Girls Futsal Festival

 

We had 3 very enthusiastic teams representing Worser Bay at the Girls Futsal Festival on Friday. All of our teams showed huge amounts of Teamwork, Leadership and Kindness in every game and also when off the court.

Thanks so much to the parents that helped out with transport and managing the teams on the day. You guys were fantastic and really made the day run smoothly.

All of our teams played hard but fair and we managed to win a majority of our games!

Developing a Love of Reading

 Learning to read is a complex road! We don't often remember 'how' we learn to read - there is no single aha! moment - because the progress is so incremental and has so many different components. But one thing never changes: if children are enthusiastic and enjoy reading the seeds we plant now will bloom in years to come as texts become more challenging.

In Tautoru, we encourage a love of reading in many different ways. We read for enjoyment at different times of the days. 

We have our reading lessons with our teachers.

Sometimes we read to ourselves and get lost in books that capture our interest.

We listen to more complex texts and enjoys the discussions.

We share books with our friends.

Measuring the world around us.

 How long? How high? How tall? How short? How far? Measuring length can help us answer so many questions! This week we have begun investigating how measure length and how that applies to our world.

We have been measuring distance using standard units like centimetres  and investigating using non-standard units like blocks.

We have been measuring our steps and jumps.

We have been measuring our feet and our buddy's feet, then using addition and subtraction to work out the difference.

Perseverance on Mars

 

As you may have heard there has been a lot of exciting news regarding Mars over the last couple of weeks. There are satellites orbiting and recording along with a new Nasa Rover has landed and begun investigating the red planet.

We started this week writing descriptions of the rover. It has a number of awesome tools and adaptions from the previous rover.  The students are very excited about learning more about the rover, craters and more so keep your eyes posted for future posts.

Here are some examples of our writing so far.

The rover landed on Mars. There is a camera to take photos of rocks. The rocks are sharp and red. It has a drill to look for water. By Sophie

The rover can move around. It can pick up rocks to take photos. It uses its drill to open the rocks easily. It has six wheels and it moves slowly and is really strong because Mars is dangerous. By Luella

Digital Technology

 

We spent this week discussing how to keep ourselves and others safe when we are online. In addition, we also added how we treat our technology in different environments. We used our school value of Respect as a way to begin these conversations. 

Students shared a number of great ideas about how we take care of our technology and how

to also make good decisions about where we work with digital tech.

Students are aware that spending too long on a digital device is not the best for our brains or our valuable

time. There were also a number of concerned faces when we discussed the best position to use technology - we don't lie upside down, or run through the class waving our ipads around!

 

Using technology provides opportunities for students to develop ideas, record their ideas, and celebrate student learning with whanau. Year 3 students will soon be taking their digital technologies agreement home and we encourage families to spend time discussing these ideas with your children. Year 3's will receive their Gmail accounts in the near future.

Pōwhiri 2021

 

Weeks of practice and dedication came together on Friday as we carried out our pōwhiri for 2021. Though the weather forced us inside at the last minute, we were so proud of the 'mana' and 'ihi' (essential force) shown by all students while performing haka and waiata. A special mention to our 'kaea' or kapa haka leaders who led from the front and really brought the house down! From the staff perspective, we were also thrilled to have been able to carry out more of the ceremony in Te Reo Māori, while following the 'kawa' or protocol of mana whenua, Te Āti Awa/Taranaki Whānui. If you haven't already, please check out the Week 4 Newsletter for translation and explanation of our pōwhiri.

Here are some of our students' thoughts on pōwhiri:

Pōwhiri was good. I liked the singing and sang with lots of power - Fabian S

I liked doing Taku Manu pōwhiri because you get to do lots of actions - Zen S

I had so much fun at the pōwhiri with all the people we were welcoming to the school - Zoe C

It was great, I felt really good about it because I was quite loud and I am very proud of myself - Aila B

I thought pōwhiri was really good, I enjoyed singing the songs and listening to the speeches - Lucy N

I was a leader for the pōwhiri and I think we gave it our all and gave it lots of power - Eddie B

Well, where to next? As well as mihi whakatau (smaller welcoming ceremonies for later arrivals) throughout the year, our attention now turns to the first kahui ako (group of Eastern Suburbs schools) Kapa Haka festival in Term 2. We are developing some old, new and different haka and waiata for this occasion, so watch this space!

Tuia, tuia tuia anō

Tuia i runga, Tuia i raro
Tuia ki roto, tuia ki waho,
Tuia te Whānau o Whetūkairangi.
Ko te whānau o Whetūkairangi e
Nō reira, e tau nei ki runga i a tātou katoa, te wairua aroha. Kia ora koutou katoa!

Above and below are woven together, as is what is inside us and that which is outside of us. And, we are woven together as a whānau, the Whānau of Whetūkairangi.