Otari Bush Walk

Otari Bush Walk.

The Kohekohe track.

We were the slowest group around the walk at Otari.  That’s because we stopped to look at everything!

Ferns  creeping up trees, fungi, insects hiding in trees, fallen berries, flowers and fruit; it takes time to be a real observer.

This photo is taken on the Kohekohe track, a magical glade.  It felt open and mysterious.  Sophie and Mel were able to tell us many of the names of the trees and plants as we went.

An ancient Mahoe.

Otari Wilton Bush

Otari Bush

Yesterday we went to Otari bush our group did a mixture of walking and running a three hour track up and down hill. I thought that a walked and ran well and my fitness levels are high. On the walk we saw kereru and tui and lots of other native birds. We also saw the 800 year old rimu tree.

I didn't have any problems with the walk fitness wise and could've easily done it again.

We walked past cows once and they suddenly stood up and gave up a bit of a fright which sent everyone running.

Nicola lead us the wrong way on a track  and we turned round and wandered back the right way.

The terrain really changed from the bottom of the hill compared to the top.

Overall I thought it was a really fun day out and would love to do it again

By Chester

Otari

The wind blows

The sun shines

The trees wave over our heads

Rimu 800 years old

Children walking, discovering, finding out

Birds fly high in the sky

Not to be seen

Kereru, tui, kaka

A rat in a trap

Huge eels swimming in the stream

Wetas causing havoc

By Lachlan and Mitchell

Otari

On the 29th of November, year four, five and six went to Otari for a walk. It was really fun. It was so refreshing and not very challenging because you could spend most of the time talking with your friends. Actually we were not allowed to talk in case we scared the birds away but we did anyway. We saw lots of different types of birds such as Kereru, Tui, Sparrows etc.     By Edie

At Otari bush walk me and my friends saw two eels. We were at the picnic spot at the end. One of the eels had bright blue eyes. We fed the eel cheese, salami, crackers and ham and they ate some of it! It was so much fun. Nick. 

African Dance--trying new things and growing our minds and bodies

We were lucky to have Naby visit us and teach us some traditional West African dance, drumming and singing.   First he showed us some dance, then we sang some songs, practised dancing and then learned a bit about the drums.  He showed us three different drumming sounds.  He explained that the sounds are like a family there is the deep sound which he called the Daddy, a slightly higher one that is called the Mommy and the highest sound was the baby.  

Each class had a turn at trying the dance and then the teachers did it too!  

Today we had an African visitor, he is from New Guinea, Africa and his name is Naby. In the band Caleb's  mum is one of  the drummers. She also came with a different band last year. It was musically wonderful. We danced like Africans and it was great.

Megan and Ruby

Dancing with Naby

Today at the start of the second bit of literacy we all went outside year six five three two and one. The reason we were outside is because a man called Naby was going to show us how to count and dance in african! It was really fun and I had a great time, it was very tiring and hot. It the end me and a handful of all the others years had to get up front and do the dancing.

Ollie H

The dancing and drumming were really good for our maths because we had to count the beats.  

1,2,3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3,4, 5,6,7,8

Learning about African Dance was really good for us to be able to see how different places, people and cultures sing and dance and for us to give something new a try.  Everyone did give it a try and we know that when we try new things we grow our brains! Music and dancing are also really great for our wellbeing and link to our positive health curriculum.  Singing and dancing out in the sunshine and with the birds was lots of fun and got us moving and grooving! 

Christmas Competition

Christmas

Competition

There will be 3 competitions on the day.

Competitions

1 Best dressed

2 best christmas plays and dances

3 best christmas songs and playing a musical instrument.

Please dress up christmassy to have more christmas fun !!!!

Please make sure thousands of people at worser bay sign up!!!! Remind your kids!!!!!!

the person who wins gets the title christmas princess or prince to be called for the week we come back to school! they will also get a crown and a receive coronation!!!

If you win you can perform your winning category to the school in assembly if you want to!!!                Merry christmas :)  thanks xxx

Nell and Isabel

Transition

In our Transition Groups (now new base groups for 2018) students were given a Maths problem. They had to problem solve in teams. It was so exciting! Some of us acted it out and some of us drew the answer.

Parents were also invited to hang out in the spaces. It was great to have the opportunity to show them around.

Thank you to the parents who came to the Bring Your Own Device meeting after transition. If you have any questions about BYOD then please email Nicola nstevenson@worserbay.school.nz or John johnmcdougall@worserbay.school.nz

Emails from Leola and Violeta

We received emails from Leola and Violeta. It was great to hear about how they are getting on in Spain! You can respond to them in the Padlet below. 

Hi I'm Leola. Here at home we already have desks to study at home, because we thought that our bedroom was too kidish. At school we have a very funny teacher who reminds me of John. His name is Jose Manuel, but he doesn't play the guitar. Our English teacher is called Rocio. Here we have a thing called Talleres( workshops) once a week which is my favourite subject. We are separated into 4 groups (3th and 4th of primary) and one goes to art ,another one to crafts another one to I.T. and finally another one to theater. Anyways to what we were going, I'm having a great time here in Spain.😁.
I miss you!

Hi everyone. I'm Violeta . I'm very well here and I miss you all. My school here is very different, maths is really different. The cursive letter wasn't so important. In maths we are starting to divide because we have finished with the multiplying. In literacy we are with a thing that doesn't exist there. How is everything there? Here it's good very good. Here as a subject we have got English and it's super easy for me and Leola.

Patterns in Maths Triangle Numbers.

Patterns in Maths

We have been exploring patterns in Maths using visual prompts.  There have been some great questions to help explore the ideas.

