Akau Tangi

It was great to get back to Akau Tangi for a day of sports. We used a Growth Mindset by trying new things and getting stuck in. Trying new sports is beneficial for our bodies and minds! When you learn new things, your brain grows. When you process a positive experience it enhances Positive Emotions too!

Thank you to Lext for putting this movie trailer together: 

Our Rising 6's and Pukeko art

We've had lots of fun in Tautoru this term with our Rising 6's - the year 1's in Autahi who will be coming through to us next year! For the last two weeks we have been creating Pukeko art, focusing on the vibrant black, blues and red of the native Pukeko bird. Our fine motor skills have been strengthened with cutting strands of newspaper for the grass that the Pukeko are playing in, alongside with colouring to make our art stand out. 

This art will be on the walls of Tautoru next year, so our Rising 6's have a sense of belonging when they enter year 2. This in turn promotes Positive Emotions when thinking about quite a big transition!

Enjoy these pictures!

Strengths

 

Research shows that character strengths can help children succeed at school and in life. Strengths are the positive qualities individuals have, as reflected in their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They promote the well-being of themselves and others. 

Have a watch of our latest little vignette - this time an introduction to Character Strengths 

Walking from Cape Reinga to Bluff!

This is the Year 3 and 4 students on our walk

School Kits challenged us to walk the length of New Zealand in a day! We needed 278 people, walking 10,000 steps each to walk from Cape Reinga to Bluff. We reached out to the community to ask you to "donate" 10,000 steps. We also did our own walk (it wasn't quite 10,000 steps but we know that we would've done 10,000 each by the end of the day!) 

This activity was designed to help us connect with the community and to promote healthy activity. 

Thank you to everyone for your donations. We made it! Now for a holiday... 

A map of our walk

Student Led Workshops- Kids can be teachers too!

We have been using our Love of Learning, Leadership and Positive Purpose to teach others and learn from each other. Kids can teach too!

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Some of us have been going to Autahi to the Rocket Lab. We help others in Autahi to learn their Rocket Words and by helping them to practise reading and writing. It's amazing to think that we had to learn to do that not that long ago! Some of us have been running workshops teaching others some of the skills we know.

 
 
 




We've learned that teaching is quite hard sometimes but it gives us lots of positive emotions to share what we know.

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Isabella- I liked being a teacher but it was hard because people were not listening when I showed them how to do it. I'm going to try again with some helpers.
Oli- It is a bit tricky to teach people origami because I had to do it for them until they learned it.
Freddie- It was fun helping my buddy with their Rocket Words. I like being a teacher.
Darragh- The first time I helped my buddy do their rocket words it was scary but now I feel confident. I like being a teacher.

Worser Bay Orchestra at Assembly

Music enhances our Positive Emotions. Research shows that Music improves brain health and function. It makes you smarter, happier, and more productive. Listening is good, playing is better! When music enters our brains it triggers the pleasure centre that release dopamine (a neurotransmitter) and that makes you feel happy. Playing an instrument increases some gray matter volume in the brain and can improve brain function. 

Rhosyn: I play the ukulele in the orchestra. We practise on Thursday afternoons. It is fun hearing all of the different instruments at once. Practicing together has been fun because I am part of a group. I used perseverance and bravery to perform on stage. I have a sense of gratitude that I can be part of the performance.

Evie: It was fun to perform on stage. I play the violin. I have played since I was four years old. This shows my love of learning and how I have stuck with it! Thanks Kirsten, Vicky and Sarah for helping!

Edward: I play the saxophone, some people mistake it for a trumpet! I used zest in the orchestra performance at assembly. The audience looked really happy and some have said that they want to join now.

Emelie: While I played the guitar I stared at the audience while playing with frozen fingers. I used my bravery, perseverance and zest. I am proud of myself because I made some mistakes but kept going and not stopping.

Positive Education: Positive Emotions and The Mood Meter

The Mood Meter

Excited or hungry? Calm or tired? Emotions come in all types so we have been learning about the different types of emotions and how they can be felt in our bodies. Some are high energy or low energy. Some are more pleasant than others. All emotions have a purpose and by learning how to label emotions it can help us to regulate them (link here).

We have been learning how to use a Mood Meter and how to describe a wider range of emotions.

Source link

We are spending some time thinking about what creates different types of emotions for us and how we might be able to self-regulate them.

This has also helped us to learn new words in Te Reo Māori to help us practise asking and saying how we feel in Te Reo.