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 :)