Kia ora whānau,

Welcome back to school. We have had a lovely but busy week to the start of Term 4. It was great seeing all the pink today!! The children enjoyed whole school discovery today with a variety of activities. We have also started our athletics training in preparation for athletics day. While we are practising for athletics day our library slot is on Tuesday.

We welcomed George McLean into the L3 this week. Thank you to all the children in the L space for making him feel so welcome.

Reminders

• Colour Run: notice should have come home this week. The date is Sunday 1st November.
• Book Week: Week 4
• Whole School Athletics: 30th October
• Whole School Assembly: 6th November

Week 2

Monday: Athletics Practise

Tuesday: Library

Thursday: Athletics Practise

Friday: Poetry; Athletics Practise

Ngā mihi nui

Sarah, Wendy and Anna

Wearable Arts and end of Term 3!

Kia ora whānau, We've done it! Back to Level one, and the holidays are almost here! What an increible term it's been and what a way to finish it with our impromtu Timatanga parade. It was just so lovely to see all of our parents again, and to have you share in the children's excitement and pride of their costumes! It was great to be able to chat with you all again, and to have you coming freely back into our school grounds- fingers crossed we will stay this way for a long time. As our term draws to an end, we would like to acknowledge the wonderful efforts of Hannah McCoy, who has been in our L space for the past five weeks. She now leaves us to continue her studies and we wish her well for her teaching career in the future. The children will really miss her, and we could not have survived without our two student teachers', throughout all our costume creativity madness! On this note, Sarah and myself just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to those Mums who came in and helped us during the past couple of weeks with the Wearable Arts . You were amazing- THANK YOU!!! YOu all had amazing ideas, and then were willing to take the ball and run with it. We so appreciated all your time and energy. We know lots of you took photos yesterday, and all of your children will receive individualised reports with photos attached in Week 1 of Term 4, but we wanted to give you all a wonderful reminder of how awesome your children looked. We are so proud of all their efforts, team work, patience and creativity. We know you will agree. Have a wonderful break everyone and see you in Term 4. Wendy, Sarah, Anna, Kelsey and Hannah

Week 9!

Kia ora whānau Wow- what a busy week it has been. It is just a hive of activity in the L space and the children are having so much fun creating their costumes for our Wearable Arts Performance. We also welcome back Kelsey Shiels who is a Post Graduate teaching student who will be with us for the next 7 weeks. The children have loved having her back in the class, and her creative skills have already been put to great use! The children have been absolutely outstanding in their creativity and also with their patience, as we juggle the needs of 49 students versus the number of teacher hands! We are very grateful to those parents who have come in and helped us out this week- you have made an amazing difference and it is so appreciated. We can't wait to share all the completed costumes with you. Dates to be aware of ** If you have not already sent in a black teeshirt and leggings for your childs costume- we would appreciate these asap. ** House Colour Day and Sauasage Sizzle- Tuesday 15 September On Tuesday next week (15th September) the TLC (Thorrington Leaders Club) have organised a house colour day. Children are welcome to come to school in their house colours and we will all eat together on the field , subject to weather! The T.L.C have organised a round of Tug of War contests for the children to be involved in . Plus we are offering an extra sausage sizzle to raise funds for our new playground developments in conjunction with our wonderful PTA. Unfortunately we won’t be able to have families join us for this event, as we are still in Level 2. While house colour t-shirts are not compulsory, these can be purchased from the office. The sausages can be ordered before school for $2 as per our normal Friday routine. Friday's sausage sizzle will operate as usual. ** Thursday. Library Day ** Please be aware that our classroom programmes will run differently next week due to our Wearable Arts focus. This means that your child may not necessarily bring home a reading book every day as they usually would. Have a great weekend Wendy, Sarah, Anna, Hannah and Kelsey

Week 8

 Kia ora whānau

Whew! Another busy week is almost over. We have been very productive this week, cutting, painting, drawing, planning and designing our Wearable Arts costumes. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for a move back to Level 1, so that we can welcome you all back into our spaces to see all the amazing work the children are doing.

Over the next two weeks, we will start dropping more of our regular timetables of Reading, Writing and Maths as we fully immerse ourselves into the preparation of our wearable arts. It is a really exciting, but potentially less structured time for our students, and we will be keeping a close eye on our remembering of manners and great Thorrington behaviours. Please do keep up with your great work at home supporting your child in regular practice of Reading  Writing and Maths- this helps your child immensely.

