Introduction
Kia ora koutou and welcome to Kōwhai, the New Entrant-Year 1 classroom. My name is Sophie Garbett and I am really excited to be part of your child’s learning journey. I find the children's enthusiasm about the world around them and their desire to play and learn at this age contagious. I love seeing them grow and progress in this first year at school.
To ensure the right support and environment for your child I believe in strong partnership between child, school and whānau. So please be in touch! Ask questions, bring queries or concerns directly to me so we can discuss them. Come and see me before or after school, send me a message on Seesaw, write me an email (sophie@ormond.school.nz) or call the office (06-862 5725) and leave me a message. I will be in touch as soon as possible. I look forward to working alongside your child and your family.
At Ormond School
At Ormond School our New Entrant class has lots of opportunities to engage in a range of activities that promote:
Social interactions
Encouragement of curiosity and problem solving
Active participation and collaboration
Oral language skills
Opportunities for risk-taking
Self-management
Development of fine and gross motor skills
A sense of belonging
Enjoyment of the environment, tasks and peers
whilst also using explicit teaching to build foundation skills in Reading, Writing and Maths.
How to prepare your child for school
The most important thing you can do for your child is to be positive about school; that way your child will feel more relaxed and excited about starting school. Here are some ways you can help prepare your child for school:
Recognise and write their own name, with a capital letter and lowercase letters
Teach your child how to communicate their feelings to others
Dressing and undressing themselves for swimming and toileting
Being able to put on and take off shoes by themselves (Provide shoes without laces until your child can tie laces independently)
Being able to toilet independently
Being able to open and close school bags, lunch boxes and drink bottles independently
Recognise and count numbers to 10
Read lots of stories together
School Visits
In the months ahead of your child starting at Ormond School, we encourage school visits for your child to get to know the routines of school, to meet the other tamariki in the class and for the teacher and the tamariki to get to know your child. We have weekly visit days on Tuesday or/and Thursday, beginning with morning visits (till morning tea time), then half days, building up to a full day. This can be changed to suit tamariki and their whānau.
Our Learning Metaphor
In Kōwhai we are powerful pirates! Each child is a pirate and have their very own porthole on board our ship. Everyday they start on the ship and sail in search of new treasures (learning). As we know being a pirate requires great skills in order to first reach an island then find the treasure, just like a student needs to display the right attitude and skills to access new learning. When students are noticed displaying the qualities of a powerful learner/pirate, they can sail first to the island then, when they are noticed again, make their way to the treasure. This is a way to recognise their effort and ability at being a powerful learner.