Kauri Team Newsletter - Week 8 Term 1

 Kauri Week 8 Blog

Kia ora koutou, 

We have been very engaged and working diligently in the Kauri hub for the last two weeks! We’ve been focused on our Literacy/Inquiry tasks on Leadership, have had hockey sessions to amp up our skills, Tuakana Teina time with our Year 1 and 2s from Kahikatea, and started cross-country training for the competition in Term 2. The Year 5-8 teachers have also been collaborating about our Winter Sports programme, which starts in Term 2 as well! 

Upcoming Dates:

Term 1
Week 9:            

Wednesday - Huxster Mountain Biking Event at McLean's Island

Thursday - Last day of school for Term 1 (have a restful break!)

Term 2

Week 1:

Wednesday - Ngā Puna Wai Tournament (Year 5-8)

Week 2:

Monday - School closed (Anzac Day)

Wednesday - PSC Aquathon Swim and Run Event

Wednesday - World Vision Junior Youth Conference 2026 (for World Challenge Leaders)

Friday - BTKOP Cross Country Event

Tuakana Teina with Kahikatea students

Every other Friday (non-assembly days), Kauri is buddying with the Year 1 and 2 students for some shared reading and inquiry time. Last week, they paired up one-to-one and completed a Nature Scavenger Hunt and read books together. We love seeing our school values ‘We Care’ and ‘We Get There Together’, during this time. Looking forward to next time!

Canterbury Hockey Sessions 

Each Home Group had a jam-packed 45-minute session with a Canterbury Hockey representative. The students learned about push passing, how to hold a stick correctly, had a few competitions and played a game at the end. Everyone showed ‘We Love Learning’ during their session!

Literacy/Inquiry Biographies

The past few weeks, the students have been researching a leader of their choice and writing a biography essay about that person. The students will also create a static image of their leader. This is a visual representation of their leader with a quote and symbol to depict a strong image portrayal. We look forward to completing our projects and sharing them with whānau and each other.

Year 7/8 Mountain Biking Relay

The South Island Schools MTB Champs are currently underway, and the boys have already had an awesome start. Our Year 7/8 team of Zach G, Ben S, and Daniel M took out 1st place, finishing four minutes ahead of the next team. They also placed 10th overall, racing against mostly high school riders.

In the U14 Cross Country race, Zach G placed 1st, winning by three minutes. Daniel M finished 6th, and Ben S came in 11th.

Such a great effort so far—we’re excited to see how they get on over the rest of the event!

PSC Canterbury Swimming:

A huge congratulations to all the Year 7/8 students who participated in the zone swimming competition. Fun was had by all, especially when they got their ice cream! The participants displayed grit and our school value, ‘We Love Challenge’. Well done tamariki!

Welcome to Nate, our 24/7 Youth Worker!

Nate, a 24/7 Youth Worker, will join the Kauri team in Term 2, working 2 days a week. He comes with fantastic listening skills and a passion to support all tamariki. We look forward to working with him on our team!

Have a fantastic weekend with your tamariki,
Hugo, Kate McG, Megan C, Sarah A, Megan H & Nicky

Kauri Team Newsletter - Term 1, Week 6

Kia ora koutou,

What a jam-packed two weeks we’ve had in Kauri! Week 5 featured the South Zone Swimming Sports, round two of our Whare Kotahitanga, Walk or Wheel Week, and plenty of learning packed in between.

Week 6 is already shaping up to be a highlight for the yearbook as we enjoyed a range of activities during Leadership Week. From discovering what type of leader we are to putting those qualities into practice, it has been fantastic to see students stepping up and embracing new challenges.

Upcoming Dates:
Week 7:            Wednesday - Whare Kotahitanga (Rotation 3)
                          Thursday - School Based Immunisation Programme

Week 8:             Monday - Canterbury Hockey Skills Sessions
                          Thursday & Friday - SISS Mountain Biking Event
                          Friday - Celebration Assembly & Kauri Sausage Sizzle

Week 9:             Wednesday - Huxster Mountain Biking Event at McLean's Island

Have a fantastic weekend with your tamariki,
Hugo, Kate McG, Megan C, Sarah A, Megan H & Nicky

Thank you to Megan Harris
Over the last three weeks, we have been incredibly lucky to have Megan Harris covering Megan C’s homegroup while she has been away. Megan has stepped in seamlessly and has been a wonderful part of Kauri during this time.

