10 June 2016

KA IK OR A I P R I MA R Y
SCHO O L
N e w s l e t t e r
A very special welcome to Tilly Clark, Levi Crump, Lyndon McGowan,
VJ Stevenson-Wright, Baoer Lin and their families to Kaikorai
Primary School!

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Important Dates

Dear Parents,
14 June - R4 at
Education is one subject that almost everyone has an OBHS (ST)
opinion on as it is the one area that everyone shares a 15 June - Life
Education Bus
common experience. 17 June - R2
I watched with interest the documentary by Bryan Bruce - World Class: Assembly
21 June - Middles
Inside NZ Education with interest - http://tinyurl.com/zpbs89x . It has and Seniors at
had mixed reviews as a documentary and I don’t agree with everything Columba College
for their
that was raised but I felt it captured some of the key points that many performance (ST)
principals and teachers feel. The importance of community-based 24 June - Matariki
Celebration Day
schooling, investing in education to improve society, the over importance 27 June - BOT
of the PISA ratings as a measure for everything that is right or wrong meeting
1 July - Reports
about an education system and the importance of preparing children for sent home
a future that no one can predict. 1 July - R11
Assembly
Another good series on at the moment which you may find interesting as 1 July - Next
parents is the Dunedin based multidisciplinary study “Why Am I” Newsletter
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/why-am-i
Happy Viewing!
Simon Clarke
Principal

Wright St, Roslyn

4640065
www.kaikorai.school.nz
 SYN D ICA TE N EWS
Junior News
Here it is week 6 in term 2. Where is the year going? For the last few weeks the Junior classes have been filled
with the wonderful music of Peter and the Wolf as we learn about the different characters and the sounds of the
orchestral instruments. It has been lots of fun.
Now we are learning about Matariki and the seasons before the Life Education classroom comes next week to
take us into the world of body systems.
What a wonderful Friday morning we had down at the stadium doing lots of different fun activities. Thank you
to the parents who came to support us.
Thank you also to the parents who have helped their children make so much progress in learning their basic
facts during our basic facts focus. The children have enjoyed taking part. Keep it up until the end of the year!
We have 3 more Fun Friday’s left. Due to our Matariki celebration day on the 24th June we will not have Fun
Friday on that day. Instead our last Fun Friday is July 1st.
PMP is still running for another 3 weeks so please support your class by coming along to help.
We are looking forward to seeing you at parent interviews in 3 weeks make sure you book a time to see us on
line.
Happy learning from the Junior Syndicate Teachers.

Middle News
Room 3 and 5 are very lucky to have amazing student teachers taking lessons and classes. Welcome to Laura Jensen and
Ashley Laing.

It has been great to see children showing so much enthusiasm for spelling!  There have been some wonderful discussions
during class time on the meanings of words, and strategies that can be used for spelling words.  Children have been
encouraged to continue working hard to learn as many of their words as they can (including their meanings or how to use
them in a sentence) - as their hard work and fundraising efforts will pay off later in the year when we head off to camp.  

Room 5 were lucky enough to have an ex-pupil (who spent some time in Malaysian schools) come and visit us and explain
what school in Malaysia is like. We found out that we are very lucky with our schooling, especially because we get so long for
lunch compared to their 20 minutes of playtime a day, which includes time to eat. We are also very lucky that we don’t get the
strap too!
Room 3 have been e-mailing a school in Canada and have found out some very interesting facts. Did you know that children
are only allowed to play inside during break times when the temperature reaches below -25 degrees?
Room 6 have been using their knowledge of school and education to think about questions for possible inquiry. Children have
been working on asking questions that are likely to give them answers.

