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“Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu”

Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar

Learning a new skill, solving problems, and helping others are just some of the many “feathers” you can wear in order to soar high.

There is more information available on our Tamaoho School Website under our learning. Please check this out.

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From the Principal

WELCOME TO TAMAOHO SCHOOL

Congratulations, starting school is an exciting and vital step in your child's life and also your own! Whether this is your eldest child or you are used to the school way of life, starting school is a memorable moment for all whanau (families). A happy start is the best start to school life.

At Tamaoho School, we look forward to working with you and your child to make this vital stage a rewarding and positive one for all. Not only is it a new stage in your child's life, but it is also the beginning of your partnership with our school.

We value the tremendous amount of learning your child has already done with you. Tamaoho School and home will be able to work together, forming a lasting partnership of quality, which will help to ensure that your child's learning continues to be as successful in school as it has been at home. Our teachers are committed to meeting the needs of all learners and plan the school's programmes to ensure that all learner's needs are developed and their unique attributes valued.

We believe in the importance of oral language and the foundation skills of Reading, Writing and Maths, and this is reflected in the strong programmes we offer. We also ensure all areas of the curriculum are addressed and developed as part of our day to day programme through creative exploration.

We have an open-door policy and value the communication between home and school – we see it as an integral part of your child's learning. We pride ourselves on our caring family atmosphere where each learner is nurtured and valued. Please make sure that any concerns are brought to our attention. Remember that we are here for the parents too. Please feel you can approach any of our staff if you have concerns.

Once again, welcome to our school. We hope that you make the most of the opportunities to become involved in the many parent activities we have at Tamaoho School. This booklet should hopefully answer any immediate questions, feel free to ring or join a school tour if you have further questions.

Mrs Amanda Wynyard

LEADER OF LEARNING / PRINCIPAL

“Your off to great places! Today is your day! �Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.”

Dr. Seuss

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Kōwhai Whaa

We have created a very special learning space for learners at Tamaoho School know as Kōwhai Whaa. We offer and provide extra support for learners transitioning into school who may find it tricky. Kōwhai Whaa is a small group of learners (around 10 learners), a dedicated teacher and Learning Support Assistants, so that there is a clear focus on individual needs, helping learners adjust to routines and structures of school, develop social-emotional skills, and engage in learning activities at their own pace. Our goal is to set learners up for success as they transition into school with all the support they need. When ready, learners can seamlessly integrate into a learning space to continue their learning journey.

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Our School

Kei ōu ringaringa te ao – The world is yours

What are your dreams and aspirations in life? The sky's the limit and the world is yours. �All you have to do is dream and persevere. Make the most out of all the opportunities the world has to offer!

Kōwhai Learning spaces

We have 4 learning spaces that are slightly different from the rest of the school and more traditional as in one classroom. This helps supports building strong routines and structures when starting school.

Your child will have a classroom teacher (Whaanau Teacher), and the main job of the whaanau teacher is to oversee all of your child’s assessments, reporting and meetings with you. They will be the first point of contact if you have any questions or worries about your child’s learning, well being or behaviour. All teachers work together to ensure all of the learner’s learning needs are supported or extended and therefore, they may have some teaching sessions with other teachers (within the Kōwhai learning spaces). We find that this is the best practice to meet the diverse needs of all learners.

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KŌWHAI LEARNING SPACES

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Our School

“The goal of early learning should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn”

Maria Montessori

THE SCHOOL DAY

From 8.30 am - your child’s Whanau teacher will be there to welcome you and get ready for the day.

8:55am the bell, all learners on the mat ready for the roll. If your child is late they will need to be signed in (main office).

9:00am – 11:00am First learning block

11:00am – 11:40am Play Eat Learn

11:40 am – 1:15pm Second learning block

1:15pm – 1:50pm Play Eat Learn

1:50pm – 2:45pm Final learning block

At 2:45 pm the whanau teacher will line up the learners and walk them out. You can either collect from inside the school or the drop off area. Please wait by your car if you have your car in the drop off area.

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We want our learners to be:

Ownership (Me Skills)

Managing my feelings, thinking, behaviour and learning.

Collaboration (We Skills)

Developing relationships with my friends, teachers and community to learn from others, and they learn from me.

