Term 4 is under way!

Hello team

Term 4 is here and we are busy refocusing on our academic, social and emotional learning goals and how we can become better people.

The year 2 syndicate is inquiring about mini-beast communities - where they are, what they do and how they survive and communicate.  It is an exciting study with a focus on science, but integrating art, reading and writing and health.  Below is a link to a website where you can create your own super bug by choosing different features.  Have fun learning!

Minibeasts - Interactive - Create your own Super Bug!

www.mylearning.org/minibeasts/interactive/311/

Please check your children's hair for unwanted mini-beasts! Some little creatures are useful and helpful, and some are harmful...

Hope you are all happy, healthy and well after the holidays, as we head towards a lovely spring and summer ahead.

Details of events for the term will be published soon when we have the dates and times confirmed.

Kind regards, Gretchen Werder.

Book week - literature popular in 1914

Dear parents and caregivers

Room 1 has been looking at popular literature (stories) around the beginning of WW1 in order to find characters suitable for a book week parade next week.  These are the books we have talked about today:

Pollyanna  Eleanor H. Porter
The Secret Garden  Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Wind in the Willows  Kenneth Grahame

Just So Stories  Rudyard Kipling

The Tale of Peter Rabbit  Beatrix Potter

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  L. Frank Baum

Peter Pan  J. M. Barrie

If you have any of these books (or DVDs) at home or abridged versions I could read to or share with the students, please bring these in for us.  Have a think about characters and what you might be able to rustle up at home - a dress up parade is so much fun!

Thanks, Ms Werder and Room 1.

Commonwealth Games link

Hello
Here is a link to access information on the Commonwealth Games.  It is a wonderful example of a global community and the values that are necessary to be able to have such a large and varied organisation.

http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/resources-learning/high-interest-topics/commonwealth-games-2014-glasgow

the black friday zombie apocolypse

Oh oh, it has been an interesting day at school, zombie's in the apex... luckily our buddies were there as well...

The Maritime Museum

Our trip to the Maritime Museum was so interesting and educational! We loved the ride on the Ted Ashby and enjoyed watching the bungy jumpers from the Auckland Harbour bridge. The cannon being shot at noon was so loud some of us jumped!

Learning about how different people came to New Zealand to form communities here was great, and our educator was skilled at enthusing the students. Walking through the exhibits after lunch was fun as well. Here is a montage of our day, ask your children about their favourite part...

Matti's Transformer

Welcome to Term 2!

Hello viewers!
It has been a while coming and I do apologise, but here we are!

In Term 1 we have set up a friendly classroom learning environment, and the students are working well together and making good progress in their learning.  As we can't go back in time, here is a montage of some experiences from the start of the year:

Water safety at the Parnell Baths was fun, as was the school picnic with lots of games, laughter and lollies. 
After brainstorming what the students wanted to find out, we looked at how rainbows appear and why, and we also observed a monarch butterfly hatch from its chrysalis and studied their life-cycle. 
For Chinese New Year we made lanterns to celebrate the Year of the Horse, and have worked with our buddy class to improve our spelling and reading, and develop relationships throughout the school. 
We have made the most of our opportunities to work collaboratively, and will continue to do so as the year continues. 
The term ended with a trip to see the play of 'The Owl and the Pussycat' which was a new experience for many of the students.

So, Term 2 has begun with a determined focus on Community - we have moved beyond ourselves and are looking at how roles and responsibilities are shared in our families and at school with a view to understanding how the wider community works further on.

On Monday 19 May at 2pm, our class is hosting the full school assembly in the hall.  We welcome families to attend and support your children as they share an item of interest to our school community. 

Thank you for your patience, and we will be posting more regularly with content from your children in the near future.

Kind regards to you all, Gretchen.