Week 10, Term 3

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Whānau,

There is so much to be grateful for and reflect upon as we find ourselves in the last week of Term 3. One of the many areas we continue to give Father God glory for, is the continued learning we have had with minimal disruption, yet maximum levels of health, enjoyment and engaged children applying themselves beautifully to their areas of learning. We wish all our families a peace filled and relaxing break and pray for traveling mercies during this time.

New Zealand Native Birds

As we continued to delve deeper into our Topic in Term 3, focusing on New Zealand Native Birds, the children shared their general knowledge through rich learning conversations. Activities that we have chosen to highlight, include our Bird Hunt and visits to the local Duck Pond. Children were bubbling over with excitement to participate in the Bird Hunt. All morning they were asking when it was going to start. They lined up with much anticipation in their colourful bird watching outfits, some even made their own binoculars! Ready for the Bird Hunt, the children ran off to look for pictures of New Zealand Native Birds that had been hidden around the playground. It was great fun to find all the birds, record how many of each they had discovered and compare how many they had found with their friends. It was a super event spent in the sunshine and fresh air and filled with laughter and joy.

To extend our learning, we took several walks across the road to one of our local Duck Ponds during the term, where children sat quietly as they admired nature. We’ve been treated to see the new ducklings out on the water with each visit. During our time out, children were able to sketch in their Art books, choose a free choice activity such as using loose sticks which they picked up and creatively designed their own predator traps. It was wonderful to see the critical thinking and wonderful group work that took place among the friends who built this. These activities provided learning opportunities to grow general knowledge, further develop our Topic knowledge, discuss, and share as well as teamwork. Throughout all our learning, we were always brought back to the question of, “God’s creation is unique and purposeful. How does God’s creation show His purposeful and detailed design? How does this relate to us?” Witnessing the personal growth of each child and their learning that this unit provided was a timely reminder of the whakataukī, “Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu.” (Although it is small, it is precious)

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ~ Matthew 6:26 (NKJV)

Sean W Smith

One of the opportunities we had this past week, presented by an external provider was a visit by Sean W Smith, who visited us from Australia to treat us to a fun and interactive Worship session. Children relished the opportunity to participate in worshiping Father God while they enthusiastically sang and danced along to the music.

Term 4 Topic

In Term 4 the Year 3 and 4's are going on a journey of discovery around how to be Courageous Conservationists. In Psalm 33:7 the bible tells us that God gathered together the waters of the sea and that He put the oceans in their places. Our wonderful Father created the oceans to help humans breathe clean air and keep planet earth in balance. He created them to provide energy and food to people around the world. He created them to home many living creatures, as well as many humans around the world. We are looking forward going on this learning journey of becoming courageous conservationists. Our aim, even from a young age, is to help our students advocate, and act is ways that show we want to be good stewards of God's wonderful creation by protecting and preserving our environment.

Swimming Term 4

A friendly reminder that our Year 4's will be participating in the Swimming Program in Weeks 2 and 3 of Term 4. Please ensure that you have registered your child for this if you wish to have them participate. Please click on this link to complete the swimming (Tuesday 25 October -Friday 4 November) permission form.

Nga Mihi

Karen Karen.Pretorius@kingsway.school.nz

Nikki Nikki.Buys@kingsway.school.nz

Melissa Melissa.VanDerWatt@kingsway.school.nz