Zealandia Extravaganza - Term 3

We had a great time at Zealandia this week.  We embraced the rain and were lucky enough to see lots of creatures and native flora. 

When Wellington delivers a classic cold, wet winter day, we have to find the silver lining. That is what we did !   We packed gumboots, raincoats, lots of layers and a sense of adventure for a trip into Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.  This is one of the capital's best-kept secrets. 

The dense overhead canopy of tree ferns (ponga) and forest created a natural umbrella, filtering the drizzle into a misty, prehistoric atmosphere.   Walking through the predator-proof fence felt like stepping through a time machine and totally 'Jurrasic Park' at the same time.  This was the great way that the children described this entry point.  

The rain gave us a chance to embrace the damp soil and wet leaf litter.  It was bringing out wildlife that usually stays hidden on dry warm days.  This is not at all what we were expecting !  The highlight was the Tuatara.  

Little Tuatara 

We saw the Kākā: The forest parrots flying over head in full force. We saw glimmers of crimson against the overcast sky as they swooped between the trees.  The Takahē made a quick exit after our first group went past,  preferring the quiet of the swamp lands.  It was hard to keep our excitement under wraps.   They were pretty unbothered by the cold mist.

We had some funny experiences too.  We soon realised once a branch is touched or a leaf is pulled on a wet day,  the tree unloads what it has been sheltering us from - The sky puddles !!  The stick insect held on for dear life.

The taonga tower was a surprise reveal with a few wētā and a gigantic wolf spider with an impressive egg sac. We were pleased it was safe and contained behind some perspex.  

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A rainy trip to Zealandia offered such a rich real-world context across multiple learning areas:

Science -Living World / Te Ao Hurihuri  

We were able to observe how species adapt to weather changes (e.g., birds foraging actively after rain bursts) demonstrating seasonal and daily animal behaviors.

Examining the role of Zealandia's pest-proof fence highlighted how removing introduced  predators allows native flora and fauna to recover.  We were able to make some links to our prior learning and knowledge about our Predator free Peninsula and some of the learning about tracking tunnels and our flora and fauna unique and visible to our Motukairangi. 

Being immersed in a beautiful green and bushy space, even in rain, enhanced our mindfulness and awareness through the sounds of bird calls and what we could see, hear and feel.  It was hard going but it was a good exercise to practise our gratitude, resilience and growth mindset.  

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Celebrating the Arts 2026

 

The time finally arrived this week for the great 2026 Art Celebration. We are feeling so grateful for all the ideas our students have been able to come up with, to make this story come to life.  After all, it was all about thinking outside of the box and harnessing our imaginations to come up with wild and wonderful 'wonderlands'.

We are so grateful for all the help we have received from our colleagues, whānau and parents. It takes a village to put on a great show !!! 

Ngā mihi nunui ki a koutou. 

 "My favourite thing was when I flew around.. I liked the dragon land because
the dragons used team work."   
"I was proud of my dancing because I dialled up my humour and bravery."

So what was our great narrative about ?

In a deep dark place, a little machine finds herself delivering a special parcel to a world where magic and imagination run wild. In this mystery land, far away from any civilisation, a suitcase waits. A humble parasol is found inside by the bugs, frogs, fairies and miniature mushrooms dancing and frolicking about.

The amazing wonderland changes pace and environment with the entrance of fire and dragons. The parasol becomes a bellow that helps our flames grow and flourish.

"I was smiling non-stop at the audience.  I felt amazing." 
"I like the lights because they were glowing all over the place."  

"I liked everything, even watching the other people's shows. It really just gave me joy."  
"I loved the audience smiling because they were excited too." 

The energy shifts into the next child created wonderland. This world is full of ocular delights and night time creatures that inhabit the best of our spooky stories. They all come to life to dance the night away.

This whole process has been a very organic one. We aimed for as child centred as possible.

A few posts back we shared the creation of different worlds. A whole lot of oral language opportunities as well as Inquiry and other cross curricular links were made.

So how does this all connect to our refreshed NZ curriculum ?

NZ Curriculum links - Reading and writing :

Over the last term, we read our way through quality picture books, school readers and journals. This has allowed us to have some good discussions about lands and places, characters and creatures. We have been able to explore characters and their specific roles in a. story.

