Happy Holidays

Junior Disco

On Friday, it was the school disco. Room 3 kids had lots of fun dancing grooving with our friends.
Here are some photos ...

Parachute Testing

Today was our egg parachute challenge. We finished our parachutes and drew our a diagram of our design. We labelled the parts and explained why and how we used the materials.

Here are the results ...

Designing Parachutes

Today we were given the challenge: design a parachute using...
* 5 plastic bags
*  10 straws
* 4 serviettes
* 5 pieces of paper
(and as much string, cellotape as needed)

that will be dropped high above concrete - which must have an egg in it.
The egg is NOT allowed to crack or break!

We've learnt about how we need lots of AIR RESISTANCE, so we got busy creating ...

Tomorrow, we're going to finish these and put our 'egg person' into them.
(We'll have buckets of water and scrubbing brushes on standby!)

Fun Sports Day

Today the whole school had lots of fun. We started the day with fun activities like: egg and spoon race, parachute games, water relays, etc.

Then we watched the teachers and staff versus some of the senior students in cricket on the new cricket pitch. The students won - just!

We had a delicious iceblock , then after lunch we all had turns at running and sliding on the slippery slide.

Here are some photos of our day:

School Disco Next Friday

Wellington Zoo Trip

On Friday, Room 3 went on a class trip to Wellington Zoo. We met with Brigette, a zoo educator, who talked to us about animal adaptations. We learnt interesting facts about the tuatara and how it survives in the wild.
No one is really sure how long tuatara live for, but the longest living one since records have been taken is 120 years old! We all got to touch a live tuatara and were surprised how smooth it felt.

We walked around the zoo in groups, exploring the different places and looking at the interesting animals. At the end of the day, we stopped off at Levin Adventure Park for a bit of a play.

What a great day out! Thanks so much to our wonderful parent helpers for providing transport.

Designing Boats

Today, as part of our topic on Parachutes, we had to design a boat that would hold as many weights as possible. We were all given 3 sheets of tinfoil and had to create 3 different designs.

Then we tested our designs ...

We worked out which were the BEST designs and compared these to our earlier parachute designs.
This is what we found out ...

Totally Vets Photo Competition

We are so proud of Max D for coming SECOND in the Totally Vets Photo Competition.
Max took a photo of his dog, Ruby, with their  foster kitten sitting of top of her. How cute!
Emma H, in Room 6 came THIRD in this competition.

Well done Max and Emma. Max won $150 and Emma won $100. They also were give $250 for the school.

My Fantastic Class

I had only popped out of my class to grab a coffee, and I came back to find this lovely bunch of children happily playing 'schools' before school.
(I think there were 4 teachers here!)
These children are so good at relating to each other.  They chatted happily, while negotiating who was doing what for the day. I love how the boys and girls in Room 3 get on so well together.

You should see them on the soccer field, too! What awesome teamwork.

I'm so lucky to a teacher in Room 3.

Learning about parachutes

We are just starting on our Science topic of Parachutes! Today, as an introductory lesson, we were given a challenge.
In small groups, we were given several pieces of large paper (all the same size) and had to work out the best design that would fall to the floor the SLOWEST.

We weren't allowed to use cellotape or glue, but we could rip, cut, fold and scrunch the paper. We tried out several designs and worked out our best 3 designs.

Tomorrow, once we've decided on our SLOWEST design, we will see which group made the best parachute.

We talked about FAIR TESTING - we had to make sure ...
* all groups were given the same SIZE piece of paper
* we dropped our paper from the same HEIGHT each time
* we used the same person to RECORD the time
* we all tested INSIDE, so the breeze would affect the results.

Stay tuned to see which group had the best parachute design!

Cross Country

What a great day we had on Friday for the annual Cross Country! We waited with anticipation for our turn to run. Finally the time arrived.
"On your marks ... get set ... GO!" yelled Mrs Simpson. And we were off!  Up hills, down hills. Over thistles and through the muddy creek. It was impossible not to get muddy, but I don't think any of us were that worried.

Well done Sarah  for coming third in the Y4/5 girl's race!
Well done Max, for winning the Y4/5 boy's race - with Jordan coming second and Fraser third.

Well done everyone for putting effort into your training and giving it heaps on the day.

Back To School

It's term 4 and this term is a busy one! School cross country is only NEXT Friday.
Next Wednesday is Pet Day, and we have been busy creating some creative artworks which will be displayed in the hall.

As part of our Reading programme, we will be doing plays in front of our class. It's lots of fun and it's a great way to practice - projecting our voice and using expression.

Here is Mawhero reading group doing their play today ...

Wheels And Burger DAy

Today was Wheels and Burger Day. We had loads of excitement, racing around the school on our scooters and other wheels.
We enjoyed delicious burgers, cooked up by Miss Simpson and the student council.

Room 2 raised some money for the SPCA, a very worthwhile organisation that looks after animals.

