Kahikatea 2023

Feb - There are 22 Year 7 and 8 students in Kahikatea this year. We have enjoyed many activities in the first few weeks to help us bond as a new class, with dodgeball a clear favourite game. Our current topic of focus is Early New Zealand, learning about the changes to our country before and after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. We are also in the process of putting together a class newspaper, which will include news of Kahikatea students' exploits, super sporting feats, profiles of staff and student leaders, a broken arm, recipes, puzzles, a comic strip and more!

April -This term has been action-packed with sporting events (triathlon and swimming sports), a visit from Harold and Life Education, a House Challenge, scarecrow-making and the Pumpkin Festival, on top of all our regular learning. We've been learning a new painting technique, ‘Pointillism’ and the children have produced some fantastic landscapes. We've also greatly increased our knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and what NZ was like around that time. Things will be a bit different for the Senior class next term, having Mr Winterbourn taking the children to Technology on a Thursday. The children and I would like to wish Mr Couper all the very best for his new job.

June - Term 2 is well underway and the children of Kahikatea have been working incredibly hard. I'm constantly impressed by this class and their levels of motivation, independence and self-management. The children are particularly enthusiastic about our 'Country Study' research project. In small groups, they are required to research a country of their choosing and present their information to the class, along with a language lesson, a dance, a piece of art, as well as some culinary delights!

It's not all work and no play though! We love our daily fitness and  PE or a game - favourites are dodgeball, jailbreak and 3-ball football. It was excellent to see how hard the students pushed themselves at the BP Cross-Country last week, and almost half the class have also tested themselves at Lincoln Zone level just this week. We also have the LZ Football (Y8s) and LZ Basketball (Y5-8) tournaments coming up.

August - We have a Science focus in Kahikatea this term. We have been investigating the differences between physical and chemical change, and carrying out some cool experiments. 

In Maths we are tackling multiplication and division strategies; we also have two teams representing LRS at the Cantamath competition later this month: Yr8 - Brendon, Evie, Hugo and Nathan; Yr7 - Amy, Caelyn, Cooper and Isabella. 

The children are all in the process of writing persuasive speeches. Two children will be chosen to present their speeches at the Selwyn Lions Speech Competition in September. Winter sport is in full swing, and most of the class are looking forward to competing at the LZ Netball/Rugby tournament in a couple of weeks, followed by the BP Schools' Winter Tournament. All in all, another very busy term!…Ruth Pannett