Have a Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have had a great year. It has been busy, but fun with lots of adventures. Thanks for all the great comments about this year's concert- the children definitely were awesome performers! In case you didn't make it to the parade, our mini Kokatahi Band members looked great and were able to join the band singing I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts for a big crowd!

Leadership Award

Leadership Award The Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi board of trustees would like to announce an inaugural annual Leadership Award to be presented to a Year 6 leaver who demonstrates leadership both in the classroom, at school and beyond into the community. We are looking to recognize a young leader who is dedicated by volunteering their time to help and support others, who helps themselves and others to do the right thing, who shows initiative, is responsible, who motivates others to achieve, is a great communicator and lead their peers and others. We would like to call upon you, the members of the Kokatahi Kowhitirangi community to nominate a Year 6 leader for this award, as you see, hear and experience what these students have and are achieving through their leadership. You can nominate the following Year 6 leaders in a number of ways. Via email to Sarah Jackson larix1@xtra.co.nz, call Sarah on 755 8382, or if you wish to remain anonymous - place your nomination in the letterbox at Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi School (Upper Kokatahi Rd), anytime before 5pm, December 8 2015. Please include the name of the young leader who you wish to nominate, and a brief reason of why you nominate this student. Staff, parents, students at Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi School, and the community are able to nominate a student for this award. The year 6 students eligible for this award are- Lachlan Baird Lauren Burden Nate Croy Sophie Lange Ava Little George Monk Leila Nolan Charlotte Smith Portia Wyatt This award will be presented at the end of year prizegiving/concert.

When should children start school?

When is it best for children to start school is one of the topics the Ministry of Education are seeking feedback on in their current consultation.  New Zealand is somewhat unique in that we currently have an extremely flexible starting policy.  Despite the fact we have the option to start children between the ages of 5 and 6, most kiwi kids start shortly after they turn five.  But is that best?

Stanford University has just published a study on that very topic.  Here is a quick read article about their findings.

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WooHoo!

Have you heard the news?? Well the Hoiho Class have been working on a Wet Coast Challenge this year. The whole school was involved in aspects of the process, but the Hoiho Class have been gathering information, getting input from other students, trialing ideas, and generally creating awesomeness!

We also had some help from IPENZ and Transpower who run the Neighbourhood Engineering Awards.  They put us in touch with Tate Bradley and Elena De Goldi, who are local engineers and volunteer consultants for this project.  It was great having experts to help with the technical aspects - so a huge thanks to Tate and Elena!

We put our learning into a portfolio and entered the awards.

here is the link to our portfolio   here is the teacher's report     here is the engineer's report


We found out today that we won a merit award!  Woohoo!  and the prize (which was unexpected) is $1250 for the school!

I'm so proud of the learning that the class have done through this project!  I can't wait for the debate on what to spend the winnings on!

Our construction isn’t quite finished but when it is we will make a new post to show you how it turned out.  If it turns out really well the Kokatahi Café have said we can set it up in their garden so everyone can see it!  We aim to have it up and running at the Kokatahi Café before the end of the school year (Dec 11^th).  So the next time you are there, please stop by to see the final product.

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Our final design

Our design under construction

Newsletter

NO Newsletter this week.

Keep your eyes peeled for next week's newsletter. There will be information about the End of Year Concert!

Pet day is on!

Don't let last night's rain fool you!  Pet day is on today!

Make sure you bring a rain jacket and gumboots - Should be a great day :)

Mahoe's house prize

This morning Mahoe house had a special visitor for their house prize.  Smiley the kiwi came to meet them!  Yes a real, live kiwi!

Here are some pictures.

A big thanks to Mrs Alexander from Kaniere School who brought her out to meet us.

Camp Photos

In case you want to know how awesome Bridge Valley camp was we have uploaded some of the photos for you to see.  Just click here!  You might want to make a cup of tea first... there are over 1000 photos!!  Here's 2 to get you started...

A BIG thanks to the parents who were able to help with transport and supervision at the camp.  I think they all had a great time too, but probably won't admit it so that they get to go again next time!

Earthquake Drill 15th October 9:15am www.shakeout.govt.nz

www.shakeout.govt.nz

Mistakes - a part of life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBKz6LApVDY

Pet Day 2015

click here for all you need to know about Pet Day 2015!

Our team was placed 2nd in West-a-Math

Our wonderful West-a-Math Team.

The Kokatahi-Kowhitirangi Year 6 team came second in the

West Coast Maths competition West-a-Math.

16 Teams competed.

Nate Croy, Leila Nolan, Lauren Burden and Portia Wyattw

Megan McLellan (proud principal)

Influenza

Dear Parents,                                                     Friday 7^th August 2015

We have had a confirmed case of Influenza B here at the school.

We remind you all again that if your child is unwell to please keep them at home and thanks to all those families who are already doing this.

Stop the spread of the flu

If you are unwell, stay at home until you are better.

Follow basic hygiene practices:

·         Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds and dry them for 20 seconds – or use an alcohol-based hand rub.

·         Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

·         Don’t share drinks.

·         Avoid crowded places.

·         Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze – then put the tissue in a lined bin.

http://www.health.govt.nz/

Wash your hands!

There is a gastroenteritis illness going around the school. Please keep you children home for at least 48 hours after the last bout of vomiting or diarrhoea.
Thank you.

Our students are AWESOME!!

Almost 45 students in 1 room on a lovely WET day ... what do you think would happen?

We had teachers away at a course today and our reliever was unable to make it, so we combined the Kea and Hoiho classes and hoped for the best...  and got awesome instead.

