Art Exhibition at Saint Christopher's Hall Seatoun

Try to make it down to the Seatoun Community Hall, Saint Chritopher's to see the the Art Exhibition A Future for Miramar. It is work produced by students from many of the schools in the area. We worked with the idea of Kaitiakitanga, or being guardians of the area. We have created mobiles, Kowhaiwhai patterns, a print mural and a Pou sculpture which represents the Māori gods who help to care for the environment.
Thanks to Karin Stillberg from Zealandia for arganising the event.

The remaining opening times for the exhibition are as follows:

4th July 3pm – 5.30pm

7th July 12pm – 3pm

Preparing the Pou.  This is Rongo the god of peace.

Ngā Mokopuna Hikoi.

A small group of us went on a walk around Seatoun beach and headland  led by some of the students from Te Kura Kaupapam o Ngā Mokopuna, Watene and Christian.  The talked to us about the history of the area; some of the same stories we have been learning about.  Talking about Kupe in the place where he beached his waka helps us imagine the past and brings history alive.

Wātene telling the stories.
We began the session with a mihi whakatau which is a quick greeting.  The we were  playing games, getting to know each other and generally having fun before heading off on the walk around the rohe.

The Worser Bay Orchestra at Assembly

Music enhances our Positive Emotions. Research shows that Music improves brain health and function. It makes you smarter, happier, and more productive. Listening is good, playing is better! When music enters our brains it triggers the pleasure centre that release dopamine (a neurotransmitter) and that makes you feel happy. Playing an instrument increases some gray matter volume in the brain and can improve brain function. 

Rhosyn: I play the ukulele in the orchestra. We practise on Thursday afternoons. It is fun hearing all of the different instruments at once. Practicing together has been fun because I am part of a group. I used perseverance and bravery to perform on stage. I have a sense of gratitude that I can be part of the performance.

Evie: It was fun to perform on stage. I play the violin. I have played since I was four years old. This shows my love of learning and how I have stuck with it! Thanks Kirsten, Vicky and Sarah for helping!

Edward: I play the saxophone, some people mistake it for a trumpet! I used zest in the orchestra performance at assembly. The audience looked really happy and some have said that they want to join now.

Emelie: While I played the guitar I stared at the audience while playing with frozen fingers. I used my bravery, perseverance and zest. I am proud of myself because I made some mistakes but kept going and not stopping.

Wonder Wall

As we delve deeper into our Inquiry we often have wonderings or questions that crop up. For these questions we have our Wonder Wall!

So during lessons if we come across something we are curious about or want to explore further we write it on the window (which is pretty fun). We are looking forward to researching these questions as we continue though this Inquiry cycle.

How kind are you?

Kindness is something we have been discussing in Matariki. Our new wall display shows a maunga and our students have placed themselves where they think they are in relation to their kindness.

We have been reflecting on the evidence for where we placed ourselves. We have discussed this and started a piece of writing outlining why we are where we are on the maunga. This has helped us to reflect on our actions and how we treat each other. It has also furthered our understanding the use of evidence to back up an idea help us with explanations in writing (which we are beginning to focus on). 

So ask yourself, 'How kind am I?' 'How could I be kinder?'

Matariki Day 2019 - Sharing our taonga

This week in Māhutonga/Matariki we celebrated Matariki all day through a range of learning experiences.

We were asked to bring an item to school that told a story about our family; an artefact that could be considered a treasure/taonga or heirloom. But hang on, I hear you say, what does that have to do with Matariki? Well, in the same way that Christmas/New Year might be a time to reflect and remember those who came before us, Matariki is a time to connect to our tūrangawaewae (place to stand) and our tūpuna (ancestors).

The artefacts and stories that were brought to school were fantastic, and sparked some wonderful conversations both at school and at home.

     

First we got in to small groups and shared our taonga and korero. We talked about what our objects were, who they connected us to and how they made us and our families feel. What a time for Positive Emotions!

After that, we took photos and spoke or wrote about someone else's artefact. We then shared these explanations on Seesaw. This was a great way to show that we had been listening to each other!

"This is what Nell brought in today for the artefact showing. This connects Nell to her Great-Grandma, her Grandma and her Mother. It is a collection of buttons that was collected over the years and passed down. The purse was sewn by her Great-Grandma, and only a few things were adjusted. "This makes me feel connected to my family" said Nell, upon the question 'How does this make you feel?'" - Emelia K

"Today we were celebrating Matariki and our ancestors. This is Lily's dad's Speak & Spell from when he was a little kid. I liked it because it's something thats not made in our era. I like how it connects Lily to her family, it's pretty cool!" - Pippa S

After our sharing, we started to think about who in our own iwi, hapū and whānau are the rangatira (chiefs), kaumatua (elders) and tohunga (experts). Check that out in the slides below.

Workshops with our Autahi and Tautoru Buddies: Positive Purpose

Happy Matariki! We caught up with our buddies from across the school and put on a Matariki Celebration. This kicked off with a waiata and then included Matariki workshops that our students prepared. We have been thinking about how to practise Positive Purpose. This is about taking part in activities that benefit others. Positive Purpose helps our students to have a sense of responsibility for the world that they live in. There is evidence that doing things for others, and having a sense that life is purposeful and meaningful, contributes to students’ psychological and physical health!

“THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO INCREASE THE WARM HEART. THINK OF OTHER PEOPLE. SERVE OTHER PEOPLE SINCERELY. NO CHEATING.” The Dalai Lama

Year 6 EBIS Visit

On Tuesday the Year 6's visited Evans Bay Intermediate School (EBIS). We were welcomed into the school by a performance by the Ako Waiata group.

Some of the Year 8's spoke to us about the opportunities available at intermediate (remember Evie?!)

We were then sorted into smaller groups and had to write about something we already knew about EBIS and something we would like to ask.

Then we went into a classroom with our group for the remainder of the first session.

After morning tea we were able to participate in two of the four SPEC Rotations. The options were Digital technologies, Art, Food and Science.

After lunch we competed in a technology challenge - with prizes!

“Today we went to EBIS, it was a great time. I did Cooking, sports and at the end we did a challenge to make a poppy.
Something new I found was that quesadillas are really easy to make, also that digital tech is a lot more then devices.
Something that surprised me was that, EBIS is a lot more fun than I thought.
Something that I'm looking forward to, is to learn more about cooking and about these great things in EBIS."  Finlay


“Today we went to EBIS l think that it was good because we did so many different things. I am looking forward to going there. I was surprised that there was so many kids go there. I learnt that there is a big obstacle thing.” Katherine

Pepeha with our Friends at Auroa School

We recently did a Skype with Auroa School in Taranaki. We took turns saying our pepeha and saying it without reading it. We acknowledged the other school for giving it their best shot. It was a great experience speaking to others in a different language and getting the courage for public speaking. We think they did good for the first time saying their pepeha to people they didn’t know for the first time. We were very nervous and one of us nearly chickened out of doing it but he still persevered.