Exciting Sports Times!

We've been lucky at Worser Bay School this week to welcome Amber from Wellington Softball Association. She ran a lesson with our year 3's where they learnt the fundamentals of the game. This involved learning about the bases, how to score a home run, and most importantly showing lots of sportsmanship whilst batting and on the field.

Amber is coming back again next week to further extend our skills. We will be practicing hitting with a bat and quick reflexes- running as soon as the ball has been hit!

In a couple of weeks some of Tautoru (along with the rest of the junior school) will be heading to Ākau Tangi for the Inter-school Futsal tournament. To prepare us we've been practicing our soccer skills, including kicking, dribbling, and how to score a goal. Our PE program has a games focus and our tamariki have loved playing against each other, making sure their Positive Relationships and Teamwork are at the centre of all play!

Sports are so important for our tamariki's wellbeing. Students physical wellbeing is a critical aspect in our schools vision of supporting the whole child. We can't wait for more opportunities to play sport and have fun while doing so! 

Takaro Tahi

Traditionally on Friday afternoons, the junior school have had 'golden time'. This is where tamariki have been able to celebrate the great work they have completed throughout the week by choosing how they would like to spend the afternoon. Some people bought board games to share and play, others spent time creating craft, music, lego or marble runs and also had more time to choose play outside. 

During this time, the seniors also had 'Friday Games' afternoon. They were able to choose which game they would like to join, after they had completed their weekly reflection.

We have decided to trial a new idea on Friday afternoons this term by combining the whole school together to create a play afternoon called Takaro Tahi (play together). 

Our tamariki can still choose the things that they love to do the most (two ball football with John is a big draw card!), but as an added bonus, we now have the 'big kids' playing with and alongside our juniors. 

We have been using this time to put out some 'loose parts' like ropes, pulleys, pipes and containers to see what the tamariki would create together. 

We have been excited to see how well they work together and help each other create new ways to play. The seniors are experts at helping us tie knots, making swings in the trees and creating a pulley system along the big slide. 

Writing: Falling into the ACTION!

This term we have had a narrative focus on our writing. Instead of starting every story with 'Once upon a time...' (although some great stories start this way!) we have been encouraging students to dive into the ACTION. This helps with our focus on show not tell, our stories allowing the reader to fully engage and feel as if they are a part of the story.

Please enjoy some stand out pieces of writing from this week. Our prompt was diving into the action of being on a pirate ship - ready to tackle an enemy ship, run by a heard of dinosaurs of course! While I'd like to credit your teaching team for coming up with this prompt, it is book called Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs. Highly recommend!

Helena: 

"Walk the plank!" said Captain Lady Bug as the pirate dinosaur tramped closer and closer on the ship. "The pirate dinosaurs are going to attack!" screeched Chief Cicada. Meanwhile... the pirate dinosaur chef was baking a victory cake for their success. "You are going to pay for this!" Said everyone at once, when suddenly assistant caterpillar leapt onto the other ship. They had a fight. Boom! Kapaw! Thwang! 

Kyle M: 

All the dinosaurs jumped into the freezing water, except for the monstrous T-Rex! Flint was fighting the T-rex until the T-Rex could do no more and that took a very long time. The T-Rex said "Flinn, you're a good pirate, you can be our captain." Flint said "maybe one day but I must go back to school it's almost lunch time."

Fractions

During the last two weeks in maths we have been focusing on fractions

We have learnt that a fraction is the parts of a whole, or a collection of objects, which can be shared equally.

We have also learnt about equivalent fractions, they are fractions which have different numerators and denominators, but are equal to the same amount.

Next time you have something round to eat, ask us to cut it into even parts and what fraction that might be!

Growth mindset

We have been learning about growth mindset in Tautoru. Here is what we have found out...

It's about not giving up - Daya

If you make a mistake, try again and keep on going - Luca

Don't see the problem, see how to solve it - Helena

If you make a mistake, you can ask someone else - Ewan

If you make a mistake, don't worry because mistakes help out brains grow - Otis

If you fail, you can always try again - George

If you think you can't do something, don't give up, keep trying - Indie

Think of ways it could work before you do it, so that you know what might have happened - Ronan

If you make a mistake, keep trying and eventually you'll be able to do it - Thomas

Anybody can do it - Finn A

When you start something new, your brain makes a new pathway and if you make a mistake you can just turn around and choose a different pathway - Bonnie

If you don't try anything, you'll never know what it could have been - Lily

Asking for help - Eli

Don't give up, try and figure it out - Kai

Try again after you fail - Finn G

You can take lots of different pathways - Tabby

Try something new each day so that your brain can grow and be able to do bigger problems when you grow up - Leo

The power of YET - Fox

Nobody gives up - Lachie

If you make mistakes you don't give up - Amberlee

Next time you find something challenging, come and ask one of us for help!

Matariki - Whānau groups

  

In our whānau groups, we explored stories of the Matariki star cluster from around the world. Ask us what we learnt at home...

Whānau groups are groups of children and teachers across the school. There is an added bonus- siblings and families work together. Teachers and students learn from each other! We have been thinking about Tuakana/ Teina. The older students teach the younger students. The roles can also be reversed. We saw this with great energy on Friday!

Matariki Kai - thank you for joining us for this special lunch!

The stars of Matariki

This week we have been exploring the stars of Matariki. Our Tamariki already knew a little bit from their whānau celebrations last week and enjoying the beautiful displays on the Te Whanganui a Tara Waterfront.

We've deep dived into each of the 9 stars, discussing what they mean to both the natural environment and to us as individuals. We brought the learning to life by studying produce made possible by Tupuānuku and Tupuārangi, recreating the rain from Waipuna-ā-rangi and making wishes to Hiwa-i-te-rangi. Students created mind-maps to show their learning which we are looking forward to sharing with whānau. 

Enjoy the photos from our Inquiry progress so far, and stay tuned for how this learning progresses during Whānau Day and beyond!