Nexus Science Show

         

WOW! What fun was the Science Man and his Science Show. An hour of illusions and experiments in the name of science was experienced by the whole school. 

These videos include Abby using a leaf blower to keep a large model Earth in the air and a mini rocket going off! 

When we got back to the classroom, everyone was so excited we decided to share our experiences and any questions we had, especially about the magical experiments. 

  

Toby was super excited!

Ayva's thoughts on the Science Show

JD has a say. 

        Hauraki's Year 4 students had a lot to say after such a great session, as well, so we have included their thoughts to our class 

blog. 

Have a look at the personal blogs of Hauraki's Year 5 and Year 6 students for their reactions. 

Making giant Bubbles! 

Ski Camp Slideshows

All the students who attended the 2017 Ski Camp to Mt Ruapehu spent time before and after the trip creating a booklet or slideshow with work related to the event. They have all spent lots of time personalising them and reflecting on their time away and posted them onto their own blogs. A cross section of some fabulous examples follows.

Antonio's


Kayci's



Joyce's

Stunning Mt Ruapehu Ski Camp!

Room 9 or now better known as Hauraki, are part of the senior school Te Waka Ako Innovative Learning Environment. In Week 5, sixty five of our Year 5 and 6 students went to National Park to ski and snowboard at Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu. The students had two days on the mountain learning these new skills.  After months of preparation and weeks of anxiety over the weather, the week arrived and was absolutely fabulous!  

The students worked with new adults and student groups, they negotiated new environments, they listened, questioned and learnt. They were challenged and extended and needed to persevere to succeed. The feedback from many different quarters outside our community was our students were respectful, polite, well behaved and just pleasant people to be around.  

Their success was being able to race each other after only two days. Their success was in the feedback they got from the public again and again. To see students with two days experience negotiating Rock Garden or Happy Valley slopes is memorable and shows how capable they are.

In the learning of the skill they learnt to rely on themselves to get better, their time practising by themselves was when they made the most gains. They also learnt to help and encourage each other, and then celebrate each other's success. But aside from the learning of a new physical skill like skiing or snowboarding they learnt to be open to a new experience in general. Being a long way from home, trusting and respecting a wide range of adults, focussing in on themselves to look after themselves and their property, developing new friendships, making the most of all the opportunities they were given, opening their eyes to an environment so many had never experienced and building awareness of the world around them.

They were amazing and we couldn't have asked for a better bunch.  All the adults who participated in the trip were very proud of them. As teachers, we hope the experience will inspire our students and their families that attended to apply their learnings and perseverance in many different areas of their lives. As well as go back and try again!

Following will be some slideshows that include the students reflections. 

Year 4 on a Roll

JD's Language work with subject verbs agreements
 

Abigail's Name Tag 

As mentioned before Te Waka Ako had some Year 4 students join our 'family'. They have had to learn to use chromebooks in a hurry so they can participate in work the Year 5 and 6 students are doing. We have been completing Cybersmart and chromebook use workshops with them so they learn the many skills they need. Today we looked at sharing our work through blogging and the process of creating a blog to share. Here are some examples of what they have been doing. Please leave a comment and feedback for them.

Faith's de Bono hat thinking about the move to our new space....Te Waka Ako

Ayva's comic strip about being Cybersmart. 

Toby's writing about Taekwondo skills we are learning in PE

BOOK WEEK DRESS UP

Book Week in Week 2 was a huge success for the whole school. We had a visiting poet who was very funny to listen to. She was a drama teacher when she was younger and so she was very 'dramatic' when she presented her poems. She also got students to help her present. During the week a book fair was on site and our community supported this extremely well, so we had lots of books we could purchase for the school library and resource room. On the final day the school had a character dress up day. Hauraki did particularly well at getting into the fun of it. We had some very creative ideas like half Romeo, half Juliet.

Hauraki Class looking awesome in book character dress ups on the steps of our new building - Te Waka Ako. 

With their teacher Mrs Potato Head.