Foxy Fun

Lucy’s Auntie made this warm fox hat. As you can see it looks very warm. She found it on a table chair with another one for her sister, Matilda. Just imagine that!! I bet you would like an Auntie like Lucy’s ? It looks so cute on Lucy!

Lucy fox lives in a house. You would think that fox’s live in the woods but this one doesn’t ! Lucy wore it to school and Matilda wore hers to kindy. Lucy also loves her foxy hat. She also feels nice and cosy in her fantastic Foxy hat.          Lucy likes making fox sounds to go with her hat.

Facts about Fox’s:  

·         They have fur

·         They might be endangered

·          They live in woods

·         They can be a bit sneaky

·         They eat small animals

·         They are in a lot of fables                        

              Written by Lucy and Neve

Lucy in her beeeeautiful Fox hat

Shared Lunch

Our next Fruity Friday was all about soup, rolls and fruit kebabs. We had a go at making pumpkin soup, our own bread rolls and to top it off, a fruity kebeb. It was a cold and miserable day so we really enjoyed our hot lunch together.

Peeling and cutting the pumpkin and onions.

Bread rolls rising in the sun (what little there was)



Chef James helping out in the kitchen

Chef James with Mrs Clinton mushing up the soup.

We all tried it and it definitely got the thumbs up!

 

 

Then to finish off, the delicious fruity kebabs...

 

 

 

The word of the day according to Lucy was SCRUMPTIOUS!!

 

 

 

5 + a day

Harold the friendly giraffe came to visit Haumoana school in the first week back after the holidays. He taught Room 3 all about Healthy Eating and what a balanced diet actually means.  We found out about the importance of eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, that will give us the energy to do all the things we want to do.
We each created our own food pyramid and noticed the different food groups that were apart of it.

 Our first 'Fruity Friday' saw us joining classes with Room 7 and creating alsorts of different Juice concoctions. We all brought a piece of fruit or vegetable to school and took part in making and then sampling the fresh and very delicious juice. You can see by the looks on the childrens faces that we all enjoyed it.

Fabulous Fruity Fun- Scrumptious juice 

We all agree- 5 + a day is what it's all about!

 

 

A Terric End to a Terrific Term

The last few weeks were a bit of a whirl wind.

We had Tikokino School come to visit and share our learning on the Native Bush. That was a super day and not only did we share our Native Bush study, we managed to slip in a bit about our Matariki celebrations and also the success of our South African endangered animals in the edible arts parade as well.

So…there was a lot to feel proud of… and we did!

Then on the last Monday of term we had our BIG presentation on our Native Bush study. Robyn from DOC and Selwyn from Dolbel reserve were there as well as interested parents and families. We transformed the library and spent an hour and a half sharing all the learning we have had so much fun acquiring along the way. From the varied reports on common insects found in the leaf litter that Robyn had first brought to school, to the wonderful research and information gathered from reports on our very own kiwi. The children’s knowledge was impressive.

We shared our Expositions and our opinions on whether or not we should cut down the Native Forests to make way for more houses; a topical issue. Believe it or not the children were unanimously against it and wrote passionately about the importance of looking after our Native Bush for future generations.  KAITIAKITANGA was our catch-phrase which means just that, we are the guardians of our world so we need to take care of it.

We sang songs, shared our poems and our beautiful art and also performed a little play instigated by Lydia who took the idea from the legend of ‘How The Kiwi Lost It’s Wings’.  We wrote letters to Papatuanuku the Earth Mother with our thoughts on what we need to do to take care of our world. The letters were beautifully written and presented in water colour.

Our final item was when every child shared their Kiwi book with someone in the audience.  These books had been written and illustrated by the children.   We then finished off with a cuppa, cake and anzac biscuits, which thanks to Joseph had become a special part of our study.

As you can probably tell I was very proud of all the children’s efforts.  It really was a celebration of the enjoyment and learning that we had experienced from the entire programme. I believe that to give children authentic opportunities to learn through, is the best way; this definitely proves it.

CONGRATULATIONS ROOM 3… you were magnificent.

P.S. We also raised over $50 for the Kiwi Volunteers from our apple chutney (made by the children) and the bits and bobs sold from our little stall held at the presentation.  Great stuff!

Lydia and Lucy did a great job of introducing our presentation 

Sharing our reports on the Kiwi

Sophia as the narrator of our play

Impressive water colour art and cinquain poetry



Lenny and James talking about our 'Autumn Action'

Feeling proud of our certificates for having completed our study

 

 

Double Graduation

Thursday was a special day for the Foleys. Kieran Foley (Haumoana old boy) graduated at Massey Wellington with his Industrial Design degree with Honours and Kay on the same day, with her Batchelor of Education. What a celebration!