If you do have any spare time, and are willing to come in and help us  with our costume designs - we would love to hear from you. Our loose plan is  that we will be  in full creative mode each afternoon next week, and most of Thursday and Friday. Week 9 will depend on how far we are along by the end of Week 8!

*** PLEASE DO keep on sending your child's black teeshirt and leggings into school in a named bag as  soon as possible please. Also if your child is going to be away on holiday at any time over the next three weeks- could you please let your Home base teacher know.

Dates to be aware of

11 Sept- Last day to order  your calendar art.

Thursday- Hopefully our Library slot will be back up and running in Week 8( the Library has been closed due to the shift in location)

Friday Poetry and Sausage Sizzle

Coming up

Tuesday 15th September House Colours Picnic and  Tug of War

Thursday 24th Sept, Week 10- Wearable Arts performances

Touch registration for Te Kura o Huriawa Thorrington - Term 4/2020

Term 4 sees the return of Touch for 2020. The season will last for 8 weeks starting Thursday 22nd October & wrapping up 10th December at Centennial Park.

Whilst Steve, our Sports Coordinator, will coordinate teams for this on behalf of Te Kura o Huriawa Thorrington, we are reliant on parents working together to help coach these teams.

The cost for the season will be approximately $25 per student. This will be payable in advance of the season starting. Failure to pay this will see your child unable to participate.

Each team will also require team shirts (those from previous seasons may maintain the one they already have). We are currently exploring the costing around players purchasing new ones for these. These are likely to be around $20 each.

Please ensure the below form is completed in full. If your child wishes to play in an existing team from 2019 (or term 1 2020) then you must state that team otherwise they may be allocated to a different team.

Age grades are as follows: Year 0-1/2, Year 3/4, Year 5/6, mixed and boys.

Please complete this form Wednesday 16th September to avoid missing out.

https://forms.gle/TQCR6CnhNBTo5P3g9

Orders can now be placed for this years Calendar Art Orders Due by the 11th September

The Kids have been busy designing their art work for this year and they are all looking amazing. Don't miss out on getting these made into a lasting reminder!   Order your art here Calendars $16 Greeting Cards (pack of 8) $14 Diaries $17 Note Pads $15 Mousepads $16 You can also order your own photos to make into any of these items, just go online and upload your picture to www.kidsartworks.com and enter our school code of KZ2349 Make sure you provide us with your reference number when you order your Calendar.

Week 7

Kia ora whānau, 

Well done to all the children that participated in the cross country. They put a lot of effort into training and we were very lucky with the weather on Friday. Some photos are included below. 

 Thank you for all the items that are coming in for the wearable arts and to the parents who have offered to help with sewing. If you have any shimmery material or large bits of material that you no longer need we would love to use it in our costumes. 

 If you have not already done so please remember to send a black top and pants/short in a named bag for your child to wear under their costume. 

Week Ahead

Thursday 

Library 

Friday 

Poetry Day 

Sausage Sizzle

We hope you have a lovely week.

Sarah, Wendy and Anna

Cross Country Photos

Week 5

 Kia ora whānau,

As the term moves towards the second half we are getting very busy with planning for our wearable arts celebration. This week the children have decided what costume they want to wear. They have then planned and designed their costume. Ask your child what they are going to be. Please see below for further information.

Unfortunately, some of our dear wee poppets have been removing the springs from our pens which results in them not being able to be used! We have also got incredibly low supplies of glue sticks. Please could you purchase over the weekend two pens and one glue stick for your child and get them to give them to their teacher. Many thanks :) 

Next week we welcome Hannah McCoy into the L space. Hannah is a student teacher from Canterbury University that will be working with L3 until the end of the term. She is a Year 2 student and we are looking forward to having her at Huriawa Thorrington.

Wearable Arts

We Need Your Help

Wonderful L space helpers needed to support teachers with the creations of wearable arts costume for our performance in Week 10.

a). ALL children are asked to bring to school (in a named bag) a black top and black leggings/shorts by WEEK 7, please.

b). Can you sew? Do you have a sewing machine? Please give Mrs Booth or Mrs Moore your name if you are able to help sew some very basic wearable arts.

c). The following materials are needed:

wire

bolts of cloth 

big boxes of cardboard

plant pots

elastic

ribbons

hosery (unholed)

If you have something that you think might be useful, let us know.

Week 6

Tuesday: 

Mufti Day gold coin donation

Thursday: 

Library

Friday: 

Cross-country (to be confirmed)

Sausage sizzle

Poetry

Orderings

Your child should have brought a coupon home this week to support the school through purchasing from Orderings this weekend - 22nd and 23rd August, 10% goes to the school - an easy fundraiser for our new playgrounds.

