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Important Dates

5 May - School starts13-15 May - Art Week13 May- Kids for Kids practise and concert19 May - Leadership Day for Whanau group leaders19 May - Room 4 at Toitu20 May - Room 2 at Toitu21 May - Room 1 at Toitu22 May - Room 2A at Toitu27 May - Parent Group Meeting

KAIKORAI PRIMARY SCHOOL

N e w s l e t t e rA very special welcome to Kaleb Beaman, Fisher Sanderson and their

families to Kaikorai Primary School!

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGEDear Parents,After 26 years loyal service at Kaikorai Primary School the final school bell has rung for Mrs

Graham. Sue Graham has embodies the schools values as a teacher. She has always endeavoured to stay current with the latest educational theories and this has led her to work in New York and Antarctica. By my calculations, Sue has directly taught 650 children and has had contact with over 7000 children. That is a lot of burnt toast, fish art, rocky sea shore trips and thinking about thinking. Not to mention all of the “serious fun”.Sue will continue to help others in her new role at the Otago Polytechnic. We all wish her all the very best for the next stage in her exciting life in education.We welcome Sarah Gilbert who will be joining us next term and working in Room 3 and leading the Middle Syndicate.We hope that you and your family get to spend sometime together over the next two weeks and that all of the children have an enjoyable holiday and come back refreshed for another busy term of learning.

Kind Regards

Simon Clarke

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SCHOOL NEWSSYNDICATE NEWS

Middle News -

Not only is it the end of term one, but it is also the end of my time as a teacher. There is no doubt that I have been a very lucky teacher to have worked with such wonderful children and teachers at Kaikorai for so long. Kaikorai is a great school! I know that while learning is a serious business, it has to be fun. I am very grateful to have had so many opportunities for serious fun with kids at Kaikorai.A sincere thank you to parents, past and present, for your understanding and support as I have gone about my job. Thanks too to all the children I have taught and from whom I have learnt so many valuable lessons.It is now time for me to take up a new career and I am working towards qualifications to become a career practitioner. The KAIK values apply to teachers too!

Junior NewsWhat a busy first term we have had! It has been a long term and after our 9 days swimming we have some very tired children. Thank you to all the parents who came and helped at swimming time. I am sure you will agree that the children made some excellent progress across all groups. We hope to swim again in Term 4.We are all ‘buzzed’ out after our busy bee inquiry during the term. We are impressed with the enthusiasm of the children and the quality of their learning during this focus.We are excited to see our sandpit being rebuilt and we look forward to fine weather in Term 2 so we can use it fully.Our focus for next term is Traditional Tales, Art week, Body systems with the Life Education bus and then for the final 4 weeks of the term we will look at the Solar system. It is an exciting Term 2 programme and we know the children will be enthusiastic about these great topics. PMP begins in week 1 please see your class teacher for times and dates. We always need helpers so please come along. There will be no PMP in week 2 due to Art Week.Have a wonderful holiday and we will see the children back in Term 2 refreshed and ready to learn.

Senior NewsThe senior classes have had a very busy two weeks; they have passed in a blur of activity! We have all been busy with our Inquiry learning and many have now completed and shared their findings or taken actions. We have all been impressed with the wide variety of areas the children have explored, and the ways they have all been focused on our big idea of Relationships. It is also important to note that some children will keep their inquiries going over a longer period of time, even throughout the year. On Wednesday afternoon we went to Balmacewen Intermediate to see their Term One Inquiry investigations. It was very interesting to share with the children and see the many similarities in our processes, and to identify some areas we could improve.Mathematics in our classes is a mixture just now, with some classes finishing the term with a topic on Time, or Multiplication and Division.We would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and families for your continued support through the term, and wish you all a happy and relaxing holiday.

SCHOOL NEWS

Kaikorai KiwisWhat a busy term we have had at Kaikorai Kiwis. We have done lots of fun alphabet and number activities. We have had a turn at PMP in the hall and then the final week we looked at the letter ‘Ee’ for Easter. The dates for next term are May 7th and 21st, June 4th and 18th and July 2nd.We welcome families of 4 year olds along please contact the school office for details.

Sports at KaikoraiOtago Swim ChampsSix children recently took part in the Otago Swimming Championships at Moana Pool. We are very proud of their performances and they were a credit to our school in every way.Congratulations Maia Hunter, Becky de la Harpe, Whetu Price Koopu, Rikiana Hawkins, Brooke Callon and Gemma Rowcroft. Gemma reached a final and was placed 6th in Otago for Freestyle. Our Relay team was also 6th in Otago.

PAL (Physical Activity Leadership) Our PAL students have undertaken their first training session with Sport Otago and will be supporting and coaching students and teams throughout the year.

The Jets Flippaball team are league winners this season and the Kaikorai Keas won their Tee Ball division. We are sporting magnificent trophies in the foyer. Congratulations teams!

