Batik Crayon and Dye

Today we had a go at batik pictures using crayon and dye. First the children drew their pictures and coloured them in thickly with crayon. Then they crumpled up their pictures several times. After that they added dark dye to give the batik effect. Well done kids, your pictures look great!

Spring is Here!

Xiantaye and Ruiha planted plants and seeds for outside room12. They planted calendulas and sweet pea which will grow up the stakes. In a few weeks the will have some beautiful flowers to brighten up their deck area. 

Magic Crayons

Hinerau had a turn at the 'magic crayon' table. The children were drawing pictures or writing messages with white crayons. Then they used dye over the top to 'reveal' their pictures and writing. Well done Hinerau you did a great job with your 'magic' writing. 

Crayon and Dye

Turongo got busy at discovery time. He wrote his name in red crayon, then he coloured the inside blue then he used purple dye to colour the outside. It looks fantastic! Turongo says "Hi" to his Mum and Dad 😀😘💥👒👹👺💀💀

Interviews Tomorrow

Just a reminder that we have interviews tomorrow. They start at 1.30 and I still have slots available so give Aroha a call to book a time. A big thank you to those of you who have already booked, Andrea and I are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. 

If your child needs to stay at school instead of going home at lunchtime, we will have staff members here to supervise them until 3pm. 

See you tomorrow 

Elaine 

My Badges

"I made some badges. I stuck things on with glue. I really love my badges", said Vasati.

Making Badges

"I put glue on the badge, then I stuck things on to make the eyes and the nose and the hair. I love my badge", said Hinerau

Building!

Tomai and Kaitiaki are hard at work building together. Well done boys, awesome teamwork!

Sarmah's picture

Sarmah used sponges to make her beautiful picture. "I used different colours and I drew a line in the middle then I used the stamps on each side. Then I did my name". Well done Sarmah this is a very clever painting. 

Patterns with pastels.

Lily-Anne drew a picture of lots of patterns. She coloured it in with pastels. "Now I'm rubbing it to smudge the colours together. Now it's really great!"

Working Together

As part of our discovery time we are concentrating on 'working together'. Here are Kaitiaki and Hinerau working together to produce a pastel picture. 

Making Pom poms

Today one of our discovery activities was making Pom-poms. First we had to cut out two circles of cardboard. Then we had to wind little balls of wool which we used to wrap around the cardboard circles. It took a long time and we had to stick with it.....perseverance. Afterwards we cut through the wool to take it off the cardboard....and there it is, a pom-pom. Well done Lily-Anne, you really worked hard to make your pom-pom. 

Discovery Time

             

Hinerau is having a go at making a Pom Pom. 

Well done Hinerau I like your colours you have chosen. 

Toast!

Jayveah is enjoying some toast he made during discovery time. The children are learning the process of making toast and are following the steps from picture cards. Ka pai Jayveah, what an awesome learner you are😃

Discovery Day 3rd June

Kaitiaki and Lily-Anne are putting on a puppet show. They  are using our classroom puppets and the theatre. I love the way you are sharing and co-operating, you are both awesome learners!

Discovery Time 3rd June

Here is Turongo making a tower from plasticene and straws. I wonder how tall you can make it Turongo? I love your perseverance while you are working, what an awesome learner you are! Turongo says, "That's really tall !"

Discovery Time

Every Wednesday Rooms 8 and 12 get together in the morning to have discovery time. We do this from 9.15 am to 10.40 am and parents are more than welcome to come along and join in - and will very probably be given a group to work with :-) It is a wonderful opportunity for children of different ages to get together and to help each other with their learning and it is lovely to see the older children showing great patience as they help the younger children master new skills. We will be running a variety of different activities in order to help our children learn new skills and also work on key competencies such as perseverance, working together etc

Experimenting with crayon and dye pictures

Xzavier enjoying making toast with Mrs Mac

A group of boys enjoying some construction activities

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

In Room 8 we have been learning to use different types of questions when talking about our news.

Thanks Sarmah for sharing your news! What great questioning Room 8! 