Library

The time has come to start preparing for the redevelopment of our wonderful school. As part of this preparation, our library is being relocated temporarily to HB13 (prefab behind Bill’s shed). We are looking for volunteers to help us relocate books and small shelving units. If you are able to help please email pta@thorrington.ac.nz. Tasks will include packing the boxes, pushing the trolley with boxes to the new library, dismantling and reinstalling shelving, and unpacking the books. Any help will be greatly appreciated. 

School Photos

School photos will be taken on Friday 4 September. Children should wear winter uniform.

If you wish to have a family photo (only siblings who are at school please), please advise the office at sandy.vallance@thorrington.ac.nz   with name and Homebase.

Other rooms will go in class order, starting with the youngest children. We are hopeful that all will be done by lunchtime.
 
Many thanks
Te Kura o Huriawa Thorrington PTA

Many thanks

Sarah, Wendy and Anna

Week 4

 Kia ora whānau

Well done to the children that participated in the zone cross-country this week. We continue to run every afternoon to prepare for the school cross-country in week 5 (Monday 17th August).

Week 4

Monday

• Cricket

Thursday

• Library
• Cross-country rehearsal

Friday 

• Poetry day (please return the poetry book on Monday)
• Sausage Sizzle
• Whole school assembly 2-2:45pm

This week to continue our preparation for Wearable Arts we looked at pictures and decided whether they were art or not and started to form a definition of what art is. Then we looked at different types of art and working in groups we classified them into similar types of art. 

The children worked very well together in groups to debate whether their picture was the same type of art or not. Your child can show you our learning on the whiteboard and posters we made.

We hope you have a lovely week.

Wendy, Anna and Sarah

Kia ora whānau

Another successful week at Thorrington! What a way to end the week with a fantastic Pyjama Day. The children have had lots of stimulation this week with continued visits to Life Education, a visit to the river to sketch the flora and fauna of our natural habitat, Buddy Reading starting up again, a Hangi and of course the treasured sausage sizzle!


Dates to be aware of for next week are:


Thursday 6th August

• Library Day

Friday 7th August

• Sausage sizzle
• Timatanga Team assembly (hosted by Year 1) 11.50a.m start.

In preparation for our Wearable Arts focus later in the term, we took our students down to our local river habitat to sketch their observations. We had a great time.

We hope you all have a lovely  weekend!

Kind regards

Wendy, Sarah and Annan

Week 2

Kia ora whānau

Well, Week 1 is done and dusted already and the children have all settled back into school easily. Unfortunately, it is a bit cramped in the L space at the moment due to the toilet renovations, but the children have been great and we are making it work as smoothly as we can. It has been a busy week with Matariki celebrations,  school-wide discovery, and visits to the Life Education Bus. Please see below for more information on these.

Week 2
Thursday- Library day
Friday - Poetry ,   Hangi lunch and also Pyjama Day. This is an event run by two of our senior students who are trying to raise funds for Cure Kids. Please send your child in their PJs , with a gold coin donation.

MATARIKI WEEK AT THORRINGTON

This week Thorrington had their own Matariki week. Matariki is the marker of the Māori New Year, signalling a new season, new crops and new life, so we thought it fitting to begin Term 3  in the same way - celebrating renewal and fresh beginnings.

Throughout the week the tamariki read, sung, listened to and watched different materials about Matariki. Today they enjoyed a Whole School Matariki Discovery Day with many creative activities on offer, including whai (string games), kite making, star creations, tī rākau (stick games), weaving, and other things.

Ask your children to share with you what they have learnt - it could be a fact about the stars, what different celebrations happen during Matariki, what Matariki actually means, or one of the kupu hōu (new words). Here is a timetable of the different daily tasks and learning that they explored throughout the week. We hope you enjoy!

	DAILY KUPU HŌU (New Word)	Matariki Learning / Activity
MONDAY	whetū - star	Te Iwa o Matariki (Video) There is different information about Matariki because it differs from iwi to iwi. Each iwi shares different kōrero (talk) regarding Matariki. Some are unable to see Matariki from their rohe (region), while some iwi herald the new year with a star named Puanga.
TUESDAY	pātaka kai - storage house	Matariki Breakfast (Text - click the button to download the PDF or click the to listen to audio)
WEDNESDAY	whenua - land	Matariki Poem
THURSDAY	hakari - feasts	Have a singalong of this Matariki Waiata (Song) together. The lyrics are also on this same page.
FRIDAY	whakapapa - ancestry	Matariki Star Facts (Website) Matariki Quiz (Junior) Matariki Challenge (Senior)

HANGI LUNCH

Our annual Hangi Lunch day is next Friday 31st July. Today some order forms have been sent home. If you wish to order a hangi, please fill out the form and return to the dropbox in the office no later than Wednesday 29th July at 9am.

