Kaitake

The wonderful Kaitake class! Taught by Ilana Kerr!

Kia ora, my name is Ilana Kerr and I am thrilled to be starting my teaching journey at Midhirst school this year! I am incredibly excited to get started and to be part of such a supportive school community. I am passionate about creating a positive, engaging learning environment where every student feels encouraged to do their best. Outside of the classroom, swimming is a big passion of mine, and I love being involved in sports and spending time outdoors. I am really looking forward to a fantastic year of learning, growth, and fun together.

Caitlyn Murray Release teacher.

Kia ora, my name is Caitlyn Murray and I am the Kaitake class release teacher this year. I started my teaching career back in 2017 at Midhirst School and have been teaching part time since having my 2 daughters. I am very excited to be back teaching with my Midhirst School Whanau this year! I am passionate about creating a fun, inclusive, collaborative learning environment, as well as integrating my love of the Arts and Literacy. I am really looking forward to a wonderful year teaching alongside Ilana with a fantastic group of learners!

Americana!

As part of our Americana activities, Kaitake students created tally charts to keep track of the different coloured cars. It was a great way to link our maths learning into a fun school-wide event.

Turnbull Cup!

Some of our Kaitake students took part in the Turnbull Cup competition at the Wai o Rua Pools. It was wonderful to see the team cheering one another on and showing great support for their peers during each race!

Tabloid sports day!

Our school took part in Tabloid Sports Day! It was fantastic to see everyone proudly dressed in their house colours. I was especially proud of the Kaitake students, who showed wonderful leadership while supporting and encouraging the younger students in their groups.

Structured Literacy

At Midhirst school we follow a Structured Literacy approach for the teaching of Reading, Writing, Handwriting and Spelling. Structured Literacy is explicit, systematic, and sequential teaching of literacy at multiple levels – phonemes, letter–sound relationships, syllable patterns, morphemes, vocabulary, sentence structure, paragraph structure, and text structure.

In Kaitake class for structured literacy we use the Code to focus on spelling patterns, rules and morphology and a range of different texts including: decodables, novels and sophisticated picture books all integrated together to explicitly teach reading, writing and spelling.

PR1M3 Math

At Midhirst School we follow the Prime Math programme as our main approach to mathematical teaching and learning. This programme is built on clear, well-structured progressions that map a pathway through year 1-8 based on practices used by top performing countries in international studies. The Prime math programme follows two foundational principles.

Principle 1: Teaching is for learning; learning is for understanding; understanding is for reasoning and applying and, ultimately problem solving.

Principle 2: Teaching should build on students’ knowledge; take cognisance of students’ interests and experiences; and engage them in active and reflective learning.

Important Links for Home Learning:

Seesaw

ilana@midhirst.school.nz

Report abuse