Curious about Compost ?

Making compost with our kids is going to be such a rewarding and educational journey.   As a teaching team we decided that our gardens needed a revamp to liven things up and revitalise our special outdoor classroom.   There is so much we want to do and achieve but we know it requires some knowledge in and learning alongside our experts to get it right.   We have been thinking about simple ways to make a positive impact on the environment while teaching valuable life skills around science and sustainability.  In this years 'Wonderland' -  Our philosophy is 'learning from the ground up'.  

We have watched and learnt about soil and components of good compost.   This week, we started in our own lunchboxes with a lunchbox audit.  We noticed we all had fruit and/or vegetables which were going to make great scraps.  

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We learnt that some breads and dairy were not recommended.   We also learnt that meat was no good in our compost either. 

Why Compost with Kids?

• Hands-on Learning: Composting is a sensory experience.  Kids get to touch, smell (hopefully not too bad!), and see things change.  We have already had some experts dripping with worms explaining the quality of our current compost ! 

• Environmental Responsibility: It teaches them about reducing waste and the importance of recycling organic matter.

• Science in Action: We are all learning about decomposition, bacteria, fungi, and how things break down.  We now know the true FBI is fungi, bacteria and insects.  

• Gardening Connection: The finished compost will be amazing for our garden! They'll see the direct benefit of their hard work.   The feelings of Positive Accomplishment will be worth it. 

We have been exploring......  What Does Compost Need?

We have been learning alongside some experts.  Darcy was able to share some gems with us.  She has been knee high in our compost.  With hands full of worms she thinks we have great rich compost towards the middle.  It just needs a turn ! 

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She had compost from home that was 6 months into the process and another sample of 12 month old compost.  Darcy also told us about the super stinky Bokashi tea - Now this sounds like absolute gold for the garden but OUTSIDE due to its pungent aroma !!   We look forward to learning more as we go.  

Colourful Layers.

Just like we need food, water, and air to survive, composting microbes need specific ingredients to thrive. We have been thinking of this like a great recipe:

Green Waste (Nitrogen):

• Provides: Energy for the composting microbes to multiply and break things down quickly.

• Examples: Fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, grass clippings, weeds.  

 Brown Waste (Carbon):

• Provides: A source of food for the microbes to build their bodies. They also provide structure and allow for airflow.

• Examples: Dry leaves, straw, shredded paper or cardboard, twigs.

Water (Moisture):

• Why it's needed: Microbes need moisture to survive and move around within the pile.  Think of it like: A wrung-out sponge. You want it damp, not soaking wet.

Air (Oxygen):

• Why it's needed: The microbes that do the most efficient composting need oxygen to breathe.

• How to get it: Turn or mix your compost pile regularly to add air.   This is how we also explored our current compost.  What we realised was that we had some rich compost underneath with all the ingredients needed.  It was dark in colour, moist with a healthy dose of bugs and worms. 

Speaking of dosing - What is the Magic Ratio !

We discovered a good rule is to have about 3 parts Browns to 1 part Greens by volume. This creates a balanced environment for composting microbes.   We have some experiments going at the moment.    We have made a Composting Jar so that we can observe what is happening.   

We are experimenting with compost in a jar so we can begin to notices the layers: We have a layer of browns, then a layer of greens, and we are going to continue alternating.

https://gardentotable.org.nz/resources/compost-in-a-jar

• We will add water:  Sprinkle some water over each layer to make sure it's damp.

• We will turn it over:   Every few weeks.   This adds oxygen and helps speed up the process.  We also know that we have to make sure our scraps are cut up small for our compost in a jar to work. 

We have a great spot with new compost bins on the way !

Our kids are curious and keen, getting involved by being: 

• Investigators:  We are discovering what is working and what is not in our current composting environment.   

• Scrap Collectors: They are becoming responsible for collecting fruit and veggie scraps in a container.

• Layer Makers: They will help layer the greens and browns in the compost pile.

• The "Waterer":   We will moisten the pile.

• The "Turner":  This is minimal with our experimental jar.  When we really get going we will be able to take turns being the 'turner'. 

We cant wait to see what we can achieve !  But we know we have to dial up our GRIT, Patience and Perseverance for this project to be successful !  Watch this space. 

Māui te Tinihanga

Writing is so much more than planning to put pencil to paper.  We have the challenge of creating engaging contexts, making links and connections to prior learning, connecting to the NZC and our Whetūkairangi Curriculum while teaching and maintaining the 'bread and butter' of a great writing programme - Teaching the basics brilliantly !  

With this in mind, Tautoru have been exploring Pūrākau that link to our local places and spaces through reading and writing. 

We tuned in to the captivating story of Māui te Tinihanga and how he fished up the North Island.  We could make connections and links to this pūrākau because our children can relate directly to places we are in and that we know.   This is going to be the building block of future Inquiry learning. 