Zoo Trip

Well what an awesome day we had - from the bus ride in - to the wonderful people at Wellington Zoo - the sponsorship from The Warehouse - and a day exploring the zoo and seeing so many beautiful animals - and another bus ride home - so much fun! We are so lucky! Thank you to those parents who joined us on the day - we really appreciate your support!

Click on the links for a brief look at our day...

WhaeaNicky invites you to watch 'Going to the zoo.....' on PhotoPeach.

To watch the slideshow, please click the link below:
http://photopeach.com/album/cvwmci?invitecode=4297e6da37


WhaeaNicky invites you to watch 'Zoo Part Two' on PhotoPeach.

To watch the slideshow, please click the link below:
http://photopeach.com/album/e9hcjn?invitecode=29feb7d325


WhaeaNicky invites you to watch 'Zoo Part 3' on PhotoPeach.

To watch the slideshow, please click the link below:
http://photopeach.com/album/vxb4qj?invitecode=b3ce45c69a

Animals Animals Animals!

We are so lucky! Whaea Nicky's sister-in-law and her work-friends got together and made this awesome album of animal cards - then they gifted this and the animal sound players also. One came from lovely Hanzula who is only 8 - who saved up his pocket money to buy one for us! 

Nga mihi ki a koutou!

We have loved listening to the sounds the different animals and birds make. Some have surprised us - Lily thought the hornbill sounded a bit like a horse! I think you are right Lily! What a great description! Room 8 was especially excited by the present as we are off to the zoo tomorrow.....

We're all going to the zoo tomorrow!!!!

I feel a song coming on!!!

This is the version of the song that Whaea Nicky sang when she was 5 - back in the old days when Television had black and white pictures!

The trip tomorrow will go ahead whatever the weather - please dress your children appropriately for this. Also ensure they have footwear suitable for a lot of walking - thank you! They will all need a packed lunch and a drink bottle in their backpacks. We will hand out the school hats before leaving.

ALL CHILDREN MUST BE AT SCHOOL AT 8.45 - THE BUS LEAVES AT 9 O'CLOCK IF YOU ARE NOT THERE IT WILL LEAVE WITHOUT YOU. Thank you for your support in this.

A huge thank you to 'The Warehouse' for their kind sponsorship of this zoo visit and the wonderful people at Wellington Zoo for all their help to make tomorrow such a special day for our tamariki - nga mihi ki a koutou!

Zoo Map

There’s a lot to see and explore. Here’s a link to Wellington Zoo's map so you can familiarise yourself with the Zoo:

http://www.wellingtonzoo.com/uploadGallery/Zoo%20Map%20Dec%202013%20WEB.pdf

Pre-visit slideshow:

http://www.wellingtonzoo.com/uploadGallery/Previsit%20Slideshow.pdf

Wonderful Welby the Woodchopper!

Wow! On Saturday at Otaki School Welby from Room 9 took part in the woodchopping competitions! Welby won his event by a country mile - fantastic effort Welby! What I liked the most was how Welby shook the hands of all the competitors when the event finished - what an awesome competitor you are Welby!

Garage Sale on Saturday!

Zoo Trip March 17th 2015

We have been lucky enough to receive funding to take Rooms 8 and 10 to the Wellington Zoo on Tuesday 17th March. The trip has been sponsored by 'The Warehouse' - the Zoo entrance and the bus to get there for the children is covered by this sponsorship.

Permission slips have been sent home with your child - please sign this and return it to school ASAP so we can plan for the trip - thank you!

Shapes in Room 8

We have been learning about shapes in Room 8. (Geometry Level1) What are different shapes? Where do we see them around us? How many sides do they have?
Whaea Nicky found a story with a little turtle that had a shell made from hexagons! (Aesop's Fable "The Tortoise and the Eagle") We thought we could make some gorgeous turtles with our favourite shapes - what a fine job they all did!

End of Swimming 2015

We have had a wonderful four solid weeks of swimming in our school pool. The tamariki in Room 8 have shown great skill and enthusiasm for being in the pool, and have all made progress with their swimming. We will be doing athletics for the rest of the Term 1 - can you please make sure you send your child in clothes each day that are suitable for running and jumping in. In the last week of term we will be having an Athletics afternoon - all whanau are welcome to come along and watch the children.

