Geography Idea

Felicity has shared this great idea... she is going through the world map and recording the capital city of all countries and marking its location with a red dot.

We cannot wait to see when it is all done!

If you have access to a world map why don't you try this too, you could also match the flag with the country and draw that in too.

Maddox, Daniel and Sam

Maddox had a blast creating Instant Ice Cream from our recipe today (after going puddle jumping!)

Daniel was inspired by Mr P's ninja circuit to make an indoor one of his own - I told him that he wasn't allowed on the table with his shoes though! Check out the video and then the awesome attempt by Ms Saxon to make you giggle! Oh no, my attempt was so slow that the video was too long to upload!

Sam has made Wicking Water from Nanogirl's at home science cookbook (Ms Saxon is a huge fan of Nanogirl!)

I love the variety of learning that is happening with our students, we are so proud of you all!

Hello from Miss Shine

Kia ora everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the first day of the holidays and are finding lots of fun things to do. I have enjoyed seeing your photos and poems on the blog.

There are four of us in my house. Myself, Kemal, Izzi, who is nearly ten, and Mollie the dog. Today we dressed up warm and went for a walk in the rain. Mollie stayed home because she is getting quite old and needs lots of rest! We also made a chocolate cake and tonight I think we will watch a movie.

We are growing some mircro greens, which are like mini salad leaves. They started as seeds and we have been watering them three times a day.  At the moment they look like this:

They are starting to sprout now. In a week or two they will be ready to harvest and add to salads. They will end up looking something like this:

It is interesting watching them change. They grow so fast, although yesterday we accidentally sprayed them with spray and wipe instead of water. Whoops!! I hope they will be okay.

I am looking forward to seeing some of your holiday activities uploaded on the blog and I will check in and share some of the things we are doing at my place.

Stay safe, be kind and look after your family.

Miss Shine.

Charlie's Reading Hut

Super cozy reading space for Charlie! 

Love the stain glass window look in the back of your hut!

Clem's Origami Challenge

Clem has being working on mastering his origami skills. TheYouTube tutorial he followed is in the link below.

Paper Star Origami -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdm8xdVB9e4

Send us your attempts to share with the class.

Simone's Bath Bombs and Mr P's Ninja Challenge!

Check out Simone's awesome bath bombs - the yellow ones were a whole lot better than the blue!

What have you created in the last few days? Please send us photos and videos so that we can share them with our pod.

Also, here is Mr P's ninja challenge, the Year 7/8s have been getting into this and sharing their hilarious videos. Have fun!

Poems to Share

Thank you to those of you who took on my Friday poetry challenge. Some are posted below.

The recovery after the storm

Maddy Cogle

Before the winds of sorrow hit,

The azure skies were warm,

Inhaling  grief

releasing ecstasy in its place 

When the breath of sorrow hits 

All happiness is lost 

In an abyss of authentic grief.

But thy sun still shines 

Few but some smiles are still genuine

The veils of dreams still hang upon one's head

There is an expansion for the realisation of life 

Wings begin to spread 

And thy people begin to fly.

A Haircut

by Simone Strange

Scissors are crocodiles 

with rows of jagged daggers

They open and close their mouths

creeping silent as a mouse

snapping at the strands of hair 

each one drifting to the floor

wailing and flailing about

Still hungry they hunt for more

smacking their lips 

and ripping limb from limb

crunching the bones up 

leaving nothing behind

Colours

Greta Prince

Colours flood out from the unknown,

Leaving traces.

But only one speaks for itself,

Bold bright and fearless.

Hiding deep in souls,

Forcing negativity.

Spears cutting through flesh,

Leaving a scar.

Breaking hearts,

Wounded forever.

The colour of fear,

Is a thief never caught.

The Unknown

Samantha Foote Piercing through the unknown, The light begins to fade, Eddying into an abyss, The wind calls out, Waiting for hope, Unfortunately all is lost

Finally, can you guess who is on the end of this kite string on this wild and windy day?

Keep sharing with us, happy holidays!

