The teachers and students are looking forward to the five sessions of passions coming up this week. 

The groups are:

Pip - cooking (please remember to bring your ingredients, and an apron if you'd like)

Tracy - ball games 

Rae - book creator 

Katie - tiki art 

Steve - korfball (have a look at this clip to see what korfball is all about)

Gayle - sewing

The times for these sessions are:

Monday          2 - 2:50pm

Tuesday          12 - 12:45pm

Wednesday     2 - 2:50pm

Thursday        12 - 12:45pm

Friday             9:40 - 10:30am

If you are free during any of these times and would like to pop into our hub to give either Pip or Gayle a hand, we would welcome you with open arms!

Winter Sport starts in Term 2, Week 3. Winter Sport is optional.

Children who don't go to Winter Sport will do an alternative programme at school. This will more than likely be sport based.

Trials will be held on Tuesday afternoon this week, due to the number of children who have  registered their interest. Unfortunately, not everyone who wants to go to Winter Sport is able to. We are allowed a maximum of two teams from each year group in each sport. For example, 2 Pōhutukawa teams in netball, 2 in hockey and so on. Our ability to take this number of teams depends on the number of parents who volunteer to manage a team. If someone in your whānau takes a team, your child will be guaranteed a place on a team.

We will do our best to give as many children who want it this opportunity.

Children who are selected for a Winter Sports team must commit to the whole season and attend practices during lunch time.

In the past, Winter Sport has taken place at Hagley Park and Nunweek Park. We go to Winter Sport by bus on Friday afternoon, usually leaving school around 12:30 and returning by 3pm.

If you are able to help in any way, please fill in the attached form.

Huxster Mountain Bike Race

Have a fabulous Easter and enjoy the time with your children over the break.

At the moment the students are training daily in preparation for the school cross country, which is on Monday 6 May (Term 2 Week 2). We are encouraging individual goal setting, with regards to the amount of jogging and the distance being run in the time given. Wearing appropriate footwear certainly helps and we have impressed upon the students that long distance running is as much  mental persistence and perseverance as physical. A positive and can do attitude goes a long way to improving performance.

Winter sport is coming up next term. On a Friday afternoon, a number of Year 5-8 students travel to Hagley Park by bus to compete against other schools. The range of sports offered to the students is dependent on the number of coaches we have for the teams. Whānau helping out with winter sports means we can offer more options to the students. Please click on the link below and fill out the form if you are able to help as a coach or manager.

In Week 10 we are offering five sessions of Passions. Passions are an area of interest the teachers have chosen to share with the hub. We have chosen six passions to offer the students: cooking, sewing, ball sports, tiki art, book creator and korfball.  A Google Form has been sent out to each child, and they will get to rate the options, in order to make the groups.

Gayle is taking the sewing passion, and would really appreciate help from willing adults on any of the days. She would also appreciate donations of material or thread.

Days and times of passion lessons:

Monday 8 April              2 - 2:50pm

Tuesday 9 April              12 - 12:40pm

Wednesday 10 April       2 - 2:50pm

Thursday 11 April           12 - 12:40pm

Friday 12 April                9:40 - 10:30am

Please contact Gayle if you are able to help out at any of those times.

Some fun learning took place this afternoon!

This is a reminder that school photos will be taken today. Time for swish hair dos, sparkling faces and pressed uniforms!!

This is a reminder that we are introducing a fresh fruit or vegetable snack at 9:35am tomorrow. The children will be able to grab a piece of fruit or vegetable on the way to maths. This is optional, and a trial at this stage.

Good luck to all of the swimmers representing our school on Thursday at Jellie Park in the zone swimming sports. These students have achieved amazingly well to reach this level and we hope they have a great time.

While we have always encouraged the students to drink plenty of water throughout the day, and to eat regularly, we have decided to make drinking water regularly throughout the day a focus for all students. During each transition time (when we swap from one learning activity to the next - music to maths, reading to writing), we are going to ask the students to have a drink of water. We have talked about the benefits of drinking lots of water, from hydrating our brain and muscles, to flushing out any toxins, so the students understand the importance of drinking water. Hopefully you will notice your child's water bottle returning home empty, or having been refilled during the day!

Along with encouraging drinking more water, starting from Monday we will be offering a chance for a fresh fruit or vegetable snack at 9:35am. 9:35 is the transition time from our Cool Curriculum Classes (library, music, PE, drama and coding) to maths. On the way to maths the children will be asked to have a drink of water, and then they have the option of grabbing a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable. When they get to maths there may be a maths picture book to listen to, a puzzle to be worked out on the teaching station screen or a maths video clip to watch, while they are munching. Ideally the fruit should be able to be eaten within five minutes. We think that having a healthy snack at this time will revitalise the students, and will promote further focus. This healthy snack will be optional, and restricted to only fresh fruit or vegetables.

Examples of fresh fruit and vegetables - carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, a mandarin, grapes, a kiwifruit, a banana, an apple, pear, celery sticks or any fruit cut up and in a container, such as melon, pineapple, orange etc.

On Friday afternoons, we have been providing activities and opportunities for the students to learn through play. This type of learning is a significant part of the Year 0-4 teams' programmes, and we are dabbling in it on Friday afternoons. During this time the students have lots of choice, and choose where, with whom and what they play or play with. Usually there is lots of creativity, collaboration, problem solving and imaginative play involved, which is fabulous to see. Some of the opportunities for the students involve woodwork and water play outside. We would love to expand our equipment and tools, with these two activities particularly. If you have any spare tools, pipes to run water through, buckets, watering cans, bubble wands, a water table, or anything which could be used for creating or making - material off cuts, wool, wood, nails, screws, we would be forever grateful. If you are able to help out with any supplies, please pop them into the hub to any of the teachers.

On Monday and Wednesday afternoons we have been looking at innovation, what this means, the difference between innovation and invention, and how innovation has changed many everyday objects. We have also been looking at making innovations to an object, and eventually, this will all lead to the students coming up with their own innovative ideas. During this time there has been lots of collaboration, lots of research, looking at innovations and innovative people.