Spencer Park Trip

The Pōhutukawa Team is currently arranging an end of year trip to Spencer Park on Wednesday, 13 December 2017.

We need parent helpers who are willing to travel with us to and from Spencer Park and who are happy to be responsible for a small group of children while they are there. Please contact your child’s homeroom teacher if you are interested in attending.

We will depart by bus at 9:00 AM and will return to school by 3:00 PM.

Students (and parent helpers) will need to bring:

• A water bottle
• A wide-brim hat
• Lunch and morning tea (no lunch orders on the day of their trip)
• A warm layer of clothing
• Comfortable shoes for walking
• Any medication they will need (e.g., inhalers for asthma)

A small contribution will be added to your school account to cover the cost of the bus.

Probability Carnival

Recently, the students in Team Pōhutukawa have been learning about probability. As part of this, the students designed and constructed games of chance. We then ran a mini carnival and tested out each other's games. Here are some photos of the carnival:

Twin Day

This term, the students in Team Pōhutukawa are involved in a Science/Technology/Drama/Social Studies interchange. One of the topics that the students are learning about is chemistry.

In chemistry, the students are exploring the difference between physical and chemical change by conducting a variety of exciting science experiments.

Here are some photos of their experiments:

Science

As part of our Science/Art/Health interchange, many students in the Pōhutukawa Team have been identifying and learning about organs and systems of the human body. As part of this topic, the children have been dissecting hearts, eyes, kidneys and other organs to find out about their structure. The children have also been involved in a research project on the system or organ that they were most interested in.

Rhythm Interactive

Recently, we were visited by Rhythm Interactive - a special drumming group that tours New Zealand. As part of the show, each student was given their own drum to play. The students had lots of fun learning to keep in time with the beat. Here's a video of the drumming in action:

Hockey

As part of our winter sports programme, we have had guest teachers from Small Stix Hockey come to school every week. During each session, the students have been learning about and practising lots of different hockey skills such as; passing, trapping, dribbling and tackling.

Dance

Next week, the children will start to learn a new dance routine as part of our dance/fitness programme. We will be showing off our dances as part of the Year 5 - 8 Showcase on the evening of Thursday, 6 July. More information to follow. We look forward to seeing you there!

Home Learning

For part of their home learning this week, the students will be completing a special one-off activity where they will create a diagram of their family tree. As part of this, please talk to your children about any interesting events in your family's history or about any interesting relatives/ancestors.

In the coming weeks, the children will be using the information they learn about their family as a starting point for a personal inquiry into a topic related to their family's history (e.g. early settlers, a famous relative, life in New Zealand in the 1990s etc.).

Paint Shirts

For art, the children will soon be working on creating and painting clay models. We ask that all children bring a large, old shirt to protect their uniform from any accidental paint splashes. We also have a small selection of shirts for any children that are unable to bring a paint shirt.

Word Art

As part of our identity inquiry, the children have been enthusiastically creating word clouds to express the personal qualities that make them special. Check out some of our work:

Baby Photos

Thanks for sending in all of the baby photos. The children have been having a lot of fun looking at them and trying to guess who is who!

As you may be aware, the Pōhutukawa children are currently involved in some water-themed team challenges as part of our end of year activities. Our final challenge will be a water fight on Wednesday, 14 December. The children will need to bring a water pistol (or a drink bottle) along with their togs and towel.

Any children who do not want to participate will be able to do alternative activities with Susan.

Also, a reminder that we will be walking to the Margaret Mahy Playground on Tuesday, 13 December, leaving Champion Street at 12pm and returning by 2.30pm. Thank you to all the parents who have offered to help on this trip. If you are able to help please contact your child’s home group teacher.