Passion Projects

Thank you very much to the Middle Room, Junior Room and Senior Room parents for coming to watch our passion projects presentation today.

The Senior Room have worked very hard on their projects and it was awesome to be able to share this with you all.

Last days of 2016

As 2016 draws to a close the Senior Room are busy finishing off their projects and tidying things up for the year. Passion projects, Inquiry-Garden Technology, secret jobs, print making.

It has been a full on, fast-paced, exciting year with plenty happening. I am so proud of all our Senior Room students and the learning that has happened this year! They all deserve their holiday.

I wish you all a happy and safe Christmas break. Bring on 2017!!

The boys finishing off their passion project presentations

David making his creation for Passion Projects

Holly busy on some secret business...

Alex and Lachie working hard with their garden technology

Amy and Lucy with their finished garden technology! Go girls!!

Ashley hard at it! Can't wait to see the final product

Bree and Ally practicing their presentation. 

Picture Books

The Senior Room students have had a busy term studying picture books with then creating their own as part of their literacy programme. On Friday afternoon they shared their books to the Junior and Middle Room students! It was lovely to see everyone outside in the sun!

Morning Programme Week 8 - Tuesday

Holly's Hokey Pokey Recipe

HOKEY POKEY

5 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Golden Syrup

1 Tsp Baking Soda

Put sugar and golden syrup into saucepan.  Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Stir occasionally, if necessary, to prevent burning. Remove from heat.  Add baking soda. Stir quickly until mixture froths up. Pour into a buttered tin immediately. Leave until cold and hard. Break into pieces.  


Amy and Koben's Gardening Tips

Amy: Some vegetables become better after a frost, like, Kale, Cabbage, Parsnips, Carrots, and Brussel sprouts.

When transplanting tomatoes cover the stem in soil all the way up to the first set of leaves this will encourage root growth making a stronger and healthier plant.

Over watering is worse than under water it is easier to revive a dry plant then it is to try dry out wet roots.

Koben:

Gardening tip

1.

Take the strain out of lifting large planters and pots by filling the pot one-third to one-half full with packing peanuts.

2.

Sick of creatures munching on your just planted flower bulbs? Keep them out by staking netting over the bed of flowers. Come springtime, simply remove the netting or cut holes in the cloth and let the plants grow through

3.

When planting roses, pruning is crucial to keep the center of the flower open, so sunshine can shine in. Careful pruning will keep the moisture out, and will prevent black spots and other blights from forming.

Sports Activator - Skipping -

This morning we had our final session of Sports Activator for the year. Our focus for the next three weeks of school is skipping. Before we could get the skipping ropes out we practiced our jumping skills through the ladder. We practiced a lot of different jumps such as; two foot, hopping, high knees and own choice jumps. When we got the skipping ropes out we had challenges to see who could jump consistently for the longest. Koben and David were the winners of the two challenges.

Greer has been amazing this year with all the sports and activities she has taught us! We are looking forward to Sports Activator again next year.


~Skipping~ on PhotoPeach

Picture Book

Yay!! We have our first picture book finished!! These are all due on Thursday. I can't wait to read them all, the students have been very busy getting these polished off.

Amy and Lucy with their picture book "The Great Kevin Catastrophe"

Morning Programme Tuesday Week 7

This morning Koben shared a bit of his family history. It was very interesting to see his family tree and he showed us his Grandad's badges that he collected throughout his life.

Holly shared some gardening tips for us to try out

• If you ever want to plant vegetables or fruit, you can use lamb or calf milk powder to give the plants a boost of calcium.

• If you want to grow a strong and healthy plant, add sheep or horse poo. (you have to water the poo down before putting on plant)

• If you want a lovely looking garden, you can put clumps of pasture                          to keep the weeds away.  

Amy had been busy this morning baking caramel slice to share for her recipe. It was delicious and if you want to bake it yourself, see the recipe below.

James made the class some yummy Russian Fudge for us to try. 

 

Passion Projects

Over the past 3 weeks the Senior Room have been very busy on their Passion Projects. Passion Projects are based on the students' interests and what they are passionate about. The only rules were they had to research something, create something and present something all for under $5. 

We have people doing things on hunting, skiing, baking, dancing, drama, music, art, motorbikes, albatrosses and 4 wheel driving. As you can see there is a huge variety of things happening in class and at lunchtimes. 

I am so excited to see what the students present in week 9. 

Here are some photos of the different projects...

Dance Lessons, girls all in time!

Lachie's creation...what could it be??

Drama class looks interesting

Brayden's scope

Alex's remote design

Bree and Ally's smoothie ice blocks

Lucy's drama backdrop!

Morning Programme Wednesday and Thursday Week 6

We have had some yummy baking coming in for Morning Programme this week.

Brayden also shared some family history with us yesterday. We found out that Brayden's Great-great Granddad was in World War 2 and became a prisoner of war for about a year or two.  It was a very interesting talk.

