Yay! Brian is back!

Brian is back! He has been to visit Nikoline in Sweden. He has had a great summer (winter for us) and Nikoline will email some pictures soon. These girls were thrilled with their messages and are writing back. 

Releasing a skink

We had a visit today from a curious neighbourhood cat called Orio.

On the way to the supermarket Nicola and Scott met Dylan's father and he was saving a skink from the paws of Orio!

We released the skink in our school lizard garden where we hope it will live long basking in the sun.

Planting

We are planting at the moment and we are finding a lot of worms in our garden. We are having fun and are going to do some more next week. Thank you Phil (Dylan's dad) for helping us in the garden. By Lily S

Our ideas for the new Children's Garden at the Botanical Gardens

Today we had a visit from Anneke and Ally from Wellington Botanical Gardens. They showed us different plants. We learnt lots about different plants and their uses. They were keen to get our ideas for the new children's garden in the Wellington Botanical Gardens. 

"The garden will be a learning space where children will:

• learn traditional plant skills and uses
• find out about the medicinal properties of native plants
• work with plants important to other cultures.

Wellington Botanic Garden will maintain the Children's Garden, and provide an educator to work with school groups and visitors.”

You can read more on the website: http://childrensgarden.org.nz/

Here are some of our ideas for the children's garden:

Thank you Anneke and Ally for talking to us. We are enjoying our growing inquiry! Also a big thank you to Sophie (Matilda's mum) for arranging this for us. 

Teaching the Teachers

These students were great leaders today and taught some teachers from Island Bay how to use Seesaw. You guys are fab!

Look what arrived in the post!

Look what arrived in the post. What do you think this is? Look for clues...

We're Jamming!

Yesterday we made jam as part of our inquiry. We made blueberry jam.  Scott was going wild in the kitchen. This is our "creating" part of the inquiry. We're looking forward to celebrating and sharing our learning. 

By Pippa

Probability

         

Today for maths, we talked about probability. We thought what it would be impossible, possible and certain that we would see at Worser Bay Beach today. 

It would be impossible to see a snowman and an alien, possible to see a jellyfish and a submarine and certain that we will see sand and seawater.

Earthquake Drill

Today we had an earthquake drill. We knew to "Drop, Cover and Hold". We had to stay there until the gorgeous Civil Defence lady in the hard hat, came to tell us that it was "All clear".

Raising Agent Inquiry

We are planning a presentation to show the results of our Raising Agent inquiry. We are ready to share what we have been doing with other students so that we can celebrate what we have done!

Jack and the Beanstalk Writing

As part of our inquiry about change, we will be growing plants. In literacy we have been retelling the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be putting some of these on display during the week. Come in and have a look!

Writing by Evan

 

Writing by Jasmine 

Writing by Sammy C

Best Digital Resource – Finalist: Nicola Stevenson, Tautoru Blog

We got an award that said we are in the finals of a competition for the best digital resource by Interface. This is because we have an awesome blog. We got excited when we heard about it [Nic especially]. We have had so much fun making the blog.   

By Eva

From the newsletter: 

WE ARE SO PROUD OF NICOLA - CONGRATULATIONS!!
INTERFACE is a magazine for ICT educators and our committed Nicola is a finalist in the ‘Best Digital Resource’ category. 

"....The standard of entries was very high and you have done extremely well to reach the final five. You should be very proud of this and the work you are doing.

We’ll be officially announcing the finalists on our website this morning (https://interfaceonline.co.nz/meet-this-years-finalists-and-vote-for-your-winners/) and in the November issue of the magazine, which comes out early next week. I’ve also attached a ‘Finalist’ logo that you are welcome to use. INTERFACE readers will be invited to review the finalists’ entries and vote for their favourite (and, yes, you can vote for yourself). These results will go towards determining the final placings....." 
(From the editor)

SO PLEASE CHECK IT OUT, SUPPORT NIC and VOTE!!!!

Spanish and Friday Choice Afternoon

On a Friday afternoon, students can choose what they learn. This year we have been very fortunate that Maria has given up her time to teach us Spanish. These students chose to be part of this group. 

Today we learnt about things in the kitchen through song and dance. 

Here is the song that we learnt:

Students have also started to run their own workshops. Last week one of our students ran a workshop about how to draw a superhero.

Today a couple of our students ran a gymnastics workshop.

We are loving the learner agency. It's very exciting!

Perfect Pizzas...