Here are some photos ...

Thanks Room 2 and the student council (and Miss Simpson) for organising yet another fantastic event.

We love gymnastics!

We've been doing gymnastics for the past 3 weeks. We're learning to do forward & backwards rolls, balance our bodies on the beam, jump with two feet from the beat board onto the box, land safely with our knees bent and feet slightly apart, pull ourselves up onto the high bar and swing our bodies around. Phew! Some of us find these easy, for others, some activities are challenging.

Here are some photos from today's gym session...

We really appreciate our wonderful parent helpers who have helped keep us safe.

Wheels Day

A Blast From The Past

Today Room 3 went to Te Manawa Museum as part of our inquiry learning into the life of the early settlers.  We got to experience what it was like to be a student in a 1902 classroom!  The teacher lined everyone up and inspected their nails before they were allowed inside.
We weren't allowed to talk - 'only speak when spoken to' was the rule.

We also had the chance to try on some old-fashioned clothing, have a guided tour of an early settler house with all the old furniture, and even got to make butter. We made pikelets - delicious!

Here are some photos of our day ..

Thanks so much to our lovely parent helpers for providing transport and helping out.

PJ Day

Today was Pajama and Hot Chockie Day!

Everyone, including the teachers and staff, came to school in their PJs or onesies. Some of us reckoned we felt a bit sleepy in our PJs, so thought we'd have a snooze on the floor. (Just joking)

Check out our photos below ...

Thanks Miss Simpson and the Student Council for organising this fun fund-raiser.

Huskies!

Today we had some special four-legged visitors .... husky dogs!
Room 2 have been learning about how to care for animals, and invited us to see what husky racing is all about.

We got to pat the dogs (if we chose to). They were so soft and friendly!

You should have heard them when they were getting harnessed. They were SO excited. We watched as they raced around the field with a man being pulled behind on a sled. We cracked up when he came back to us ... covered and splattered in mud!

Thanks Room 2 for inviting us to see these gorgeous animals!

Pyjama Day Coming Up

Maths Trail

Today, as part of Maths Week, Room 3 went outside and did a fun maths trail. We were in groups and had to solve a variety of maths problems that involved, geometry, measurement and general basic facts.

Here are some of our challenges ...

Tessellating Creations

Today in Maths, we've been exploring tessellations. Miss Jeynes set up different 'stations' around the room, and we were able to practice tessellating different shapes.

We got really creative! We had to make sure there were NO gaps.  We worked out that circle and ovals DON'T tessellate, because curved edges means there will be gaps. We needed shapes with straight edges.

Reading Buddies

Toughing It Out

Last Friday was the Tough Kid Challenge, held at Linton Army Camp. Lots of Room 3'ers'  signed up for the challenge.

We had a gorgeous day for it! For some of us, it was our first time - and a little bit scary! There were walls to climb over, an obstacle course to get through and a muddy pond to wade through. We came out the end, puffed, muddy but of course very, very proud of ourselves.

Here are some photos of our day ...

Puss In Boots - Pet Detective

Today all of our school watched a fantastic show performed by the Playhouse Theatre. It was ... Puss 'n' Boots - Pet Detective.

Three actors entertained us with a very amusing story of how Justin Baby Bear-ber (like Beiber) was supposedly kidnapped. But there was a twist!

We loved the funny songs and crazy antics of the characters.

Here are some photos of the performance:

Manawatu Turbo visit

Today all of the Halcombe School kids got a great surprise! The Manawatu Turbos came to visit us. We all piled excitedly into the hall to watch our local rugby team perform several challenges against some of us.

First of all some of them had to do a gutterball competition -  our Jack won that!
Then they had to do a hoola hoop challenge. Sophia in our class topped everyone!
Next it was a limbo challenge against room 7 kids. (We reckon our kids got lower)
Last of all, they did a 'wooden ski' challenge, where they had to walk on planks with perfect timing.
They definately won that challenge. They must be very good at working in a team!

Here are some photos of our fun afternoon:

DISCO!

Room 3 kids know how to have fun. And that's exactly what we did at last Friday's school disco!

Here are some photos of our fun night ...

Thanks Miss Simpson and the student council for organising this fun event

Hansel And Gretel Show

On Friday, the whole school went to see the show Hansel & Gretel, put on by the drama team.

"It was really hilarious. My favourite part was when the animals did their dance". (Jayden)
"I liked the part when the witch got pushed into the fire". (Brooke M)
"I liked it when Hansel kept saying "Shut up and be quiet". (Max)
"My favourite part was when Miss Jeynes came on because no one was expecting that". (Lucy)
"My favourite part was when the rabbit kept hitting the other animals on the head with the
bommyknocker". (Will).

Thanks to all the awesome kids in the drama team for learning your lines, and really getting into your characters. And a big thanks to Hannah in R6 for doing the sound!

I'm looking forward to next year's production.
Miss Jeynes

Disco this Friday