Kowhai

Kowhai Syndicate is made up of five classes.
Room 4   Grace King        New Entrant/Year 1
Room 5    Leigh Perry      New Entrant/Year 1
Room 3    Doreen Mackenzie     Year 2
Room 2    Mandy Smyth   Y1/Y2
Room 1    Chris Lisle        Y1/2
As there are two reception classes the new entrant teachers have a chance to settle in a group of new entrants before the next intake. We can have anywhere between 34-50 new entrants throughout the year. This year we are expecting to reach 50.  Parents are notified through the pre-schools as to which class their child will be in about five weeks before they start. They usually make four visits to the classroom before the big day.

Rachel Burt teaches in Room 5 on a Friday, when Miss Perry is released for her work as Assistant Principal.  Rosie Montgomerie, the Reading Recovery teacher, is also part of our syndicate. Students are tested at six and those needing extra  help with reading are given one-to-one instruction for 15 - 20 weeks. This programme allows those who may have been a little bit slow to get started, to catch up with their peers in reading.

Our main focus in the junior area is on literacy and numeracy. A love of reading is fostered through a print saturated environment and a reading programme with a balance of guided, shared and independent reading. Maths is taught at a set time but also integrated throughout the daily programme. Each term there is an Inquiry unit, integrating, science, the social sciences, the arts and/or technology. We introduce students to the Inquiry skills they will need as they go through the school. In the new entrants area the students learn the difference between a statement and a question. As they progress they learn to ask more open-ended questions. The students learn about the different sources they can go to for information. At the junior level they need support to form questions and find information. They are introduced to different ways of thinking, using De Bono’s thinking hats. Each room has two laptops and access to the computer pod.

Our Inquiry topic is called 'Can We Change it?' we are investigating how different materials can be changed through mixing, cooling, heating and dissolving. Then we are experimenting to find out if these materials can be changed back again. It is proving to be a very exciting topic.