Term 4

Term 4 is all about Hauora; our health and well being.  To begin the term we are looking at our Oral Hygiene- the importance of looking after and  taking care of our teeth.  We are using a great programme created by Colgate and designed with the different age groups in mind. 

‘Bright Smiles, Bright Futures’

Here is a couple of blurbs from the programme..

A Global Partnership Each year, Colgate-Palmolive Company’s award-winning Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® (BSBF) global oral health education program reaches over 50 million school children and their families … in 30 languages and 80 countries. It’s teachers like you who have made this self-esteem-based program an international success!

 BSBF: Empowerment for the Future Bright Smiles, Bright Futures gives teachers, children and families around the world the tools they need to make good oral health a permanent part of their lives. With the focus on prevention, the program builds self-esteem and teaches good oral health practices to create lifelong habits. And most importantly, BSBF inspires kids to take control of their own oral health. Its messages of empowerment enable children to not only understand “what” to do to take care of their teeth and gums, but the “why” behind the messages. In this way, BSBF equips them to become lifelong Tooth Defenders

   We have watched an entertaining dvd introducing Dr Rabbit and his band of Tooth Defender super heros.  They all have a message and an important job to do. Of course there has to be a baddy and in this case it is definitely Platicus the plaque monster who enjoys nothing more than digging holes in teeth. We look at ways of preventing this.  At the end of the programme the children are given a toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste which they are already excited about.

The simple message in the programme is..

 Bright Smiles Key Messages

• Brush with fluoride toothpaste twice a day, especially after eating breakfast and before bedtime

 • Floss daily (over 7 years old)

 • Limit the number of times you eat sweet and sticky snacks

• Visit the dentist regularly

• Oral health is an important part of overall health 

There is an added bonus with this programme that fits in well to our ‘Eliminating Waste’ focus from last term.  We can actually recycle all oral tooth products by bringing them to school and sending them away.  It is worth doing and last week Riley, Hagen and Teo introduced it to the whole school in the assembly.  If we can encourage our school community to come on board we can not only prevent a whole heap of ‘rubbish’ going into the landfill but we can also earn money for the school.  In this same initiative yoghurt pouches can also be recycled.  We will be sharing that bit of info as well. Here’s a bit about it from their site.

As a reminder, the school that collects the most oral care waste by the end of November 2015 in NZ will win NZD$1000. However, the programme runs all year and you will receive two cents per item of waste collected. We have also launched a new programme for schools with leaders of milk for schools programme Fonterra.  By joining the Fonterra Pouch Brigade, your school can make a big impact by diverting any yoghurt pouch from landfill.

The Colgate Oral Care Brigade allows your school to not only educate around good dental health but also about looking after the planet. Your school can then send the items in any other used box to TerraCycle via our partners Australia Post. It is completely free to participate and includes shipping. Once we have received the waste we will recycle it into new sustainable products! 

We think that is too good an offer to resist so Room 7 & 8 will once again transform into becoming the

‘Eco-warriors’

       of the school and work tirelessly to cut down our schools waste……  Pretty cool ah??

 

It's all about Super Heroes

Super Hero Day was ever so great.  A lot of Room 7 said their super hero job was to clean up the planet.  I wonder why???

 Riley wrote..

If I was a Super hero my name would be FLASH.  I would clean up Hastings streets and then I would clean up the world!

What a Super GREEN  Hero.

A classroom of Super Heroes

Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week

The last week of term was all about ….

We wrote about our thoughts on it and

we looked around our school and saw

the need to have a bit of a spruce up..

so we did...

Room 7 -Eco Warriors of the school!

Some thoughts…

If there was rubbish in all of the world then there should be a lot of people helping to pick it up.  If people do not like the rubbish they should pick the rubbish up with other people to clean up their country.  Tidy Kiwi should help too.            Jokarvin

The way turtles die is because people are not caring for our beaches.  Keep New Zealand Beautiful week is the way we care for our beaches by picking up the rubbish.  New Zealand is a good place and we want to keep it clean.  We want our world to be the best world in the world.  We love New Zealand.                          Lucy

Don’t put your rubbish in the sea because the sea creatures and birds will eat it.  Don’t put your rubbish in the sea, pick it up and put it in the bin! Don’t throw it around, just clean it up.  It is important not to litter around the sea or near the water.     Arki

Our term Habit of Mind focus was working interdependently so we worked in groups to create a special poster to show we care.  Then we put all 4 posters together and made 1 big one.  We were really proud of our GREEN Hat creativity.