Sarmah reading 'Jolly Roger, the Pirate'

Sarmah has been working very hard on her reading. When Sarmah makes a mistake she fixes it - all by herself! Well done Sarmah! What an amazing reader you are!

Click on the link below to hear her read.....

                               http://www.fotobabble.com/m/TGMyeElESnhFSkE9#.VPuZJC2J2MQ.email

I really like the way Sarmah fixes her mistakes! That's what readers do - what an awesome learner you are Sarmah!

Beach Day! Beach Day!

When: Friday 6 March 2015
Where: Otaki Beach 10am - 2pm
Who: All Otaki School students and teachers

How: Bus for Juniors

Activities: Sand castles, beach art, volleyball, beach cricket, swimming, beachletics, beach clean-up, BBQ sausages.

What a day we have planned - it is the culmination of our water safety and Tangaroa/moana study.

The children will need to bring something warm in case the weather gets cooler through the day! They need to bring play lunch, a light lunch, and a drink! We are providing 2 sausages for each child. Lucky tamariki!

You are most welcome to join us we will be at the beach at 10am.

COST - Free!!

All children are expected to participate - we have sent home a notice with a permission slip included - please return this to the teacher, signed by Thursday.

Awesome Learners in Room 8!

We have been focusing on how we can keep ourselves 'Safe' this term - but I couldn't let the opportunity pass when I saw the photo's Tai took today of the 'Awesome Learners' in Room 8! Thank you Tai you do such a great job!

 It makes me very proud to see all of you working so hard! Rawe Room 8! What great learners you are! We have been talking about shapes - we have been drawing them - making pictures from them - and seeing shapes all around the school.

Road Safety

On Friday Officer Fiona came to teach our tuakana how to be Safe while they are on patrol for our school. Room 8 went out to talk with Fiona about how to keep ourselves ‘safe’ when crossing the road. We talked about the important role that adults play when we cross the road, “we hold hands” said Lily. We talked about what to do at the school crossing, how we wait until the patrol person puts down their arm and says “cross now”. Then we had a practice.

Valentine's Day Writing

Today we did some Valintine's Day writing - thinking about the people we love in our lives. Pop in to the classroom where the children's work is displayed.

WhaeaNicky invites you to watch 'Valentine Writing' on PhotoPeach.


To watch the slideshow, please click the link below:
http://photopeach.com/album/qnj4dq?invitecode=fdec0ddfc0 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Arohanui

Whaea Nicky and Ms Millar

Otaki School - Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L)

We promote behaviours in our school where the children are STAR's - they are Safe, Totally Responsible, Awesome Learners and Respectful.

This terms focus is 'Safe". Over the coming weeks we will be thinking about what it looks like when we are 'Safe'. How can we keep ourselves safe? At the pool, at school, how to keep ourselves safe by wearing our hats, sunscreen, eating well, and the important role that parents and caregivers play in keeping our children safe.

Here is Ms Millar helping keep Lily safe by making sure she has sunscreen on at the pool. 

Ka pai korua!

Here is Mahia - keeping himself safe by carefully using the ladder to get into the pool.

Ka rawe e tama!

  

School Picnic at Waikanae Pools

On Tuesday we went as a full school by bus to the Waikanae Pools. What an awesome day of fun we had there! There was swimming (of course!!!),water balloons, and sack races!

School Trip to Waikanae Pools

Just a quick reminder about the trip tomorrow to the pools in Waikanae tomorrow (Tuesday 10th February). Please if you haven't already bring in your signed permission slips to the school - we need this before we can take your child out of the school grounds.
All children will need togs and towel, lunch and a drink, sunscreen and be up for an awesome day of fun at Waikanae Pools! You also need to be at school on time as the bus leaves at 9.30!
Thanks for your support!

                                                   

Welcome back!!!

Nga mihi ki a koutou! Welcome back to school everyone.  Ms Millar and Whaea Nicky are both so excited to see you all and to hear all about your holidays. 
Please remember to bring your togs everyday now as we will be swimming in the school pool every afternoon.
Next week - Tuesday 10th February - we will travel as a school to Waikanae Pools for the day.
We are looking forward to an awesome year of learning with your child, nga mihi ano