Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu.

Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu.

As parents, as whānau, as educators we work in partnership to give our tamariki the skills and dispositions in order for them to grow and succeed in life. Giving them the feathers to fly.

This week and next we are making feathers for a cloak, a kakahu huruhuru, for a rangatira from our class to wear as we say goodbye to Mr D as he goes into retirement. That way all our good wishes go with the wearer of the cloak as they fulfill this important role.

The puppets go home...

The puppets we made on Monday stayed with us for the week. Tamariki enjoyed working with them in different settings. It was great to see the different characters come out! 

On Friday the puppets went home...

Kites!

On Friday, in between our work, we made kites in Waitī. First tamariki decorate their kites by drawing pictures in crayon - then painting the dye. Then Whaea Nicky quickly (!!!) assembles the kites (a bit fiddly for little hands) and an enjoyable afternoon racing around the school with them floating and dipping behind everyone.

Puppet making

Yesterday afternoon we managed to squeeze in a quick puppet making session. All tamariki made a sock puppet - choosing from the materials we had in class to decorate them however they would like. We weren't able to use them as the glue had to dry out. I will set up a small theatre in class today - I can't wait to see their puppets in action!!

I just love how different they all are! Confident in their creativity! He rawe tēnā!

Writing in Waitī

Making Orange Juice 

By Annalise

First we peeled the orange. Then we squashed the orange in the machine. 

Then we drank it. It tasted yum. I felt happy.

By Allyssa

By Hinerangi

Mr Moustache

Making Orange Juice

By Darius

I was making orange juice and I ate it. I had a moustache and everybody laughed at me. It was funny. Very, very, very, very funny for me.

Rumblings in the earth!

I'm sure everyone felt at least one of the earthquakes this week! We practiced what we could do to keep ourselves safe. 

Drop, cover, hold. 

Drop - to the ground.

Cover - our heads and necks with our hands.

Hold - onto a chair or table leg if you are sheltering next to one.

We talked about staying away from the windows and quickly getting to the ground and the importance of protecting our heads.

We undertake drills as part of school life - but with the earth rolling this week it felt like a good time to remind ourselves how to keep ourselves SAFE!

(Taken from the New Zealand Government site: 

https://getready.govt.nz/emergency/earthquakes/ )

Identify safe spaces to Drop, Cover and Hold.

• Somewhere close to you, no more than a few steps away, to avoid injury from flying debris.
• Under a strong table. Hold on to the table legs to keep it from moving away from you.
• Next to an interior wall, away from windows that can shatter and cause injury and tall furniture that can fall on you. Protect your head and neck with your arms.
• Not in a doorway — in most homes doorways are no stronger than any other part on the house and a swinging door could cause more injury.

Making Orange juice - take 2!

Some of the students had heard we made orange juice last week and requested to make it again this week as we return to normal. We do these types of activities to build on our language and experiences. It is a common experience that we can then use to build some writing around. For the children who can write, this type of experience gives a process that they can then recount as they learn to include features of writing, such as - When? Who? Where? What? Starting their sentences with - First, Then, Next.