It's been an active, vibrant exploration of places and spaces but we have also been exploring all the elements that make great stories.  We visited our story mountain to identify the beginning, middle and end.  This helped us make sure we had all the important details when we retold our story.   

We also focused on Action Words.  We were aiming to move beyond "he pulled"  encouraging interesting new words like "hauled", "tugged" and "heaved".   

Knowing that writing is really complex, with many things to think about during the writing process, we need to continue with our fundamental micro-goals daily.  These keep those capital letters, fullstops and finger spaces front of mind while extending our reach towards vocab and language features.  We still have access to our looking words.  These are on cards that we can refer to when ever we need.  These are essential with helping us spell those pesky non decodable words like 'was' or 'the' that don't look how they sound.  

Some examples of our micro-goals include:

• a transcription focus: This helps us develop the automaticity in handwriting and spelling. Research we refer back to often is the work of Dr. Helen Walls.  She argues that if a student has to think consciously about how to form a letter or spell a common word, their "brain space" (working memory) is used up, leaving less room for creative thinking.

• a sentence structure focus:  This is moving beyond simple sentences to focus on adding details in different ways.  This is when we can combine sentences using varied conjunctions like because, so, and but.  This is age and stage appropriate.

• dialling up our Self-Regulation: We refer to this a lot but you may not necessarily be linking this Character Strength to Writing.  In Writing, Self Regulation looks like encouraging students to "think, write, and check" for every single sentence.  Yes it's the old - editing that we all love and hate at the same time. This builds an internal "writing check" where our writers evaluate their work as they go. This is a really good but challenging habit to embrace at times. Students become critical thinkers and authors that are re-working and improving their writing each time.  Aiming for 10% better is always within reach.  

Here are some examples from our draft writing from this week.  You can see some simple editing and some examples of interesting words and phrases.  The students have not been afraid to try new and interesting words using the sounds they can hear and some known spelling patterns from phonics.

Zones of Regulation

 This week in Tautoru we have been learning more about the 'Zones of Regulation'.

This is a simple way for students to learn more about what emotions they are feeling throughout the day and develop a 'toolkit' to help them navigate these feelings.  

We know that all emotions are 'expected' and 'respected', but it's what we do with these feelings and how we can learn to use our 'tools' to help us get back to the optimal Green zone.

Below are some examples of our students demonstrating different zones and what tools we all have in our Tautoru toolkit to use at different times.  

This is a useful conversation to have at home too - what is in your 'toolkit' at home to help you?

Happy Lunar New Year 2026

新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè): 

   Happy New Year.

        恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái): 

    Congratulations and be prosperous 

We have been so fortunate to have some of our Tautoru whānau come and share their culture and traditions with us around Lunar New Year.   We learnt about the history of migration from and to China.  We also learnt about traditional customs and foods that are favourites for families around Lunar New Year.  The fireworks were pretty exciting to watch.  We were super lucky to see and experience a chinese ribbon dance and a dance using a special umbrella. 

We also made lanterns out of red and yellow paper.   The night before the Chinese New Year holiday starts, people decorate their homes with red lanterns made of paper.  One of our students talked about how he makes lanterns as part of his celebrations.  

Red is the colour of joy and good fortune in Chinese cultures, and it is most strongly associated with new year celebrations. 

During the first days of Chinese Lunar New Year, younger family members may receive envelopes that are bright red.  In these envelopes you usually find some money.   These envelopes are traditionally given to  children as a sign of energy and good luck for the year ahead.   

Some of our children in Tautoru talked about these traditions with their peers.   The red envelopes are traditionally decorated with gold letters and Chinese symbols of luck, like the dragon, the phoenix and the Chinese zodiac animal of that year.  We know that the chinese zodiac for 2026 is the horse. 

A big thank you to Deanna, Monica, Kurt, Yinjing and their families for coming to share with us today. We had heaps of fun and learnt a lot.

Smash, Crash, Surprise - Welcome to 2026

What happens when you mix quality picture books, the roar of a construction site, and a splash of mixed media art? You get a high-energy, integrated learning experience that brings together a number of different learning areas while making sure we are ticking all the boxes expected in terms of our mandated 5 hours a week of reading and writing.    

Our recent panel project took inspiration from Sally Sutton’s much loved construction series (Roadworks, Demolition, and Construction). By weaving together Reading, Writing, and Visual Art, we didn't just learn about trucks—we built a foundation for literacy while dialling up our Creativity at the same time.  We have also had the added experience of creating a competitive painted panel for the Naylor Love Project !  

If you came to hear about our programme this week at the Parent Information Evening you would have seen the examples of writing and poetry that the students created.  For only 5 days into the school year we have certainly taken off with a hiss and a roar.  

