Last Post

Wow! We are at the end of our first year at school! We've now been at school for between two and three terms.
Looking back over these terms we see the fantastic progress we have all made. We are all good readers, can write stories, and 'do' maths. We have also developed our computer skills; completed some fantastic art work; learnt how to skip; visited the museum and the Suter Art Gallery; performed in a syndicate production; and of course made lots of new friends. We know the routines and expectations; are confident playing in the large grounds; and enjoy the responsibility of being class leader.
We have enjoyed many class trips - a big thanks to everyone who has helped on one or more of these trips - your support is essential to their success.
A big thank you, too, to those who have been able to help in the classroom. It's great to have support with reading and maths.
We are looking forward to 2010 when we will be year 1's.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us in Room 10. May you all have a happy and safe holiday.

Kowhai Big Day Out

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Wow! What a day we had. The weather was beautiful and the company fantastic. Kowhai Syndicate headed to Tahunanui Beach for a day out. We rode the trains, then went onto the beach to draw in the sand and make sand sculptures. After lunch we played on the Lion's Playground before heading back to school.
We then had our first swim in the school pool. It was a bit cold, but we enjoyed being in the pool.
By the end of the day we were all very tired! A big thank you to Dianne for organising the day and to our parents: Tania, Angela, Tracey, Karrin, Skye, and Josh - without you we could not have gone on this trip. Thanks also to Donna for your help.


This morning the following people received certificates for 100% attendance during Term 4: Willem, Sam, Aidan, Ben, Jemma, and Theo. Aidan also received a certificate for 100% attendance at school this year. Well done.

Only two more sleeps until school is over for 2009. Remember we finish after the final assembly which starts at 11:15am on the front field.

End of Week 9

Our 'Stars of the Week' are: Ty, Jonothan, Katie, Ben, and Sam. They are all fantastic home readers. Ben has read for 125 nights and the others have read for 100 nights. Congratulations, we are proud of you and your efforts.

This week has been very busy with our production. We all enjoyed performing in front of such big audiences. Thank you to those who came to watch.

Today we went to meet our 2010 teachers and classmates. It is a bit scary changing classrooms but we are excited about being Year 1's. We are looking forward to using the interactive white boards which will be in our rooms. We think our new teachers are nice too.

Next week will be very short as well as busy again. On Monday Kowhai Syndicate is going to Tahunanui Beach. It will be a fun day. Please remember your togs so you can have a swim in the school pool in the afternoon.
We finish school for 2009 on Wednesday after the final assembly. This assembly starts at 11:15am.

Kowhai Syndicate Production

Wow! The first performance of the Kowhai Syndicate production, Over the Rainbow, was great. Room 10 performed the opening song, I Can Sing a Rainbow. They were awesome and I am so proud of them!
You can puchase a DVD of the show for only $7. Please return the order form and money to me by Friday 11 December.

Week 9

Congratulations to 'Star of the Week' for week 8 - Matthew.

Week 9 is going to be busy. This is the week of our Junior Production: Over the Rainbow. The dress rehearsal is on Monday and the performances are on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both performances start at 1:30pm and are at the Scool of Music. Entry is by gold coin donation. We look forward to seeing you all at one of the performances.

This is our last full week at school - it's hard to believe that our first year at school is nearly over. Everyone has worked really hard and has learnt so much. We are all fantastic readers. Thanks whanau for your support with our reading.

On Thursday Sterling will be teaching more science in Room 10 while Teresa attends a First Aid course.

On Friday we will have a shared lunch with our buddy classes. Please bring some food to share.

On Monday 14 December Kowhai Syndicate is heading to Tahunanui Beach for our end of year big day out. Families are very welcome to join us. Please return the permission form and money to Teresa as soon as possible.

The final school assembly is on Wednesday 16 December beginning at 11:15am.

Week 7

Another week has flown by.



Our 'Stars of the Week' are: Willem, Samuel, and Theo. They are all fantastic readers and we are proud of them. Willem and Samuel have read for 125 nights and Theo has read for 100 nights. Well done and congratulations.

On Wednesday Sterling taught us about mouse rockets. We each made a paper mouse then we put a bit of play dough in the nose. We put the mouse on the top of a milk bottle then we hit both sides of the milk bottle and the mouse shot up in the air.
We also learnt about electricity. We made electric puzzles by making a circuit. The puzzles were of a helicopter, a racing car, a truck, a light, and a speaker. We had lots of fun and nine people got small electirc shocks.

We are learning the songs for our production. We are getting excited about perfoming in front of our families.

There are only two and a half weeks left of our first year at school. We have all worked very hard and our teacher is very proud of how hard we have worked and of how much we have learnt.