Grit (Will Skills)

Never giving up when it gets challenging, understanding my goals, working hard and learning from my mistakes.

Creativity (Wonder Skills)

Using my imagination and thinking to create new ideas to solve problems.

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What school is like at five!

The first day

On your child's first day at school, please pop into the office before going to your classroom to let us know you have arrived.

Please ensure your child has the following items ready for the first day at school:

• Personal articles named (uniform, lunch box, bottle, black shoes/trainers)
• Tamaoho Sunhat (compulsory Terms 1 and 4)
• Healthy lunch box and drink bottle (clearly named and filled with water)
• A big smile!

Can I stay with my child on their first day?

Most learners are more focused when they are away from their whanau (family), in which case you should delay your "sitting in" for a few weeks until they are settled. If you stay for the first day, learners often think that this is the 'norm' and expect you to stay every day after that. While it may be hard for you to leave if your child is upset, most learner's settle very quickly once their whanau have gone. If a child does not settle, we will contact you.

On the first visit the Deputy Principal will have a meeting with all new whanau to talk about the school.

OUR KEY SKILLS

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Our Curriculum

“Education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings. �Only then we can play along in their world ”

Vince Gowmon

The First Term of Learning:

The first 10 weeks of starting school each class will learn through a theme they are interested in. �The aim of this theme is about getting to know each other and creating an opportunity to build stable and positive relationships with people in our community and develop emotional and social skills for learning.

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Foundation Skills for Learning:

In the first few weeks of starting school, each learner will be assessed either on the Foundation Skills for learning or the beginning of the National Curriculum. There are five areas of skills that children need to ensure their Reading, Writing and Maths develop at a reasonable speed. These areas are:

• Speaking and Listening Foundation Skills
• Phonics Foundation Skills
• Moving Foundations Skills (gross and fine motor control, theses movement skills are needed for the physical nature of writing)
• Maths Foundation Skills
• Reading Foundation Skills

Within five weeks, the teacher will arrange a meeting with you to go through the initial assessments and share your child’s goals with you. This is an excellent opportunity to ask questions about your child’s learning and how you can support at home.

Remember, don’t panic if your child does not get a reading book for a while; all children develop at different times and different rates. The class teacher will provide the best learning opportunities to support your child’s learning needs and set them up for successful learning.

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COHORT ENTRY FOR ALL LEARNERS TURNING 5!

If you have a child who is going to start at our school, please get in touch with the school office at least ten weeks before their 5th birthday for information about enrolment and preschool visits.

There are two entry dates per term, and two preschool visits (Wednesdays) are required before the child can start in Kohekohe Learning Space. These dates are also on our school calendar.

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LEARNING UPDATES �THROUGH HERO

Each child’s learning journey is carefully mapped out, and their weeks in school are tracked accurately. At 20 weeks and 40 weeks, a learning update will be shared with you to indicate if your child is on track with their learning. At these points, if there are any concerns, the class teacher will arrange a meeting with you to discuss the learning update to see how we can work together and support your child moving forwards.

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Our Curriculum

“Your brain in your heads. Your feet in your shoes. �You can steer yourself and direction you choose.”

Dr. Seuss

Our Curriculum Design in the First Year

All learners start school with very different skill sets, and they have all developed at different rates. They have also been exposed to a wide range of experiences that have developed their understanding of the world around them. We already know this makes each child unique. We have designed our curriculum to meet the learner’s needs and also to prepare them for the changes they will experience with coming into school. Our ‘Key skills’ are needed for the future and underpin our Creative Exploration approach to the Year 1 Curriculum.

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OUR CREATIVE EXPLORATION

Structured creative exploration activities, allow each learner to manage themselves and provide opportunities for hands-on learning to develop key skills. All the activities that are planned for are carefully designed by the teachers to extend and support all learners needs. During creative exploration time learners work in small groups (daily) with the whanau teacher on reading, writing, phonics and maths skills linked to the level they are working at. This type of learning is targeted.

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OUR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Our learning environments are set up each day to create wonder and motivation towards learning. Learners have opportunities to select learning activities at their own pace, and this helps to develop OWNERSHIP and GRIT. The whanau teacher monitors this through observations.