The reciprocal nature of reading and writing has come to life as we tried to use some of our reading skills and vocabulary to write our own stories. Good words and vivid vocabulary create great pictures in a readers mind.

Comprehension - Students have been:

• Using what is stated in texts, along with their prior knowledge, to predict what might happen next

• Using visual images in texts to check and support their understanding of ideas that might not be directly stated. (Exploring inferences too)

• Retelling the key details from texts in response to sequence questions

• Identifying connections between ideas expressed in texts and their own knowledge of topics, other texts, and their own experiences, and responding by sharing opinions about those ideas.

We have worked hard to present our stories through dance and drama. We knew that how we moved and our gestures and faces would be an important part of our storytelling.

Presenting to an audience  

• Students have been using non-verbal communication to support the message being communicate.

  

"I loved the costumes because they were amazing."

NZ Curriculum links - Oral Language 

Lots of discussions, sharing of ideas and conversations bought us to where we ended up. We 'piggy backed' off each others ideas, adding more detail or making subtle changes or crazy ones !!

We had to get our messages across so our group members could understand our ideas.

Our map making required lots of opinions which we did not always agree with. We had some ground rules that we followed to make sure there were no 'bosses' and everyone could contribute as much as possible. It really was like playing on paper.

Listening and Responding to Others 

Students have been learning to:

• Participate in conversations, taking turns, actively listening, and contributing

• Respectfully agree, disagree, and add on to ideas

• Explain reasons for their opinions and ideas

The Arts Curriculum Links 

All of the above came to fruition with our Arts Curriculum as the main driver to express this learning.

NZ Curriculum links - Dance

Developing practical knowledge

• Students have been learning to explore and identify, through movement, the dance elements of body, space, time, energy, and relationships.

Developing ideas

• Students have been learning to use the elements of dance in purposeful ways to respond to a variety of stimuli.

NZ Curriculum links - Visual Art

Developing ideas

• Students have been learning to investigate and develop visual ideas in response to a variety of motivations, observation, and imagination.

Communicating and interpreting

• Students have been learning to share the ideas, feelings, and stories communicated by their own and others’ objects and images.

Futsal

 

Kapa Haka

 

Over the last week we have been revisiting a kapa haka favourite ‘Ka pioioi’ with Matua Henare.  We are learning a new kapa haka skill to add to this classic.

Tītitōrea  - These are a type of traditional Māori sticks or a stick game that is performed to waiata. Our students have been learning to hold these wooden tītītōrea and striking them, tapping them on the ground, against each other, or throwing them to a partner.  It has been impressive to see how quickly the children picked these skills up.  They learnt to throw a tītītorea upright into another person's opposite hand while keeping a beat.  This has been great for our hand eye coordination.  

The original purpose of Tītītōrea - In the past Tītītōrea have been used to train warriors by building hand-eye coordination, wrist flexibility, and quick reaction times essential for hand-to-hand combat.   In our context it is a little different.  These days Tītītōrea remain a popular educational game and tool for performing arts.  The many benefits that come from tītītorea are very similar to the learning we did earlier on with our Poi Toa.  When we are expecting our children to work on transcription - the fine motor skills of writing,  we are asking them to use a multitude of skills. To develop our fine motor skills we need to also develop our gross motor skills too.  All of that combined is a big ask !    Tītītōrea is a great way to do this while singing and working together.  

We are looking forward to showing you more of our polished Tītītōrea skills next term after we have had a few more opportunities to practice !

Song of the River.

What a fantastic Whānau Day we had as our students came together in whanau groups across the school to collaborate, create, and move!

Our learning focus for the next wee while is on storytelling through dance and movement, listening and responding creatively to music.  For this whānau day we were inspired by the story of the journey of water.  We read the story below for inspiration.

We used the music from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt - Morning to accompany our dance and movement, students explored how water transforms as it flows:

• A Gentle Start: Beginning as a simple trickle.

• Building Momentum: Flowing into a creek, tumbling over a waterfall, and becoming a rushing stream filled with a thousand little fishes.

• Winding Through Nature: Expanding into a river where ducks swim and cows drink.