Thank you, Megan, for all the support, care, and enthusiasm you have brought over the past few weeks — we have truly loved having you in Kauri!

South Zone Swimming Sports (& Swimming Cups)
In week 5, our BTKOP representatives headed off to the South Zone Swimming Sports to compete for a chance to advance to the Canterbury event on Thursday the 26th of March. We want to congratulate all of our swimmers for the determination, grit and speed they showed through their races and a further congratulations to those who progressed to the Canterbury event. 

We have also presented our first cups for 2026 and wanted to share our congratulations to Sarah W and Sebastian B who were our 2026 recipients. What an incredible achievement for you both!

Whare Kotahitanga

Our house captains, deputy house captains, and sports leaders have been showing off their fantastic leadership skills by running our Whare Kotahitanga sessions over the past two weeks, with two more to go. During this time, we have been taking part in activities within our house groups, involving all tamariki across the school. Students have rotated through four different stations: rautaki (sport), tūhono (connection), auaha (creation), and hononga (team building). Tamariki across the school have been loving this time to connect, and our kaiako (teachers) have been raving about the leadership shown by our student leaders — tino pai!

Week 6 - Leadership Week

Leadership Week has been a highlight for our class. We were lucky to hear from three inspiring speakers — Craig Saunders, Lucy Gray, and Andy Thompson — who shared their experiences and insights about leadership. Through their talks, students learned about different leadership styles and what it means to lead in positive and meaningful ways.

Throughout the week, we had plenty of opportunities to put these ideas into practice. Students planned a tuakana–teina buddy session and spent time on Friday connecting with our Kahikatea buddies. We also walked to Mount Vernon and then on to Hansen Park, where we took part in leadership and team-building challenges.

Each afternoon, students participated in a variety of fun team-building activities, including blindfolded mazes, tug of war, the electric fence challenge, and the classic game of Zip Zap. On Thursday afternoon, we also enjoyed a swim at Waltham Pool, and we returned to school on Friday morning for a team breakfast together.

It has been fantastic to see students stepping up, supporting one another, and growing their leadership skills throughout the week. Please enjoy these photos from Leadership Week!

Kauri Team Newsletter Term 1 Week 4

 Kauri Team News: Data, Discovery, and Deep Thinking 🧠

It has been a whirlwind of activity in the Kauri team! As we move through the term, we are incredibly proud of how our Year 7 and 8 students are stepping up as leaders and creative thinkers. Here is a look at what’s been happening in our space.

Mathematics: Data Scientists in the Making🖩🖩🖩

Our statisticians have been busy investigating the world around them. From favorite foods and sports to more complex variables like allergies and interests, students have been uncovering the "story" behind our class data.

Many students are now using CODAP (Common Online Data Analysis Platform) to visualize their findings. It’s been impressive to see them move beyond simple graphs to truly extracting and interpreting information like professional data scientists!

Literature & Perspective: Trash by Andy Mulligan📗📖📕

As we wrap up Week 4, we are nearing the end of our class novel, Trash. This story has been a powerful catalyst for deep classroom discussions around heavy real-world themes: poverty, corruption, and homelessness.

To wrap up this unit, students are now creating static images- a visual representation designed to illustrate their unique perspective on one of these themes. The level of empathy and critical thinking shown by the students has been insightful.

Reading- reading is a daily habit in Kauri. Check out a couple of titles.

Science Badges: Curiosity at Home❓❔❓

We love seeing our students' "inner scientists" come to life! Many have expressed interest in earning Science Badges.

• The Details: This is primarily an at-home learning initiative, though "fast finishers" may sometimes have opportunities to plan or work on tasks during school hours.

• Action: If your child is interested, badges are $6 payable to the office.

Friday Passions: Exploring Our Interests 😄😄😄

We were so excited to launch our Passions Program this week! This is a highlight of our week, allowing students to explore areas they are truly curious about. This term, our kete is full of variety: Coding, Dungeons & Dragons, Sports, Mural Painting, Cooking, and Buddy Time. It’s a joy to see the buzz of excitement every Friday afternoon and the happy, smiling, faces.

 

Portrait Art 

Kauri have looked at symbols that represent things we identify with and love. 