Life Education visit- we have had a fabulous series of visits with Harold in the Life Education van. We have learned about how we are all unique, how our brains control our personality and how we can interact positively with our friends.   Below is a range of options that your child can do if they find themselves in a  situation of conflict at school or in play.

Have a happy weekend.
Kind regards

Anna, Sarah and Wendy

Kia ora  whānau
Just a quick "Welcome back to Term 3"! It promises to be a very busy term, but also one filled with great opportunities for our children.

Unfortunately, our toilet renovations are not quite complete yet. It will take another couple of weeks in order to finish all the plastering and painting. This does mean that we cannot use our normal exit for the children by the playground.
Hence all L Space children will be exiting by the front door for the next couple of weeks.

 We are also very lucky to have the Life Education  Trust visiting our school at the moment. Over the next couple of weeks, all of our children will be partaking in this, with a focus on relationships and friendships.

We are also celebrating Matariki this week, with a school-wide Discovery day this Friday based around Matarkiki, and a hangi on Friday 31st July.



Library day is still Thursdays
Poetry is Friday

Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Sarah, Wendy and Anna.

Kia ora whānau
 Many thanks to everyone who came along to our Learning Conversations. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet with you all and talk about your children in more detail.
We are continuing to work in our regular learning groups for our core subjects in the mornings, but we are now also working collaboratively across our Timatanga team again in some of our learning areas such as Art and Discovery. It is wonderful to be able to mix freely again and the children are thoroughly enjoying reconnecting with old friends and teachers again!

Some key dates to remember.

• Thursdays- Library day
• Poetry- Friday
• .Sausage Sizzle- $2 per sausage

• Full school assembly will be held in Week 11  Friday 25th June at 2p.m

 Any queries, please do come and see us. Have a happy weekend.

 Kind regards

Wendy, Anna and Sarah

Kia ora whānau
 Our apologies for missing the blog last week. I think we are all starting to feel the length of our winter school term post Covid 19! We are noticing a lot more tiredness within the children, and the occasional meltdown over very small incidents. If your child is getting " beyond it all", please do keep them at home for a rest day if you can- we all know that sometimes you just need to take a breath and recover, in order that you can carry on for the rest of the term.

• We welcome Miss Kelsey Shiels into our L space. She is a Graduate Diploma student with the University of Canterbury, who is doing her final placement before teaching We know she will be a valuable addition to the team.

• Thursdays- Library day
• Poetry- Friday

• Friday 12th-   Wacky hair/ Crazy Hair day. No donation required. Please note this is NOT a Mufti day.

• Thank you to all those parents who have booked for our Learning Conversations next week. If you haven't yet booked please do so via the office or your Home Base teacher.                       

• Now that we are in Level 1 again- you are welcome to come into the school grounds before and after school. We will not be releasing the children early anymore though- thus please arrange pickups to be at 3.

• Full school assembly will be held in Week 11  Friday 25th June at 2p.m

 Any queries, please do come and see us.

 Kind regards

Wendy, Anna and Sarah

Kia ora whānau,

Welcome to Week 7. It was lovely having the children back last week. The very quickly and happily settled back into the school day and class routines. You can continue to use studyladder at home as a resource if you wish to. Some children seemed to be missing their poetry books. If this is the case, could you please help your child look for it.

All Poetry books are to be returned ready for Friday's new poem - there is a poetry box behind the counter for your child to pop their book. A reminder, that no hats are needed this term.

Learning conferences:
Please remember to book your time for your learning conference.

Booking appointments for Learning Conversations

1. Go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

2. Click MAKE A BOOKING

3. Enter the code: z9eaz

4. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete your booking

If you have any issues with the booking please email sandy.vallance@thorrington.ac.nz.

Reminders for Week 7
Friday:
Poetry Day
Library Day
Sausage Sizzle

Heading towards week 8 :-)

Kia ora whānau,

Welcome to the end of Week 7.  Very surreal times for us all as adults, but for our children, it is largely" business as usual"! It is great that they are mostly still insulated from all the worldwide troubles that are surrounding us, and we are endeavouring to keep everything as normal as possible here at school. As per the MOE guidelines, please do keep your child home from school if they are feeling unwell- we greatly appreciate your support with this- we know it is not easy juggling sick children and work commitments.

