Maths, Literacy, Guided Inquiry, Science, e-Learning, Garden to Table, the Arts, extra curricular ...

Maths: We will continue to participate in Maths Professional Development in 2022. This term we will be focusing on Number Knowledge, Number Strategies and Collaborative Problem Solving. We will be learning about Algebra which involves discovering patterns. We will look at patterns in the natural world, and in the environment around us.

Support your child at home by talking about their next steps in learning and finding activities to do together to help support this learning. “Listening to a student talk about their mathematics is just as important as listening to a student read in literacy.”

Literacy: We believe that every student has “something to say.” Our students will work on a range of writing purposes. Writing is widely taught across the curriculum. The students will be writing to inform, explain, describe, persuade and entertain at different times throughout the term. Our main focus will be memoir. It is very important that the students develop a love of writing so always encourage them to notice what is happening in the world around them. Expose your child to other authors' writing by reading a range of literature to, with and by them.

Guided Inquiry: “Learning to make sense of ourselves, our world, and our place in it.”

In Term 1 we will be focusing on Matauranga Maori - “Mātauranga Māori is about a Māori way of being and engaging in the world – in its simplest form, it uses kawa (cultural practices) and tikanga (cultural principles) to critique, examine, analyse and understand the world.”

We will be focusing on the Science behind navigation and will learn about how Maori navigated their way across the Pacific. We will look at migratory birds and the systems they have in place to navigate. The direction we take in our learning will be focused on the students' interest. The following website will help support your child’s learning. https://maatauranga.co.nz/

So, what is science all about?
Science is a way of investigating, understanding, and explaining our natural, physical world and the wider universe. It involves generating and testing ideas, gathering evidence – including by making observations, carrying out investigations and modelling, and communicating and debating with others – in order to develop scientific knowledge, understanding, and explanations. Scientific progress comes from logical, systematic work and from creative insight, built on a foundation of respect for evidence. Different cultures and periods of history have contributed to the development of science. (NZ Curriculum)

E-Learning: We will continue to use Seesaw to share and communicate our learning with our families. Seesaw allows students to engage, enhance and deepen their learning across our guided inquiry learning as well as other curriculum areas. Seesaw is private; you will only see posts created by your child so they can share their learning with you. Your child will have this Seesaw account until the end of Year 8, so you really do need to sign up for it.

Please Sign Up Now

1. Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/650-456-879

2. Choose your child from the list

3. Create your account

4. Once we approve you, you can see content from your child

After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app on your mobile phone and sign in. You will be able to see all the updates and learning we do on Seesaw. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me.

Please be aware that Seesaw, like your child’s book, is a learning tool and not a publishing tool. In a student's work you may see spelling errors. This is because we are using this tool to capture your child’s critical thinking and teacher focus is on depth of learning rather than on publishing. Thank you for supporting your child's learning! We appreciate you leaving comments on your child’s work.

Physical Education: In Term 1 our focus will be Swimming. Students will be required to bring their swimming togs, towel, goggles and caps to school in a separate bag. The classroom teachers will inform the students of the days they will be swimming. Please ensure that all items are clearly labelled so that items can be returned immediately.

We will also be working on hand and eye coordination during fitness. Hand-eye coordination is the ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands in the accomplishment of a given task, such as handwriting or catching a ball. Hand-eye coordination uses the eyes to direct attention and the hands to execute a task.

Garden to Table:  Hobsonville School is a waste free school and in Term 1 we will be focusing on encouraging students to come to school with waste free lunches. Hobsonville School only has worm farm waste bins. The waste is placed into the worm farm bins and we use the worm farm castings to help support the growth of our vegetable gardens and fruit trees in our school garden. This term all students will have the opportunity to learn about the worm farm bins and how they can become waste free. They will also get the opportunity to further develop their gardening skills and help Mrs Blair take care of our school garden. Now that it is Summer, students will be planting, learning about what is in season and using these ingredients as part of their kitchen recipes. Donations made on Kindo will go towards products we will use in our recipes and gardening tools.

The Arts: The students will participate in the arts programme each term and will be working with our specialist teacher Mrs Ina-Marie Nel. The students will be engaging in the following:

• Nursery rhymes and shared books, including Solfege

• Movement and singing games,

• Folk dancing

• Percussion work

• Rhythmic clapping games

Extra Curricular: There are many extra curricular activities that your child can participate in at Hobsonville School including the Junior Choir, Lewis Eady Music Lessons, Marrzipan Drama classes and out of school sports. Look out for more information on these opportunities. The out of school activities will be dependent on Government guidelines.