Mapping: Explorers Need a Map!!

Ongoing in Māhutonga Matariki has been map making. We have had a go at putting our first thoughts about what Te Motukairangi looks like as a map.

We began with out first thoughts as the above map. Now we are having a go at making maps which show all the important things to us, favourite places, special places, regular journeys etc.

We are going further with this, designing really original maps; a map of my dreams, a map of a monster......What? A map of a monster? Yup!

Making Collections: Becoming Curators of our Collections.

We have been learning about what curators do in galleries and museums to put together, organise and care for collections of artworks or artefacts. Because we are exploring the world we are starting to observe closely, look for patterns, think about catagorising objects, asking how are they connected and using our aesthetic sense to arrange them. These represemnt our first go; collections we made given five minute only to explore the playground.

We love the way our students are exploring the world, showing the curiosity that we want to build further. Our next steps are to design and curate our own exhibition piece for our classroom museum which we will put together in a few weeks after we have designed mood boards.

These mood boards from last year will serve as models for the ones we will be making soon.

Financial Literacy

As part of our How to be an Explorer of the World inquiry, Māhutonga Matariki has been learning about financial literacy. It can be complex, learning about income, expenses, budgeting...........it is in fact a minefield! We are hoping that our students will be finacially smart and able to manage their own finances as young adults. The programme we are using is called Banqer, a programme put together by Kiwi Bank.

We have been putting together our CVs so that we can apply for jobs. Everyone will recieve a wage for the work they do; $500 weekly. Not bad for 8, 9 and 10 year olds!

Here Otis can be seen managing his account. Who thinks he is likely to be a millionaire! We will keep you updated on his progress.

Focus Words: 1

2 We have been working on focus words for 2025. It has been great, going back to our Character Strengths, thinking about what we do well and considering what we need to develop further. We looked at the Character Strengths of the animals in the Chinesxe Zodiac, this being the Year of the Snake. Most of us are either Goats, Monkeys or Roosters with a few Horses thrown into the mix. These animals have attributes include being animated, active, energetic; calm, gentle, sympathetic; sharp, smart, curious; observant, hardworking, courageous. It's a lot to take on board. 3 We then went back to our goals for 2025; asking what are the most important things to build on? How can I develop a strength I already have? How can I grow and develop this year. 4 All the while we were making these wild animal artworks, each of them brimming with something of the character of the artist.

5 You will be coming to your child's Goal Setting Meeting next week so please look out for these artworks and maybe think about whether the work reflects your child's chosen focus word for 2025.

The Beach was Buzzing!

We have been so lucky to have had a few great days at the beach. The Worser Bay Boat Club are an incredible hub of learning, very much the vision of Dean Stanley and the Rūna programme, a nation wide education programme connected to sailing. On Tuesday Rongotai College launched a Waka Hourua they have built, we had the Marine Science programme running in the clubrooms while the kids were sailing and swimming and building and digging...... We are so lucky and finding opportunities to show gratitude to the people that enable all of this to happen.

Welcome to our new year 4s!

We have worked with our new senior group two times now, exploring questions of identity and how artists represent themselves. There has been learning around drawing and sketching techniques as well as thinking about the things which make us who we are. This work has been collated by each student into a poster so when they new year 4 group arrive in Māhutonga Matariki they will see themselves up on the walls. Exciting times!

Beach Week Learning and Adventuring!

The above photos are of some of ourgreat adventurers who have been out there exploring the local environment. We have covered a whole lot of ground, from the school to the beach to the very far northermn end of the peninsular at Massey Memorial. Many of our students are covering new ground and making new discoveries. It's very exciting.

We are also continuing to explore the ocean and the myriad creatures that call the ocean home, or in this case, Worser Bay. Under the microscope we were able to see a sorts of zooplankton, including octopus and seahouse larva. The photo is of a jelly fish plankton. Our kids are so at ease with this that they are able to navigate the equipment and independently identify the species which they are looking at. We will be at the beach and baotclub again on Monday and Tuesday for our last go at Moanamana for the year. Please join us if you are able and/or curious.