Poetry inspired by Rata and the Tree

Some of us read the story of Rata and the Tree. Feel free to read here Rata and the Tree.
We  are exploring Rata's responsibility - "to teach the younger generations about respecting the children of Tāne" in our Forest Protectors Inquiry.

We discussed the different characters in the myth wrote poetry that was inspired by a character's feeling. 

Here is some of our work!

As I thunder upon the village, the people passing anything in their way.

Leaving old people lying on the ground, leaving children alone. I’m thrashing trees, ripping as easy as blowing a feather. As everyone retreats,I leave… warning them I’ll be back.

As I Iet my tornados rip, it’s like watching a movie except movies haven’t been invented. As my tornado slowly shrinks down, my fun has come to an end.

By Ben Bo

You ignorant son,

What have you done,

You have made

A mistake that

Can’t be undone.

You have cut down a tree,

And upset us all…

So now you will feel,

The full power of us all!

By Edward

Yoga for "Wake up the Brain"

Gabrielle led a yoga session with all students in the senior area. We are keen to get all of our students trying new activities for "Wake up the Brain". What a great way to start the day!

Our culture

We have been learning about our culture, thinking about our families and where they come from. We are learning that our culture affects our beliefs, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the traditions we follow, the music and dance we enjoy and the things we learn.

We have been asking questions about parts of our family history that we're not sure of. Some of our students went home and made family trees with their parents to be clear about their families. Keep up those great conversations!

Bootcamp: Wake up the brain

This morning for "wake up the brain" some of us did bootcamp. It made me feel puffed. We did lots of running and learnt some new exercises. We did bear crawl, lunges, crab walk, star jumps, press ups steps ups. We also did some stretching. I was thirsty and ready for the day. By Blaze

Forest Protectors- What if there was no pest control in NZ?

Today we begun our new Inquiry- Forest Protectors! As a tuning in activity we did 4 rotations. One of the rotations was a provocation- what if there was no pest control in New Zealand?

We watched:

We worked in small groups to create a consequence map. 

Happy New Year from our friends in Brindas, France

We have had a great start to 2018. We were very excited to hear from our friends from CM2 de l'école de Brindas, FRANCE.

They wished us a happy holiday: http://cm1.galligani.eu/2017/12/18/have-good-summer-holidays/

They also wished us a Happy New Year! They made a Star Wars themed movie that our students loved:  http://cm1.galligani.eu/2018/01/29/good-new-school-year/

Nell and Isabel led a team to make a movie for students at Brindas School:

We are curious about schools in France. We had some questions:

Avery: Do you have a helper teacher?

Keir: Do you have a swimming pool?

Elliot: Do you do homework?

Nick: What do you do on a normal day at school?

Zoe: do you have traps for pests (animals)?

What languages do you speak?

Emelia: How many children are there at your school?

Henry: What is your learning schedule?

Jude: Do you have lunch boxes?

Stella: Do you bring your lunches to school?

Alex: What are your favourite subjects?

Ruby: What sports do you play at school?

James: Do you have alergies?

Lachlan: Can you tell us about where you play? Do you have playgrounds?

Zac: How big is your playground?

Caspian: What do you usually play at playtime?

Yasmin: How many classes do you have at your school?

Marnie: Do you have desks?

Molly: Do you have class pets?

Greta: How long are your breaks?

Jasmine: How long are your holidays?

Taiga: How long do you have at school?

Yoshi: Do you have a cafeteria?

Nuala: What year groups do you have?

Nye: What food do you put in your lunch boxes?

Cameron: What is the hardest Maths that you do?

Evan: when did you start learning english?

What do you like about your school?

Are you religious? What are the names of your gods if you have them.

What weather do you have? Is it hot or cold?

Evan, Rhosyn: How long is your school day?

Ka kite to our school leavers and happy holidays!

Farewell to our awesome Year 6 students and to Isabella. We wish you all best of luck at your new schools. You are a creative bunch of students and we know that you will do well. 

Everyone else- have a great holiday, Happy Christmas, Happy New Year and stay safe! See you 31st January at 8.55am. You can drop your stationary at school and have an informal chat with the teachers from 9-10am on Tuesday 30th January.