Abstract Art, Digital prowess, and Problematic Patterns are the tamariki favourite things from te wiki whā.

New tamariki are joining us and are showing us their wonderful ability to learn and desire to be their best. We warmly welcomed Jack Laloli last week and next week we welcome Zara Gilmer and Lilyanna Botha. The Pekapeka tamariki are so inclusive and eagerly support new tamariki when they join us. They are developing a wonderful understanding of what Whanaungatanga looks like.

Inquiry: In preparation for the Art Show, our budding artists are exploring how to be a Creator and express themselves through abstract art, weaving with our "Out of this world" Inquiry focus. We looked at Abstract art in detail this week and began exploring how this can be represented through colour, shapes, and lines. We created abstract art focusing on the difference between happy and sad, and on Paraire (Friday) we cultivated expressions of our best friends. These will be uploaded to Seesaw with an awesome explanation of their perceptions of their peers. 

Next week in our sub-system groupings (Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, and Biosphere) we will be introducing a famous abstract artist. Here we will be using the same abstract techniques that they use, to generate art that represents the subsystems we have been assigned. The Kaiako are very excited about this creator focus and are proud of our design for learning. Watch this space!

MNP: The Year 1's start a new unit focusing on measurement. Tamairki will be learning how to measure end-to-end length, compare lengths and use non-standard units of measurement. The Year 0's will be learning about patterns. Here they are learning how to recognise the units of repeat, how to spot mistakes, and the various types of patterns. See if your tamariki can make patterns at home using toys to consolidate their learning. 

Structured Literacy: We are starting to challenge the tamariki more at sentence level where they are writing more challenging dictated sentences and attempting to write their own sentences independently. Most Year 1 tamariki have enough sound knowledge to attempt this and are beginning to have success, which is really exciting! This can be quite a daunting task and we are reinforcing what showing grit looks like, relating to our school value Ako (being open to the challenge of learning). We are proud of their ability to share their learning on Seesaw, with the purpose for them to lead their learning at home to reinforce new concepts through practise. It's great to hear whānau are supporting them with this! 

PE: We have finished learning our new Gymnastics skills and are ready to choreograph our own Gymnastics sequence. The exciting aspect about this, is we are going to also weave computational thinking (tamariki learn that the order of how something is done) and learn code to represent our sequence! These will be uploaded to Seesaw to share with you, with a video of their Gymnastic performance. 

Week 5 is Mrs McDonald's last week here in Pekapeka. Mrs McDonald has made the most out of her final placement by demonstrating her high levels of competence across all learning areas and genuinely connecting with our tamariki and kaiako here in Pekapeka. Her impact has been massive and we wish her the very best as she completes her teaching degree at UC. 

Have a wonderful rest this weekend, the end of Week 5 sees us reach the mid-point of Term 3. Taking time out to recover is essential with the amount of sickness that is circulating currently. 

Important reminders: 

Lost property: There is a lot of tamariki who are missing School fleeces. Please ensure your items are named and please check that you have your own items at home. It is easy for tamariki to mix these up during the week. At the end of each Term, we donate anything left in our lost property to our school uniform shop so please check this regularly.

Pātara wai: Please ensure your child has a drink bottle at kura that is named.

Hot Food: Please note there is no hot food on Friday but every other day tamariki can bring food that will be heated (not cooked). This must be wrapped in tin foil with your child's name clearly labeled. 

Pick-up time: Pick-up time each day is 3 pm unless it is Friday when it is 2.45pm. Please ensure you are here on time to collect your child. Please wait outside the learning space and your child will come to you. We are trying to prevent a bottleneck with the one entrance we have, and for our tamariki to build independence by packing their own bags. Thank you for your understanding. 

Have a lovely weekend,

Ngā mihi, 

Penny, Juanita, Ella, Heather, Holly, Mel, Ruth, Alison, Linda and Sally.