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We have started the term positively with tamariki quickly settling into routines to ensure they are productive in class. We have also made a concerted effort to focus on love of work, and in particular, demonstrating how we love working with each other. A big thanks to Jo Harvell for all her work with the children in the garden and encouraging them to develop a love of gardening.
This term we will complete mid-year assessments and couple this with progress in the classroom to determine next steps for terms 3 and 4. This progress over the first half of the year will be communicated in our mid-year reports that come out just before the term break.
We look forward to two whole school EOTC trips this term. One to Zealandia and the other to Weta Workshop. These opportunities allow children to make connections with ideas and concepts taught in class. More details about these trips will be shared with you soon.
All mums are warmly invited to join us in celebrating Mother’s Day on Friday from 9am -10am in the school hall.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Nga mihi
Kerry de Graaff
Acting Principal

Catholic Character Blurb Week 2 Term 2
The scripture Reading is taken from the Mother’s Day liturgy this Friday.
In this Gospel reading according to John, Jesus asks the apostle John to make a place for Mary in his home. In this final act of love before Jesus dies on the cross, he gives us a beautiful example of the need to care for our mum always.
John 19: 25 -27
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
Room1 have been busy planning the term ahead and we are very excited to be learning about famous New Zealanders. We are also looking forward to learning about food from around the world as each person is going to teach us how to cook a meal from another country. We started with New Zealand and made delicious feijoa muffins. We have also started a Wonderful Wall of Words in R1 and we are trying to use new words every day.
Frances
Make room- Last week Rm1 went to Make Room. We did robotic things. First we plugged our robots into the computer. Then we did coding to make our robots move. There was a code book that helped you with the coding. I chose the code that let you control the robot by the remote control. After that we played robot tag. I played with Alistair and Kora.
Elisabeth
I really enjoy six for six writing. It is writing at least 6 sentences in 6 minutes. Usually, we have a picture to use that is the subject of the writing. I think it is amazing because the pictures are unusual and I can go in any direction with my writing. I think that my writing is getting better because I have lots of ideas and I add lots of interesting words instead of boring words.
Kora
In R1 we do cooking every second Wednesday. in our first session we made feijoa crunch muffins. Frances and I made the mixture and Elisabeth and Penny made the lemon cordial. Alistair cut up and cooked the zucchini. It tasted very good.
Penny
I am Penny and I am a librarian at CMCK. It is very fun to be a librarian. In the library you return and issue books. Jo is our school librarian and before Jo it was Estelle. We love getting out books and reading. It is fun learning. I hope to see you in the Cardinal McKeefry School very soon.
Alistair
Last week we went to the Makeroom. It is really fun and you do engineering and learning how to use different technology. Last time we created code that made the robots move around. They are like cars with eyes. It was a fun experience because I could use my Scratch skills to help write the code. The best part was playing Robot Tag.






















Since the beginning of term 2, we have spent time understanding what the dawn parade for ANZAC day entails, and also the values Pope Frances stood for. It was pleasing to see children make their own poppies to remember those who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we have today. For literacy, we are focusing on structuring information reports, specifically details about NZ birds as this will provide important background information for our trip to Zealandia later in the term. After consolidating key number skills in term 1, all children are now working on the appropriate Prime course and practice book for their year level. We are also reviewing key mathematical concepts expected to be covered through the NZ maths curriculum. For sport, we played indoor hockey developing striking skills and will look to improve our shooting skills with basketball this week.




Room 4 newsletterAnzac Day- We learnt about Anzac Day and why it is an important day in New Zealand. We talked about the brave soldiers who went to war to help keep our country safe. To remember them, we made special Anzac Day art. We created artwork with bright red poppies, which are a symbol of remembrance.
Balancing Games- We played some fun balancing games. We used beanbags and aimed to throw them into plastic bowls. This helped us practise our hand-eye coordination and balance. We had to stand carefully, aim well, and use gentle movements to get the beanbags into the hoops. It was lots of fun and helped us improve our motor skills, too! We balanced beanbags on our heads and had to try our best not to drop them whilst we raced towards the finishing line.
Mother’s Day- We made our very own bookmarks. These weren’t just any bookmarks; they were shaped like animals, which made them even more special and fun to create. Each of us made two bookmarks: one to keep for ourselves and one to give to our mums as a gift.
First, we carefully cut out the shapes, making sure to follow the lines as neatly as possible. It was a bit tricky, but we took our time and did our best. After that, we coloured them in with bright colours. We made sure to stay inside the lines and add our own creative touches. In the end, the bookmarks looked amazing, and we felt proud of what we had made.








Read every day! Read more in May!
It's a simple, joyful commitment to read together for just 10 minutes a day for the whole month of May. Ready to join in? Register today and get set for a month of meaningful moments and shared stories.
Reading together as a family is one of the most powerful ways to build strong habits and set your child up for lifelong success — in school and beyond. But we know it's not always easy to make time, especially with busy schedules and screens competing for attention. That's exactly why we created the 31-Day Challenge.
It's a simple, joyful commitment to read together for just 10 minutes a day for the whole month of May.
Penny created a beautiful interactive book which she shared with Room 1 and 4. We all enjoyed Penny’s creativity and the conversations that came from it during the library sessions. Penny’s book was inspired by Mix it Up! And Press Here by Herve Tullet, both colourful and interactive books perfect for any young reader.
Montessori
Montessori at Otari Preschool and Playgroup warmly invite interested families to our Open Day on Saturday 14th June, 10am-12 noon, at the Preschool (166 Wilton Road). If you know of anybody else who may be interested in our wonderful Playgroup and/or Preschool please let them know about this opportunity. We currently have a few spaces available. For more information phone 475 9688 or email wcmp@xtra.co.nz
Football
3 – 2 – 1 Fantails!
Designed for girls & coached by girls, Fantails football is where girls can give football a go. No football experience is needed – you will get it all here.
Onslow is running free weekly Fantails sessions for 7/8 & 9/10 age groups. The hour-long sessions will introduce the fundamentals of football, encourage friendships and allow girls to fall in love with the game.
Both sessions will run on Friday, 4-5pm at Nairnville Turf
from Friday 9 May.
Register now – https://onslow.org.nz/milo-fantails/ or contact fantails@onslow.org.nz for more info.
Recycling