Week 6

We've had a busy and interesting week.
This week's 'Stars of the Week' are: Jonothan - for getting 100% in the Basic Facts test; and Samuel - for great reading. Congratulations Jonothan and Samuel, we are proud of you.


On Monday we all did a Basic Facts Test. Some of us found it hard but some of us found out that we know a lot of Basic Facts now.

On Wednesday we went to the museum for the 'Sounds Amazing' exhibition. We enjoyed making lots of different sounds. Thanks to the parents who came with us. Check out the slide show for a quick preview of what we did.



On Thursday Sterling taught us again. We learnt about the rainbow and made lots of bubbles. Sterling even made a square bubble. He had a special cube to make this bubble. In the afternoon we made ice-cream. Teresa said that she'd get the recipe for us.

On Friday we saw one scene from our production - Over the Rainbow. In the afternoon we listened to the Nelson College for Girls music class sing. They are very good.

Now we are ready for a relaxing weekend.

Parents: please read the production notice. We are having two performances: Tuesday 8 December and Wednesday 9 December. Both performances are at 2pm in the School of Music. If you have any questions, please come in and ask.

Returning Butterflies

Yesterday we walked to the museum to see the Returning Butterflies exhibition.
We learnt lots of interesting things. Read about the things we liked about the visit:

I liked learning about the butterflies and looking at their wings. Grace

I liked finding the butterflies. Ty

I liked trying to find and match the butterflies. Willem

It was fun because we were looking for butterflies. Katie

We learned about camouflage. Camouflage keeps the butterflies from predators. Ben

I liked looking for butterflies in the pictures. Theo

I liked watching the movie of the caterpillars eating. Jemma

I liked my Dad helping me find the butterflies. Jasper

I liked the finding the butterflies in the pictures. Aidan

The caterpillars of the red admiral butterfly likes stinging nettle. Sam

I liked liked learning about camouflage. Jonothan

I liked learning about the camouflage and why the butterflies need to be camouflaged. Samuel

I liked looking at the butterflies in the drawers. Matthew

I liked finding the butterflies outside. Charlotte

I liked learning about the camoflage. The butterflies use camoflage so the predators can't eat them. Jack

I liked looking for the butterflies hiding in the bushes in the pictures and matching them up. Quinn

We also liked making a butterfly badge each.

A BIG THANK YOU to our parents for coming with us and helping us.
Cindy gave us some swan plant seeds. We will plant them next week.

Stars of the Week

As always we celebrate our 'Stars of the Week' at Kowhai Syndicate assembly. This week our stars are:
Ty - for working hard at reading; Jasper - for being a great leader; and Katie - for learning the alphabet and lots of words.
Congratulations Ty, Jasper, and Katie, we are proud of you.

Did you read in the newsletter that Room 10 has the 'Blog of the Week'? We received a certificate for this, which is exciting for us.

Science Experiments

On Thursday Sterling taught in Room 10. We had a fantastic day learning about ice.
We put dry ice into a test tube of water and dye. It bubbled then gas puffed up and went over the top. Charlotte thought the gas looked like marshmallow. Willem and Aidan thought the gas looked like steam. Theo thought it looked like a volcano erupting. The dry ice turned into a gas when it touched the water because it was melting.

We are looking to forward to having Sterling come back and teach us.

Stream Trip

On Monday afternoon we went to the Brook Stream. We had a great time looking for bugs and other water life. There was a waterfall and the water was cold. No-one fell in, although there were a few wet feet.
We all enjoyed looking for the bugs and were excited by the number of different bugs we found. To catch the bugs we put a net by a rock then lifted the rock. If there were any bugs stuck to the rock we carefully brushed them into the container of water with a paint brush.
We found that the Brook Stream is quite healthy.
A big THANK YOU to all the wonderful parents who came with us and helped us find bugs. We hope you enjoyed the trip too.
Here is an acrostic poem we wrote about the stream trip:

Stream Trip

Stones
Terrific adults
Running water
Extra fast
Afternoon time
Marvellous fun

Week 3

Our 'Stars of the Week' are Grace: for being a great role model; and Ben: for reading for 100 nights. Congratulations Grace and Ben, we are proud of you.


We are learning to write peoms. This week we have written poems about balloons. Here is one we wrote as a class:

My Balloon
Blue balloon
Oval balloon
Flat balloon
Popped balloon
My balloon is like a pear.

Come and read our balloon poems which are hanging in our room.

We have begun to learn the songs for our production, Over the Rainbow, in December. We are really enjoying learning 'Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead'.

Our calendar art work is available for you to look at. Please bring orders (and money) to school by the end of next week (Friday 6 November).