• Passing Through the City: Navigating the busy wider river past factories, wharves, ropes, and cranes.

• Reaching the Ocean: Opening up into the wild sea where whales and birds sing.

Using core elements of dance such as pathways, levels, direction, and contrasting high and low energystudents worked to express these different water environments. Dancers joined in gradually to build the scene, starting with just a few students and growing into a full ensemble. It was really tricky to get some quality photos in motion but here a few snapshots. You can see our levels and pathways.

To wrap up the session, every group came together to showcase their final dance performance.  We  demonstrated wonderful teamwork, creative expression, and dynamic movement from start to finish!  You are in for a real treat in the coming weeks.

Shapes, shapes and more shapes.

 

When thinking of maths, our minds usually jump straight to counting, addition, and times tables. These are definitely at the core of our maths programme because they are fundamental skills that we keep building on,  however there is a whole side of mathematics that is just as vital and often a lot more fun to explore. It has been fun exploring and grouping our shapes to make different things. 

In the New Zealand Curriculum for Years 2 and 3, Geometry is all about helping children make sense of the physical world around them. It’s about touching, moving, describing, and building.

Here is a look at what your child is learning in the classroom.

For Years 2 and 3 Geometry focuses on three main ideas:

1. Shape Features: Recognising 2D shapes (circles, squares, triangles) and 3D objects (spheres, cubes, cylinders) by looking at their attributes—like straight edges, curved lines, and corners.

2. Transformation & Movement: Understanding how shapes turn (rotations), slide (translations), or flip (reflections), and noticing patterns or symmetry.

3. Position & Direction: Using spatial language (above, below, next to, clockwise, left, right) to navigate space.

At this age, children learn best by doing.   A child might learn the word "cylinder" from a card, but they only truly understand its geometry when they explore a cylinder and realise things like it can roll.  They also learn that it can’t roll sideways and this leads to further learning about attributes of 2D and 3D shapes. 

Geometry is actually everywhere in our day-to-day routine.   Here are some ways that you can reinforce our geometry learning at home. 

Obstacle Courses & Treasure Maps

Vocabulary related to space is key in the world of geometry. Map-making and directional games build strong spatial orientation and awareness.   We have had a very hands on approach to this, learning through doing as you can see in the above slide with our 'tarp grid'.

• Blindfold Navigator: Have your child guide you through the lounge using only directional words: "Take two steps forward, turn towards the couch, and step over the cushion."

• Draw a Map: Ask them to draw a map of their bedroom or the backyard. It doesn't need to be to scale, the goal is learning how 3D spaces are represented from a bird's-eye view.

The Great Shape Hunt

Instead of naming shapes on a piece of paper, hunt for them in 3D.

• In the Pantry: Challenge them to find three items that are spheres (oranges, passionfruit) and three that are cylinders (soup cans, paper towel rolls). 

• You can help them explore by asking questions like : "Why don't they pack cereal in sphere-shaped boxes?"

• On a Walk: Look for geometric features on road signs or houses. Focus on properties rather than just names: "Look at that stop sign.  Let's count its sides together!"

Build with Blocks (and Kitchen Containers!)

Playing with Lego, wooden blocks, or plastic containers naturally teaches spatial awareness.

• Deconstruct & Combine: Show them how two identical right-angled triangles can come together to make a square or rectangle.

• Shadow Matching: Trace around the base of different household objects (a mug, a block, a triangular box) on paper, then ask your child to match the object to its 2D "shadow" print.

Symmetry in Nature

New Zealand’s environment is full of natural geometric patterns.

• During outdoor play, collect fallen leaves, shells, or fern fronds (ponga).

• Fold a leaf in half to test for line symmetry, does one side mirror the other?

• Try making a symmetrical nature collage on the grass, where whatever is placed on the left side must be mirrored on the right.

When we see our children building, making with origami and other creative projects or even navigating the challenges of the playground, they are constructing a geometric understanding. They may not be talking about shapes but they are certainly noticing shapes and moving through space during everyday moments.  This gives our children a foundation that will serve them for years to come!  Learning is always happening through their play.  Our job might be to make those links for them using the vocabulary.  

Let us know what you notice in terms of these big concepts in your child's world at home.