Kākāpō Syndicate (Years 1,2&3)

Kākāpō Parent Evening Information Slideshow February 2024

All New Zealand teachers are entitled, as part of their Collective Agreement, 20 hours (4 days) per term of Classroom Release Time (CRT). Part time teachers are timetabled to work in the classrooms during this time.

Teachers are also released for various other work related reasons, for example attending professional development courses or for carrying out assessment tasks with students.

Where possible we utilise our pool of part time teachers who are known to the children and familiar with Ngaio School’s routines and expectations. At times however, we employ relief teachers who may not be known to the children. This is most often for sick cover when our part time teachers are already booked, or if several teachers are being released at once.

Our team leaders also have regular release to carry out their syndicate leader responsibilities and some teachers with allocated responsibilities also have a small amount of release time to carry out their roles.

You can check out our part time teachers in the Our Team section.

Te reo Māori

In Term 4, we’ll be incorporating te reo into our Health unit, which focuses on the “I Am Who I Am” inquiry. Ākonga will practice kupu daily, integrating new vocabulary with a variety of sentence structures. Our pūrakau will focus on Ngake and Whātaitai, the taniwha of Wellington Harbour.

Kapa Haka

Every Monday morning our children participate in Kapa Haka with Hemi Prime. Our children learn waiata, karakia, haka and poi during these sessions. 

This term ākonga will focus on Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes – In authentic contexts and taking account of end users, ākonga make decisions about creating, retrieving, sharing and testing digital content for a specific purpose, given particular parameters, tools, and techniques.

Students will evaluate digital content for its effectiveness and develop a success criteria to guide them when creating their own digital content using a range of applications.

Throughout the term Kākāpō ākonga will have opportunities to consolidate and practise the skills they have been learning in various applications. 

Kākāpō begin the term with athletics, then move onto Striking/Fielding Games – We will be learning to improve our skills and apply a range of strategies. Ākonga will move with control to send objects into space, throw over arm accurately to targets, strike the ball into space to score as many runs as possible, bat accurately to score points, and send and receive objects consistently.

Relating to Others (Aroha, Respect, Honesty)

Relating to others is about interacting effectively with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts. This competency includes the ability to listen actively, recognise different points of view, negotiate and share ideas. Students who relate well to others are open to new learning and able to take different roles in different situations. They are aware of how their words and actions affect others. They know when it is appropriate to compete and when it is appropriate to cooperate. By working effectively together, they can come up with new approaches, ideas and ways of thinking

Managing Self (Initiative, Perseverance)

This competency is associated with self-motivation, a “can do” attitude, and with students seeing themselves as capable learners. It is integral to self-assessment. Students who manage themselves are enterprising, resourceful, reliable, and resilient. They establish personal goals, make plans, manage projects, and set high standards. They have strategies for meeting challenges. They know when to lead, when to follow, and when and how to act independently.

Each week we visit the library and children are able to choose 1-2 library books to take home and enjoy. The books are then returned the following week, in time for new books to be issued. Please help your child to remember their library books each week, so they can return them and get new books issued. The library is also open during lunchtimes for children to independently issue and return books.

Library Timetable

Monday

Rūma 7 – Tessa

Rūma 6 – Michelle 

Tuesday 

Rūma 5 – Christina

Wednesday 

Rūma 8 – Wendy

Rūma 14 – Karen

Thursday 

Rūma 16 – Bronwyn 

Friday 

Rūma 13 – Elise 

Rūma 17 –  Morag 

Reading

At Ngaio School we use the Better Start Literacy Approach in our first two years of school. Your child will bring home a variety of language tasks to practise. These tasks can vary from guided books, independent books, word building games or phonics games to help your child practise their decoding skills. 

Please click here for more information about how you can help support your child with their literacy at home.

Poetry Books : Each week your child will bring home a poem in their poetry book to share with you. 

In years 2 and 3 students continue to be exposed to a broad range of texts and vocabulary and reading widely at home helps to reinforce the reading strategies introduced at school. Poems and reading books are sent home regularly and students are encouraged to select their own reading books for personal enjoyment.

Library Books: Each student will have the opportunity to select and share one or two books from our wonderful school library with their whānau.

Spelling

In the year 1 classes we work to develop the children’s spelling knowledge through both phonic knowledge, word building, rhyming words and securing the skills to spell new words.  

Twice a year (Term 1 and Term 3) the children will be tested formally on their spelling vocabulary and the data will be sent home so you are able to support your child with words they have not yet secured.

This continues in year 2 and by year 3 akōnga have their own individual spelling programme based on results from Essential Word testing. Akōnga have five words to learn each week, are tested by a buddy on Fridays, then new words selected.

Basic Facts
Each child in Kakapo has their own individual basic facts programme based on testing of the Basic Facts. Children have five facts to learn each week and are tested by a buddy on Fridays, then new facts are selected.

The ROCKET Challenge is an optional home learning programme.

These are presented in our classes as they are completed. Children are able to demonstrate their organisation skills and enjoy sharing their experiences and challenges with their peers. 

Find out more about the ROCKET Challenges here.

New Parent Information Booklet

Term 4 is a sunny term and all ākonga are expected to wear a hat everyday when outside at school. Please ensure your child has their sun hat in their bags daily for fitness, brain breaks and physical education.