Wednesday, March 27, 2013

TriKids

Murray Healey and his helpers came to our school to tell us about 'Trikids.'  

TriKids™ aim is to support children into sport. Our programmes based around triathlon (swimming, cycling, running) are for primary school aged children and schools. Motivating and educating children to lead healthy lifestyles, developing fundamental movement skills and confidence through challenges and enjoyment are integral to our mission.
We learnt about the different transitions involved in a triathlon, from swimming to biking, through to running.  Murray told us about the importance of doing these transitions with pace with ‘safety’ in mind.  We all had a loads of fun, especially on the last day, during the water slide phase.  Special thanks to Murray (and the girls) for allowing us learn about (and practise) triathlons...who knows, there might be a future Olympian amongst us!!!











WSPPA Summer Sports Tournament

On Tuesday, the Year 4’s attended the WSPPA Summer Sports Tournament at Kensington Park.  The children participated in a variety of sports, these included: baseball, league tag, turbo touch, vball and futsal.  All of the children represented the school with determination, pride and fair play.  The event was all about active participation and just ‘giving things a go’.  A special thanks to the parents and caregivers who managed a team.  








Saturday, March 23, 2013

Is NZ a 'Clean Green' country?

'Sea Week' is a time to think more about our sea life and how we can make our oceans into a more sustainable environment.  During sea week, we watched the 'Sunday' current affairs program informing us about the impact that plastic bags are having along and in New Zealand beaches and rivers.  We were all disgusted and annoyed about what is currently happening along our beaches and waterways, with a understanding that people view New Zealand as a 'clean, green' country.  Is this statement fact of fiction???  Mr Werder also spoke about his recent experience when walking along Hatea River (near the old BMX track).  So...we decided to write some 'expositional' letters to Mr Cutforth (Whangarei Mayor) expressing our views towards this matter of keeping Whangarei harbour clean and safe.  We also read books in class about 'drains to harbour' and ways to keep our drains clean, and as a result, help to create a more sustainable marine life in and around the harbour for future generations to come.  Enjoy reading some of these letters and posters we created. 








Dear Mr Cutforth,

I am writing because I am concerned about people littering in Whangarei Harbour and along the beaches.  I am worried about the sealife being affected by people polluting these waters.  A lot of sealife animals are becoming extinct because of pollution in the water, and we need to care for them.  People can also die due to the pollution because we could catch a fish and it could have poison in it and if we ate it we might be sick or even die.  Please help us all look after our coastline because we love it here and we want to live in a unpolluted environment.

Yours sincerely,
Atawhiua

Dear Mr Cutforth,
I am concerned about the Whangarei Harbour because there is so much rubbish. The rubbish is affecting the animals and plants, and they will soon die!.

I don’t like the beaches being closed because of the pollution.  I feel really sad when that happens. Pollution also comes from the drains because sometimes people put oil down the them and other things, like plastic bags.  We need to take care of the Whangarei Harbour and help the animals.  We should act NOW!

Yours sincerely,

Ruby 

Dear Mr Cutforth,
I am writing because I’m concerned about people littering on our beautiful beaches along the Whangarei Harbour.  It is affecting sealife like fish and plants.  It is an outrage!!!

There is so much pollution happening to sealife because boaties are tipping their waste into the ocean. There is also sewage spills that go to the ocean and little bits of plastic are found in the sand.  Soon people won’t be able to swim because of all the pollution.  I feel so angry about this.  People should stop littering or sea life will become extinct.

To solve the problem we should have a sign and a law that says DO NOT LITTER!!!  All New Zealanders need to act now to stop pollution!  We want the fish to live.  We love it here and we want to keep it that way.

Yours sincerely,

Sunny 






Sharing Time


 Can you guess what Maddison, Katy and Logan shared with Room 14 children?  










Triathlon Kids


On Sunday, kids from our class did the Ray White Allens Kids Triathlon like Ruby, Isaac, Maddie and Anika.  We needed to put our bikes in a place where the colour of our swimming cap was.  We all wore red caps. You needed to get your bikes there before 11:00am. First thing we did was swimming, then biking. Running was last. We were very tired and at the end we all got a medal.  We were proud of our achievements!!!

By Room 14 Triathlon kids ( Blog Reporters of the Week)








Friday, March 15, 2013

Digestion

How healthy are potato chips? How healthy are museli bars?  How healthy is yoghurt?  How healthy are baked beans?  Today, we learnt the ingredients in food.  We discussed and identified the main properties in food (both healthy and unhealthy), and how these impact on how our body functions.  We also looked at how the digestion system works in our body.  Words such as oesophagus, intestine, stomach, liver, heart, etc, were identified and talked about.  Did you know...the small intestine is about 5 meters long and is as thin as a skipping rope!  We now understand about the importance of healthy eating and to take better care of our bodies.  A special thanks to Nadine (and Harold) for their commitment in educating children throughout Northland about food and nutrition.  Keep it up team!!!









WSPPA SWIMMING CHAMPS

I'm so PROUD!!!  Well done team on an outstanding day at the 'WSPPA Swimming Champs' at Whangarei Intermediate School.  You all swam with determination and represented the school with pride.  On a personal note, it was a special moment to witness my son, Josh, winning the Year 4 Backstroke event and our Year 4 squad coming third in the relay.  To see and experience these, and those other SFX children compete and achieve, makes my job even more rewarding...so thank you!  A huge tino pai to those parents and caregivers who assisted on the day.

Reuben (Year 4 Freestyle - 3rd)

Emma, Alice, Reuben, Angus (Year 4 Relay - 3rd)

Josh (Year 4  Backstroke - 1st)  & Isaac (Year 4 Backstroke - 3rd)

Alice exhausted after her race.


Waiting patiently...and hanging out with their mates!

WSPPA Place Getters

Nathan, soaking up the action prior to his race.

Room 14 members - Isaac, Reuben, Alice, Maddison and Nathan


Maddison thinking about her race plan.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Space Invaders - Life Education







Today, we visited the ‘Life Education’ trailer with Nadine.  Life Education is a mobile classroom that tells children about health education.  Each year, the Life Education Trust visits over 1,300 schools and 225,000 children and informs them about healthy living, while also teaching them about their uniqueness.  

The focus for our class is ‘Food and Nutrition.’  Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about our magnificent bodies and how we need to look after them.  Food was the lesson for today.  Nadine spoke about the food triangle and the food traffic lights.  We discussed where food comes from and what foods to eat.  We had loads of fun...and learning!!!