2008 Topic: Journeys

We are learning about journeys this year. Join Barnaby on his journeys to Paris and Australia:

During Term 2, we learnt about the journey of the bee. Look at this great site to learn more about the bee: it's journey from the hive to the flower and back; it's journey within the hive; the journey of producing honey; the journey from larvae to bee.

We went on a trip to Bees On Line. We travelled by bus to Kumeu on the 5th of June. It was fun seeing all the animals and the orchards along the way. When we arrived, we were divided into 2 groups. One group stayed upstairs and worked on a little task, while the other group went downstairs to learn about the beekeeper and the bees. Our task was to glue the body parts of a bee onto a sheet of paper. Although it was a little bit difficult to do this, because we didn't have a table to work on, we managed with a little help from our teachers. It was exciting when it was our turn to go downstairs. The beekeeper had a special outfit on, so that he didn't get stung by the bees. He showed us how they look after the bees, and he also showed us how they get the honey. We saw the queen bee, and all her worker bees. It was interesting watching the bees drink the sugar water, and find their way out of the hive through a pipe. Have a look at our photo's below.BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

During Term 3, we learnt about Transport, The Olympics and China.
During Term 4, we learnt about the Kiwi. We took part in a virtual field trip in Week 4. That was fun and interesting. We especially liked watching the videos, and seeing our ambassador "SunnyBee" helping Mike and Kupe.
We've had a look at some awesome websites. We met "Sniff" the classroom kiwi. If you would like to see him again and learn some interesting facts, click on his picture:

We made our own percussion instruments during Term 4 too. We had a lot of fun doing this. The best part was when we played percussion instruments to the chorus of the song "Hiwi the Kiwi". Have a look at our video of Hiwi scaring the spider, the weta and the huhu grub:

2008 Hello Santa!

Let's dress Santa!

Des McCauley kindly accepted the task of being Santa again this year. It's a fun activity where the students get to dress Des in a Santa suit, slowly transforming him from "Mr.McCauley" into "Santa". He was great, playing along with the students as they told him what to put on next. He asked for help when the trousers didn't quite fit on his arms (!!) etc. When he was properly dressed from head to toe, he realised that something was missing ... his Santa Sack! He quickly dashed into the room next door to get his sack, which was filled with gifts for the students. Needless to say, there was great excitement, and fun was had by all. Have a look at our photo's:

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2008 Our Junior Production

Our Production was called "Lost in the Woods". It was about a little boy and a little girl called Hansel and Gretel. They had a loving father, but their stepmother was mean. One day, the children got lost in the woods. There were lots of forest creatures that helped them find their way back home. They had to cross a river, and some of the students in our class acted as the water in the river. They had ribbons on their wrists and waved them up and down, like moving water. Some of our students acted as the bats. They wore bat outfits and danced around the three witches and their house. We decorated the witch's house with painted gingerbread men, cakes and biscuits. We had two day time shows, and two night time shows. The two day time shows were for the Kindy's and the Middle and Senior syndicates in our school. The two night time shows were for our families and friends. We were very tired at the end of it all, but it was heaps of fun. Have a look at some of our photos:
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2008 Our Garden

Term 1: During the December holiday, Mr. Barnes cleared all the old, overgrown plants out of our garden. That left us with a blank canvas to do whatever we wanted! A staff member very kindly donated some vegetable plants, some petunias and some marigolds. The students were divided into 2 groups, and worked in relays, preparing the soil and planting. Our garden is looking really beautiful now, with most of our flowering plants in full bloom.
Term 2: This has been an exciting term, because we have successfully grown and harvested cauliflower and broccoli. Have a look at the photo's below.
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Term 3: We cleared our garden at the end of Term 2, and started afresh at the beginning of this term. Our aim this term is to have flowering plants, so that we can pick flowers and give little bouquets to the special people in our lives. So far, we've planted some small flowering plants, and we will be trying our hand at planting sweet peas too. We've planted strawberry plants in the planter boxes, and we've learnt all about keeping the birds away from our strawberries, when they start to grow. We watched a fun video of Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, and we'll be making our own scarecrow for our garden during Term 4.
Term 4: Our garden is flourishing! Most of the plants are flowering now, and it's lovely to see all the pretty colours. We planted our sweet peas into little seed trays at the end of last term, and it was quite exciting to see how they had sprouted just as we were about to start term 4. We have already transplanted the seedlings into our garden. It won't be long before we'll have to set up a support line for them to climb onto. We are all looking forward to the sweet smelling, pretty flowers! Our strawberry plants have done very well, with some of our strawberries already turning red. We'll need to get those planters covered in bird net soon!

2008 Our Room 13 Buddies

Every Friday during Block 2, half of the Room 13 students make their way down to the Junior Syndicate Area to join us for some quality time together. These are our buddies, and they support us with our Jolly Phonics activity. There are a lot more students in Room 13 than there are in Room 4, so Miss Rodger has divided her class into 2 halves. One half of the class spends time with Room 4, while the other half focuses on Reading activities with Miss Rodger in Room 13. The following week, they swap over, so we get to spend quality time with all of our buddies over a 2 week period.
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2008 Junior Swimming Sports

Our Swimming Sports was held on the 5th of March. Our Year 2 and 3 students participated in all the races, managing a full length of the pool: running, flutter board, push the ball and skytower dives. They all had so much fun and did well. Our Year 1 students participated in the following races with adult assistance, across the width of the pool: walking, push the ball and flutter board. They did well considering this was their first "big school" swimming sports in front of a crowd of onlookers.
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2008 Uncle Eric's Picnic

During Term 4 last year, our Buddy Class supported us by brainstorming ideas as to how we can raise money for the Wilson Home, so that Uncle Eric's Picnic could go ahead on the 19th of March this year. Our whole school participated in "Pyjama Day", where everyone (including Mrs. Stewart, our principal, all of the teachers, teacher-aides and students) came to school in their pyjamas. It was strange seeing everyone in their pyjamas, but that made it all the more fun! Everyone donated a gold coin, and close on $400 was raised. This money was donated to the Wilson Home, which organises the event. Uncle Eric's Picnic is a wonderful way of bringing all the students with special needs together, along with their parents, caregivers, teachers and teacher-aides. Everything is laid on for these students: playground equipment, a wind tunnel, a jumping castle, a Ronald MacDonald show, live music to dance to ... and lots of yummy food to eat.

2008 The Life Education Caravan

The Life Education Caravan came to our school during weeks 8 and 9. Our class visited the caravan on the Friday of week 8 and then again on the Thursday of week 9. We met Corinne, the teacher. She was great, and so much fun. We learned about healthy eating, and we also learned about making good choices with food. Harold helped us with an activity, and he sang us a song. We all loved Harold!
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