Transition to Matariki/ Mahutonga

Every year we have some time to work in our new spaces with other people that we will be collaborating with. We call this "Transition!" Last Friday, our Year 4 and 5 students took the Year 3 students around the space so that they will be familiar with the layout. We had to think like architects and draw a plan of the space.

We would like to invite parents to our transition time this Friday!

Transition across Spaces - Friday 24 November, 9.30 to 10am - ALL WELCOME

Come along to Karakia, have a cuppa and then at 9.30-ish you can pop along to your child's new space for 2018. The thinking was to especially provide an opportunity for parents of Autahi children moving to Tautoru and parents of Tautoru children moving to Mahutonga/Matariki to chat with teachers and see their children in their new spot. It's not exclusive, however, as it's also a great chance to meet different parents who have children already in that space. SO ALL WELCOME! The more the merrier really. Come and get familiar in your 2018 environment!

BYOD Question and answer meeting: Friday 24 November - 10am in staffroom

Our Chromebooks and iPads have led to incredible opportunities for our students over the last few years. The school has increased technology by around 50% in the last three years which has been so fortunate. Our learners to be connected more and more. So, we need to keep the BYOD growing in order to keep our students connected to all of the new, exciting learning possibilities.

Senior students at Worser Bay School are able to bring a digital device to school to assist their learning. This is not compulsory but we would like to encourage people who are able, to get on board.

Worser Bay School uses technology as one way of enhancing our mission to teach the skills, knowledge and behaviours students will need as responsible citizens in the global community. Students learn collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking in a variety of ways throughout the school day.

In an effort to increase access to those 21st Century skills, Worser Bay School allows personal devices on our network and school grounds for students who follow the responsibilities stated in the Student Acceptable Use of Technologies Agreement and the BYOD Information and Permission form.

Worser Bay School strives to provide appropriate and adequate technology to support learning.  The use of personal devices by students is optional, and students who do not participate in BYOD will be be able to use chromebooks provided by the school.

An important component of BYOD is education about appropriate online behaviours.  We will review cyber-safety rules with students frequently throughout the course of the school year and will offer reminders and reinforcement about safe online behaviours.  In addition to the rules outlined in these guidelines, students will be expected to comply with all class and school rules while using personal devices.  The use of technology is not a necessity but a privilege.  When abused, privileges will be taken away.

If you are interested in purchasing a device before the start of school, we have provided some guidance below. If you have any questions before the end of the term, please see or email Nicola or John: nstevenson@worserbay.school.nz, or johnmcdougall@worserbay.school.nz

Students can use their devices throughout the day for collaborative learning, web-based research and applications, including creating documents and presentations.

What students say:

We asked students “How does BYOD help you with your learning?”

“It helps me with my learning because it is easier to sign in. Google Docs help because you can type whatever you want and carry on at home if you want.”

“I think it gives you more freedom with what you can do or can’t do. It helps that you don’t have the pressure to find a computer when you need it. You can definitely use it to learn at home too. You can go on Maths links or keep going with writing docs.”

“Sometimes if you have your own device you can use it when you want. I like to use devices for typing because it is easier for me to get the ideas down.”

Solar, Wind, Hyrdo power

We have just finished our inquiry into the power of wind, water, and the sun.



It has been fantastic to see the children so engaged and enthusiastic about researching and sharing their knowledge. We spent Monday this week celebrating and sharing with other groups what we have learned.



We had groups of children sharing experiments, videos, creating plays, making models, and working windmills!

Alliteration

Scott and Wanwan's literacy group have been learning about alliteration. We wrote a paragraph using the first letter of our name along with words that included the same sound.

Creative Cameron crushed Coco’s caper castle keeping Karen crying crumbs while catching killer creative cranberries. Colin cracked kinder eggs carefully so Coco can create cracking coconut creatures craving Karens creamy conditioner.

We edited this piece of writing and have published them ready for display. 

Hacker Hadley hacked hardcase Hanna.

How had hacker Hadley hacked hardcase Hanna?

Harry helped hacker Hadley hack Hanna’s house. “Hurry Hanna”  harked Hadley.

Hoping he had his hacking hat handy.

Matthias makes marshmallow monsters.  

Mae makes monsters milk.

Mum makes metal moustaches.

Melanie makes magic mince.

Molly makes maze maps.

We will draw a picture using a word from our paragraph for the classroom. Come in and check them out!

Maths

This week we looked at 2D and 3D shapes. We designed our own lunchbox by drawing the foods we wanted and then naming the shapes within the lunchbox. Have a look at some of them.

Inquiry

We are having fun looking into Renewable Energy. Have a look at this video. We chose if we would like to investigate wind, hydro or solar power. After brainstorming what we know, we thought up some questions, investigated, researched and decided what information we wanted to share.

We are making a map of the school and we are going to show the windiest places in our school grounds. We talked about the Beaufort scale which measures wind. Have a look at this video if you want to find out a little more about wind levels.

We made our own solar panels and we want to see if they will heat up in the sun.

Environmental writing

Lately at writing we have been able to choose where we write and we have used the fine weather to get outside and write about the environment or about something we love. We can choose to write on the ipad, on paper with felts or coloured pencils, in our writing books, on the blackboard using chalk or on the whiteboard. We love it when we get to choose where to write.

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Here are a couple of pieces of writing from today.

I can see lots of nature and the most beautiful one is the pohutakawa. It has beautiful flowers. The flowers are green, red and yellow. I feel lucky to have lots of nature around the school.

The ocean is blue like water. It is sparkly like glitter. The ocean is shiny like a diamond. It is sparkly when you look at it. The ocean is nice and it is calm like a wind. It is blue like paint.

Tapa Cloth!

Do you know how Tapa cloths are made?

Do you know what a Tapa cloth is?

Here is a QR code for two articles about the Tapa cloth.


On Tuesday, we made our own Tapa Cloth.
We used some brown paper, design our pattern and the best part was to scrunch it all up and open - for 53 times. This is to create that texture in the paper. Have a look at our Tapa cloth:








You can make one at home!