An Exciting Drive Past

There was much excitement last week when we were suddenly taken 

outside to witness the unveiling of one of the new massive recycling depots destined for our very own Black Bridge transfer station or commonly known ‘dump’. 

 It had been designed by Angela to be a far more user-friendly, more attractive and definitely effective way of collecting everyones recycling. 

On its way to its new home at the dump Angela had kindly asked for a drive past so Room 7 and 8 and Mrs Lindsay, could see another cog in the recycling wheel, and one we hope all the children will be familiar with in their own homes.

Waste Audit

Now for our Waste Audit.  This has been quite an important event and one we shared the results of in Mondays assembly.  We had the help of Angela Aitkin, Max and Islas Mum who is also the Waste officer at the Regional Council.  She brought along all the necessary gear.  We had collected a weeks worth of school rubbish and tipped it out onto tarpaulins to be sorted into crates. A rather icky job, thanks Tamsin for your help.  Here are some interesting results.

• ·         We take 2 ½ big green wheelie bins to the dump every week which costs a lot in dump fees.
• ·         There was 10kgs of food scraps in the rubbish.  This was nearly half the total weight of all the weeks rubbish going to the landfill. This should be put into the food buckets in the lunch area- going to the pig, the worm farm or the compost.
• ·         There was 2 ½ kgs of paper and cardboard in the rubbish which should be in the paper recycling bins.
• ·         We filled 5 crates with soft plastics.  This is gladwrap, chippie and muesli bar packets and plastic bags.  There were a lot of snap-lock bags in there as well which can be reused.
• ·         We found a lot of yoghurt pots that can be washed and recycled.
• ·         There were even milk cartons which need to be folded and put into the blue bins.
• ·         Coffee cups can be recycled if they have the recycle triangle on the bottom.

          

We wrote about the experience....

On Wednesday Room 7 and 8 did a waste audit.  This was with Isla and Max's Mum Angela.  She is a Waste Warrior and works for the council.  
There was a lot of food that people hadn't eaten and there weas a lot of chippie packets in the rubbish as well.  There was manderin peels in the rubbish bin!
We sorted out the rubbish in the bags.
We can recycle and reuse the yoghurt pots so they don't need to go to the landfill.
                                                               Lily

Yesterday Angela told us about reducing our waste.  The important thing was that I didn't knowthat there was going to be so much food scraps that weren't suppose to go in the rubbish bin.  Don't put your yoghurt pots in the bin because you can reuse them.
                                                            Jokarvin

On Wednesday Room 7 and 8 did a Waste Audit.  I was surprised by how much plastic there was in the rubbish.
We did the Waste Audit so we could work out how much rubbish there is in the whole school for one week.  There is lots in the whole school.  There is more than 100 pieces of rubbish in the school.
A lady called Angela talked about the rubbish and the litter.
We found yoghurt pots that can be washed and reused.  You can put plants in them like poppies.                                                   Sophie

We are making posters to share our findings.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reducing our schools waste has been our topic for the term.  

We have been working with room 8 on this programme.  

We began by looking at what sort of waste our school produces and where it goes.  We interviewed our caretaker Keith who told us about what he does with the schools rubbish and where it goes. We like helping Keith keep our school looking great by picking up any rubbish we see lying around the place. We are getting prepared for 'Keep New Zealand Beautiful' week which is at the end of term. 

Thinking Interdependently...Team Work!

This term an important focus has been on Thinking Interdependently.  Our catch phrase in Room 7 has been,

‘On our own we are good but together we are great.’ 

Check out our cool Jigsaw display in our cloakroom.

We have taken lots of opportunities to work cooperatively alongside our friends and peers and recognised that working together can not only be lots of fun but can also increase our understanding, as we share the ideas we come up with.

We constantly celebrate our successes in our Magic Castle.  We had to create a whole new one this term in preparation for the pile of new stickers representing the different levels we have passed.

