Kōwhai Team Year 3-4 : Kōwhai News Term 3 Week 3

Kia ora whānau,

We've enjoyed another fun fortnight at school. Find out more below!

Wellness

A big thanks to families for sending children with warm clothes, jumpers, jackets and gumboots on our wetter days. We continue to monitor temperatures, air flow and ensure frequent hand washing at school, to help everyone stay well. Thanks also to families for keeping unwell students home.

Maths

Our students have embraced learning about fractions over the last three weeks. We are really impressed with their abilities to have a go at new, often challenging learning, and to justify their thinking through mathematical discussions. Key learning focuses include:

Know words and symbols for fractions: ¹⁄₂, ¹⁄₃, ¹⁄₄, ¹⁄₅, ¹⁄₁₀ and fractions greater than 1
Find halves, quarters, thirds and fifths of sets by equal sharing
Find halves and quarters of shapes using objects
Order fractions and explain which is bigger

Feel free to work on these at home too.

This is one of the problems that some of us have worked on recently:

I picked up a handful of M&M’s.

1/3 of them were red.

What might a drawing of the M&M’s look like?

Photos from a class who completed a 'fraction friend' activity...

Gym Trip

We loved our trip to the Christchurch School of Gymnastics, and are looking forward to returning next week! The instructors were kind, and the activities were varied and included swing ropes, trampolining, swing bars, balance beams, rolling, foam pit, rock crawl and more.

Keeping Ourselves Safe

Our students will soon be teaching Keeping Ourselves Safe (KOS), a safety programme from the New Zealand Police. These lessons will be taught by your child’s homegroup teacher, with support from Constable Meg Moynihan, our local Police School Community Officer.

What will children and young people learn?

to work out when their safety is at risk
how to keep safe when they meet and mix with other people
who and how to ask for help if they, or someone they know, is being abused
to go on asking for help until someone does something to stop the abuse
that it is important to make and follow personal, family and school safety rules

What part do parents, caregivers and whānau play?

Parents and whānau are strongly encouraged to support Keeping Ourselves Safe. You can also talk with your child about what they have learnt in Keeping Ourselves Safe and help them with any KOS activities they bring home. Visit the whānau section of the NZ Police Keeping Ourselves Safe website for more information and frequently asked questions.

If you require more information about the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme or wish to discuss the learning, please speak with your child’s homegroup teacher in the first instance.