Across each area of learning, there are

opportunities to develop foundation skills for learning (skills needed for reading, writing and maths). e.g. before engaging in construction activity, the children must go through a simple design process.

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We want our curriculum to be:

• Self-selected and self-directed (guided through teacher planning)
• Activities in which the processes are valued more than the end product
• Structure, expectations, values or rules emanate from minds of each other
• Creative (not just literal thinking)
• Children to be active and alert (not stressed or anxious)
• Engaging and motivating
• Developing the cultural identity of the students and their families

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Our Curriculum

“Mā te kimi ka kite, Mā te kite ka mōhio, Mā te mōhio ka mārama”

Seek and discover. Discover and know. Know and become enlightened.

Learning is a journey

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Digital Technology

From 2020, the Ministry of Education expects schools will be using the Digital Technologies Curriculum to provide learners with broader opportunities to learn in and about technology.

“The digital curriculum is about teaching children how to design their own digital solutions and become creators of, not just users of, digital technologies, to prepare them for the modern workforce” – Chris Hipkins, 2018

There are two technological areas:

• Computational thinking for digital technologies (develop an understanding of computer science principles e.g. core programming concepts)
• Designing and developing digital outcomes (design quality, fit-for-purpose digital solutions

We believe that a range of tools should be used to support children’s learning but to produce learning rather than consume (sitting playing on an iPad). Children in Kohekohe will use iPads to produce their own learning.

The school also subscribe to Bug Club and SUnshine online. You will have a password and login, through HERO.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

Restorative Practices is a relational approach to school life based on equality, dignity, mana and the potential of all people. The focus is on building positive and respectful relationships across the school community. This is a move away from the more traditional retributive centre (punishment or wrongdoing) and moves towards seeking repair in the harm caused by a child’s actions. The Restorative Practise approach to problem-solving and recognises that misconduct harms people and relationships and those involved in the problem also need to be involved in finding the solution.

Learners receive logical consequences for mistakes they make in their behaviour.

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How to help

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

A.A. Milne

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Partnership

You can support this partnership by:

• Communicating with the school if your child is going to be absent - please phone or email the school office or use the Hero App.
• If your child is late to school e.g. they arrive after the 8.55 am bell, you will need sign in at the office.
• Keeping up to date with what is happening at school following us on our Facebook page and notifications through our Hero App.
• Emailing the teacher as soon as you have any questions or concerns.
• Informing the teacher if something is happening at home that may impact your child’s behaviour e.g. the death of a relative, the loss of a pet.
• Attending Learner Led Conferences, twice a year as well as a community even each term.

Learning Letters of the Alphabet

Learning the alphabet and letter sounds is part of the key foundation knowledge that allows learners to develop their reading and writing skills, so it is important that they begin to learn these when they are ready.

While your child will do many activities at school related to learning and using the alphabet, it is vital that you support and follow up at home. The following is a list of fun ideas to help learn the alphabet.

• Display an alphabet chart in your child’s room. Refer to it on a regular basis.
• Alphabet flashcards. You can buy or make these and use them to play games such as memory or snap.
• Make letter shapes using playdough.
• Practise writing letters in a sandpit or use water and a paintbrush to paint letters on the concrete.
• Use the flashcards provided by school for letter sounds and words.

Correct letter formation

Correct pencil grip

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How to help

“Every student can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way” – George Evans

Learning Sounds

When learners start school they need to start building a bank of words that they can instantly sound out. This will again help them develop skills in both reading and writing. A list of first words for sounding out are listed below:

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• Use the videos on Hero by clicking on the GREEN QUESTION MARK. These will teach the correct way to pronounce the sounds.
• Focus on the sounds rather than the letter.
• Use the letter sound cards provided by school practise each sound and make words to sound out and read.
• Read with your child every night with the focus on looking at the sounds in the words. They may have the same book for a week so they repeat and over learn sounds in words.

SUPPORT IN THE FIRST YEAR

The following is a list of sounds the learners learn in order. Learners learn these sounds to begin to read and write. It is the foundational skill for literacy!