Identity Images

We have also looked at who we are and what we identify with. 

Our classrooms are looking much better with some art representing our students. Thanks team Kauri. 

Kauri Writing: The Power of the Pen✍✍✍

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been sharpening our tools as writers. We’ve focused on the "Big Six": Tone, Hooks, Sentence Length, Language Features, Vivid Descriptions, and the golden rule of "Show, Don’t Tell."

The results have been breathtaking. Here are a few "golden lines" from our Kauri writers that stopped us in our tracks:

"The wind was squealing, as if the fire had scared it..."  CG

"There were mountains of puppies..."  HV

"I could already hear shouting, roaring, laughing; it got louder the closer I got."  ML

"I turned around and saw that figure staring into my soul; he had bloody, stained teeth..." SL

"As I'm gliding my hands across the wall, I feel an indentation..." TB

Ask your child to share their writing with you, though they might complain their hands are "falling off" from so much handwriting!

Whare Kotahitanga: Connection & Unity😊👍👍

On Wednesday, we held our first Whare Kotahitanga afternoon. This refreshed house programme isn't about the scoreboard; it’s about Kotahitanga (unity), Manaakitanga (kindness), and Whanaungatanga (relationships).

It was a fantastic afternoon of Year 1–8 students connecting. A massive "shout out" to our House Captains, Deputies, Sports Leaders, and the Media Team. You organized equipment, led chants, and managed activities with such professionalism. Thanks, team!

Upcoming Events 📅📅📅

Week	Date	Event
Week 5	Wed / Thu	House Games (Wed) / SZ Swimming Sports (Thu)
Week 6	All Week	Leadership Week (Kauri Day Out & Guest Speakers)
	Wed / Fri	School Photos (Wed) / Learning Celebration (Fri)
Week 8	Thu / Fri	PSC Swimming Sports (Thu) / Learning Celebration (Fri)
Week 9	Wed / Thu	Huxster Mountain Biking (Wed) / Last Day of Term (Thu)

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Kauri Blog, Week 2, Term 1 2026

 Welcome back to 2026!

Tēnā koutou! Team Kauri teachers have been excited to welcome back our Year 7 students as Year 8’s and to integrate our new Year 7’s into the team for the first two weeks of school. It has been a calm and settled start to the year.

New Space, New Team

We are now located in a new space as a team. We are utilising Hangere and Kōmanawa as our classroom spaces and we are very happy to have such lovely classrooms for our learning this year 🙂.

Upcoming Events

Week 3

• PSC Triathlon - Tuesday

Week 4

• House Games - Wednesday

• BTKOP Swimming Sports - Thursday

• Whole School Learning Celebration - Friday

• Passions begin - Friday

Week 5

• House Games - Wednesday

• SZ Swimming Sports - Thursday

Week 6

• Leadership Week - including Kauri Day Out & sleepover

• School Photos - Wednesday

• House Games - Wednesday

• Whole School Learning Celebration - Friday

Week 7

• House Games - Wednesday

Week 8 

• PSC Swimming sports - Thursday

• Whole School Learning Celebration - Friday

Week 9

• Huxster mountain biking - Wednesday

• Last Day of Term - Thursday

Technology & Languages

Tuesday was our first technology session for the year. The Tech team at Christchurch South Intermediate commented on how awesome our kids were from the start and the students loved attending their first tech sessions diving into some amazing hands-on activities. The new technology programme includes: Digitech, Coding, Food technology, Textiles, and Hard Materials.

We also had the pleasure of having our first language sessions with the specialist teaching staff from Cashmere high school. We enjoyed our first experiences of French and Spanish with Debbie and Victoria.

Leadership opportunities

Our new house captains had some opportunities in the first couple of days to setup and lead activities for Team Kōwhai and Pōhutukawa for their water play. The rest of the team have been learning about some of the Leadership opportunities available. The selection process for these leadership opportunities will be happening over the next week and students will be learning about how and what this will involve.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Ben Stoney for completing Grade 5 Violin. We are very pleased for his achievements!

We look forward to the opportunities coming up this term and cant wait to get stuck into the new learnings and experiences we will all have.

Please do not hesitate to contact any of the teaching staff if you have an questions about the upcoming term.

Ka kite!

Hugo, Sarah A, Kate McG, and Megan C.