18 March

18 March

Our first arts focus for the term was creating self-portraits.  This linked well with our learning about our Turangawaewae and with most of the portraits complete, the children can connect Community One as one of the special places in their worlds.

Take a look at some of the wonderful art pieces and be sure to come in and view the others when you have time.

The stations in the PMP area look particularly interesting this week too!  PMP is an acronym for Perceptual Motor Programme.  This programme is based on research and aims to help younger learners improve their eye/hand and eye/foot coordination, fitness, balance, locomotion and eye-tracking skills which in turn impact positively on their ability to learn Literacy and Mathematics.

In week 9 of this term you will be invited to come into Community One and the children can show you what they do at the different stations.

Lastly, please reinforce at home the following hygiene routines to help do our bit to stop the spread of autumn germs and teach your children ways to protect themselves from possibly contracting the COVID-19 virus at this time.

Wash hands regularly and use hand sanitiser.  Use soap and water each time, sing Row, Row, Row your boat twice or Twinkle, Twinkle little star once and dry hands after.

Avoid touching other people and keep your hands away from your face.  This means not rubbing eyes and putting fingers in mouths.

 Picking noses is a "no-no"!  Each time a finger goes in a nose, there is a potential for viruses to enter the body and make your child sick.  There is also the potential for that same virus to be transferred to other surfaces and other children.  There are tissues in the community and children need to be blowing their noses, not picking!

 If you feel a tickle in the back of your throat or your nose, cover your cough and sneeze with a tissue or a sleeve!






Finally, if your child is unwell, please be considerate and keep them at home until they are well enough to come to school. 

10 March

The students have well and truely settled into the routines of Community One.  We are all so impressed with how independent they are and how much effort they are putting into their learning.

Our topic learning for this term is Turangawaewae which is a Maori concept which celebrates how places are significant to different people for different reasons.  When we are in a particular place that we feel empowered and connected to, then that place is our turangawaewae.  The children have been talking about special places at school and then at home and in the coming weeks we will be working on enhancing some of the special places so that the children will feel further connected to these areas.

Some of the most popular places at school are:

The gardens where the swan plants grow.

The fairy doors.

The adventure playground.

In week 9 of this term there will be an exhibition open evening where you will be able to come along and view the enhancements made by the children and read and enjoy some of their writing about their Turangawaewae.

Action Stations

On Friday mornings we would love to have some parents come in and run an action station with the children.  The best experiences are the ones that you yourself are passionate about, so if you have a hobby that you would like to share with the children, please speak to your child's guardian teacher.  Some examples of stations could be:  crafts, paper folding, outdoor games, baking, biscuit decorating, taking photos, yoga, dance, planting etc.

17 February

This week in Community One we have been learning about being ACTIVE Warkworth students.  Each of the letters in the word ACTIVE represents a value that we as students at Warkworth School are demonstrating when we work and play.

So far we have learnt that

A stands for ADVENTUROUS

C is for COLLABORATIVE

T is for THOUGHTFUL






When we are adventurous we get to put a grasshopper in our ACTIVE GARDEN, when we are collaborative we add a bee and for being thoughtful we add a butterfly. 

This week we will learn about being INNOVATIVE, VALUED and EMPOWERED.

We have also looked at collecting, displaying and talking about data in Mathematics.  Here are some of our graphs and displays.

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In Mrs Jollivet's literacy group we read a shared story "In the Garden" and painted a part of the story to make a wall display.  We also have some writing in response to the text which you can look at in the Community.



On Friday we had ACTION STATIONS where the children got to choose different activities to explore.  Some of us enjoyed being able to play in the Homeroom, Construction Cave and Library while others took part in the craft stations set up by Mrs Quinn and Whaea Melanie which were making Rainbow Clouds and Ice-block stick dragonflies.

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WOW a busy week, but an excellent one.  I wonder what we will be learning about next week...

14 February

It has been a wonderful week in Community One.  So lovely to meet the new children and their families and to welcome back some of the children who were with us towards the end of last year.  A big congratulations to all the children for being positive about being at school and putting lots of effort into learning the routines and enjoying the learning experiences.

Here are some snapshots of our week:

Community One :)

28 January

Welcome to Community One 2020!

Dear Parents,

A sunny and warm welcome to Community One 2020.  We are very excited to have you and your children join us this year and the teachers are busy preparing for your first day.

To help make your child's first day at school as happy and positive as we can, here are some helpful hints that you can support them with:

1. Talk positively about them starting school.  Be excited and talk about how much fun they are going to have.
2. Come to the open day on 5 February with your child so they can see who their teacher is and know what to do on Monday the 10th February.
3. Give their guardian teacher their stationery on 5 February.
4. Talk to your child about your leaving routine so that they are prepared and not surprised.

Eg of a leaving routine:

"When we get to school, I will help you to remember where to put your bag and what to unpack.  We will  greet your teacher and then it will be time for mum/dad to go.  I will give you a big hug and a kiss and you can go play on the playground or stay with your teacher until the music plays for morning snack."  

Remember each child is an individual and you know what will work best for them so talk with them so that together you come up with a routine that works for them.  Quick, uncomplicated routines work best and can easily be remembered and recalled.

Explore this blog for other information and term 1 dates to add to your diary.

In the first week we will be reading the story The Kissing Hand.  This is a special story which links to having a good leaving routine.  Click on the link below to view the story online.

Click here