whether the circuit would be closed and the energy tube would light up and make its eerie fluttering sounds, and ... yes, it did!!
One final thing:
A plea from Jossi's family - might Jossi's polar fleece have gone home in the wrong bag, by chance? It's been missing for several days now. Would you please check the names on your child's polar fleeces, just to be sure that you don't also have Jossi's by mistake. Many thanks :)
We hope you are all having a wonderful weekend with your whānau - stay warm, dry and cosy, and we look forward to seeing those beautiful, wide smiles again tomorrow morning!
Ngā mihi mahana,
Elizabeth, Stacey and Georgia
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