Frankie

This is my cat Frankie, she decided the best place to sleep today would be on the clean towels. 

Stay warm today (just like Frankie is).

From Miss Perry 

More Cool Activities

Today Chloe learnt to wash and care for her dog, while Isla and Micah designed and made craft projects, and Leroy played with 'devil sticks'.

Keep up your awesome learning team! Also keep looking after each other. We are really proud of you all.

Miss Perry's Birthday Surprise

Thank you for all the kind messages I have received today. Must say it will be a birthday I will remember forever.

Greta has just shared some delicious looking cupcakes with me! Wish I could be there to try them but I know her and her family will enjoy them for me!

Look after each other :)

Miss Perry

Sunflower Sword

I hope you enjoy one of my favourite picture books - I love the lessons in this!

If you would like to read one of your's, please send me a video and I can put it on our blog for others to enjoy.

NZ Geographic

Here is a great resource with daily updates about our great country.

NZ Geo.

Enjoy!

Prince Charming

Who remembers Prince Charming from last year! He was such a cute lamb. Jai visited him with his family in Middlemarch - how big is he now?!

Also, before the lockdown came into effect, Jai's family and Simone's family road the Otago Rail Trail. Thank you for sharing.

Cartwheeling in the Sun!

Can you guess who is cartwheeling in the sun on this gorgeous day?!

William's engineering

Check out what William has been working on. 

He said - "Here is a photo of my solar oven that I made today. The tin foil reflects the suns light and heat to warm food."

Huts

Huts seem to be a theme today, keep sharing with us!

Also Maddy wrote a beautiful poem for us to enjoy.

The wind

Maddy Cogle

The wind can move slowly 

Or It can blow at a rapid pace 

Reaching out and touching everybody in its path,

It can send people somewhere they don't belong.

The wind can caress your cheek   

Or it can lash against your face                                                                                            

You can live with the wind,

Or you can overcome it.

I hope you have got out and enjoyed the sun today, maybe tomorrow a theme could be designing fitness activities. Send us your videos and photos, we would love to see them.

Be kind,

Ms Saxon and Miss Perry.

Making the most of our time at home

Asher made the most of his first day and built himself a hut. 

 What a great place to enjoy a book!

Thank you to Marshall who shared his fantastic poetry with us.

Natures Children

By: Marshall 

As I sit next to the window I glance outside,

I see the bright glistening sun illuminating the dark daunting forest.

I see trees reaching out screaming for help!

I stand still silently not making a flinch.

The trees gave me an aggressive stare.

I suddenly realise in the distance a black silhouette of a man carrying something.

As he gets closer I see this berserk man is holding an AXE!!!

I scurry to the door!

Mister go away this instant! Please don’t come any closer and hurt my fellow trees.

The trees huddled behind the strange man.

They were ready to put an end to this anticipated disaster.

Who knew trees were killers???

Hi from Ms Saxon

Hi all, please post a comment or email a video response to connect.

Epic is the app I mention.



Be kind,

Ms Saxon.

Thinking Like Scientists

This wet afternoon we began to think like scientists. We loved our learning, we learnt new words, it was fantastic!

Check out our new language!

We watched the following videos, they were so popular, please watch them with your families and continue learning together.

Window defrosting
Egg drop
Can sharks smell blood?

Poetry and Personification

This morning our Year 5s worked on using personification in their poetry. We talked about using language to make non human objects come alive. It was really exciting to see them grasping this tricky concept.

Mark Rober on Viruses

This morning we were recommended to watch the following video. It was fantastic viewing from a scientist who was super easy to understand.

Happy watching!

Fastest Lap, Huxter MTB Challenge

Congratulations Louis on receiving your medal from Mr Pateman as the fastest lap for the Huxter Mountain Bike Challenge, Year 5/6. He and Sam won the event overall too!

Check out our safe celebration technique with Mr P!

Thank you

Thank you to our students and parents for sharing worthwhile discussions over the past two days. We hugely appreciate your time to enable us to work together for the best possible outcomes for our students.

Many thanks,
Tamara and Alice.