We had fun painting our new castle.

Pink Day

Pink Day was lots of fun.  
We all became "PINK" for the day to support a school family that are having to face the enormity of dealing with cancer.  We stopped our usual routines and had a bit of fun with 'pink'.
 Heres a little snap shot of a very pink class in action at the coin trail. 

How Bees Make Honey

We have been learning about writing explanations in Room 7. 
 Explanations tell why or how something happens. 
We researched and found out 'How Bees Make Honey'.
 

 

 

How Bees Make Honey

First the bees go out of the hive and they find a flower.

They use their proboscis to get the nectar.

Next they get their legs out and pollen sticks to their legs. The nectar goes into their abdomen and it swirls around and turns into honey.

The bee flies back to the hive and puts it into the cells. When they get back they flap their wings to get the water out.

Then it turns into honey.

Honey tastes like sugar and sprinkles. It smells like jelly.

I like honey.

Ava

How Do Bees Make Honey?

First the bees come out of the hive and then they look for some flowers.

They suck out the nectar using their proboscis.  It mixes in their abdomen and then they go back in the hive to make nectar into honey.

They flap their wings to get the wetness off and then it goes in the cells.

Honey tastes like sweet and soft and sticky.

I like honey.

Arki

How Do Bees Make Honey

First the worker bees fly out of the hive and look for bright flowers.

Then they use their proboscis and suck up the nectar.

They bring it to the hive. Then they flap their wings to get rid of the water to make the honey.

The Bee Keeper takes it to Arataki Honey Farm and they pour the honey cones out of the hive.  They make the honey and it goes into the containers.  Then it goes to the supermarket and people buy it and they eat it.

I like honey.

Thomas

 

Getting to taste honey straight from  Arki's farm was superb and everybody enjoyed it. We say....     Clever Honey Bees!

1915-2015 , 100 year commemoration for ANZAC day

Last Friday we commemorated the 100th anniversary of WW1 and the battle fought so bravely by our Anzac troops at Gallipoli in Turkey.  We had a very special albeit wet Assembly which unfortunately had to be held in our hall.

The scene had been carefully set with lawns freshly planted and mowed and crosses marked with locals names who had  lost their lives in WW1.
We walked in single file past the crosses to pay our respects before meeting in the hall. The assembly was led by children and was a lovely mix of reflection and song. 
We had  talked, discussed and read, to give the children an understanding behind Anzac Day. We were even fortunate to have Logan bring his fathers medals and army hats to share with us.
 

Here are some of our stories...
 

ANZAC Day

We all remember when the troops died and they are still dying now. 

100 years ago there was a war and thousands of people died and it turned into a sad world.

They might have been scared and some were only 17 years old!

There was nowhere to run so a lot of them got shot.

It was sad as.

Addie

Anzac Day

They dug yucky trenches and they lived with the mice and rats.

They landed at dawn. It was 100 years ago.

There were big cliffs and there was nowhere to run.

All the boats had gone.

It was sad.

Ava

Anzac Day

Anzac day is sad because it is about the war.

The war is sad because they fight with guns.

They have to make houses in the cracks in the dirt and live there.

100 years ago they fought in the war at Gallipoli.

Riley

Anzac Day

On Saturday 25^th it is Anzac day.

I remember the people that died in the war.

It was a sad war.

They lived in trenches.  The trenches were horrible.

The soldiers went on a boat and they came to the wrong beach.  There were big huge cliffs.

There was nowhere to run.

Sophie

Anzac Day

100 years ago there was a war.  10,000 people died in that war. 

The Anzac people had to use stabber guns to not get shot.

The date was 1915.

Tomorrow is our celebration but the real celebration is on Saturday.

I would feel sad too if I was in the war.

Anzac stands for Australia, New Zealand Army Corps.

There was lots of blood on the beach where they landed.

I remember the people that died.

Teo

Anzac day

The soldiers went to the wrong place.

I remember the troops that died and it was sad when they got there.

They had nowhere to run.

There were big as cliffs and the Turks were shooting down.

They died!

Alea

 

 

The children created a beautiful wreath and colourful poppies for the ceremony which now hangs proudly in our classroom.

