Westport Camp

A huge thanks to all the helpers who made camp so much fun. All the children had a great time.

  The children were really well behaved and enthusiastic in their adventures.  All the tour guides and staff at the Top 10 mentioned how well behaved and interested the children were.  Great job everyone!

We had lots of fun looking at natural wonders... 

... really HUGE trucks and diggers...

  ... and finding out about mining.

If you have pictures from camp, please send them in so we can add to our collection.

Click here for some photos

Sailing

We couldn't have asked for better weather!  What a great day to spend out on the water - just enough breeze to keep the sails full, not enough to lose control.  The students all did a great job learning to sail and enjoyed capsizing too!  Thanks to the parents who were able to drive us to the lake and Craig from Have a Go sailing and Rob from the Mahinapua aquatic club for running the day for us.  New sailors are welcome to stop by the club and join in on Sundays from 11am.  We'll add some more pictures soon.
Click here for  Sailing photos :)

Grandparents Day

What a fantastic day!  Thanks so much to all the grandparents and family friends who came from near and far to make our day so special .  The children really enjoyed sharing their school with you.  It was fantastic to hear so many special stories about the fantastic role grandparents play in our children's lives.  Thanks to Mrs. Jordan and the Hoiho Class students who planned the day.  Well done, I'm looking forward to the next one. :)

Top Team

Year 5 and 6 students took part in a great afternoon competing against teams from St Mary's and Hokitika Primary School.  It was great to see such good teamwork and co-operation happening to solve puzzles and complete challenges.
Click on the picture below to see more photos of the events.

Thanks to the BOT for providing our new team tops for out of school events such as these.

Upcoming Summer Fun

Imagine running a three legged race up a creek with mum. Can you handle scrambling over New Zealand's longest inflatable obstacle course? What about dad having to complete the hula hoop challenge and avoid having to go to bouncy castle jail?
 

This summer, New Zealand will have a brand-new series of family focused events -XRACE. It's coming to Greymouth on January 16th. 

Let us know if your family are going to enter.  For every 10 kids from our school participating we will receive $500 of sport equipment. Click the link below for more information.

Xrace 

Perfect Pet Day

Thank goodness the rain decided to have a break today!  What a great day to spend outside.  A super HUGE thanks to all the people who helped organise, run and judge on pet day.

The kids did a fantastic job on their projects and on the day.  Well done to Portia and Korie who won the top prizes.
Click here to see some of the pictures - send us more if you have some to share :)

Kowhai Prize Day

A big thanks to Lindi Roberts who spent the morning with the Kowhai house creating a great balancing act and wonderful birds.  The children all had a great time.  Well done Kowhai House :)  Keep up the great work.

Information Book

We are currently reviewing and updating the school's information book which is given to new families when they are enrolling at our school.
It would be great to hear from any of the newer parents about what was useful and what was missing.

If you have any suggestions on information we need to add to help new families understand our school please let us know.

office@kokatahi.school.nz

Read and Feed / Campbell Live

Students enjoyed the read and feed today where they listened to Fantastic Mr Fox, munched carrots from the school garden and juicy apples! $50 was raised to contribute towards the KidsCan Trust's efforts to help provide lunches to hungry children.

Campbell Live's cameras couldn't make it out, but our photo should be shown as we should be on the list of supporters. 

Thanks for supporting this cause and all your help with school events this term.  Enjoy the break and have lots of fun with your children.

Beauty is a Beast

Thanks to Ross School for inviting us to your dress rehearsal.  Our students really enjoyed the story.  We were really impressed with all the work you put into your show.  We hope you had fun presenting it to your parents and community. J

Art work

Check out some of the art we have been doing in the Hoiho Class :)

Hoiho Class art on Prezi

Mahoe Prize day

The Hoiho House enjoyed a creative morning today.  Thanks to Andrew Nolan, Katrina Simpson and Danielle Elcock for coming in and helping out! The kids have made some wonderful creations.  Once they are dry they'll be fired and ready for painting :)

Hoiho Prize Day - Clay art :)

Check out our future Olympians

 Here are just a few of the great Olympic outfits worn on Friday.  A great effort given such short notice!

Over $90 was raised, all going towards new library books.

Thanks for all your support (again).

Thanks for all the hard work

Thanks everyone for making the time to come in for our Parent/Teacher interviews.  I hope you found them helpful in understanding how your children are going at school. 

Remember if you have any worries, concerns, or questions at any point in the year, you are more than welcome to call in and make a time to discuss these with your child's teacher.

The students have been making a great effort in their learning and should be proud of their achievements.  Learning isn't always easy but hard work always pays off in the end. 

Check out the link below if you need some inspiration!  

Stunning Ski Trip!

Well done to all our great skiers!  We received an email from the staff at Porters to let us know..."the kids behaved impeccably " - Great feed back :)
If you have some good pictures from the day, please email them in so we can share them with the children.

A HUGE thanks to all the parents who drove the children to the slopes.

Reports and Parent/ Teacher meetings

We have finally managed to get the computer and staff well enough to get reports out!  Sorry for the delay.