Today we carried on with our raising agent pizza dough experiment. We made one pizza base with yeast in it and one with four eggs in it. This was the pizza base with yeast in it. The dough looked puffy and white.

This is a cup of yeast. It looked like little seeds in water! We had to wait five minutes for it to get puffy and frothy.

The pizza dough with eggs in it looked yellowish and bubbly. It had little green herbs in it (oregano).

When the egg pizza base was in the oven it looked like a bubbly volcano. It wasn't as yellow as before.

We got to taste test our pizza bases. Most people liked the pizza base with yeast in it. It was nice and soft. We discovered the pizza with yeast rose the highest. The one with no raising agent rose the least.

By Clem

Pesto on Pizza Bread!!

Scott and Susie's maths groups made pesto yesterday with mint, parsley, garlic and lemon skin. It looked delicious. Today we got to taste our pesto on pizza bases and it was super yum!

Clem thought she would like to make some at home.
Katherine thought the pesto was really good and tasted minty!
Kate thought it was really minty and looked squishy.

We had fun making and trying out our fresh pesto!

Transition to the Seniors

Our Year 3 students have been working in Matariki and Mahutonga. We have been working in different groups to get ready for next year. Today in our transition time we did an experiment. See the clips below to find out what we did and for the scientific explanation.

Predictions

Leola: It is going to make a rainbow.

Alastair: The colours will mix together in different shapes.

Nela: the milk will change colour.

Lily Ji: I think it will explode.

Rim: I thought it would turn brown.

Elliot: It will swirl around the bowl because of the chemical.





This is what we think about transition:

Georgina: It was fun and I like connecting with the people in Mahutonga.

Eva: It is fun. We meet new people and we get to do experiments.

Eden: I liked working with new people in a new space.

Liam: I thought that it was fun. It’s good to make new friends and get to know the space more. Next year I will know what to do when I am in the seniors.

Talia: It is helpful because next year we will know other people. We know who we can play with and we might make new friends.

Lily Ji: I really like "wake up your brain". It really does wake up my brain.

Ridley: It is good because we did experiments and milk spread into different colours.

Katherine: We got to know the space more.

Kirsty: It was fun. It is helpful for next year because we get to work with new people.

Matilda: I like transition time. I like to choose what to do for exercise. Drama was really fun.

Ruby: I really like it. Yoga was really fun.

Which Pizza will rise the most?

Shona and Susie's base groups have been learning and wondering about raising agents. We found out that raising agents make food rise. The four raising agents we have been talking about are eggs, yeast, baking powder and baking soda.

Today we experimented which pizza base would rise the most. We made two pizzas one with baking powder and one without.

Mitchell thought the pizza base with baking powder would rise the most.

Leola was curious to see which pizza rises the most.

In a big bowl we had:
- flour
- 1 tablespoon oil
- baking powder
- salt
- water

In the little bowl we had:
- flour
- salt
- 1 cup oil
- water

Then we had to put them both in the oven. We had to flatten it down with a rolling pin, a spoon or our hands.

We think the pizza needs to bake for around 30 minutes. We think it will be ready to eat when it looks stiff, a little burnt, golden brown, tan, maybe black around the edges, a little hard, crunchy or smooth.

We took a vote...24 people thought the pizza with baking powder would rise the most. 2 people thought the one with no baking powder would rise higher.

Exciting opportunity for students interested in environmental issues!

Our students gardening today

Hi Parents and Students in Tautoru,

Z are holding an annual Safety Day in late November. They would like us to help them to understand more about reducing waste...

Message from Emily Watt, "This is an event that brings 600 Z staff and friends together to share lessons about our company’s values and changes we can make in our lives to benefit people and the planet.

We’re aiming to make our event a Zero Waste event this year, and use the day to inspire our staff and guests to continue to reduce their waste. We’ve been looking for an inspiring speaker/s to help get the message across, and wondered if some of your students would be able to help? As a Zero Waste school, and champions of the plastic bag free peninsula, we can’t think of better ambassadors and educators for our guests!"

Students will create a short, fun video (made by a professional company) with the students explaining the importance of recycling and how to do it and urging people to do better."

If you would like to be part of the video and are passionate about recycling and environmental issues, then please apply to be part of this event.

Please write to Nicola and explain:

1. Why you would like to be part of this?

2. What environmental issues are you passionate about?

3. What skills can you bring?

Applications need to be in by Tuesday 25th October.

Many thanks,

Nicola