Week 6 Term 3

Kia ora Whanau

Open Day

Thank you so much to all the parents and whanau that came to visit Nīkau on Wednesday. It was a very exciting time. The children were so excited to share their learning with you. I was so proud of the students. In their groups, they selected a science experiment they'd like to share with their parents (that may help you understand why so many experiments involved baking soda!) The groups worked together to organise the equipment they'd need and decide on who would do what, so that everyone had a role to play.  The teams practised until they felt very confident to share. We even had a go in front of our senior buddies from WanWan's class.

 Thanks to Sopho for taking some of these pics.

Special Guest Star

Dean (Kate's father-in-law) brought in a piglet for the children to meet. We were lucky enough to all get a chance to touch him. The children asked questions and many were delighted to see the piglet chewing on trouser legs and snuffling sleeves.

Pete the pig using Amelie's shoes for a scratch.

NZ National Anthem + Sign Language

Here is the National Anthem using all the official languages of Aotearoa. We have been practising this and hope to show off at the next assembly.

Click here: NZ Anthem

Magical Monitor

Some of you will have noticed we now have a screen we can Chromecast to (wirelessly project things from the computer to the screen). Thanks to Davin for installing this. We have been enjoying watching science videos on YouTube that relate to our inquiry, sing-a-long songs and energisers and calming activities on wet days.

Some children have suggested sharing links to some songs/activities they love here ...

(Warning: You may find these things annoying, headphones may be required)

The Library Song:   The Library Song

Jump Like the Bunny (energiser):  Jump Like the Bunny

Just A Boring Square Song (shape names to 10 sides):  Just a Boring Square




Star of the Week

Congratulations to Sandro. Two of the points made by the children were that Sandro gives people a chance and that he forgives them when they make a mistake. Very admirable qualities indeed. Thanks for being such a smiley student.

Sandro the Star!

Week 5 Term 3

Kia ora Whanau


Open day

Wednesday next week (26th August) the Junior school are having an open afternoon. Please come along from 1:30pm to look around the class at our displays, talk to children about their learning and witness some science experiments and demonstrations.


How have you bean?

The budding botanist of Nīkau were very keen to plant their very own scarlet runner bean. We used some containers we found in the recycling and have named our bean babies! If you are around in the morning you may even catch proud bean-parents reading to their little ones.

Thanks Marie, for the bean seeds.

Ipads

CQS has 15 ipads that we have available for use. We are fortunate to have Hana taking focused small groups on a Monday and we now have the ipads for use on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

STAR STUDENT

 The announcement of Student of the Week was met with cheers from the mat. Congratulations, Sopho. We appreciate your willingness to listen to others and share with us your amazing knowledge of the world.

Super Sopho's smile stuns us all!

Webinar

This week the staff attended a webinar about Modern Learning Environment Practice (MLEP).
I share with you a slide that spoke to me and reminded me of the importance of not doing things for the children that they are capable of doing for themselves. As adults, we can sometimes think we are helping others in a way we would like to be helped but sometime the message this sends to children is not as we intend.

This slide is from a recent webinar we attended. A challenging message for us all.

Week 4 Term 3

Kia ora Whanau

Apologies for the lateness of the blog. It has been a busy time with the Disco on Friday and Parent Meeting Monday night.

I was fantastic to see so many parents that could make the meeting. If you were unable to attend there is a link to see the presentation below.

MLE (Modern Learning Environment) Presentation

Marlaina and I made our presentation - but unfortunately for those not in attendance there is little on the slides.



STAR OF THE WEEK

Leonora sparkling her way to STAR of the Week!

Congratulations to Leonora. What a fantastic Star you have been! I appreciate how you are so willing to help others. Leonora loves to learn and is always keen to support other learners.


PASTEL BLENDING

The Junior school teachers were excited to go on an art course this week and learn some new techniques and ideas for teaching art.  Anne was keen to share with Nīkau the tips and tricks for blending. 

These koru are looking great!

Week 3 Term 3

Kia ora Whanau


NZIFF

We had such a great day on Wednesday at the Film Festival "Shorts for Schools" showing. Ten short animated films from all over the world delighted, entertained and touched us (and in one or two cases lulled us to sleep). Thanks to the parent volunteers for helping this happen.
 