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Mm Dd Pp Tt Nn Ss a o e

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Cc Ll Bb Nn Gg i u

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Ss Ff Gg Rr

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Vv Jj Ll

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Ww Hh Kk

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sh ck

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ch ng

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th Jj

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Yy Zz

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Click here for resources to support teaching the sets of sounds

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How to help

“Every student can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way” – George Evans

Learning Words

When learners start school they need to start building a bank of words that they can instantly read from memory. This will again help them develop skills in both reading and writing. A list of first words are listed below:

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• Arrange playdates to help build your child’s relationships with other children.
• Stay a little bit longer after school to play on the Year 1 playground
• Talk through how they are feeling about certain things happening at home or at school and give these feelings a label and some strategies for when they feel sad.
• If they are falling out with friends remind them what to do and remind them they must tell an adult.
• Talk to your child about respecting each others space (we call this bubble space) and how we don’t enter into other peoples spaces.
• Make sure there are lots of opportunities at home to practise painting, colouring and cutting skills.
• After school have some time to play games outdoors to practise kicking, hitting and throwing a ball as well riding a bike.
• Talk to your child to extend their vocabulary, give them the meaning to new words.
• Use Hero to check for home learning using the GREEN QUESTION MARK.

SUPPORT IN THE FIRST YEAR

The following is a list of fun ideas to help your child learn to read and spell the words they are given:

• Word flashcards: play games such as Memory or Snap.
• Play ‘My Pile, Your Pile’ with the flashcards – hold a card up, if your child knows the word they can keep it in their pile, if they don’t it goes in your pile. Count up the cards at the end.
• Place word cards around the house – in the hall, on the fridge, on the bathroom door etc. Every time the child walks past a word, they need to say it.
• Climb the Stairs: Put a word on each step. The child says each word as they climb the stairs (you can lay them on the floor if there are no stairs). If they have difficulty, say the word first or put the same word on each step until the child has mastered a few. Add a few at a time.
• Write the words using chalk on the path outside, on a whiteboard, on the computer. Have fun by writing your words in mud or sand.
• What’s Missing?: The child places 3-4 words on the table, identifies words, and then closes eyes while parent removes one word. The child identifies the missing word. The parent closes eyes and lets the child remove a word.

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Information

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

Play Eat Learn

Our timetable takes an approach called ‘Play, Eat, Learn’, which has been developed through research by Canterbury University following the Christchurch earthquakes, which aimed to assist schools to provide calm and settled environments for children to learn effectively.

The idea behind ‘Play, Eat, Learn’ is to help children settle and be ready for learning at lesson times to improve the quality of the learning and the ability to focus and concentrate. Research shows that our bodies respond differently to the two activities – Playing and Eating.

• Play – the body response is more aroused and heightened. Eat – the body’s response is to naturally calm.
• Eating – when eating happens after play, the body has a chance to calm and children are more ready for learning. Arousal levels fall.

So you will see on our timetable that at break times children will play before they eat. The positive effects to this approach include:

• Calms students so they are ready to learn immediately after a break instead of needing cooldown time
• Increases focus and time on-task in the classroom
• Decreases behaviour problems in the playground
• Reduces accidents and injuries during lunch break
• Reduces sickbay visits for headaches and stomach aches �after playtimes
• Reduces food waste (as much as from 27% to 40%)
• Reduces litter
• Encourages students to eat a more balanced diet.

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View full research paper HERE

LUNCH BOXES

Learners each day are required to bring a labelled lunch box. We encourage our learners to eat healthy to ensure they are ready to learn. Pita Pit is also provided.

View Healthy Lunch Box Ideas HERE!

Our teachers will remind all our learners about why it is important not to share food.. If your child has an allergy you must place this information on the enrolment form and provide the correct medication to be kept in the school office. Click here to see how you can reduce waste in lunch boxes

WATER ONLY

Our learners are required to bring a water bottle (clearly labelled) each day to school filled with water only.. Water is the best form of hydration for our bodies and benefits learning, health and wellbeing.

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It is part of the Tamaoho School's policy for learners to only drink water.

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TAMAOHO SCHOOL

36 Taikaranga Street, Pukekohe.

Email: office@tamaoho.school.nz

Principal: principal@tamaoho.school.nz

Find us on facebook: ‘Tamaoho School’

www.tamoho.school.nz