The end of another year!

As I write this, the end of yet another school year is upon us.  I wish you all a happy holiday season and I look forward to seeing you again in 2015.  School begins again on Monday, 2 February.

Many thanks to those of you who have come to our parent meetings throughout the year.  Please continue to come next year.  Our meetings are held twice a term.  You will receive a notice about the first meeting of the new year at the beginning of the term. The meetings are an opportunity for you to meet other parents and talk about things that interest you.

Our main focus in Term 1 will be a Multi-cultural Day on Monday, 23 February.  We now have children from several different cultures at Oaklands and we want to ensure that all our children get the opportunity to experience different aspects of our various cultures.  At our first parent meeting we will begin organising the day, so please be prepared to offer ideas.  It is up to all of us to make this day a success, so do come to the meeting and offer your ideas.

Many of you will take time to visit the public library over the holidays.  There are so many great books available for children to read and share.  I have put together some strategies that you might like to use when your child is reading at home.  I am sure you will have other ideas to add to this list:

• let your child see you read - children need to see positive role models
• try and make sure your child has access to a wide variety of literature - jokes, poems, jingles, non fiction books (cook books, atlases, dictionaries etc)
• have a quiet place for sharing a story or a book - no TV
• let your child choose the story - don't worry if your child has read the story or book many, many times
• remember to let your child see the pictures when they are reading a story as this helps with their understanding
• discuss stories with your child - reading should be to/by/with children
• and most of all, have fun!!!!   

Enjoy the holidays and have a happy and restful time with your family.

Next Parent Meeting

Our last parent meeting for this year will be held in the Library from 9.00 - 9.45 am on Wednesday 3 December.  Mrs Kingston and I look forward to meeting you and discussing possible plans for next year.  Remember that pre-school children are welcome to come too!  We look forward to seeing you again.

Busy Times

The final term of the year has begun and it has been a busy start.  I hope you have managed to keep up with everything that has been advertised on the school website, in the newsletter and via class notices, newletters and blogs.

This coming weekend is Labour Weekend, which means that Monday is a public holiday and so the school will be closed.  However, this weekend is Oaklands 50th Jubilee and the school is celebrating all that has happened since it first opened in 1964.  There is a variety of activities being held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so make sure you check dates and times. All children are required to be at school for the whole school production on Saturday morning.

The production will be performed again after Labour Weekend on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, so make sure you know the time your child is required to be at school.

Also, on Wednesday 29 October from 9.00 - 9.45 am, all parents of English Language Learners are invited to the first parent meeting of the term.  As you know, we meet in the Library for a cup of tea or coffee and a chat.  We will be discussing ideas that you introduced at our last meeting.  You will receive a notice this week with further details.  Remember - pre school children are welcome too! 

Parent Meeting, 17 September 2014

Our last get together of the term was held this morning in the Library.  It was great to see the next generation of Oaklands pupils playing together while the adults chatted.

From the Oaklands School Newsletter, 17 September 2014

Below is a copy of the newsletter item that is in today's school newsletter (in case your copy hasn't reached you yet!)

English Language Learners at Oaklands

As is the case with an increasing number of schools in New Zealand, Oaklands School hosts  students from a variety of cultures and many classes have students who speak more than one language.  Currently, at our school there are pupils from around 20 different cultures who speak at least 13 different languages.  Our school population is made up of the following groups: NZ European 70.3%, NZ Maori 11.5%, Asian 9.4%, Pasifika 2%, other nationalities 6.8%.  Having students from such a variety of countries and backgrounds mirrors life in New Zealand now and it is great to hear our children sometimes speaking their own language in the classroom and in the playground.

Two staff members work with our English Language Learners by supporting classroom programmes, either by working alongside the children in their classroom or by withdrawing students for individual or small group instruction. 

Kathleen Kingston has worked with the English Language Learners at Oaklands for many years.  She works in classrooms across the school on a daily basis, she supports the ELLs in the Kakano Team Discovery programme each Friday and she facilitates the Tuesday Culture Club for the younger children.

Chris Smith organises the timetables, supports teachers and deals with the Ministry of Education requirements for ELLs, as well as working with individuals and small groups.  Twice a term she and Kathleen host a parent meeting, which is held on a Wednesday morning from 9.00 – 9.45 am in the school library.  It is a time for parents to meet and discuss any topics or issues that interest them and for them to get to know other Oaklands’ parents.

