School Newsletter – 10 May 2022

Term 2, Week 2

A Message from Cowley Team

We had an exciting start to the term as last week we visited the Auckland Museum! Our reason for going was so that we could find out the reasons why the first people came and settled in New Zealand, where they came from and how they got here without the technology that we have today.

We spent time with Ma’ara (a museum educator) who showed us that people migrated initially from China and South East Asia many hundreds of years ago into the Pacific before migrating to other places like Aotearoa New Zealand. We got to handle some artifacts and try our hand at using a wooden drill – which was just like what the ocean going waka builders would have used in building their waka all those years ago. Ma’ara then played a nose flute for us that was made out of an albatross’s wing bone.

We also explored the rest of the museum and saw Peter the Dinosaur and lots of other interesting things.

We are looking forward to exploring more about this area over the term and sharing our learning with other Teams as they have been visiting the Museum too!

News

PTA AGM 

I was delighted to attend the PTA annual meeting last evening. I was able to both personally and on behalf of the school community, thank Julie and Lizzie our wonderful Co-Chairs, Alan our very competent Treasurer and Georgie our acting secretary for the way in which they had navigated the changing landscape of COVID over the last year. It was brilliant to have them all re-elected to these roles for the remainder of 2022. 

The PTA is such a wonderfully supportive organisation at Kohimarama School and with these dedicated leaders at the forefront of the organisation, they continue to work alongside the school to support and enhance the learning environment for both community and school staff and students. 

Thank you to all those parents who, working with the PTA, are involved in many activities including:  pizza and ice blocks, sushi, working bees, quizathon, trivia night, baking for grandparents day, blokes breakfast etc etc. Your support for the PTA activities is very much appreciated and strongly supports growing our  community.

Mr Engles

Teacher for a Day

We are looking forward to having our ‘teachers for a day’ online auction winners lead our classes this Friday 13th May. These students may dress in Mufti on Friday and work alongside their classroom teachers to lead a fun day of learning. I hope that they enjoy the experience and thank you for your purchase at the time of the online auction. 

Maddison Brown’s Graduation 

Our students and teachers in Hillary Team came together to acknowledge Miss Brown’s completion of her Graduate Diploma in Education which was awarded last week at a ceremony at Auckland University. The photo records the students of Hillary Team and Miss Brown at the end of our acknowledgement. 

New Entrant Parent Information Meeting – parents of 5 year old students

For parents of students who have turned 5 this year and have begun their educational journey in Kiri Team, Anne Bradley (Team Leader) and Meegan Hill (Deputy Principal) will be holding an information meeting for you on Thursday 12th May, this week, at 9.30 am in the hall.  If you are interested and keen to learn more about the workings of our Year 1 team, have questions to ask, or would like to meet other parents starting the same journey as you, you are warmly welcome to attend.  Look forward to meeting with you.

Welcome to the Library!

Our first week of the term was a massive success in the library.  Students enjoyed coming to the library everyday and continuing their Mother Day projects.  We were reading books to each other, enjoying craft making, learning new drawing skills and helping each other to succeed.  

May is Scholastic National Family Reading Month and a fantastic time for students to READ MORE IN MAY!

Most of us know how important reading together is and its long-term value to our children’s success in school and in life. However, we also know it is not always that easy to put into practice with our busy schedules and increasing competition with screen time.

That is why we ask families to take the 31 Day Family Reading Challenge–to inspire you to make reading together for at least 10 minutes every day a focus, to create positive, long lasting reading habits and lifelong readers!  We hope you enjoy exploring the universe of wonderful stories there are together–from different types of books across many authors and genres, and have a great time taking this challenge!

Certificates & Awards

Caught Being Good  –  “Greenies”

Thank you to our students who are ‘caught doing the right things’ at break times, you are a role model and leader in our school.  Congratulations to our lucky winners:

• Emilia           Rm 27            for Respect           Patteson
• Olivia            Rm 27             for Respect           Atkin
• Theo             Rm 22             for Commitment   Selwyn

Sports Results

Flippa Ball Results

• Year 3/4 Sharks
  Win 9-0 POD Saskia
• Year 5 Kinas
  Win 3-2 POD Leo
• Year 6 Blue Bottles
  Loss 2-8 POD Alisha 

Community Notices