Last week of term 3

We are over half way! Our walk on Friday was lots of fun. We had 118 students, 15 adults and 3 dogs, and we all walked 8 km. That's a total of 1112 km (remember to count the dogs steps twice), plus some donated steps. This gets us to Paraparaumu in the North Island. A fine effort everyone.

Grateful thanks to Mel Kreft (and Max) Bradley Walsh (and Star) and Bridget Gentle for their help. 

Mr Cosgrove from the Clutha Leader came and took some photos, so watch out for next weeks' edition of the Leader.
8 km is a long way. This is what we looked like by the time we staggered back into school.

This week we continued looking at distances and measurement. We made trundle wheels out of cardboard, which involved learning that D x  pi = circumference. But we already knew the circumference we needed (100 cm), so we had to invert the operation. Well done Room 8 - clever work.

Have a great holiday everyone! See you back on 14th October.

Week 9

Watch out for our Walk the Length of NZ day on Thursday 26 September - next week. We would love to have you join us - either by coming along on our walk, or by donating your steps from wherever you are.
In preparation for this we have been learning to calculate the speed of walking by measuring the perimeter of the field (about 0.5 km), working out how long it takes to walk the perimeter twice (about 14 minutes) and dividing that by 60 minutes. We walk at about 4 km per hour.

Wacky Hair and Bad Taste Day was fun on Friday. 

Some people went to a lot of trouble to look Wacky. Some people went to the 'salon' in the hall to get a hair do from the Student Council. Thanks team!

Sadly we fare-welled Hamish this week, as he and Rosemary have returned to Japan. We look forward to seeing them again, early next year. 

Week 8 in Room 8

With only two weeks to go this term, we are still cramming in plenty of fun activities and learning.
On Thursday we had a visit from Sophie White of the University of Otago Dentistry Department. She is helping with research into the growth of children and their teeth and has given our year 5 and 6 students the chance to participate. Did you know that NZ kids loose their teeth at an earlier age than in other countries? This is one of the many questions they hope to answer in the study.

Also on Thursday, Jarred from Otago Touch gave us some touch coaching - in the howling gale! It was lots of fun.

Then on Friday afternoon we had the fantastic opportunity to see Mr Swallow's science lab at the high school. Mr Swallow and Mrs Murdoch had prepared a number of experiments for us to do, which involved fizzing and banging! We loved it.

Thank you Mr Swallow and Mrs Murdoch!

Next week we will start our maths and health unit about Walk the Length of New Zealand. This will culminate with a walk along the river bank on Thursday 26 September. 

Always lots happening.

On Friday afternoon we had the chance to see the new groups set up, and ready to go for Monday. Miss Benington's class looks quite cozy in Room 14, and everyone is excited about the chance to make the most of their learning times.
Friday was a great day because we welcomed Hamish back from Japan - only for one month this time but it is lovely to have Hamish back with us.
If you had someone versed in Japanese culture and language, what is one thing you would not attempt to do in front of them? That's right - make sushi - so that is exactly what we did on Friday.

We also made smoothies, cheese scones and date scones. This was thanks to a very generous $60 voucher which was given to us by Balclutha New World when we completed the Food for Thought Programme. Many thanks, New World!

On Wednesday we had a visit from a Fonterra milk tanker, as part of the launch of our Breakfast Club. Did you know that the Stirling Cheese factory processes 1.8 million litres of milk per day? 

Week 1 Term 3

We have hit the ground running in our first week back at school for the new term.
Our new maths unit is about volume and capacity, and this ties in with the strategies we have been learning for multiplication and division.

In writing we have been learning to write short stories that are just 50 words long. There have been some great stories written, and this is teaching us to think  very carefully about every word we choose.
We began an art project on Friday, looking at light and perspective.

Week two is looking just as busy! We have parent-teacher interviews, Food for Thought nutrition, Clued up Kids for the year 6s, and cross country training, every day except Thursday. 

Back into it!

It is great to be back at school, and it looks as though everyone had a good break. The students look refreshed and ready for another busy term. I can't believe how many people grew in the holidays!
Our take apart day, on the last day of the term, was a fun way to learn technology.

This term we have a lot of events coming up, including Food for Thought where we learn about nutrition and reading food labels, Clued up Kids where the year 6s learn many aspects of safety, Cross Country, Keeping ourselves safe with the police and much more.