Monday 29 February 2016


Home Learning Week 5

Please find below the Home Learning sheet for this week.  There is also a link for a PDF file if you prefer to print this out to have a hard copy at home.

Home Learning Week 5 - Printable PDF





Video

The Seatbelt Song

Last week, as part of their reading tasks, the group of children who read 'The Seatbelt Song' were challenged to turn the song into a visual presentation.  This is their wok in progress ...  (Ms Steans)




Church Certificate Stars


Congratulations to the week 4 Church Certificate recipients from our Waka Pūhara whanau.


Raj, Nina and Inaki

Monday 22 February 2016



Home Learning Week 4

Please find below the Home Learning sheet for this week.  There is also a link for a PDF file if you prefer to print this out to have a hard copy at home.

Printable PDF


Church Certificate Stars


Congratulations to the week 3 Church Certificate recipients from our Waka Pūhara whanau. 

Olivia M and Amelia H

Thursday 18 February 2016

Community Time

Community Time


During the time that the Yr 3 and 4 children have been swimming this week, the remaining children (Yr 5 and some Yr 4 children) have been exploring the idea of Community.  

A challenge was set to plan for a brand new development/community/township.  Firstly, the children worked in pairs to record any essential services/businesses etc that a community might need.  

Slowly groups joined forces to compare their lists, culminating in 2 large groups, each with a comprehensive list of businesses/services.  

Amazing focus from the students as they discussed the pros and cons of what might be available in their new community.

Discussion, discussion, discussion ... !

Once the two groups had compiled their lists, we held an informal group debate which provided the opportunity for children to challenge/defend each others ideas.  

'Inflatable World' was quickly voted out as it was deemed that the benefits of this service could be achieved through other means (eg free playgrounds etc).  A great debate was held today questioning if The Warehouse, a Poo Store (selling animal droppings as manure!), Oderings and a Hardware Store were all really necessary as they all provided a similar product.

Tomorrow will be the last session for this group ... what will the final outcome be?


Swimming Sports


What a fantastic afternoon of swimming we had yesterday (Wednesday) at Waltham Pool.  All of the children who participated (Yr 4-8) showed great skills and persistence to produce swimming results of which they can be very proud.

A big congratulations to Julius House who were the winners of the Inter-House Competition.

Photos from the afternoon are currently on show on the television in the main entrance.  Come and have a look.

Waiting for the races to begin ...

A few interesting characters showed up to participate in the Yr8 vs Parents race ... needless to say, the Yr8's won ... however it was a well fought battle!


Monday 15 February 2016

Aquagym

What a wonderful day to start swimming. The children were grouped quickly and then started their lessons. We have a wide range of swimming abilities within the classes. This week is an introduction to swimming and water safety. It would be wonderful if you were able to build on this experience with a set of lessons. Keep watching for the photos from the pool.

Water safety





The children completed some amazing work for homework on watersafety.
We have appreciated the varieties of ways the children have presented their work.



            Julia, Harriet, Minnie, Summer, Tyler, Rafi and Ruby-Grace         

Home Learning Week 3

Printable PDF



Friday 12 February 2016

Church Certificate Stars


Congratulations to our first Church Certificate recipients from our Waka Pūhara whanau.   


Asay, Bonnie and Max.

Thursday 11 February 2016

Swimming at Waltham Pool

Swimming at Waltham Pool


Tomorrow is our last day of swimming for the Year 5 (and a few Year 4) children.  Since the first day of school they have been walking down to Waltham Pool every day for swimming instruction.  The large number of drownings in New Zealand over the past 12 months or so have promoted us to have had a focus on 'Water Safety' as part of our swim instruction this year.  In addition to some drill tasks, which support the development of swimming skills, Mattie and Paula (our very able instructors) have spent time educating the children about ways to keep safe while in and around the water.  Today the children enjoyed using life jackets, being pulled on to, pushed off of ... and swimming under a life raft.  Amidst the great enjoyment, important water safety skills were revised, in practical situations.  Tomorrow will involve more practical tasks, including swimming with clothing on, which will simulate for the children what it would be like to unexpectedly end up in the water when clothed!   A great way to end our Swim Safety sessions.




Wednesday 10 February 2016

Max's Taiaha

The children in Waka Pūhara did a super job of answering questions, as part of their home learning last week, about The Treaty of Waitangi.  As an extension to this learning, Max brought to school a number of treasures that he has collected as part of his 'Kiwi' heritage.  This collection included a special taonga,  his taiaha (which he made with the help of his Grandfather).  Take a moment to watch Max explain how he created this wonderful treasure. 
(You will need Flash to play this video, so it may not work on your iPad.)



Max explains how he made his taiaha.


How many of these 'Kiwi' objects can you identify?

Study Ladder


Thank you to the parent who suggested we post a link directly to Study Ladder for your ease of access to this resource.  It's fantastic to have parent suggestions and input! The link is below.  Just click on it and it will take you directly to the mathematics section of Study Ladder.



Alternatively, on the right hand side of our blog home page you will find a section with the title 'Resources' (see below for the illustration).  You can also click on the Study Ladder link there.  It will take you to the main Study Ladder page from where you click on the Mathematics Link.  



Please ask one of the teachers if you need any more help navigating this great resource.


Tuesday 9 February 2016


Term 2 - Week 2 - Home Learning


Friday 5 February 2016

NEWS FLASH!!!

You may now leave comments on our blog.  When you write a comment, please remember to write your name at the end so we know exactly who is taking the time to comment on the great learning that is happening as part of our team. 

eg   Great to see such super team work happening in Ruma Kōtuku! Ms Steans

We are really looking forward to recording some of our learning in this way so that the partnership between school and home is even more interactive.  Please remember to get the pink ICT permission slips returned to school as we need permission from home before posting your child's photo on the Waka Pūhara blog.  

Enjoy your long weekend!

Waitangi Day Home Learning


It was fantastic to see the amazing creativity the students in Waka Pūhara displayed when presenting their home learning this week.  A wide range of presentation methods were utilised to share findings about The Treaty of Waitangi including: posters, e-books, powerpoint presentations and working models.  A fantastic effort put in by so many students.  Thank you also to the parents who took the time to promote further discussions at home about Waitangi Day.  

 
Students from Kōtuku proudly display their Treaty of Waitangi home learning outcomes.

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Compassion

Compassion

Today the children in Waka Pūhara worked together to learn about Compassion - one of our school values.  We explored an example of how Jesus showed compassion to people around him and Mrs Brereton read a story that focused on showing compassion.


Everyone made a finger puppet which was used to help create a story that showed compassion.


Monday 1 February 2016

Home Learning Term 1 - Week 1

We are still perfecting our expertise in the area of blogging (working out the best way of formatting information so it is best suited for sharing with you on our blog)!  In the meantime, here is a digital copy of the 'Home Learning' for this week ... just in case your child did not manage to get all the way home with it tonight!