 

Edible Art 2014

The focus for this years Edible Art Parade was 'Going Global' which could not have been better for Room 3. Lydia had come back from her wonderful trip to South Africa with stories of her visit to Kruger National Park and the plight of  South African animals. She explained to us all about poaching and the effect it was having on some of these animals.
Anti-Poaching became our theme and from there the children worked cooperatively in groups to choose from one of the ten most endangered animals in South Africa. Once chosen it was all about planning, collecting and then creating the animal out of recycled 'stuff' that was a food related item. Not an easy task, but  they came up trumps.
Seeing them spending their whole lunchtime gluing on little bread bag ties and corn kernals along with other kids from other rooms, who just happened to join in, was superb. It really was cooperative learning at its best.
Check out their creations...real Green hat creativity!!

Black Rhino

African Elephant

Cheetah

Ethiopian Wolf

African Lion
 

Aren't they awesome? And in case you haven't heard all 5 costumes went through to the finals in the Junior grade. I was in Wellington at my graduation and when I got that news, I hightailed it home to be at the evening show where they were 'walking' the cat walk. Talk about exciting!!
The result was our Ethiopian Wolf, modelled by Sophia took 2nd place and our African Elephant, modelled by Lydia was 1st. I think our message of Anti-Poaching was just too important to overlook.
Well done everybody, as it really was a TEAM effort.
The job now is to think how we will use the $250 prize money!!

Meeting a Kiwi

Last week was just tooooo exciting. Not only were we trying to finish off our amazing  endangered South African costumes for Edible Art, but we also had our Native Bush trip to The Pan pac Kiwi Creche at Lake Opouahi.
Paul from Mountain Safety had prepared us well for the trip into the bush, and Tuesday saw every child coming to school in a woolly hat, warm gear, gloves and a substantial packed lunch.
 It was pretty exciting to take off in the bus to a destination none of us had been to before. The ride took about 1 1/2 hours and I am pleased to say the bucket and flannels I had taken along (just in case) didn't need to be used.  Robyn from DOC, Paul and Mack, a trainee ranger, were all there to meet us. They took us through the predator gate and into the creche where we met some of the amazing kiwi volunteers who work tirelessly to take care of our beautiful national bird... the kiwi. These people give up their time to go into the Kawekas and retrieve the kiwi chicks who only have a 5% chance of survival, and bring them to the Creche at lake Opouahi where they live predator free until they are big enough to go- it on their own. They are then returned to their homes with their chances of survival rising to about 85%, if I remember rightly. A fantastic effort I'd say!
We saw eggs, predators, traps, plants, but to top it all off we got to touch a real kiwi, which I found quite moving. I won't go into any more detail but I will share a couple of the childrens stories, which are much more fun to read.
All in all it was a special day, and made so by the great help from parents and caregivers that came along to share it with us. Thank-you so much.


Hena-C with a kiwi egg- it is huge!

Lake Opouahi- a little gem

 

Bruno up close to a kiwi...Wow!



The predator fence

                               I got to feel a kiwi yesterday at Lake Opouahi. It was fun. The kiwi was soft and it looked wet but it wasn't. The kiwis eyes aren't very good so they use their whiskers to feel with. The kiwi was scared. It had a long beak and two strong legs. We heard birds in the bush and we got to see the predator traps go off. We could smell the native bush. I had a good day.   Jaxon


 On Thursday I went to Lake Opouahi. I liked tasting the kawakawa leaves that Mack tricked us into eating. He said they were icecream leaves when they were really pepper leaves! A cave weta jumped on to Gus's face, he stayed very still until Mack took it off. He let it go free and it jumped away. It had very long legs. I saw some bush stinging nettle and some black berry. A piece got caught onto Sophias neck and gave her a fright. We went on a bus we had never been on. I sat right at the back and it was fun. It was very exciting for everyone.   Kyle

Yesterday we saw a kiwi for real. It was a baby but it was big for a kiwi. It was 11 months old. My favourite part was eating the kawakawa leaves that Mack tricked us into eating. My family came for the trip too. It was a spectacular day.   Luca

It's All About Mulch

As part of our study on the Native Bush we have been looking at an Action that we can take part in to help our school environment. We asked Keith our fantastic caretaker what we could do to help him, and that started us on a bit of a mulching journey.
Every day armed with rakes, shovel and brushes and a bucket the children in Room 3 rake up leaves all around the school to make into mulch. The mulch is put under the trees and bushes around the school to encourage seedlings. Not only are the children doing a great job mulching, but they are also picking up litter that they find in the gardens at the same time.
Hows that for being switched on kiwis.