A meaningful week of remembrance.

Kay

 

 

Education Outside The Classroom 2015

Although this seems ages ago now the memories and the fun times we shared are still as alive as if it was yesterday. It really was a week full of highlights and different experiences, which we all, children and adults alike, took delight in sharing with each other. From the wonderful meandering walk through neighbouring driveways to get to the Haumoana Petting Zoo, and the amazing assortment of hands-on animals that we could lead or pet or just feed, to the excited faces seeing the children dress up in clothes from 100 years ago at the museum. And then of course to begin our week was the Arataki Honey Farm and the different experiences associated with that, learning about the importance of bees, making candles and bringing home our own pot of honey. Wow and of course there was more…

I will enclose a few of the childrens thoughts about the week and afew photos which could be difficult as there are heaps!

Last week we went on an adventure and we went on lots of them! The Haumoana Zoo was my favourite because we saw emu and we got to hold a guinee pig.  That was the best!  We even got to play on the playground. It was a long walk there and we found pinecones and we found lots of feathers.  It was fantastic.  I like the Haumoana Zoo.                               Ava

At EOTC week I liked the Haumoana Zoo because I liked all the animals.  My favourite was the horse because it was soft.                           Morgan

Last week we went to Arataki Honey and the Museum and it was fun.  I liked it when we dressed up also I liked the Farm Yard Zoo.  I loved everything!  I went back to Arataki Honey Farm and I got some treats. It was a toy bee and some bee rubbers.                                                   Emily

Last week we went to the Haumoana Farmyard Zoo.  I liked the Highland bull. He came all the way from Scotland and his red hair covered his eyes and he had big as horns.  The llama had big bottom teeth and the horse had a big head.                                      Jokarvin

Last week we had EOTC week.  EOTC week means adventures.  My favourite was the Haumoana Zoo.  EOTC week was awesome.  My favourite animal at the zoo was the bull and the horses and the llamas.  Who went with us were Room 8, Room 1 and Room 3.  Then we went back to school.  I ate lunch and then I had a play.  It was a long walk.                                          Teo

 

 

Arataki Honey Farm

Walking to the Farmyard Zoo

Fun at the Farmyard Zoo

 

 

 

 

 

 



The boys at the mueseum

 

The girls in their frocks

Thanks to everyone who participated in this fantastic week. We couldn't have done it without you.

Kay Foley :)

 

Sea Week Haumoana Style

Last week was Sea Week.  This years theme was 'Look Beneath the Surface'.  To celebrate this the Junior Syndicate did a Beach Clean-up down at our local beach.  We all walked down to the beach through our closest vineyard, Elephant Hill and were met at the beach by Sally and TK, Regional council officers who told us of the importance of what we were about to do.
Here are some of the childrens stories for you to enjoy..

We went to the beach for Sea Week and we found treasure.  We found rubbish too in the gardens and bushes It was a long walk and we had to walk through Elephant Hill.  We saw grapes too.   Olivia

Yesterday we went to the beach clean up to stop the rubbish going into the water.  We need to stop the rubbish because the fish will eat it and die.  I picked up a yellow bag and my glove came off because a bush pulled my glove off.   Louie

We went to the beach yesterday and we picked up lots of rubbish.  We saw a puffer fish and we threw it into the sea.  We found heaps of rubbish   Paitin-Rose

I loved our beach cleanup.  I picked up the rubbish too.  It was so exciting.  I was happy.  I felt tired when we went back from the beach.  We had a free swim.  William

Here are some of the photos..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Done Junior Syndicate

A Special Visitor

A couple of weeks ago Lucy came to school quite excited.  She had had a special visitor to her place...Read her story and find out more.

In the morning me and Harry went into the garage to play Haylow and we saw a Morepork sitting there looking at us.  I felt happy looking back at it.  I saw it and I liked its eyes. It had big black eyes.  We opened up the garage and it flew out. 
                             Lucy

                                                      Lucy's photos are on our eco wall.
Our native Morepork can be heard in the forest at dusk and night.  It is known for its haunting call.  Its Maori name Ruru reflects its call. Lucky Lucy I'd say!!

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