We're off! Aren't we so lucky to be this close to the Embassy!

First there! Probably because we didn't have to find a park.

 

Excited to see 10 short films!

You can see one of the popular animations on YouTube here:   Zebra

 and the trailer for Percival Pilts (NZ/Aus entry) here: Percival Pilts Trailer

We tried writing reviews of the films this week and are working on making posters of our favourites.


Kelly Sports (Mondays)

This week we moved on from balancing to dodging. This is an important skill in many games such as soccer, ripper, hockey etc.

 Here we are playing a dodging game. Hopefully you can see some participants rapidly changing direction.


Inquiry

The class performed many science experiments this week. We are honing our observational skills and asking questions about the things we notice.

This jar is full of water and Aryan is managing to tip it up with no water escaping using only a piece of cardboard!

Very motivated writers scribing messages in invisible ink (aka lemon juice).

Maths

This week in our numeracy time we have been trying out our MAD problem solving skills. MAD is the acronym we are using to remind us of some strategies we can use, such as:

M - Model it with materials e.g blocks, counters
A - Act it out
D - Draw it

It has been wonderful to see the students' confidence grow when working out word problems.



 Star of the Week

Elena shines in Nīkau.

This week Elena is our STAR STUDENT! Elena is so wonderful to work with. She listens to others and is consistently helpful. Thanks Elena for being such a keen learner.

Shape Shifters

Today in Maths we practised sorting shapes in a variety of different ways. 

 

 Sorting by colour.

Aren't we fast?

Sorting by thickness

Sorting by the number of sides the shape has.

Sorting by shape name.

You will notice circles, triangles, squares, oblongs/rectangles, trapeziums, hexagons and more!

 

Week 2 Term 3

Kia ora whanau!

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

This week was Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. We read many Māori legends of Māui and practiced responding to commands.

Tiro (mai)                Look (this way)
Huri mai                  Turn this way
Kōrero                     Speak
Whakarongo mai     Listen here
E tū                          Stand
E noho                     Sit
Kia tau                     Be still/Settle down
Taihoa                      Wait
Kia tere!                   Be quick
Kōrero Māori mai    Speak to me in Māori


Kelly Sports

We had our second session with our expert instructor on Monday. Thank you to those who have already paid the $11.60 to the office. The children have been enjoying playing games that develop their sense of balance. The first two sessions have been around stability and movement skills such as balance, rotation, landings. Next week we begin locomotor movement skills such as jumping, skipping, leaping, running, hopping, and dodging.

Casper showing how it's done.

Will he make it? Tom races for the line while balancing a cone.

Thinking like a Scientist (Inquiry)

We  have had a busy time predicting, observing and explaining in our inquiry time. This week we learned more about forces such as gravity and centrifugal force, chemical reactions, matter and all sorts of other things. I hope your children have been sharing with you some of the science experiments we have been conducting at school.

For Pānui this week, Carly brought in a rocket powered by a chemical reaction. We had great fun trying it out. Unfortunately, the anticipation was greater than the actual observed reaction. We certainly learned from the experience - not the least of which being "always read the instructions twice!"

Scientist Carly carefully measuring the baking soda.

Thanks to Carly for sharing her rocket with us!

Trip to the Film Festival

Not long until we go to the Embassy (5th August) to see the Shorts for Schools.

"This specially curated programme of short films showcases animation from across the world – Russia, Japan, France, Australia, UK, USA – and New Zealand. It’s a unique opportunity for students toaccess contemporary independent film and different cultures through a familiar medium. " - NZIFF Brochure.

Please pay $5 to the office to cover the costs. I am in need of one more parent helper to come along if any are available (from 9:30-11:30). Many thanks

Star of the Week

This week's star student is Casper. The children of Nikau appreciate Casper's sense of humour and  ability to cheer others up. Thanks for being helpful and sharing what you see with those "good science eyes".

Casper sparkles his way to being Star Student this week.

Updated Timetable

Click here for updated Term 3 timetable