We are all looking forward to our trip to the Brook Stream on Monday afternoon. Please remember to bring gumboots and a change of clothes.

End of Week 2

Another busy week is over. Thank you to those who have commented on our blog - we like to read your comments.



Today we lead the Kowhai Syndicate Assembly. Some of us read our recounts about the Masked Parade. Teresa told us she was very proud of us all for how well we did.

Jack is our 'Star of the Week' for his great progress in reading. Congratulations Jack, we are proud of you.

On Thursday Mel came to talk to us about looking after our streams. She showed us a cool movie. Two people turned into fish and they had to swim to the start of the stream so they could be turned back into people. We saw all the dirty water they had to swim through. At the end of the stream the water was clean and clear.
On Monday 2 November we are going to have a look in the Brook Stream to see how healthy the water is there.

On Tuesday we had Iron Brion visit us. He talked about healthy eating. He did lots of funny things and we laughed at them. Sam and Grace got to dance on stage with Iron Brion and some other children. At the end we could have a hamburger. It was yummy.

A reminder that Tuesday 27 October is a Teacher Only Day and so there will be no-one here. Have a nice, relaxing, and safe long weekend.

Masked Parade

On Friday we walked in the Nelson Masked Parade. Our masks were North American Indian. We had to hold our masks over our faces. It was tiring holding our masks. We had to wait fo a long time before we could start walking. When we finally started walking it was fun. The parade was long and we were very tired when we got to the end.
This is how we felt during the parade:
Scared - Grace; Excited - Samuel; Happy - Jasper; Happy - Ben; Sad - Matthew; Happy - Katie; Scared and worried - Jonothan; Tired - Theo; Cool - Jack; Happy - Sam; Tired and worried - Jemma; Good - Aidan; Happy - Willem; Scared - Ty.
We felt scared because there were so many people and it was noisy.
Teresa felt very proud of Room 10 children - they were awesome.

End of Week 1

Our 'Stars of the Week' are: Jemma - for being a great role model and Matthew - for great writing. Willem and Samuel also recieved certificates at Kowhai Assembly for reading for 100 nights. Wow!
Congratulations Jemma, Matthew, Samuel, and Willem - we are proud of you.



Tonight we will take part in the Nelson Masked Parade. Our masks look fantastic. See the photo below for a sneak preview before the parade.

Term 4

Welcome to Term 4. It's great to see everyone back at school.

Today the Kelly Sports people came to school so we could try different ball skills. This is what we had to say about the experience:
I had to concentrate.
I liked kicking the ball.
I liked hitting the ball with a cricket bat.
I liked using a hoop to be an angel.
I liked running with the rugby ball.
I liked moving onto the next activity.
I liked the soccer.
We all had fun.
Thanks Bryce and Caitlin.



On Friday we are taking part in the Nelson Masked Parade.
We are having a practice at school on Friday morning at 9:30am. Everyone is welcome to come along and watch.
The school newsletter has details of where to meet on Friday evening. Everyone needs to wear dark clothing so our masks stand out. The masks look fantastic, thanks to all who have helped make them.

Last Day - Term 3

Wow! Term 3 is over. What a busy term we have had. We have learnt lots of new things and have made many new friends. Everyone has worked really hard and now we are ready for a restful holiday. A big thank you to the whanau for all your help and support this term. Enjoy your holiday.

Congratulations to our 'Stars of the Week':
Grace - for 100% attendance during Term 3
Aidan - for great reading and for 100% attendance during Term 3
Katie - for working hard to learn the alphabet
You have worked hard and we are proud of you.

Tuesday 22 September

A big thank you to everyone for coming to watch our folk dancing and singing performance this afternoon. The children did really well and I am so proud of them all. It was great to have you all join in the 'Side, Together, Clap' dance as well.

Thanks, too, to those who were able to stay and help with the masks. I was amazed at how quickly everything was completed. The masks are looking really good. Next painting session will be Thursday 23 Septembet at 1:45pm.

Week 9

What a busy week we have had.
Our 'Stars of the Week' are: Samuel for great writing, and Willem for great reading. Congratulations Samuel and Willem, we are proud of you.



Mask Parade:
On Tuesday a wonderful group of parents cut out our masks - thank you so much.
On Wednesday we began colouring them. Thursday was a busy day of painting. Check out the photos.
Next week we will paint the red petals and glue the pieces onto the masks. They will look great.
Today we had our first practice parading around the quad and singing the One Love, One Heart song. It was great.

When I Was Blindfolded ...

Earlier in the term we were learning about disabilities. We took turns at being blindfolded and at leading a blindfolded person. Click Play (centre arrow) OR Click on the children's headshots to read how they felt when they were blindfolded, hold on a second.....then you will hear them speak too!