Using Sally Sutton’s books, we focused on encouraging our students to "understand" how language features create effects. Through exploring these books in reading, we learnt about:

 

• Onomatopoeia: The "Thonk! Clonk! Clap!" of the building site.

• Rhythm and Rhyme: How the rhythm of the text mimics the steady work of machinery.

• Vocabulary: Building a "toolbox" of technical verbs like hoist, swing, and lower.  

• Applying our phonics learning:  We looked at the spelling pattern ‘ing’ and how this changes a word.   Zoom to zooming.

• How to create a picture in our readers mind by using noise words and adjectives. 

Our students transitioned from Reading to Writing by using Sutton’s structures and stories as a model. 

To bring our poems to life, we utilised the Visual Arts space. Construction isn't just about sound; it’s about texture, layers, and bold shapes too.  

We used a mixed media approach—layering paint and shapes.  We have used vibrant and sometimes contrasting colours that pop and help tell our story.  We have included parts of our poetry in our panel too.  

                      

Students explored how different materials and techniques communicate ideas. By connecting their art back to their poems, they practiced communicating their ideas.   They really have been able to show how visual and written language work together to tell a story.  The hardest part has been drawing our great pictures a second time on the panel !!  

Our NZ Curriculum emphasizes structure and richer connections across learning areas. By linking these tasks, students aren't just doing "art" or "reading" in isolation,  we are seeing how the "knowledge and practice" parts of the curriculum come together.

They understand that stories can be told through storytelling, the arts, and reading.  They have been able to  use the specific language of construction and poetry, and have had a chance to practise the work of a writer and an artist at the same time. Through these tasks and practise opportunities we have met individual children’s needs by tailoring their goals and feedback,  making sure we are ‘teaching the basics brilliantly !’  Finger spaces, full stops and capital letters - You have to have them in the right place to construct a great sentence  !!!!

Gratitude

We are so Grateful to be a stones throw away from paradise !  We set off down to the beach to dial up our creativity in the sea air.  We discovered some black sand and lots of what looked like volcanic rock.  As natural explorers,  this peaked our curiosity and we were left with so many questions !  We also worked well in teams to dig as deep as we could.  The deeper we were able to dig the more the sand changed. 

We have been learning to express our Gratitude in all kinds of ways over the last few weeks. It is so easy to take things for granted and miss the beauty in the ordinary. We want our kids not to just expect things but be genuinely thankful.

We made some cubes with different gratitude prompts on them to help us notice the wonder in our world. The first step for us has been learning to notice and observe everything then unpacking how things make us feel. The beach was a great example of how our kids really look carefully and explore their environment. For some that looked like collecting shells and rocks. For some it looked like jumping in the sandy puddles they had made and some were able to find little treasures to add to their tiny castles.

It was such an easy exercise with great benefits for our Positive Health and Wellbeing.

We hope you have lots of time and space to find the beauty all around you this summer.

  

Imaginations Run Wild !

 

If you have ever peeked into our Tautoru classroom you would have seen a whirlwind of activity, heard an orchestra of excited chatter, or watched a child completely lost in thought while building or planning a magnificent feat. That's the magic of curiosity and imagination at play, and let me tell you, it's not just happening at school, we also know this happens at home.  Curiosity and Imagination is truly the bedrock of incredible learning!

Despite some of the notions of our new refreshed curriculum and alongside the structures and routines needed for an effective junior classroom,  we have to get past just teaching facts and figures.  At Worser Bay we recognise the value in cultivating little explorers and master storytellers. We want to be part of lighting the spark the begins the journey into poetry, art, sculpture, dance, film making, medicine, mechanics just to name a few.  

Curiosity is 'The Spark That Lights the Fire!'

Curiosity is that "why?" that you seem to hear on repeat.  Why is the sky blue? Why do birds sing? Why does the moon follow us?  Why do I have to do that ? Instead of shutting down these questions, we try our best to embrace them! We encourage our students to ask, investigate, and discover.

This might look like a science experiment where we're not just telling them about plants, but we're planting seeds and watching them sprout, marveling at each tiny root and leaf. This is a great segway into an example of extraordinary imaginations coming to fruition. 

Please watch this short film :  

One of our Tautoru whānau have been helping one of our students harness their wonderful imagination into a short film created in just 48 hours.  We were able to witness the whole process 'behind the scenes' and the brainstorming that occurred was awesome.  It was really rewarding to see Zac, his family and his friend Josh sharing this with our class. We had loads of wonderings and plenty of interest in the next 48 hour film festival.  Our students were so keen to  spot the requirements that the film needed.  The learnt about concepts like miniatures and slow motion.  

This is just one example.  We have been so grateful for our whānau bringing their expertise and skills into our area.  We have had everything from instrument playing, dancing and roles in shows and performances. The best thing about sharing these learning experiences as we see the inspiration spread and other children giving new things a go. Keep it coming Whānau.