Early Language Development

Those of you who attend our meetings twice a term will have heard me previously talk about the importance of talk and oral language in developing successful speakers, readers and writers. Interestingly, there was an article in the Press last week about New Zealand's first study into early language development.  A KidsWords project aims to find out how many words toddlers know by the time they are two and a half years old.  If you have a toddler at home and would like to be involved, parents are invited to complete an online questionnaire at www.KidsWords.org and no further involvement is required.  This is a University of Canterbury research project, and to date, more than 1300 parents have been surveyed but the aim is to draw conclusions from a nationally representative sample of 3000 children growing up in New Zealand.  So why not have your say.

Next week our city will make music - 23 and 24 September 2014

If you want a great night's entertainment next week, you may want to go to the multicultural extravaganza at the Horncastle Arena (formerly the CBS Arena) on either Tuesday 23 September at 7.30 pm or Wednesday 24 September at 7.00 pm.  As our city becomes increasingly more multi cultural a number of new and different groups are appearing.  Music Canterbury is presenting these two concerts for free - all you are asked to contribute is a gold coin! 

Favourite Songs

Many of the younger students have been singing 'Frozen' and 'If You're Happy and You Know It'. You can sing along with these songs and even try the Maori version as well!  Singing is a great way to support learning a new language, so do have a try!

Korean - If You're Happy

Parent education - upcoming events

Many of you will have read in the school newsletter that there are a number of meetings organised this term that will explain various aspects of programmes in the Kakano Team.  You are welcome to any, or all of these meetings, which will be held from 9.15 - 10.00 am on the following dates.

• Friday 29 August - Mathematics
• Friday 5 September - Reception Class programme
• Friday 19 September - ICT

For new parents to our school, these meetings are a great opportunity for you to understand the sorts of things your child will be learning.  You will be able to ask questions and talk with others who have children in the Kakano classes. 

Parent Meeting, 13 August 2014

It was great to welcome parents and preschoolers to our first meeting of the term.  We talked about the Kakano Culture Club that we have each Tuesday morning at play time and how it is a time for students to mix and enjoy various activities involving art and craft, singing songs from other countries and learning the actions, and also listening to stories.  Yesterday morning, the children's focus was on completing a large scale chalk drawing in the playground.  They created a mural depicting the landscape changes from country to city.  In a short amount of time a lot of detail and colour was put into creating a really colourful art work.

We also discussed the importance of having our English Language Learners increasing their vocabulary knowledge of household articles, such as 'toaster' and 'washing machine' and the names of body parts. Most children know 'head', 'leg', 'arm' etc, but many children do not know, for example, 'elbow', 'ankle' or  'shoulder'.  So the secret is to keep talking to your children and extending their horizons.

E Papa Waiari - Maori Stick Game at Discovery on 1 August 2014

Each week in Discovery time, Mrs Kingston plans an activity to support our English Language Learners.  This term, the Kakano integrated topic is the Arts, and the Big Idea is 'being creative in a way to express identity'.  So the group tried out a Maori action song, and instead of using sticks, the students used rolled up magazines (which make slightly less noise when banged on the floor).  You can view the words and actions of E Papa Waiari on Mamalisa's World.  In addition, you can view different action songs from around the world in different languages.  Everyone participated enthusiastically and had great fun.

The importance of maintaining your child's first language

Those of you who have come to the parent meetings that we have twice a term, will have heard me stress the importance of your child continuing to speak, read, write and understand their first language. If your child cannot read or write their first language just continue with those aspects that they can do. Research has proven that children who are strong in one language find it easier to learn a new language.  So there is no need for your child to stop speaking their first language when they come to school.  Indeed, it will be an advantage to your child if you continue speaking and reading to them in their first language.  If your child can speak several languages other than English, continue to speak these at home.  Your child has a great advantage over those of us who can only speak one language!
Our students at Oaklands are welcome to speak their own language at school, especially when they are playing games or generally interacting with others who speak the same language.  

Discovery time on Friday mornings

Each Friday, all the Kakano students enjoy a variety of activities during Discovery time.  Children can move between activities, but the ELLs also spend some time with Mrs Kingston.  She helps them create, interact and generally have fun.

Here are some photos of Term 2 activities.

We finish off each Discovery time with an assembly. 

Parent Meeting 25 June 2014

It was great to meet everyone again just before some parents went on the Kakano trip into the city. 

        

Parent Meeting 21 May 2014

Mrs Smith and Mrs Kingston meet with parents of ELLs to chat about children's learning.  It is also a great opportunity for parents to get to know each other.  Pre-schoolers are very welcome too.

 

Kakano Culture Club

Our English Language Learners are busy working with Mrs Kingston during Kakano Culture Club time on Tuesdays.

Zubia and Hiba made popcorn and ate it using chopsticks.