Room 1 SuperStars
Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Thursday, 5 July 2018
The end of an era...
Five students in Room 1 are moving on to Room 2 after the holidays. Today they had a taste of Room 2. They greatly enjoyed it!
I wish you all a great learning time in Room 2.
Our big learning theme for
this term has been: Reach for the stars.
Or as the Maori people
say:
"Whaia te pae tawhiti kia tata, Whaia te Pae tata, Whakamaua kia u,
kia tina. Reach for the horizon, for the stars, to bring them close and to hold
them tight."
All around us we can see
proof of this throughout the ages. There
was Kupe reaching for and navigating by the stars until he reached the shores of
Aoteroa. Then there was Rongowhitiao
with his dream of starting a school. And
Clara Hazhard who had a dream of becoming the first female principal of New
Zealand. Look and see all around you, and within you, what aiming for the
stars in the past has given us today.
We have been aiming for
the stars in class by learning about our solar system, by listening to Maori
myths and legends about Ra, Marama, Papatunuku and Ranginui.
Papatuanuku has always
been one of my passionate loves, one of
my stars to reach for. Some of you might still remember that we reached for the
stars when becoming an Enviro School.
With the help of Environment Waikato, this was in 2007, we investigated
water quality in local streams and how to improve this. This was a term long school
investigation, which was called “Rivers and us”. At the conclusion of this unit we were successful in acquiring funds to purchase our plant growing unit. With the
help of the local Pokaiwhenua nursery,
who has been gifting us tiny native seedlings each year, we managed to
plant around 400-500 trees each year.That’s quite a lot of trees, that’s quite a barrier against erosion and
it increased water quality.
I fondly remember the many meetings my students
had with Gordon Stephenson, who taught us much about local flora and fauna and
weeds! My team of eager students
managed to get Bronze, Silver and then Green Gold status.
Art has always been my passionate
love - art in all its forms. Art is one of the the stars I have been reaching
for and hold tight. We don’t know what jobs the future will require, what the
future will even look like... Nurture
your art, reach for the stars. Nurture creativity in all its forms. It makes for happy people and outside of the
square thinkers. It is what we need for
a new future! Make out of old and create something new that touches your soul – and others! Reach for the stars!
In Room 1 we have been
reaching for personal stars, learning stars, self assessing our work and reaching and
aiming higher and higher, improving all the time as we go.
You do not need to be a
student for this,you see, teachers, your
Principal, your Board, and your parent support group are also aiming for the
stars. To be the best, to teach the best, to learn the best, to give the best.
On a personal level Ievel
I am also aiming for the stars. When we
came to Aotearoa so many many years ago, we had a dream of living of the land,
of being self sufficient of making and creating. Life got in the way, there were many different
stars to reach for.
Now we have come back to
our original dream. of moving onto our
land, of building a little
environmentally friendly house on our land, which we have called "Wawata"…"Day
dream"! Another star to reach for.
I wish you all well, keep
reaching for those stars, nurture your special talents, be passionate about the
arts.be different, be creative... be a maker and a shaker, our future needs you!
Kia kaha Waotu friends!
Saturday, 30 June 2018
Thursday, 28 June 2018
Reach for the stars
Learning about Marama, who is at the center of our Solar System!
And learning about Vincent Van Gogh and his life story...
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Matariki...
Some of our Matariki work and a wonderful book we used as inspiration for our writing and art works.
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Writing in Room 1
Students in Room 1 love to write! They come in early in the morning and start writing straight away! They write messages to each other, ‘reports’ for parents and each other, messages for parents, and the most loved activity.... free writing!
A long story by Louis about him and his Dad visiting the moon...
No time to take my bus vest off, I must write!
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