City Trip:

On Tuesday we went into the CBD to learn more about how cities, and our city are planned and constructed. It was an extremely cold day but that didn't dappen our endeavour. We are curious and full of questions and had the opportunity to ask many of them.

We participated in the 'Critical Signals' Exhibition, offering ideas about what our city's assets are, how we connect to each other, what community looks like in a big city and exploring the question of how we can build resilience in difficult times. We left our portraits in the exhibition space to help others develop their own ideas about what might happen in the future in Wellington. A map of the city adorned the wall and we were invited to plot the significant features we know about. maps again!

The brilliant Exhibition at Bowen Galleries, All At Sea, paintings by Neil Frazer, really took our breath away. These stunning works realised in thick slabs of paint gave the sense of being, actually in the ocean. The curator of the show sent a text to the artist to pass on that one of our students said that the work, 'anchored him'. This gallery is one which wants to encourage young people to interact with art. We are happy to oblige!

We visited Studio of Pacific Architecture where we had a crash course in what architects do and how they go about it. Of course we recognised some of the same thinking we have been applying in our city design project but Stephen was able to 'nutshell' the process for us. Also explaining that the process is not quick. In fact Tākina took 9 years from conceptualisation to completion, the same time many of our group have been on the planet. There were many connections: thinking about design for better living, sustainability, community resilience and connection, ideas we have been discussing.

Next, at The Regional Council we met our friend Yadana Saw and councillor Mātua Ken Laban as well as Enviroschool's Chris Montgomery. We met Jane one of their city planners. She was very interested in our ideas for the future of Wellington, free transport for kids, dogs on buses and of course a mini Marine reserve/Blue Belt at Worser Bay.

In between appointments we did our best to sketch these interesting, sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly urban spaces. These drawings will be the basis of an upcoming painting project for our Arts Celebration. Back at school and we will be going on with our city design, assembling the pieces and using all we have learned on today's trip.

The sound of music

In the classroom this week, we have been exploring the connection between rhythm, language, and music. We are experimenting with simple musical notation as we created our own beats to accompany poetry and spoken word. As well, we have been practising our listening and responding skills by concentrating on isolating the complex layers of sound from one piece of music. An example of this is the artwork below. These drawings are collaborative responses to the Mission Impossible theme song. What do you think? Can you see the music in the pictures?

Teacher Reading: Enriching Student's Vocabulary.

An important element in our daily programme is reading aloud to kids. This is a special, quiet time (although the above photo suggests otherwise) and one which also leads to rich conversation. It's an opportunity for us to extend our students through their experiences of literature. For this reason we choose books to read to students which they would otherwise not choose, so no Diaries of any Whimpy whatevers. We have dippped into work by esteemed authors; Philip Reeve (No Such Thing as Dragons, Mortal Engines), Michael Morpurgo (Kensuke's Kingdom), David Almond (Skellig) and many others. These great writers model fantastic use of English for students. Currently we are reading a beautiful book by Kate De Camillo, Ferris. The main protaganists are often stopping in their tracks to review new words which their teacher has introduced to them. We are taking the lead and doing the same with each of these. Ignoble, ludicrous, thrummed, brereft, baffled, pragmatist are just some of the wrods on our emerging list. Unpacking the meaning of words, how they are made up (morphology) and where they come from (entymology) are factors which help to build word power and lead to our kids being more convincing, more nuanced writers, readers and speakers. Having conversations about characters in books, how they feel and what motivates them also leads to greater understanding of real human relationships and builds empathy. You will see in this week's newsletter an invitation to an afternoon presentation expaining all of the pieces of our literacy programme. We wouold like to illustrate that we can all be invloved in the process of encouraging students to particiapte and build a rich literary culture at home and in the classroom; one which they can take on with them when they head off to their next learning challenges and one which will enrich their lives as adults. Keep an eye out for futher details inupcoming weeks.

Keep active during the Winter months

It's been all go in the Senior school when it comes to sport and Positive Health this term! We've been lucky to have Brittany from the Wellington Softball Association working with us, helping our kids build motor skills, game strategies, and teamwork. It's not just about batting and fielding, it's about thinking on your feet and moving your body with purpose.

Our morning 'boot camp' is back too, designed to 'wake up the brain' and get kids physically and mentally ready for the day ahead. We do lots of learning about how movement actually helps strengthen the connections in the brain that support focus, memory and emotional regulation. The kids are loving the mix of cardio, balance, and coordination exercises ('loving' may be a strong word!)

Architecture: We Shape Our Buildings, Thereafter They Shape Us.

The title of this post, attributed to Winston Churchill, is 'shaping' our thinking as we go into the next phase of our city design project. We are applying what we have learned already through the process of designing our own houses, using this to improve our next design ventures. Public buildings, shared by all people in a city must account for the various needs of the citizens. Woven into the design of each of these buildings we are thinking about shaping the building, aware that the design and function of the building will 'shape' us. We are keeping in mind factors we have identified as important in our utopian city. Sustainability; thinking about how our building sits in its environment, how it impacts on nature, how it might enhance the people's lives who use the building. These are some of the important considerations we have front of mind during the design process.

One of our foci this term is developing creativity. Our first idea is not always the best one. Some thinkers on the subject of creativity say that you need to generate thirty ideas before you can be assured you have one good one? We think having about five or six might be enough. Here are some of the ideas in their early stages. Te Tatau Pounamu-Whare Pukapuka Library, The Octoport Transport hub,Local Foods Supermarket are just a few of them.

Working with 'Concrete' Materials on the way to Understanding the Abstract in Maths.

We have been using a lot of concrete materials in Maths in recent weeks. Here we can be seen to be using counters to show the factors of numbers. Kids developed creative ways of demonstrating their understanding, grouping them in interesting ways and using these models to explain their thinking.

Having experiences of the 'concrete' in Maths helps students to access abstract concepts.

Representing ideas visually is an important midway step between the concrete and the abstract. The Array City represents simple multiplication visually. We count the windows of each building, multiplying the width by the height. Kids designed their own buildings and then calculated how many windows in total were in our Array City. This week we are exploring Volume and Capacity which also lends itself to using both concrete and visual aides. Multilink cubes, playdough, cube nets and investigations which involve measuring and weighing water are all hands on learning experiences which help consolidate understanding in Maths.