Summer Sports at KaikoraiOur Futsal, Touch, Flippaball, T Ball and Rippa teams are winding up for the summer term and we wish to pass on our thanks and congratulations to all the Kaikorai children who have participated. We are proud of the way they have represented the school. Our children are competitive, eager and fair minded and on all accounts have had a lot of fun while developing their skills further.We could not deliver such an extensive programme (23 teams) without the support of our parents and school pupil coaches.Senior students are an integral part of our school and we value their coaching and mentoring skills.Special thanks to parents Jo and Stu Macbeth, Sara de la Harpe, Cam Romeril, Peter and Petra Dearden, Craig and Tania Baron, Mark Mitchell, Jody James, Janet Macpherson, Anna Ollerenshaw, Anthony Rowcroft Gareth Taylor, Nikola Ballard, Roger Southby, Reihana Haggie, Mike Dawson, Debbie McIver, Tony Allison, Delaine Dixon, Steve Dyer and Grant Henderson Also a big thanks to senior pupils Levi James, Rua Haggie, Ben Burrow, Sammy Johnson and Tobias Devereux, Special thanks to Sarah Cochrane and Sophie Cooper who did an outstanding coaching job with our senior Flippaball (Jets) team and Harry Croy who managed a Futsal team.

SCHOOL NEWS

Parent GroupENTERTAINMENT BOOKSA very big thank you to all those who have supported the Entertainment Book fundraiser by purchasing books, selling books or making a donation.

If you have not yet purchased or returned the Entertainment Book that your child brought home, it would be appreciated if you could get in touch with Tor (contact details below) and let her know whether you intend to buy the book or send it back. Books can be purchased during the holidays via the Entertainment Book website (www.entertainmentbook.co.nz/orderbooks/260d518) or by depositing the money into the Parents Group account (03 0905 0043005 00). Please bring all Books that are being returned to the School Office at the start of Term 2.

Additional Entertainment Books are still available, so if you know anyone who would still like to buy one, then please just let me know.

TERM 2 SAUSAGE SIZZLEThere will be a Sausage Sizzle at the end of the second week of Term 2, Friday 16 May. Order forms will be sent home on the first day of next term.

SCHOOL FAIR (SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER)The first Fair Newsletter will be sent home early next term. In the meantime, though, if you’re cleaning out during the holidays, please remember that we’ll need lots of second-hand clothes, toys and books for the Fair, as well as various other goods for the White Elephant stall.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the Parents Group, then please contact Tor Devereux (453-1108, 027-635-1512, devereux@ihug.co.nz). The Parents Group wishes all families a safe, happy and relaxing Easter and school holidays.

Enrichment ProgrammeOver the past six weeks, an enthusiastic group of children have been taking part in an enrichment programme looking at the design of play huts. Their task has been to design a play hut, originally for the school fair, but now for the school! Their learning has included exploring shape and space, looking at how inside and outside spaces are used, dreaming big while imagining their ultimate play hut, refining their ideas into something practical for school use, and looking at a location within the school for The Hut. They have also had a visit from architect Simon Parker, and have been down to visit him at Parker Warburton Team Architects.Now that we have our design underway, we are looking for donations of materials to construct the hut, and builders to work with a small group of children later in Term 2 to construct it. We have already had an offer of windows and a skylight! Materials needed at this stage are flooring, framing, roofing and cladding etc for a building approximately 2mx3m.Please contact Mrs. Larkins at elarkins@kaikorai.school.nz if you are able to help us out!

t h a n k y o u t o o u r 2 0 1 4 s p o n s o r s !

Shona CummingCommercial & Property Lawyer

03-477-2262www.downiestewart.co.nz

COMMUNITY NEWS

Chipmunk Holiday Programme

Chipmunks School holiday program open from 8am until 6pm, part and full time positions available.

Approved for WINZ subsidies .

Heaps of fun and game and activities both within chipmunks and out and about.

Art Classes for Young Artists

Small groups working in a specialist art room with experienced art educators.

A five week programme - $150 for 5 weeks all materials included.

TERM 2;BEGINNING May5th

Monday – 3:30 – 5:00 5-8 yr olds Paint Monet’s Garden

Wednesday - 3:30 - 5:00 9-12 yr olds Paint Monet’s Garden

Contact us for more information and enrolment details….

www.theartdept.org

www.facebook.com/theartdept.dunedin

OceanaGold Diggers Camp –April School Holidays

Diggers Camp: Ages 7 to 13. No experience necessary. Basketball Otago is proud to offer another school holiday program that will include basketball skills & other fun activities. We hope to continue the growth of basketball in our region, and the Diggers camp in April is the next step in this process. So come and see if you like basketball or continue to hone your skills.*we also encourage all players to register for our Term 2 Tuesday Diggers Development Program. It is recommended if you intend to trial for the Otago U13 Basketball Teams in 2014.*

CAMP DATES and TIMES:Monday 28th April – Friday 2nd May 2014, 9am-3pm Edgar Centre

Cost $161.00pp ($276 for two children from the same family)Daily Rate $46pp is also available

RoboticsHoliday and after-school robotics courses available.

To sign up, begin by filling in the form available at:

http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/student/robots.php