We will be having parent teacher interviews during the next two weeks. We are trialling a new
system this year. Please phone/email the office to make an appointment. (755 6375 or office@kokatahi.school.nz) Please leave a message on the answerphone with your name and prefered times.

Hoiho Class – Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th August 2012 from 3:30 pm
Kea Class – Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th August 2012 from 3:30pm
Pukeko Class – Tuesday 31st July and Wednesday 1st August 2012 from 3:30pm

Please remember that while we will do our best to fit you in when you request, we cannot work all day!

last weekend

I hope you have all enjoyed a great break.  What a pity that we are getting rain now when Agfest is on! 
Enjoy the last weekend and getting the kids settled back into routines! 
See you all Monday morning :)

Ms. McLellan

Have a great Holiday :)

It was great to see you all at assembly today.  Thanks for all the yummy food for the shared lunch.  Have a fantastic break :)

Assembly and Shared Lunch

Don't forget this Friday is the end of term.  We will be having assembly starting at 12 o'clock followed by a shared lunch, and maybe if the weather is fine a Parents Vs. Kids Rippa Rugby game! We have had lots of new families join our school this year so please encourage them to come out and get to know everyone.

Please bring a plate of finger food for the shared lunch.

thanks for the birthday surprise :)

Nothing makes turning 40 easier than an office full of balloons! It's the neatest my office has looked in ages :)

Thanks everyone for all the cards, happy birthday songs, wishes, flowers, and of course balloons!

Ms McLellan

Happy Birthday to Ms McLellan - judging by the amount of flowers that were delivered to school, it must have been a BIG one!!! 

See how fast they run!!

What a great day for the cross country - thank goodness they postponed it from last week.

A HUGE congratulations to Hayley who came FIRST in her age group!

A fanstastic finish for Joshua who came sixth in his age group and a great run by Amy.  There were a lot of children racing so our kids did extreamly well.

Joshua racing toward the finish.

Hayley - first to the finish line!

The field of competitors walking the track.

Amy taking the lead!

knit in public day

Well done to our Public knitters! You all made it look so easy.  It will be great to see the finished project.  Thanks to everyone who came to help out :)

Worldwide Knit in Public Day

We will begin knitting the colourful blanket for Kokatahi Kowhitirangi sick bay on Wednesday, 13 June and Thursday, 14 June at Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi School at 2:15pm to 3pm, everyone is welcome to join in with the fun.

We will try to finish the blanket on the

                     World Wide Knit in Public Day

16 * June * 2011

Children, parents, knitters all invited!

    Join us as we knit with hundreds of other knitters

             around the world on the same day!

  

Where: Hokitika Public Library

When: 10am -2pm

Bring:  Enthusiasm, all wool and needles provided, we are knitting a colourful blanket for the Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi

                              School Sick Bay.

World Wide Knit in Public Day was created in 2005 - and is the world largest knitter event.

To find out more about WWKiP Day – please visit wwkipday.com.

Better living through stitching together. Copyright © 2011 Astrid Salling Rasmussen all rights reserved.

Rippa Rugby Postponed

Due to the wintery weather the Rippa Rugby will be postponed until next Friday 15th June.

Oh what a night!

What an abrupt start to winter with such a wild storm! We hope you all managed to batten down the hatches to ride it out safely  The beautiful view of the mountains from school today almost makes it worth while - almost.

Rippa Rugby Tomorrow

Round Two of the Rippa Rugby Tournament will be held here tomorrow with Hokitika Primary and St Mary's schools coming to play. There will be a sausage sizzle at lunchtime so send the children with $2.00 if they would like a sausage for lunch. Games Start at 12:45pm

Cross Country Postponement

The WC Cross Country Championships have been postponed until next Wednesday 13th June.

Rippa Rugby

WELL DONE KOKATAHI!

Our year 5 and 6 students competed in the Hokitika Interschool Rippa Rugby Competition today.  It was the first games today and we won one and lost one.  The team worked really well together, and I be we'll be even better next week!

We are hosting St Mary's and Hokitika for games here next week so come on down and check out the action! (and sausage sizzle)

Cross Country

I don't know if they managed to out-run the rain all day, but they did keep ahead of it long enough to get around the course.
A huge thanks to all the parents who provided transport to and from the races, helped organise the children, and went for the walk around Ross with the children.
A big thanks to Ross School for organising the event, and Kumara School for joining in the fun.

Well done to all the students!  Keep up the good work - staying active and fit will help all you succeed in activities (including reading/writing).

Cross country and newsletter

I see the wrong newsletter has been posted! Oh dear :( I'm away sick today so we'll get a hard copy sent home to the online families. I think the most important bit of information is about cross country -we still need a few more drivers. Leave a message on the answer phone or send a note in for Thursday if you can drive and haven't let us know yet. Sorry about the newsletter. We'll fix it when we're in tomorrow. Ms McLellan

Rippa Rugby

Love Rugby?  Got some spare time?

All year 5 and 6 students will be competing in a Rippa Rugby tournament over 4 Fridays in June.  It would be great if we had a parent or 2 to come down to help coach.  We have all the rules and equipment here at school.