What could have easily been a disaster was a great day with the students getting absorbed into their learning, managing their distractions, making links, supporting each other and using reasoning to carry on with their learning, make progress on their Wet Coast Challenge projects and have a wonderful day. (hopefully that continued when they got home too!)

Health Curriculum Survey

Every two years schools have to consult their community regarding the school’s Health curriculum.  As with all learning areas we need to tailor what and how we teach to the needs of the community.  To do this we have created an online survey.  Please use the URL below, or click the link on the school blog to complete the survey. It includes some information at the beginning about why we have to survey, what the curriculum involves, and what we currently do. 

If you can’t complete it online, please contact the school.  You are welcome to use the school’s computers to access it, or we can provide a paper version.

Please complete it by the end of June.  I appreciate you taking the time to help ensure we are meeting your children’s learning needs.

Click here to complete the survey.

Ms McLellan

Rippa Rugby

Due to the weather the Rippa Rugby is cancelled today.

First Rippa Games

We had a good start to Rippa.  While we didn't score quite enough trys both teams worked really well together and played a great team game.

I can't wait to see how much you improve through the tournament.

Making the most of the cold...

It's not quite cold enough for ice hockey, but it is just right for FROST hockey!

A big thanks to Anna who has been a great kiwisport  coach.  Today is her last day with our school.  A new coach will be starting in term three.

Rock the Country

Tickets are going fast....

A perfect day for running!

What a great effort from all our students!  I'm so impressed with your great efforts today.

I was also really impressed with our past students who were there and others from High School who cheered all the students on, ran the races, and ran with students to encourage them.  You were great role models :)

A big thanks to all the parents who were able to join us and support the children.

I have posted some photos on Flikr so you can check them out.  Hopefully I caught everyone at least once.  If you have other photos you would like to add please send them to school and we can add them to the album.

Rock the Country

Our latest ERO report

A big thanks to all the staff, BOT, and parents of our great school.  We have received a very positive report from ERO.  Some of the things they noted included the great support our teacher aides provide, and the high level of involvement our parents and community.  Thanks for being such a fantastic part of our learning team.

  

Click here to read the article from the newspaper (or click the image).

Click here to read the full ERO report.

Westland Junior Basketball

WESTLAND BASKETBALL (JNR)-NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the 2015 season - Registration night this Friday, 1^st May – at Westland High School Gym – 3.30pm  Teams will be split into age groups – 8yrs-10yrs  and 11yrs-14yrs  Come along & register.

Contact:  Angela Keenan (755 7914) or email steveange.keenan@actrix.co.nz

ICT Kids conference

Awhono School have organised an ICT kids conference for students in year 5-8.  This will be happening at Shantytown on 11 - 12 June. The cost per child is $103.50

The conference is a chance for students to learn about the digital / computing world
This year's workshops include; building your own PC, photography, programming,  and story telling with minecraft and more!

Registrations open Monday - Let Ms McLellan know if you are keen :)

Click here to find out more

What is Awesome about the West Coast?

Our learning challenge is to research, design, test, refine, and build a kinetic sculpture, powered by the rain.  This sculpture needs to show one of the great things about the West Coast, or tell a story about the West Coast.

To help us research what makes the West Coast special could you please fill out our survey below.

It would be great if you can share the link with friends or family who have been to the Coast so we can get as many answers as possible.  We will be closing the survey at the end of April.

Thanks from the Hoiho Class :)

Click here to go to the survey 

Fun Jump Throw!

What an awesome day!  A big thanks to Lisa for doing all the organizing for us.  A huge thanks also goes out to all the parents who stuck out through the heat to run the events.

Here are a few photos from the day.  More have been added to flickr - click here to see them.

The power of believing you can improve.

Teacher Professional Development

One of the speakers at the pd that our teachers attended on Wednesday was Carol Dweck.  She had some very powerful ideas (backed up by years of research) about the affect of the way we think about our intelligence on our ability to learn.  A fixed mindset limits our ability to face the challenge of learning for fear we might be seen as 'dumb''.  A growth mindset encourages us to persist despite obstacles.

Small changes in the way we speak to learners can have a big impact on their willingness to keep trying when learning gets tough.  

Carol encouraged us to celebrate the struggle of learning and not ease of achievement.  

Swimming Sports video

The Hoiho class have been practicing adding punctuation to their sentences to add effect and help make the meaning clear.  Here is our video using awesome punctuation about the swimming sports at Ross School.

(Sorry about the sound quality - next time we will use a better mic!)

Welcome Back

What a hot start to the year!  It is great to have all the kids back and hearing of great summer adventures! They have been yachting, climbing, swimming around islands, visiting family, breaking arms, going to the beach, jumping on ponies, reading stories, riding bikes, go-karting, bouncing on castles.... well, the list is pretty much endless! Sounds like it has been a fantastic holiday.


We have a exciting year ahead of us with lots of learning, fun and challenges. Our big goal is to improve student achievement in writing and the summer adventures will help give the students great ideas to write about.
Make sure to bring your togs everyday so we can make great use of our pool (which was 29 degrees today!) and your sun hats.
Hope everyone has a wonderful year.

Getting ready for the new school year :)

As teachers are drift back from their holidays to get classrooms ready for an exciting year we are looking for someone to join our team.

Teacher Aide
5 days per week, 9:15 - 12:45

This person will be supporting learning in a classroom as well as working with small groups and individuals.

Please apply by email to Megan McLellan, Principal
megan@kokatahi.school.nz

Applications close 26 January 2015