Marae Trip

On Tuesday we went to  Puketeraki Marae with some of the other senior rooms. The weather wasn't very good as we left school but we hoped it was going to improve. The bus trip took about 40 minutes . Our buses backed up the drive and we were ready to be welcomed onto the marae by 10:00.

Once we were on the marae we took off our shoes and went inside to hear about the organisation for the day. After that we shared kai and then went into our group activities.  There were 3 groups; waiata, card making and rakau.

We enjoyed all of the activities. By the time we had lunch the weather had improved and we could play outside.
There was one more group rotation after lunch and then we thanked everyone and got back on the buses and headed back to school. We had had a great day.

Stories from S2

         

                                  The Very Small School Flood

I was rushing from my class up to the middle school with my bag on my head as
protection from the rain. I saw the water rushing down the hill. I felt my shoes
 getting heavier and heavier as the water rushed into my shoes and through my
socks. I looked at the top field and nearly all of it was covered in water. I rushed
up to H2 and then I looked out the door and there was my dad, Storm. As we ran
along the right hand side path I looked to my right and I could see water running
down the fence like mini water falls.

By Cianna  

D. S. O. Visit

The whole school was lucky to have a visit from the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra.
They explained each of their instruments and talked about the sections of the orchestra.
We listened to them play and really enjoyed the visit.

Mystery Mixture.

We talked about liquefaction and how it was a solid made into a liquid by the earthquake. Then we discussed sand and how it can change when water is added. So we decided to try an experiment.
We took 2 cups of white powder and a little food colouring  and added 1 cup of water. It looked like a liquid but when we stirred the mixture it felt more solid. When we touched it our fingers felt funny. Next we tried to see if objects could sink or float in it.
Then we designed a rocket that could land on a planet made out of this mixture. We used the results of our floating and sinking experiments to choose the most suitable materials for our rocket.

Violent Volcanoes

A couple of weeks ago we made volcanoes.We used clay, cardboard and and newspaper to make the outside of the volcanoes. Then we used paint, dish washing liquid, vinegar and baking soda. We put those ingredients in a plastic bottle.When we added the baking soda we watched it all explode. Niamh, Mikaela, Harry, Violet and Charlotte made the largest volcano. We had millions of fun with this activity.

by Mikaela

Swimming

We are just about to finish our latest swimming block. Everyone has worked really hard, listened carefully to the instructors and tried their best. There's a group who are working on their endurance, another group that's getting their breathing sorted and the third group that is working on floating and starting to use their arms.

Tornado Time

There were 5 containers up the back of the room each with a jar, a bottle and a cloth in them.
There was only water in the jar  so it didn't seem that anything exciting was going to happen.

                                                              WE WERE WRONG.

We took the jar and put in a big squirt of dish washing liquid. We made sure the lid was on tightly and we the swirled it all around and waited to see what would happen.

                                                     We could see a tornado in the jar .
If you add a little glitter and a few drops of dye you could make it look even better .

Next we filled the bottle with water and screwed on the special attachment. We didn't know what it was for but we soon found out. Then we screwed on a second bottle and swirled it around.

                                              This time we made a tornado in a bottle!!
We found out that it was a tornado tube that we had screwed onto the bottles.
We watched a video that taught us all about how tornadoes are formed and we also found out about storm chasers. We found out that in America the schools do tornado drills just like we do earthquake  drills.
Thanks to Cianna for the great photos.

Athletics Day

With all the bad weather we have had lately we weren't sure  if we would have athletics but we managed it even though there was a lot of wind, cold and a bit of rain!!We started at 9.30 and rotated round the activities every 30 minutes. There was shot put, discus, sprinting, high jump, long jump, skipping and a fun activity. Everyone competed very well and the day was fun.

Art Gallery

As part of our Disasters study we went to the art gallery and Mr Neumegen helped us paint some pretty amazing art works. We are going to share them in assembly next time we are taking it. Thank you to our parent helpers.

Tennis

We started tennis coaching today. Matt taught us the ready position and then how to move to forehand.

 He told us not to hit hard but to get lift in the ball. We are trying!

Baking

Jamie and Issac joined Tyler,Charisse and Joseph to make muffins that can be given to children who don't bring enough lunch some days. They mixed and stirred  and put the mixture into the tins. Once they are cooked they are going to be put into the freezer so they are ready for lunches.

Statistics

In maths we have been looking at statistical investigations. We answered 13 questions then put our answers into 13 boxes and with a partner got to choose which question we would make a graph of. We tallied up the information and decided on the type of graph that would be best to show our information.

Shake Out Day

At 9.30 on Thursday it was Shake Out Day throughout New Zealand.

In S2 we have been talking about Disasters and we started looking at earthquakes . We have looked at pictures and videos of earthquakes and have thought about our ecsape plans with our families.
 We know we need to  
Drop    Cover     Hold
We have also planned our survival kits and getaway bags.

Term 4

We were lucky to have a performance on our first day back at school.
 Mr Yipadee (Deano) read his books and sang songs. It was fun. One of his books was about a little old fire engine.

Logan Park Sports Morning

Year 12 students from Logan Park came to school to take everyone for different sports activities. We were put into 9 teams with children from H1 right through to C3 mixed up in them. There were lots of fun things to do.

I really liked making a pyramid. I was always trying to climb onto the top. It was lots of fun. I nearly squashed Jonty.  We did the pyramid over and over.                                           
                                                                                                                             by Isaac.

 On Thursday 20th it was sports day and the activity I loved best was four square because you used a big ball up to my hip and my team always got to be the kings. It was so fun and my best part was punching the ball in the air. It was fun at lunch time too. I made a new friend her name was Amy she was the best friend ever. She said she never had a friend before.But she has a friend now. I had a great time.                      by Isla.                         

Te Wiki o te Reo Maori

Maori Language week was focusing on digital use this year.
What a great app Kupu is. You take a photo of any object and you are given a selection of words in Maori. We had fun trying out all sorts of objects inside and outside.
We also wrote our own stories in Maori. We could choose to write about a monster, a holiday, a journey or decorating our bedroom.