Give us a ring to let us know when you are available, or stop in and we'll get you started.

Kahurangi Dance Theatre

Next Tuesday all students will be heading in to see the Kahurangi Dance Theatre group at Westland High.  We have seen this group in the past and have always had an amasing show!  It is a great way to see how traditional Maori arts can be used to create a dynamic show.

Please make sure you send $5 per child or $10 per family to school to contribute towards the bus / entry fee.  This is also subsidised by REAP and the BOT. 

Happy Mothers Day!

Mum's are wonderful creatures! 

A special thanks to all the mum's who support the school, their kids, and all the kids in everything they do. We hope you have time to put your feet up and enjoy a quiet cuppa in between running kids to weekend sport, clubs, feeding the troops, laundry, homework, gardening, dishes, clean ups, nursing, making beds, vacuuming, feeding the pets, making dinner, listening to everyone, running errands.....etc etc - what would we do without you all!?!

Happy Mother's Day

Urgent Notice

Urgent Notice

We have just received notice that the scheduled power outage will include the school. Unfortunately because we rely on power for our water supply we will have to close the school on Friday.

If the work is not completed on Friday the postponement date for the work is Monday 7^th May 2012.

So the Mufti Day will now be on Thursday. Please check the expiry dates on the groceries. The raffle organisers are looking for larger, light grocery items (hint, hint – not too many cans pleaseJ)   

Kiwi Sport Times

Please Note: The time for Kiwi Sport is 3:00 - 4:00pm - Same as last term

Counting down

Can you believe the holidays are almost over?!
Hopefully you have had lots of fun with your family over the last 2 weeks.

We are getting ready for term 2 and still on the lookout for some helpers for our afternoon adventures. The children will have a choice of fabric art, wood work, or ukulele to learn for the term. I believe we have a ukulele expert signed up but could really use some experts in the other 2 areas so that the kids can create something awesome.

If you can spare an hour in the afternoon we'd love to have you - even if it is just once or twice :)

Enjoy the last weekend - see you next week

What to do on a rainy day?

We knew the wonderful weather couldn't last... but what do you do on a rainy day with kids still hyper on Easter chocolate?

I used to send my girls out in raincoats and gummys to play and have a warm bath or milo waiting for them when they came back in.  Not always a good choice, but the 10 minutes peace was needed!

Here is a link to some better ideas. Add your ideas in the comments.

Happy Easter :)

I hope you are all enjoying the great sunny long weekend with whatever you like to do for Easter. Hopefully the chocolate levels aren't creating too much of a sugar overload in your household. It certainly is a great start to the term break.



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West Coast Athletics

Check out our athletes at the West Coast Athletic Champs!  Well done Pippa, Amy, Matthew, Fergus and Hayley.

I haven't heard the official results yet, but they all performed their best on the day - awesome work!



Fun Jump Throw

What a fantastic day!!!

Thanks to everyone who came to cheer the kids on, run events, eat yummy morning tea, and open the court.

Congradulations to Rata house who won the most points on the day - it was a close race.

We will put a link to more pictures on here soon. If you have any great pictures please email them in.

Thanks again to everyone one for such a great event. :)

Final touches

The 'carpet' is down and now the sand is going on :-) we should be all ready to play on Monday - we'll be sure to let the paper know :-)



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Morning progress

A giant carpet is going onto the court! It will certainly look a lot brighter than it used to! Check out how far they get by coming to the working bee tonight!


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Fundraising put to good use

Thanks to lots of fundraising and saving money with school projects such as working bees - we have great things happening!

Our bumpy, cheese-grater style court is being smoothed out, cleaned up and will shortly get a makeover!

The great weather is helping get it all sorted quickly and hopefully by the end of the week we will have a great (and colourful) 'Tiger-turf' court.

We'll keep you posted!

How wild is your food?

Thanks to all the families who came out for our first assembly and shared lunch.  It was great to see the good work the children have been doing so far.

A HUGE thanks to all the families and friends who helped once again setting up (and soon taking down) the tents for Wild Foods.

This is a great fundraiser for our community and has contributed to many things around the school.

Perhaps next time the kids complain about their dinner, we should check out back for some huhu grubs instead!

Have a great weekend

Swimming Sports :)

What a fantastic day!  The kids had a great time in the pool and some of the parents did too!

Thanks to Ross School for hosting another great day and to all the parents who helped make such a fantastic event possible!

(and we won!)

Summer Holiday Reading

What a great job! Nearly half of our school completed the summer reading challenge! Everyone who handed their completed entry form received a prize from books to video vouchers, an MP3 player, a hockey stick, a netball and playdoh! Great job ~ lets see if we can get even more entries next year :)
Thanks to the library and all the sponsors for organising everything!

Teacher only day

Busy busy teacher! Working hard to learn new tricks on the web so we can have even more fun learning and teaching!


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Location:Christchurch

Getting ready for Back to School

Not long now till we are back into learning.
Check out this article from the Herald about how much some schools cost for 'free' education.

A big thanks to all the local businesses that support our school with donations towards our stationery costs and all the great work our families do fundraising to keep our costs low!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10780135