Thanks Bethan, Joseph, George and Gus, you really are helping make our school environment a better place.

A proud Player of the Day

Our big news for the weekend was from George whose highlight was playing a great game of soccer and being made Player of the Day.  He brought his tophy in to show us and we all felt very proud of him. Well done George!

Week 1, Term 2

Week 1, Term 2 by Vinnie and Joseph
Last week we had a visit from Paul Hodgkinson and Robyn McCool.  Paul was from the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council and Robyn is from The Department of Conservation who we are doing our study of The Native Bush with. We learnt a lot of interesting things like how to make a raincoat out of a rubbish bag.

Guess who?  Yes thats me, Joseph. 

We had to find out what things would be good to take in a pack when we go tramping in the bush.  We needed to think about how heavy things are before we put them in. We found out we need to wear long trousers and a long sleeve top so we don't get cold.

We are all looking forward to our trip to the Pan Pac Kiwi Creche on the 27th to try out some of the Bush Survival things we learnt.

Written by Joseph and Vinnie

Our Living Classroom

Did you know that Room 3 has been renamed as the 'Living Classroom'.  That wonderful idea came from Lucy, on the way home from our trip to the aquarium and Dolbel tree reserve a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was so appropriate with all the goings on this term, we all agreed that it was a great idea.
Unfortunately our next exciting trip to the Pan Pac Kiwi Sanctuary has had to be postponed and is probably going to be postponed again, with the week ahead looking decidingly dreary.  I have fingers crossed that it can happen next term, but we will have to see if it can be rescheduled by DOC.
Any way back to business.  Our bloggers last week were Amelia and Sinclair and they have chosen our colourful bugs to talk about.

We have been studying 'BUGS' this term.  All sorts of creepy crawlies. In maths we have also been looking at symmetry and so we put on our Green Creative Hats and put the two together and created our colourful bugs. We painted half and then smudged it so it came out on the other side of the paper and magically our bugs were born.  Abit of black paper to form the body, head, thorax and abdomen, a couple of antennae and 6 legs and they were ready. 
 They look beautiful and help to make our Living Classroom look great.
By Amelia and Sinclair

Our Week, by George and Lenny.

Did you know that our school is a Cool School.  That means that we try to look after each other, especially in the playground.  When things don't go so well, we try to sort them out. Thats called mediation. 
It is fun playing in the playground with our friends because we have lots of cool things to do, like climbing trees or playing on the monkey bars and we also enjoy playing cricket too. Last week we had to work hard at sorting out our differences because we didn't all agree on the rules. We had to try to agree on things, which didn't always work. 
 We hope that this week the game will run a little more smoothly. We will let you know.

Highlights and lowlights of week 8, by Lydia and Lucy

Yesterday it was Sophia's Birthday. Sophia brought a delicious chocolate cake to school. It had three layers of cream. We had a bit of a party. When we finished we had delicious cream all over us!
We feel sad for Neve because she broke her ankle at school this week. She is doing well hobbeling around. Next week she says she is going to get a beautiful, new purple cast. We hope she is feeling better soon.

Sophia and her super duper chocolate cake

Brave Neve

Our weekly bloggers for week 8

By Lucy and Lydia

Leaves, twigs, fruit, and flowers

 

Our fantastic trip on Tuesday saw us experiencing all of these.  We began at the National Aquarium of New Zealand where we looked at the layers of the Native Bush and who and what lives where.  We became scientists for a spell using microscopes to look closely at different plants, seeds and animals and played a game to reinforce the concepts of carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. The education officers showed us right around, even into the penguin enclosure. Then it was off to Taradale park for lunch and a play before meeting Robyn McCool and Selwyn at the Dolbel tree reserve.  He is one of the volunteers who have spent many hours planting and caring for the trees. We got to see a lot of native trees that had been planted by the volunteers and walked to the top of the hill to see the views right out to the Cape.

We returned to school a weary but considerably more knowledgeable  bunch.

Carol and the eager listeners



Scientist Amelia at work

First-hand look at a Kiwi

'Oh I hope it doesn't bite!', said Hena-C

Chilling out at the park

Spot the native tree

View to the Cape

Kay :)