Take Flight Newsletter

A huge welcome to all of the Learners, Family and Friends of 2015s

fabulous students. We hope you have had a wonderful Summer break
and are as excited as we are about the year ahead. This year will see
many new opportunities, challenges and developments within the Take
Flight Hub and school-wide.

Term 1
Important Dates
2 Feb Term 1 begins
4 Feb Yr 2 Choir begins
9 Feb Kapahaka begins
19 Feb Meet the
Teacher picnic dinner
10 Mar Junior Swim
Sports
11 Mar School Photos
24/25 Mar Parent Catch
Ups

Remember
SUNHATS

During Term 1 the

wearing of school

Kapahaka and Te Reo:

Commencing in Week 2 Take Flight will attend specific lessons in Te
Reo with Matua Iwi. Our timeslot is Mondays at 9:15am.
Junior Kapahaka will be Mondays at 11:30am. We encourage all
interested students to give this a go.
Year 2 Choir:
Liz Tamblin our specialist art teacher will be
offering a Year 2 choir on Thursdays at
2:10pm. Please encourage your children to take
on this fun opportunity.
Tuakana teina time:
On Monday and Wednesday afternoons Take Flight classes will be
working with Flight Deck (Yr 5/6). Each of our classes will have a
buddy class and buddy children within these. Activities will vary
throughout the year with the focus being on growing positive
relationships across the school and increasing student and teacher
capabilities. We feel Tuakana teina time is innovative and an exciting
opportunity for everyone involved.

Homework
Reading:
All children are expected to read at least 5 nights per week. Reading
to and with you child EVERY day has an enormous and lasting impact
on their learning. Its benefits are limitless; building their vocabulary,
increasing their understanding of the world and providing time that is
just yours. Please take the time to fill in your childs Read It book,
even if it is just to initial it.
Homework Books:
Homework books will come home each week, including spelling words
to practise reading and writing, a chunk challenge and maths basic
facts to focus on.
Weekly Testing = Fridays after Morning Tea eating time

brimmed sunhats is
compulsory for all
children.

Where to find us:

Blog: takeflight.blog.welcomebay.school.nz

Welcome to Karaka
Hi, for those of you who are new to Karaka my name is Ms Katreena Daniels.
Im the Hub Guardian for Take Flight and this is my second year teaching at
Welcome Bay School, having spent a number of years teaching across the Kaimais
near Matamata.
Creating independent young learners is my passion and I love being part of their
learning journey, seeing them have those Ah ha! moments is a real privilege.
You can contact me on:
katreena@welcomebay.school.nz

Our Team
As the year progresses Take Flight is aiming to
work collaboratively more and more. This may
mean that your child will be reading in their own
class, but having maths or writing lessons in
another class. One of our core beliefs is that the
childrens progress, achievement and well-being is
all of our responsibilities and we are working hard
together to best meet your childrens needs.

How can you help?

Do you have the occasional hour free or a real
passion for reading, maths, swimming, art?
Whatever your skill we would love you to be
involved. It may be coming and listening to a child
read or helping to test their spelling words. Let
us know how you would like to help and when
youre available and together well grow some
amazing young people.

The Take Flight team for 2015 is:

Karaka Ms Daniels
Kowhai Miss McGovern
Pohutukawa Mr Thomson

Swimming Term 1
Learning to swim and to keep yourself safe around water is an essential life skill, especially in
Tauranga where we are surrounded by a beautiful ocean and an abundance of lakes and rivers very
close by. Swimming is part of the New Zealand curriculum and we are very lucky to have our own
school pool. Children need to bring their swimsuits every day or a note explaining why they are
unable to swim.
If anyone has childrens swimwear that has been outgrown
we would love these to be donated to ensure all students
across the school have the opportunity to learn water skills.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to working together in 2015