Kāhui Ako ki Orewa

Rāmere, te 6 o Mei 2022

Kia ora koutou, and welcome back to Term 2! We hope you have all had a fantastic break and managed to rest and recoup for the term ahead. This week, our across and within school leaders have hit the ground running, jumping into our goals set for the rest of the year. Each focus area has a clear path forward and we are all excited to see the benefits of our mahi in the lives of our ākonga as the year progresses. This information can be found on our Kāhui Ako website, check it out here.

 Our across school leaders will be heading back out into each kura this term, kanohi ki te kanohi, and will get a chance to kōrero with you all over the term. A schedule of where we will be each week can be found at the bottom of the newsletter. 

Matariki – A kete of Knowledge/Mātauranga

As many of you will be aware, this term we celebrate Matariki and this year is a special year as it will be the first year that we have a national holiday as part of the annual event.

There is a lot of Māori knowledge/matauranga Māori available that can help kaiako improve their ability to teach and celebrate Matariki with their ākonga. We have a resource by Dr Rangi Matamua a renowned expert/tohunga on the stars and Matariki.

He has a multitude of video content, academic reading and books available to draw from but one very useful source/puna is a video. There’s a lot of information in it but it’s well worth watching in order to gain a deeper understanding. It has a range of content including animations that help to make it an interesting resource. Note that some of these animations may not be suitable for primary tamariki.

To the left of the video on youtube are specific chapters listed but we have provided links below so that you can work through information on your journey.

Animation of the origin of Matariki

Animation of how the Milkyway and the sun came to be

How Matariki was named (And not named)

Matariki celebrated across the whole Pacific

How to find Matariki in the sky

Using the environment to tell the time

The setting of Matariki and how it relates to death

Kai and feeding the stars at Matariki

The future of Matariki, reclaiming Māori practices and the holiday

Smells can have a real influence on our hauora/wellbeing  

Smelly Wellbeing/ Hauora

Smell is one of our senses which we tend to take less notice of, yet science proves that smell is one of our constant influential companions.  Without noticing we face an onslaught of smells in any given moment.  We only tend to notice the strongest of these smells, the ones we really like and the ones we really don’t like.  These are the smells that most strongly influence our mood or feeling in that particular moment.  There are however less dominant smells that influence us without realising. 

We are of course very diverse in our likes and dislikes of smells.  For example when someone walks past you wearing a particular perfume or scent, some people’s moods will lift while others might want to gag at the overpowering nightmare.  Melted chocolate for some is a delightful smell, while for others it’s too sickly sweet or bitter. 

Here are some proven smells which can assist our Hauora/well-being.  Perhaps these are smells which can enhance your classroom as well as your home.  Be aware however that we are all different and some smells are overwhelming to some people.  These suggestions, however,  tend to be likeable to most.

Spotlight: Orewa Primary

We have been using Banqer in the classroom to inspire students to be curious, creative and confident with money.  Banqer is an online tool that simulates real world financial experiences so students can have practice with financial concepts like saving, interest, Kiwisaver, mortgages and insurance in order to develop money management skills. Banqer provides a safe environment for students to experiment in real life scenarios where they can see the consequences of their decisions in a fun, safe setting.  Ensuring our students are financially literate is an important part of our Maths programme and Banqer is an example of how digital technology can enhance curriculum delivery.  Students love having control over their own virtual bank accounts and are engaged in making financial decisions about whether to spend their money or save for a deposit on a house.  They grapple with the risks and benefits of  taking out insurance and investigate how to balance saving with paying their bills.  This is Future Ready learning as it incorporates essential 21st century skills that prepare our learners with the tools they need to create successful futures.

View from teacher dashboard:

 

For further information on how the kaiako and kura are using this to support learning contact Sharon at Orewa Primary School – smangino@orewaprimary.school.nz

Pixton

Turn your students into comic creators! This is an easy to use website that can be used in all curriculum areas for most student from Y3+. Students can create their own avatar and then tell their own stories using the comic strip. Pixton have designed a secret underground bunker for teachers, based on feedback from thousands of educators. Students can login easily and then there is a dashboard to manage students and their work.

Try it out! Link to site

Interface Xpo2022 – there are still a few spaces left on either afternoon, Wednesday 25th May or Thursday 26th May. Check out the information here.

This webinar with Gill Connell, a globally recognised child development expert specialising in the foundations of learning through movement and play, explored the role movement plays in young children’s development through to age 7. It focused on the importance of supporting the range of gross and fine motor skills that children need to build their brains and provide a foundation for learning.

The key insights from this webinar were:

• The development of movement is key to brain development. 
• In the early years, the emphasis of development is on the lower levels of the brain and the automation of movement.
• Automation of physical skills underpins success in the classroom.
• Physical skills develop in a hierarchical manner aligned with the development of the brain.
• Children need a well-balanced physical ‘diet’ of activities and opportunities.
• The movement nutrition experiences on the kinetic scale can be used to guide planning for physical experiences.
• Language development is intimately related to movement development. 
• Observation is important to determine what physical experiences children need.
• Think ‘Pause, Prompt, Praise’ to support children’s movement skills.

Read the full article here

Kāhui Ako Hui Dates – Term Two 2022

12th May – Orewa College – 10.15am ASL

19th May – Dairy Flat School – 11am ASL

19th May – Orewa College – 3.30pm ASL and WSL

26th May – Orewa Primary – 10.35am ASL

2nd June – Wainui School – 10.10am ASL

2nd June – Orewa College – 3.30pm ASL and WSL

9th June – Silverdale School – 11.05am ASL

16th May – Orewa Beach School – 11am ASL

16th June – Orewa College – 3.30pm ASL and WSL

23rd June – Orewa College – 10.15am ASL

30th June – Dairy Flat School – 11am ASL

30th June – Orewa College – 3.30pm ASL and WSL