Waihirere Domain Trip

Last Thursday, we were able to take our trip to Waihirere Domain and the children had a fantastic time!  I want to say a big thank you for all the parents who came and helped, the volunteers Kauri and Amy, who taught us new things about the river (awa) and things that are found in the area.

We took the bus out and once we go out we put our bags in our area.  We went down to the river with Amy to see what difference we could see between the Taruheru river here at Waihrere and behind our school in town.

We could see the bottom of the river and all the stones.  We found heaps of mayflies, woody-cased caddisflies, smooth-cased caddisflies.  We also managed to catch 4 fresh water crayfish and 1 eel!  The kids were very excited to see all this wildlife from the river.

Next we went onto building our own boats.  The children got into pairs and had to find things laying around to create a small boat.  They were given some string and blue-tac to help them too.  Once the children had some time we got them together to have some boat races where they used straws to blow their boats' sails.

The children stopped for lunch and a play then we went on a walk with Kauri to explore the forest life up towards the waterfall.  It was a big hike to get right to the waterfall so we went half way.  We saw a rat trap with a dead rat inside!  We also saw a beautiful kereru bird in the trees.

Lastly we listened to some water stories and played some race games moving water around.  It was a long, busy and fun-filled day.

Last Thursday, we were able to take our trip to Waihirere Domain and the children had a fantastic time!  I want to say a big thank you for all the parents who came and helped, the volunteers Kauri and Amy, who taught us new things about the river (awa) and things that are found in the area.

We took the bus out and once we go out we put our bags in our area.  We went down to the river with Amy to see what difference we could see between the Taruheru river here at Waihrere and behind our school in town.

We could see the bottom of the river and all the stones.  We found heaps of mayflies, woody-cased caddisflies, smooth-cased caddisflies.  We also managed to catch 4 fresh water crayfish and 1 eel!  The kids were very excited to see all this wildlife from the river.

Next we went onto building our own boats.  The children got into pairs and had to find things laying around to create a small boat.  They were given some string and blue-tac to help them too.  Once the children had some time we got them together to have some boat races where they used straws to blow their boats' sails.

The children stopped for lunch and a play then we went on a walk with Kauri to explore the forest life up towards the waterfall.  It was a big hike to get right to the waterfall so we went half way.  We saw a rat trap with a dead rat inside!  We also saw a beautiful kereru bird in the trees.

Lastly we listened to some water stories and played some race games moving water around.  It was a long, busy and fun-filled day.

'Do'athlon start videos

'Do'athlon

Last Friday, the children took part in the school's 'do'athlon.  We want all children to take part hence the 'do' part!  We know that some children lack confidence in the water so this is a great opportunity for them all to take part in a big event.

I am very proud of all the children that took part.  It was great seeing all your smiling faces at the start line on Friday.  You all did so well and looked fabulous in your house colours.

I have some videos that I will hopefully upload at a later date.  They are currently too large to upload from my phone but I should be able to cut them down a bit and get them up for you all to see.

Last Friday, the children took part in the school's 'do'athlon.  We want all children to take part hence the 'do' part!  We know that some children lack confidence in the water so this is a great opportunity for them all to take part in a big event.

I am very proud of all the children that took part.  It was great seeing all your smiling faces at the start line on Friday.  You all did so well and looked fabulous in your house colours.

I have some videos that I will hopefully upload at a later date.  They are currently too large to upload from my phone but I should be able to cut them down a bit and get them up for you all to see.

Meanies in the house!

You may have seen our Meanies that are in our classroom window.

Meanies in the house is a favourite story of mine written by Joy Cowley.  She has written a few Meanie stories that I love sharing with the children.  They get to know the Meanies and to see that they are not very nice creatures!  In this story the Meanies decided to make havoc for one little boy.  They mess up the kitchen, his bedroom and the bathroom.  Every time the boy's mother comes to see what he is doing the Meanies run away leaving the little boy standing in a huge mess!

The only thing that seems to scare off the Meanies for good is when the Mother's mother comes to stay.  We coloured in our Meanies, dyed them and published the story we wrote in our writing books to display for everyone to see.

You may have seen our Meanies that are in our classroom window.

Meanies in the house is a favourite story of mine written by Joy Cowley.  She has written a few Meanie stories that I love sharing with the children.  They get to know the Meanies and to see that they are not very nice creatures!  In this story the Meanies decided to make havoc for one little boy.  They mess up the kitchen, his bedroom and the bathroom.  Every time the boy's mother comes to see what he is doing the Meanies run away leaving the little boy standing in a huge mess!

The only thing that seems to scare off the Meanies for good is when the Mother's mother comes to stay.  We coloured in our Meanies, dyed them and published the story we wrote in our writing books to display for everyone to see.

Outside Fun

As we head into the cooler Autumn months, we have been enjoying the afternoon sun when it decides to come out!  We have been learning a few games to play with each other.

The children are learning how to follow instructions and to play fairly ensuring that everyone gets a turn.  The first game we learnt was yell run.  This game is a bit noisy so we play on the far field away from other kids (and maybe not a game you want to play at home!) You have to see how far you can run when you are yelling.  When you stop yelling for a breath you have to sit down.  We learnt how to play duck, duck, goose.  It was good to hear that some children already knew how to play so I let them take turns explaining the words to the other children who weren't sure how to play.

As we head into the cooler Autumn months, we have been enjoying the afternoon sun when it decides to come out!  We have been learning a few games to play with each other.

The children are learning how to follow instructions and to play fairly ensuring that everyone gets a turn.  The first game we learnt was yell run.  This game is a bit noisy so we play on the far field away from other kids (and maybe not a game you want to play at home!) You have to see how far you can run when you are yelling.  When you stop yelling for a breath you have to sit down.  We learnt how to play duck, duck, goose.  It was good to hear that some children already knew how to play so I let them take turns explaining the words to the other children who weren't sure how to play.