We had our second session with Constable Ross this week and the children were well informed and engaged. Remember to keep filling in the 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' booklets that went home.

Please do encourage your children to leave special toys at home. If it is something valuable or extra special and they do want to "share',  please ask them to give these to their teacher and we can safely store these items in our teacher's office. This prevents these items from being used or carried around at playtimes and getting broken or lost.

Things to diarize:


Monday 23rd March:  School is closed for instruction as it is a Teacher Only Day.
Wednesday: TLC Mufti day. Please come in casual clothes and bring a gold coin donation to support the children's playroom at Christchurch Hospital.
Thursday: Library Day
PLEASE make sure your child puts their library books in the 'slot' in the desk and their library bags in the green box behind the desk before or on Thursday.

Friday: Poetry Day; IGNITE; Buddy Reading;

We hope you all have a lovely weekend. We know these are uncertain times for us all-  please take care and support each other and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or concerns :)

Kind regards

Anna, Sarah and Wendy

Week 7

Kia ora whānua,

Welcome to the end of Week 6. A sad good-bye today to Josh Marriage who is returning to the U.K. It has been wonderful having you in the L Space Josh - and we wish you all the best at your new school in Cambridge.

We had our first IGNITE session this morning. Lots of different activities were on offer such as musical instruments, puppets, lego and dinosaurs.

We enjoyed the lesson we had with Constable Ross this week. We have another lesson with him next week. Remember to keep filling in the 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' booklets that went home.

Colour Your Day
It was lovely to see the children in all their colours today and to have the community here at lunchtime.

Library
Library day is Thursday. PLEASE make sure your child puts their library books in the 'slot' in the desk and their library bags in the green box behind the desk before or on Thursday.

The Week Ahead
Monday: Singing
Wednesday: Whānau Hui 5:30 - 6:30
Thursday: Library Day
Friday: Poetry Day; IGNITE; Buddy Reading; Year 1 Assembly 11:45 am

We hope you all have a lovely weekend :)

Ngā mihi nui
Sarah, Wendy and Anna

Week 6

Dear whānau
It's been another busy week but the children are well settled into our routines and are engaged in all our learning. Thank you for all your support at home.
We continue with our Keeping Ourselves safe programme this week with a visit from Constable  Ross, who will talk to the children about " Physically me". Please do support your child's learning by completing the homework book alongside your child.

We are starting to see a lot of "precious things" coming to school and unfortunately some of these things are going missing or getting damaged. Can we please leave toys at home, that way they stay precious and intact! Again, if your child does have something special attached to the outside of their bag, it may be safer to remove this and keep it inside their bags safely.

Tues/Wed 10/11th- Anna will be out of the team as part of her management role.
Wednesdays- Coding Club 3.15-4p.m HB12

Thursday –  Library day

Friday Week 7 20th March –  Timatanga Assembly 11.50 in the school hall. ** Please note the earlier start time.

Trash lab

Volunteers are desperately needed to help with the Trash Lab at lunchtimes. The Trash Lab is well-loved by the children and we need your help to keep it running. This involves being at school once a month or even once a term from 12.30-1.30pm. We will work in with what best suits you. To go on the roster, if you have any questions, or would like to pop down one lunchtime to see what it's all about please email thorringtontrashlab@gmail.com

Colour  your Day -  Friday March 13th 

Come dressed in colour!!

We would love our families and community to join us in this day of remembrance by also dressing in colour, and coming to share eating lunch with our children on the field at 12.15, Friday 13th March. If wet, your child will eat in their Home Base. As a school, we will also be showing our respect for the victims of last year’s tragedy, by observing a minute’s silence at 1.40pm.

Te Kura o Huriawa Thorrington has chosen to not ask for a monetary donation for our students, but ask that they do come to school dressed in as much colour as possible. If you would still like to make a personal donation to St John- we will have a donation box available in the school office.

Registrations are currently open for Junior Netball- Years1-6
At Te Kura o Huriawa Thorrington we, as staff, are not responsible for the overall running of these teams and they become parent-led teams during the season. We are however offering once again to collate the teams and enter them into the tournaments. In order for this to be done, we require all Registrations to be back by Friday 13th March. After this date, you may not be successful in getting into a team, or certainly the team you would like to. To register please visit https://forms.gle/S31JwqSCw2xB14XC9

We hope you all have a happy weekend. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at all.
Kind regards

Anna, Sarah and Wendy