Deep Sea Dive!

We have not slowed down in Tautoru after our amazing (if we do say so ourselves!) Arts Celebration performance. We have turned our attention for the remainder of the term to the Deep Seas. 

Our Oceans are consist of many zones. Check out this picture:

We have been focusing on the midnight zone and below. From the midnight zone downward there isn't get really any light at all, and the creatures who live there have adapted to survive in this unique environment. They look and act differently to those higher up in the oceans. 

We have been looking at an amazing magazine called the Deep Seas by the Kiwi Conservation Club (https://kcc.org.nz/). It has great resources that we've been 'diving' into. Using magazines as our main source of learning has been a great opportunity to amplify this amazing, physical source of media. Our focus on written text is also helping our students make the shift learning to read to reading to learn. An important lifelong skill. 

Here are some of the amazing resources we have made to show our learning so far, ka pai Tautoru tamariki! 

Deep Sea Creatures that we have been learning about. 

Tautoru Time Travellers - Te Ao Hurihuri 2024

Thriving, flourishing, shining !!  There is no one word that encapsulates the immense pride we felt this week as our Tautoru students demonstrated over a term’s worth of learning across the curriculum. 

The storyline would hopefully become pretty obvious as we danced and sang but the ‘ground work’ that went into making this storyline exciting and performable is often the part that is not given a second thought.   Throughout the last 2 terms, reading and writing helped our students' imaginations soar.  We read and crafted our own stories and poems and we worked on understanding different elements of poetry,  narrative, setting, plot and characters.  Maths and Music helped us with our patterns and rhythm.  Inquiry enabled us to explore some important themes and we identified some unique ‘characters’ living in our environment.   With all of this learning under our belt, we went for it, creating something pretty amazing.   

We saw some students dial up their Bravery, their Humour and Zest while some dialled things down.  So many successes on a number of different levels.   Thanks to all those that made this magic happen.

     In the next week or 2 in Aotearoa we celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.  

     14 - 21 September 2024   

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is an annual celebration for all New Zealanders to show their support for the Māori language, an official language of this country.

The theme for Te Wiki 2024 is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of our language. 

Under enduring pressure te reo Māori has shown it will adapt and survive. It grows with our people, our culture and our environment.  For us at Worser Bay School Te Reo Māori is not just a week long event but an ongoing challenge that we are committed to making happen.   It is part of our curriculum and our goal as a staff is to make sure that Te Reo Māori is seen and heard in all our spaces inside and out.   Our pou speak to all the pūrākau and knowledge our beautiful site holds. 

Join us this Māori Language Week to uplift te reo Māori now and into the future!

As a staff we will be having quizzes and more opportunities to learn and support each other with our Te Reo Māori learning.  This will also flow on into our classrooms.  

You can make a difference by learning a word, a phrase or a whakatauki.  Ask your child as they will be coming home with some helpful kupu māori and kemu to play at home :-)   

Kia kaha e te whānau !

                           Kia māhorahora te reo – let’s make it seen, let’s make it heard. 

The Toothpaste Experiment...

Words create worlds - we say it every day! However, this is unfortunately true for negative words too. Even though we can apologise (which is very important) our negative words can leave a mark on others. We showed our Tautoru tamariki the reality of this with the toothpaste experiment.

The children got to let loose on Jess last week, saying unkind words while she squeezed out the toothpaste representing how the words made her feel. The kids then said sorry for what they said and tried to take it back. Jess tried to put the toothpaste back into the tube, which was of course impossible. We scooped and scooped but to no avail the toothpaste was not going back in. This is exactly how our words impact others. Even though we say sorry, our words do not go away and neither does the impact they leave. 

Saying positive words however, has the opposite effect. A study by Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek and Finkel in 2008 showed the benefits on individuals after hearing kind words for 28 days straight. These individuals reported more positive relationships with others and improved physical health - let Jess know if you would like more information about this!

We practiced our positive complements outside after the toothpaste experiment. Our students moved around back court in various ways, and whenever Jess blew the whistle they had to stop and complement the person closest to them, a different person every time. 

Tamariki reported feeling really 'good inside' after this small game. Here are some examples of the positive complements we gave:

Remy H - "I like your shiny crocs"
Felix "you are such a great writer"
Vera "I Like your eyes"
Erik "you are a good friend"

The Great Bug Museum

We used egg cartons, boxes, paint and pastels to create our own mounted bug specimens.    We also added wings, eyes, legs and antennae to our bugs. 

NB:    No bugs, beetles, butterflies or bees were harmed in the creation of these. 

Learning Celebrations Term 3 2024

Positive Accomplishment, Growth Mindset and GRIT Galore !!

By now you would have all experienced part three of our ‘reporting to parents’ cycle for 2024. Term 2 provides you with a written report about your child's progress in Reading, Writing and Maths as well as other areas of our NZ Curriculum. However, Term 3 provides us with an opportunity of a different kind. Our Learning Celebrations build on successes since we last met and gives us a time to reflect on those small and not so small goals we set together at the beginning of the school year.

We try to achieve a special time that is age and stage appropriate and a moment in time that is dedicated to your child. We aim to prepare them by helping them reflect on their goals, choosing samples that they are particularly proud of. Funnily enough they always choose samples and things that are usually closely related to reading, writing or maths. This might be because these three areas have regular and incremental steps of progress that can be seen and heard on a weekly basis. The goals seem tangible, doable and are consistently talked about daily. We also have tools that students are really familiar with throughout the school and this starts as soon as they land at school. This does not mean we don't set goals in other areas such as The Arts or health and PE. It just looks different. For example: You will see your child's progress within the Arts in the next few weeks !!

               

As adults some of us find that reflection and goal setting requires some real concerted brain power !! It is the same for our kids too but so important. Reflection helps students become aware of the learning process, their strengths, and areas needing improvement. By thinking about what they did well and what they could do better, students are able to take ownership of their learning.

Reflecting on experiences helps students manage their emotions and builds their process of resilience. It provides them with strategies to handle challenges and setbacks effectively.

“I am proud of my mistakes actually as they helped me learn.” Maddie 6 Years

We know that clear, achievable goals will still provide students a sense of direction and purpose. At this time of the term we are able to see them motivated to share and engaged in their learning journey and onwards and upwards with their next learning steps. It’s ongoing. Setting goals and Celebrating Success means experiencing Positive Accomplishment and Positive Emotions !!

What goals and successes have you celebrated today ?

 

Creativity, Innovation and Fun !!

We are really into the swing of things around our Arts Celebration !! 

Sir Ken Robinson's thoughts and insights around creativity and the importance of the arts in our programmes has been included and shared across many communications and newsletter pieces in the past and certainly something we at Worser Bay School cycle back to often.  It fits in with our aspirations to educate the 'whole child'.

Sir Ken Robinson places the emphasis on the arts, including dance. He believes that these play a crucial role in personal development. Dance helps students develop confidence, self-expression, and a sense of identity.  Sir Ken Robinson believes that engaging in dance can improve students' self-esteem and help them express their emotions and ideas in unique ways.

It has been lovely to see our students shine in different ways throughout this creative process.  We have seen some innovative and creative thinking alongside the movers and shakers and we certainly have some critics and keen evaluators of our dance moves and the music !!  The Arts Celebration has given many avenues to be creative across the curriculum.

Yes, it is still a big secret however I’m sure you have had some clues by now.  

Here we are expressing ideas and our word of the week in terms of movements has been

Exaggeration !!