Advent - A Time to Prepare for the coming of Christ

Our 'Movement' Challenge

Our 'movement challenge' was to design a machine that could help us do chores around the house.  We had to draw and label our special machine.  We had lots of fun explaining our design to the rest of the class.  Some of us even made prototypes!!!  Tino pai everyone.

Year 4's EOTC (in a nutshell)

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An explanation about 'How a bike works'

The bike is a mechanical machine which is an easy type of transport

that can move people and goods around from place to place.  A bike is made up of many different parts such as: pedals, wheels and axles which makes it move effectively and function properly.  Firstly, you put your helmet on and hop on your bike.  Secondly, you keep your balance and start pedalling to get you going. Thirdly, when you are going a bit faster, change your gears and just keep on pedalling to get you going.  The bike can keep going until you stop or you use the brakes to stop. The brakes squeeze on the wheel to make it stop.

Now you know what is on your bicycle, how to ride it and a new word... ‘FRICTION.’

                                 By James and Riya

Adventure Forest...Here We Come!!!

On Tuesday the 20th and Wednesday the 21st of November, we went to Adventure Forest. When we got there we met our instructors Nick, Francois, Francoise and Katlin. Then we had a talk about what we where going to do. After that, we went to get the gear on. The gear we had to get on included: a harness, 2 karabiners, and a helmet.  But there was heaps of other gear connected on the harness. Once we had done that, we went to a practice test that was awesome!!!  There were 20 flying foxers, 7 circuits and 80 activities to do...that’s a lot!!!  Sometimes, you have to take risks on things that you don’t want to do like the big flying foxes. Sometimes, when you do that, you are building up your courage and confidence.  What a thrilling EOTC experience...we can’t wait until Kawau Island next year...BRING IT ON!!!

By Tayla and Madeline  

Surfing at Sandy Bay

Wow...this is the best day ever!  We are at Sandy Bay having a surfing lesson.  While we were waiting, we played bat down and volleyball and then we went for a surf  was awesome!!!  Then we finshed our day by going back to school and went home. It was a awesome trip. If you want to be a good surfer, you have know how to quickly stand on your feet, balance, weight forward and just enjoy the ride.  A special thanks to the parents who helped on the day.  Also, thank you to Simon and Jo from ‘Surf Safaris.’  (By Levi and Antoni)

Reotahi Rocks!!!

Whoa!  We had just arrived at Reotahi Bay and we are already into it.  Firstly, group five had to do a colouring comptition and boy it was it hard to do.  Secondly, we went for a walk to the old Reotahi Freezing works.  It was built in 1918, and was the first freezing works to be built in the world!  Refridgeration was also invented around that era which helped keep the meat cool.  Oh yeah, don’t let me forget when we went snorkelling.  We saw all sort of fish like the nudibrand, sea horse, grey mallet and sea anemone. The most dangerous fish or shell there today were oysters, eagle rays and last of all jellyfish.  We learnt a lot about marine life and ways we can look after them in their environment.  What an amazing day! Thanks Samara and Eden from Experiencing Marine Reserves.   By James

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

New Zealand is surrounded by ocean - our oceans are a national treasure for many reasons, but we have begun to see a national decline in many of our fish species. It is only recently that we have begun to understand the impacts this has on the rest of our marine environment. Only by working together as a nation towards understanding more about our marine environment can we minimise our impacts upon it and conserve what we have for future generations.  Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) is about providing schools and their communities with the expertise and knowledge to experience their local marine environment first-hand, leading to local communities understanding marine conservation issues in their local area and fostering kaitiakitanga. 

My Enviro Schools Expo (Going Bush)

Hi, I’m Charlotte Gillespie.  A few weeks ago, I was chosen to go to an 'Enviro Schools Expo' at Heritage Park. We had lots of fun! First, we went to a lady who knew lots about different types of garden weeds. It was very interesting! We all had to write on a chart about the name of weeds, how they get spread and how to idenyify them.

Secondly, we met a man who knew lots about Maori plants, and what Maori people believe in.  There is a plant called kawa-kawa.  It tastes delicious! He said, “the ones that the bugs have eaten taste better because if its good enough for the bugs, its good enough for you.” However, my favourite part of the expo was...The Puppet Show! It took ages to put all the bit and pieces together, but we eventualy did it.  Soon it was time to go home, so we watched the puppet show - it was awesome.  They said, "farewell”, and we were on our way. I had wished that it was the start of the day, but it wasn’t.  

Story Bird Stories

The kids be sneaky. on StorybirdAnimal Facts on Storybird

Free Falling...

Today, we (in pairs) made a paper spinner and a parachute.  We looked at how these objects float from a high distance or how they free fall.  An object is in free fall when it drops with gravity.  The only force acting on a freely falling object is its weight.  We had to follow a set of instructions and work with our buddy to construct our free falling objects.  We experienced lots of fun!  Enjoy...

SOP (SAVE OUR PLANET!!!)

Room 15 children are passionate about creating and promoting a sustainable environment.  They have been learning about the impact that ewaste has on them and their planet.  Enjoy their ewaste posters and please consider the impact that you have on the planet next time you throw away your next electronic device.