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Photo by Scott Boniface

Kia ora whānau

Scott Boniface —

I hope you have had a wonderful break and enjoyed some quality time with family and friends, taking advantage of the awesome weather over the last few weeks. Below is an outline of what to expect during Term 1 at Stanley Bay School and what our teams will be learning.

This year we have two learning teams - Rōpu Kākano (Years 0-2) and Rōpu Māhuri (Years 3-6).

Kākano team will focus their inquiry learning on Health and wellbeing as their theme, which includes:  

-Personal health and physical development

-Movement concepts and motor skills

-Relationships with other people

-Healthy communities and environments

For Literacy the focus is on instructional writing and non chronological reports. This is aside from the everyday writing and reading learning that occurs in all classrooms. For numeracy the focus is on number and the development of concepts and problem solving both individually and in group situations. 

The PE programme will be based around group games, swimming and education outside the classroom (EOTC) activities, where all students are encouraged to participate in. We also have the life education team coming in to talk about relationships, our bodies and talk about the ways we can stay happy and healthy.

Mahuri team has their inquiry focus around Hauora, looking at the body systems and relationships that include four key dimensions to keep us healthy. These are 

Taha tinana (physical wellbeing ) - The physical body, its growth, development, and ability to move, and ways of caring for it.

Taha hinengaro (mental and emotional wellbeing ) - How we think, noticing and expressing thoughts and feelings, and how we respond.

Taha whānau (social wellbeing ) - Family relationships, friendships and other person to person relationships, feelings of belonging, caring, and supporting others.

Taha wairua (spiritual wellbeing - The values and beliefs that help people decide the way they live, the search for meaning and purpose in life, and personal identity and self-awareness.

For Literacy, the team will focus on explanation and instructional text types, linking directly to their planning for camp and EOTC, along with reflective accounts of what they have learned or experienced. 

Numeracy has a strong focus on number and will include aspects of statistics, addition and subtraction. 

Swimming and the Waterwise programme will dominate the PE programme during Term 1, along with camp for the Y5/6 students and EOTC activities for Y3/4. The Life education team is also working in school with our older students who reinforce excellent messages and positive attitudes toward maintaining a healthy and successful life balance. 

So as you can see, we are hitting the ground running and have plenty packed into what will be an incredibly busy term. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher in the first instance. 

I look forward to meeting you as the term progresses. 

Ngā mihi nui

Scott Boniface