Senior News
The senior classes are continuing to get into the concept of Systems more deeply now, and it has been interesting to see how
differently each class is developing this concept.
In Room 2A the children are learning about the systems of the Olympics, the traditions of the flame and the motto and how
they related to the earliest Olympic Games. They have been investigating how many of the old events have continued, and how
many new events have been added. This has all related to their studies of Body Systems, especially the circulatory and skeletal
systems.
In Room 1 the children have been continuing their Inquiry into how we could contribute to an urban farm to be sited at
Kaikorai Valley College. We are particularly interested in becoming apiarists and are currently investigating the biology of bees,
their communities and their organization. We have visited the site twice now, and have started to develop lists of things we need
to find out if we are to take on the responsibility of looking after living things.
In Room 4 the children are looking into the systems we use to keep fit and healthy. This has included research into the types of
exercise that is best to get fitter, using the internet and getting in touch with experts. We are designing our own system of fitness
and will test, using a before and after beep test, to see if we get fitter and by how much.
More about Room 2s inquiry can be read below.
 SCHO O L N EWS
Parent Teacher Interviews
You are warmly invited to attend the mid-year Parent Teacher Conference to discuss your child's
progress and achievement. We have changed our format to encourage people who do not have
flexible work hours to attend. Therefore the meetings will be held only over two days with a late
night on the Tuesday.

The conferences will be available on:

Tuesday 5th July and Wednesday 6th July

Conference Bookings

We will once again be using the School Interviews website to coordinate bookings.
Bookings can be made at:
http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz
using the School Code 2kpe8 

Although the vast majority of parents will be able to access the web from a home computer, a
friend's computers or a workplace computer, our office staff are available to assist any families
having difficulty with the booking process.

We advise parents to book early to confirm their preferred time.

Online bookings will close Monday 4th July at 5.00 p.m.

In Zone Enrollments 2017

We will soon be announcing the number of spaces that we have available for out of zone children
for 2017.

To help us calculate this number we need to know how many inzone children will be enrolling
next year.

If you or anyone you know intends on enrolling their child at Kaikorai Primary School for 2017
could you please do so as soon as possible.

The zone map can be found on our web page

www.kaikorai.school.nz/1238/pages/286-school-zone
 Board of Trustees Election
Congratulations to the following who have been elected to represent the school community for the
next three years. Many thanks to everyone who participated in this important process
• Dougal McGowan
• Gene Ollerenshaw
• Malcolm Couling
• Ros Allison
• Simon Hornal
• Sarah Gilbert (Staff Rep)

Sharon Fitzgerald
Returning Officer

Room 2 Inquiry
On Wednesday, Room 2 went on field trips to their favourite
playgrounds in Dunedin and Mosgiel. They were collecting
information for their classroom Inquiry on Playground Systems.
We would like to thank all the parents who were able to transport
and help groups of our children to their different playground
destinations.

Snow Days
Decisions to close the school or opt for a 10am start are made
by the Otago Primary Principals Association. It would have to
be a very extreme situation before we would close the school
while others remained open. The best way to get this
information is to download the school app. We will also post a
notice on our website and cancelations can be heard on Classic
Hits. Their facebook page is also very good for cancelation
updates. Finally you can find out first by going to @oppasnow
on twitter.

Parent Group
* Many thanks for all the donations that were brought in last week for the first 'bringing week' for the fair. We had
almost 400 items donated that will be used for the Tombola, so thank you all for your generosity. We are very
pleased to announce that the winning classroom was Room 4 - who very much entered into the spirit of the week
and won by a rather large margin. Room 4 will be receiving a Pizza lunch and movie afternoon - Well done
Room 4!!!

* Thank you also for supporting the Pizza lunch last Friday which raised just over $500! We hope your children
enjoyed the lunch. Thank you to the parents who helped with this fundraiser.

* Please keep an eye out for our new Fundraiser next week. We have high quality first aid kits for $40 with each
one being sold making the school $15. Every home should have a well stocked first aid kit and under the
Health and Safety legislation every work place including work cars should have a first aid kit, these could even
make great present for the person who has everything!
 PLEA SE SUPPO RT O UR SPO N SO RS

www.sortedpm.co.nz
Ph: (03) 467 7204
Mob: 021 277 5554

Shona Cumming
Business & Property Lawyer
03-477-2262
www.downiestewart.co.nz
 CO MMUN ITY N EWS

Pitcairn Cub Scouts

Wanted
8-10 Year olds to join their
OPEN NIGHT
Monday 13 June 2016
6:30-8pm
at the Pitcairn Scout Hall
OUR SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES ARE GOOD TO GO! All children must be accompanied
CHECK OUT THE EXCITING SELECTION ON OFFER by a parent

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We still have some spaces in our Term 2 classes starting next week and
the following week. 
Check them out...a great 4-5 week boost of 21st Century learning.