How did Maori shape stones?

One of our inquiry questions was how did Maori shape stones?

We decided to experiment with different types of stones and scarped them onto the ground to see what would happen.



We noticed that they changed colour and heated up if we scraped them very quickly.



We decided that it would have taken a long time and then when an adze was made, it must have been a treasure!

Trees in our backyard

Scott's base group are interested in how Maori lived, worked, and played in the past.



We got out into the school grounds today looking at the trees and what Maori may have used them for.



We sketched the leaves, berries and flowers.



The kawakawa tree outside Jude's office was used as a tea to cure stomach aches and pains. We plan on making tea and giving it a try.



Our wonderings about life for Maori in the past. How did all the trees get cut down? What type of trees grew in Miramar? What animals were living here in the past that don't live here now? How did Maori build their houses without nails, hammers and bricks? How did they carve their boats? What type of buildings did they have? Were there moa in Wellington? How long did they survive for in NZ? When did Maori arrive in NZ or Wellington? When did the first European arrive here? How long was this school a pa site? How long did Maori and the British fight for? What type of weapons did they have? What do Maori tattoos mean? Why did they tattoo their faces? Why do they always use spiral shapes for tattoos?

Cross Country

In preparation for the school cross country this week we have been working on building our stamina and core fitness levels.



We have started the day with some quick warm up exercises.



Then we finished the session with a quick beat race/relay.



We look forward to seeing a big turnout of parents next week to cheer everyone on!

Planting Dunes at Worser Bay Beach

On Thursday this week a group of children went with Wanwan and the senior school to Worser Bay Beach to plant some dunes.

We did some prediction before we went. Here are some of our prediction

I think we are going to plant mini sand dunes.

I think we will get wet.

I think we will be planting two or three each.

I think we are going to dig  with our hands.

I think we will work together to plant.

I think the sand dunes will grow really big.

I think when sand dunes are seeds  they are really small.

I think we will be cold.

I think we will take turns to plant.

I think there will be big waves.

I think we will sink into the sand a bit.

I think we will have to move sand dunes to plant new ones.

I think we are not going to water the sand dunes.

I think the people we are working with will have uniforms.

I think that people are coming to help us plant the sand dunes.

I think the weather could change.

I think the plants could grow or not.

I think the tide could be high tide.

I think we will be planting a bit further away.

I think it will take 5 minutes to get to the beach.

By Evan, Greta and Otto

Here are some photos:

Here is a recount of what happened

So what happened was a literacy group[called monkeys]and some seniors went to plant some sand dunes.

Sand dunes are used to stop waves from damaging buildings and hurting people. That's why we were planting them. We were planting in bad weather. It looked like it was going to rain any moment! One of us kept stepping on the plants. John said: stop running up and down the sand dunes Nye. You're squashing the sand dunes! It was a bit crazy with that going on but believe me things were still going okay.

I managed to make a buddy with one of the year five or six. He dug holes for me to plant sand dunes in. I can not remember his name but he’s a great buddy.  

And that’s what happens when we went to plant sand dunes!!!

by Nye and Pyrenees

Here is the HOW TOs

PLANTING SAND DUNES. first you dig a hole. then you put in one fertilizer. after that you grab a mini sand dune ( or pingao )  and put it in the hole. close the hole with sand and make sure that the plant stands up

By Marnie and Octavia

Cross Country Practice

This week we had our cross country practice. Everyone tried their best...


Here is a time-lapse video of our practice.

Do you have any tips for cross country? Leave a comment and tell us! 

Problem Solving Thursdays

We have been working in teams of four to solve maths problems.



The students have had to share our maths knowledge, listen to others ideas, and sometimes, think outside the box!

Measuring objects around the classroom

Thursdays are an opportunity for Scott and Wanwan's maths groups to put maths into a real world context.

We have spent the last couple of weeks discussing what we measure and putting into practice.



Today we selected a non-standard unit to measure different objects.




We recorded our measurements and will look at our results next week!