On Wednesday Ally brought in some very tasty marshmallow balls she had made. See her recipe below.

Today Lachie and Bree brought in some baking too. Lachie made Apple (and Pear) slice and Bree made a moist chocolate cake. They were both delicious.



How to make a moist Chocolate cake

You will need:

1 1⁄2  cups flour

1 cup sugar

1⁄3 cup cocoa

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup water

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla

What to do:

1. Mix dry items ingredients in a bowl using a fork.
2. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl/container.
3. Combine dry and wet ingredients in a bowl mixing together with a fork.
4. Transfer mixture to greased cake pan or cupcake tins.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes. (Bake for approximately 15 minutes if making cupcakes).
6. Set aside to cool before frosting

Morning Programme - Tuesday 15 November

Koben's Recipe - New York Cheesecake



Koben's mum used to make this Cheesecake... doesn't it sound YUMMY!!

Gardening Tips from James

1. Remove salt deposits that form on clay pots. To do this combine white vinegar alcohol and water then put it in sprayable bottle then apply it to the pot after this rub it in with a cloth.

2. Little clay pots make great coaches for protecting young plants from overnight frosts and freezes.

3. If you dig out a thistle and then sprinkle some salt over it it will not grow back.

Lucy's Family History- Lucy made a photo board of family photos and told us about her Great, great Grandad, Archibald Anderson.

Monday 31 October Sports Activator- Cricket

It was a perfect afternoon for some cricket with Greer yesterday. We practiced our passing and catching, our aiming at a target, bowling and batting style and hitting the ball. These skills were great practice for when we played a game of cricket rounders at the end of our session. We had to make sure we kept our cricket bats straight though and not to use them as baseball bats!

Mothnet Camp Summary

Mothnet Camp! on PhotoPeach Last week Miss Taylor took us to the Mothnet Camp at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary. We spent the 3 days setting up traps in 6 different sites in and around the Ecosanctuary to find out about the sustainability of moths in the South Island. We joined student champions from schools as far south as Stewart Island and as far north as Kaikoura.


The Traps
The traps were made of steel and had a hole at the top to put a funnel and the electrics inside. We put a bag inside the funnel some egg cartons inside for the moths to hold onto. At night time the light would go on inside the funnel and moths would be attracted to them and then get caught in the bag inside the funnel.

Each morning we collected the moths that had been captured overnight and we got to have a go at identifying which moth species we had found.


Our Experiment
Now that we are back at school we have to run our own experiment and send in the moths we find to the people at Landcare Research for them to identify and keep as part of a wider South Island study. We are hoping to do this at the Dalley's farm. Thank you very much for their offer. This experiment will take place over two nights between the 8th-12th November.

We had a great week at the Mothnet Camp and it was a very good experience for us. Thank you to Miss Taylor for taking us to Mothnet.

By Lachie and Alex

Book Fair

There is a lot of hype going around the school with the Book Fair on. Students will be coming home with their 'Wish Lists' for you to have a look at. The Book Fair will be open 8:15-3:30 everyday until next Friday. We have the Kiwiana dress up day is Tuesday 25th October. Children can dress up as anything Kiwi, but they do not have to dress up.

Otago Cricket

On Thursday afternoon we had a visit from Shaun from Otago Cricket. He was teaching us some cricket skills, like throwing and bowling. We learned the technique to be able to bowl correctly. You need to have a straight arm, your fingers are in bunny ears when you hold the ball and you have to "pull the chain" with your non-bowling hand to get the motion. At the end of the session we had a game of 3-bat cricket. This was an exciting, fast paced game and we had to keep our wits about us.

We have another Otago Cricket session next Friday where I'm sure we will learn some other new skills and to help us play cricket. 

-Senior Garden-

We were very excited to receive our little garden seedlings in the mail yesterday. We spent the afternoon potting seeds.

We are a few weeks behind the Middle and Junior Room with our growing so we decided we would challenge each other within our class.

Lucy and Amy are growing; Basil, Broccoli, Carrot, Radish and Spring Onion.
Lachie and Alex are growing; Cabbage, Chilli, Cress, Kale and Lettuce.
David and Koben are growing; Basil, Cherry Tomato, Fennel, Mint and Parsley.
Brayden and James are growing; Chives, Eggplant, Leek, Rocket and Spinach.
Holly and Ashley are growing; Capsicum, Cherry Tomato, Dill, Mint and Thyme.
Ally and Bree are growing; Cauliflower, Celery, Kale, Parsley and Rocket.

We are looking forward to seeing our little gardens grow and when they are ready to plant we will transfer them to the big garden outside.

Lachie and Alex's Little Gardens

Lucy and Amy's Little Gardens

David and Koben's Little Gardens

Ally and Bree's Little Gardens

Brayden and James' Little Gardens

Ashley and Holly's Little Gardens