What would be the hundredth shape in the pattern? What shape would precede the first one? How can we express the pattern in words?  What is the rule?  What is the equation which shows the pattern?  Is it a linear equation?  How can we tell?

This is an example of some of the thinking which Alexander, Rico and Jan have been doing.  Exciting stuff!

Last of our Languages for 2017!

Our Language programme has been a huge highlight this year. With our Extravaganza next week (at 6.30pm) and Beach week the following two weeks - today was sadly our last language session for 2017. We have been so lucky to have a taster of French, German, Spanish, Maori and Mandarin.

We are incredibly grateful to the parents who have come in to share their language and culture.
Big shoutout to Cloe (Anatole's Mum), Maria (Leola and Violeta's Mum), Sarka (Jan's Mum), John and Wanwan.

3D Cubes

We had this problem that had 3D cubes.

First we discovered all the things that it could be. Some people thought it looked like a flower and others thought it looked like a minecraft flower. At first I thought it looked like a stamp that looked like a plus.

Then we organised our thinking into a chart. We found out that each time the pattern grew it added five. It added one to the top and one on the four sides.

Number in Sequence	Number of Cubes
1	1
2	6
3	11
4	16
5	21
6	26
7	31
8	36
9	41
10	46

We drew the next two in the sequence so we could check if it was right. We thought that we would find the tenth in the sequence. We did this by adding five.

From there we did trial and improvemnet to find a formula.

The formula is y = (y-1) 5 +1

(y is the sequence)

BEDMAS is to help us with order of oprations it help us make the formula.

By Zach

Transition: Matariki and Mahutonga Spaces

Every year we have some time to work in our new spaces with other people that we will be collaborating with. We call this "Transition!" Last Friday, our Year 4 and 5 students took the Year 3 students around the space so that they will be familiar with the layout. We had to think like architects and draw a plan of the space. 

We would like to invite parents to our transition time this Friday!

Transition across Spaces - Friday 24 November, 9.30 to 10am - ALL WELCOME

Come along to Karakia, have a cuppa and then at 9.30-ish you can pop along to your child's new space for 2018. The thinking was to especially provide an opportunity for parents of Autahi children moving to Tautoru and parents of Tautoru children moving to Mahutonga/Matariki to chat with teachers and see their children in their new spot. It's not exclusive, however, as it's also a great chance to meet different parents who have children already in that space. SO ALL WELCOME! The more the merrier really. Come and get familiar in your 2018 environment!

BYOD Question and answer meeting: Friday 24 November - 10am in staffroom

Our Chromebooks and iPads have led to incredible opportunities for our students over the last few years. The school has increased technology by around 50% in the last three years which has been so fortunate. Our learners to be connected more and more. So, we need to keep the BYOD growing in order to keep our students connected to all of the new, exciting learning possibilities.

Senior students at Worser Bay School are able to bring a digital device to school to assist their learning. This is not compulsory but we would like to encourage people who are able, to get on board.

Worser Bay School uses technology as one way of enhancing our mission to teach the skills, knowledge and behaviours students will need as responsible citizens in the global community. Students learn collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking in a variety of ways throughout the school day.

In an effort to increase access to those 21st Century skills, Worser Bay School allows personal devices on our network and school grounds for students who follow the responsibilities stated in the Student Acceptable Use of Technologies Agreement and the BYOD Information and Permission form.

Worser Bay School strives to provide appropriate and adequate technology to support learning.  The use of personal devices by students is optional, and students who do not participate in BYOD will be be able to use chromebooks provided by the school.

An important component of BYOD is education about appropriate online behaviours.  We will review cyber-safety rules with students frequently throughout the course of the school year and will offer reminders and reinforcement about safe online behaviours.  In addition to the rules outlined in these guidelines, students will be expected to comply with all class and school rules while using personal devices.  The use of technology is not a necessity but a privilege.  When abused, privileges will be taken away.

If you are interested in purchasing a device before the start of school, we have provided some guidance below. If you have any questions before the end of the term, please see or email Nicola or John: nstevenson@worserbay.school.nz, or johnmcdougall@worserbay.school.nz

Students can use their devices throughout the day for collaborative learning, web-based research and applications, including creating documents and presentations.

What students say:

We asked students “How does BYOD help you with your learning?”

“It helps me with my learning because it is easier to sign in. Google Docs help because you can type whatever you want and carry on at home if you want.”

“I think it gives you more freedom with what you can do or can’t do. It helps that you don’t have the pressure to find a computer when you need it. You can definitely use it to learn at home too. You can go on Maths links or keep going with writing docs.”

“Sometimes if you have your own device you can use it when you want. I like to use devices for typing because it is easier for me to get the ideas down.”

Hour of Code 2017

The ICT Student Council Group have been helping teachers to organise the "Hour of Code" event this year. They have been trialling the "Gumball Play Lab" so that we can become experts and teach others.

Students in Matariki and Mahutonga have new login details that they have already received or will receive shortly.

During Computer Science Education Week, tens of millions of students will gather all around the world to participate in the annual Hour of Code.

Watch this space...

You can check out the site at https://code.org/

Getting ready for our Extravaganza of Creativity Evening - Thursday 30 November

We've been creating short plays to share on our Creativity Evening, Thursday 30 November. We have tried different approaches: acting out scenes and seeing what develops; writing scripts based on planning scenes, characters and conflicts; collaborating with different people; sharing our work, celebrating and critiquing it; and writing success criteria. It's looking like a great evening of memorable moments and humour.

Some of the students developed these success criteria today:

And here they are in action: