Kahurangi Dance Company

On Thursday we were lucky enough to be visited by the Kahurangi Dance Company. They shared the story of the Matariki, the Maori New Year, through traditional Maori song and dance. They told us of the Ika (fish) who were put in the sky to watch over the oceans and at Matariki these 7 Ika can be seen as the brightest stars. The performers also spoke of their ancestors, who before there were such things as shops and toys, used to make up their own games. Hei tama tu tama is a game where two people take turns doing one of four hand actions. If the action is mirrored and they call out, they win. It was similar to a game of snap but with actions rather than cards.

 

 

 

 

Cross Country Fun Run

The juniors were in great form on Friday as they completed the first Ardgowan fun run. It was great to see so many parental and whanau out supporting their tamariki.

Speeding down the finish line

Supporting each other

This year our junior course was set up at Ardgowan school with the help of the year 7 and 8s. Almost 800m long with obstacles to jump over, crawl under and climb through the children completed the course to the best of their abilities.

Lining up in our age categories

Sussing out the route

Great foot work

Being cheered on by marshals

Book Week

What a busy book week! We have been exploring the written works of Julia Donaldson. We started the week with Room on the Broom designing our own truly magnificent brooms. Some had pools and ponds for the frog, luxury seats for the dog and one even had a contraption to help the witch stop losing all her things. On Wednesday we were joined by own buddy class and read The Gruffalo. 

''You see? Everyone is afraid  of me. But now my tummy is beginning to rumble and my favourite food is Gruffalo crumble!''

With our senior helpers we carefully followed a recipe and made our own Gruffalo crumble. 

Carefully feeling the apples.

Help on hand to measure out the ingredients

Topping with crumble

Enjoying our delicious Gruffalo Crumble

On Thursday we read Snail and the Whale. and carefully crafted our own snails. We watched an instructional video then set to task.

Then to finish off the week we all dressed up as our favourite book characters. Can you guess who are?

PE

This week for PE we were joined by Ruma 5 to practice our ball skills. We played lots of fun games that involved dribbling, throwing and catching. Check us out!

PE is essential to the development of motor skills and the enhancement of reflexes. Hand-eye coordination is improved, as well as good body movements, which helps in the development of a healthy body posture.  Plus the kids just love getting outside.

Science-Catagorising Materials

Our Science topic this term is Material World and we have been looking at categorising materials. We could identify wood, metal and plastic and found examples of these in the classroom. We then were about to describe their properties. Lucah told me his drink bottle was smooth because it was made from metal. Kyno said the legs of the stool were strong and made of wood. 

"My container is waterproof because it is made from plastic."

"This metal cello-tape holder is heavy because metal is heavy."

"This desk looks like wood but I don't think it is wood because it doesn't feel like wood"

Another day at the office

Busy at work

We have had a great start to Term 2! Our Role Play corner this term is set up as an office space, with a laptop and lots of fun stationary. It has already been a favourite choice of play for most of us.
We learn by imagining and doing. When we engage with pretend play we experiment with social and emotional roles of life. We are learning to take turns, share responsibility and creatively problem solve. We are practicing our language skills through talking and writing and our thinking skills by negotiating and planning. We are excited to develop this space more with children adding their own ideas about what should be included in this space. It has already been a doctors, a vets, the school office and more!

A visit from the Easter Bunny

After returning from lunch we found an email on the computer that said 

''The Easter Bunny has been today,
and dropped some eggs along the way.
Follow the clues, you need to be wise,
as they will lead you to your prize.''

 We carefully followed all the clues which lead us to a yummy Easter treat.