Christmas Concert Cancelled

Very sorry to share that our Christmas Concert on Monday is cancelled due to bereavement.
We wish you all the best for the Christmas Season - enjoy your time with your families.

Last days of Term 4 2014....

Kia ora koutou! I have been a bit quiet on the blog front as Mrs Houston and I have been working hard on end of year testing and reports.
On Friday Rooms 8 and 10 will be going down to Haruatai Pool for a swim about 10am, afterwards we will go to the park for a picnic and a play. You are welcome to join us!
Reports will be posted on Friday also. Some children will be moving through to Room 10 in 2015, this will be shared with you with the reports.
On Monday is the end of year concert for Rooms 8 and 10.
We ask that all tamariki are at school before the 6pm start - thank you! Mrs Pansters has been working very hard with the students - it will be a wonderful evening.
This is a lovely opportunity to see your children shine - we look forward to seeing you and your families there!
The last day of Term 4 2014 is Wednesday 17th December, school will finish at 2pm.

If I don't get to see you before the end of term - I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and holidays! Enjoy your time together as whanau and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2015!

Nga mihi
Whaea Nicky

Rainbow fish part 4

Then we used some glitter paint to give our fish the sparkly scales we had read about in the story this morning....

I can't wait to see the finished paintings this week - what awesome learners you all are Room 8! So lovely to see your creativity and how well you work together around a table - Ka nui te pai to mahi!

Rainbow fish part 3

Then we did our backgrounds for the fish....

Rainbow fish part 2

Then we used dye to give our fishes some colour....

Rainbow fish...

Then we started to work on our art for the week....

First we did a black line drawing of our fish....

The Rainbow Fish

On Friday we listened to "The Rainbow Fish" read by Earnest Borgnine. Click the link if you would like to listen to it too....      

http://www.storylineonline.net/the-rainbow-fish/

Planting out the tomatoes....

On Friday we planted up the seedlings we had sown in trays before the last holidays. The weather has been cold at night so we haven't seen a lot of growth this term - but we hope this will change in the next few weeks. Everyone will take home a healthy plant to care for over the Christmas holidays...

Geena and her rabbit visit Room 8.....

On Friday we had some special visitors to Room 8.....
Geena from Room 9 popped in for a visit on Friday afternoon - we learnt about how to be gentle with her rabbit and how to make the rabbit feel safe. Click the link for more photo's....
http://photopeach.com/album/a28pbo?invitecode=7a993e6d22

"His eyes were red", "he climbed up me!" said Xzavier.

"He went over me" said Sarmah.

"He felt fluffy, he was sniffing me" said Shelby.

"He's looking at me" said Lily.

"He scratched my hand" said Iwimaire.

"He was soft like a pillow" said Xzavier.

Otaki School - Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L)

We promote behaviours in our school where the children are STAR's - they are Safe, Totally Responsible, Awesome Learners and Respectful.

This terms focus is Awesome Learners. On Friday in Room 8 we thought about what it would look like when we are Awesome Learners. Whaea Nicky took some photo's of just a few of the awesome learners we have in Room 8...                                                

Christmas Show preparations...

We have started preparing for the Christmas season today by learning some Christmas carols during our regular singing and dancing on a Friday morning. It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas.....

Click on the link below to watch a slideshow of our time with Room 10 on Friday.

http://photopeach.com/album/qff0mu?invitecode=846247b57d 

'Making Ten!'

We have been learning about what numbers add together to make ten. Thanks Mrs Batey for the amazing new dice that Jayden is using! Jayden shows us his strategy for adding to ten using his fingers.

Click on this link to watch this awesome learner!
http://youtu.be/MFscA5vV1dM

Mr Tui is back!

This is a favorite time of year in Room 8 when Mr Tui and his friends come to the harakeke outside Room 8 to feed on the nectar from the flowers. See how his brilliant blue feathers shimmer and shine even though it is a grey Friday Morning! Nga mihi Mr Tui - great to see you again!

Sunflowers.....soon!

Today we planted out some of the seedlings, we sowed the seeds for at the end of last term. We put them just outside our windows, in the hope that by the end of the term we will have their 'sunny faces' to look at. Everyone had a turn. Everyone helped to make our school look good.

Jayden's Story Term 4

Here is Jayden reading a story he wrote this week. When we talked about what 'Awesome Learners' look like in Room 8 - one of Jayden's ideas was that Awesome Learners write their own stories.

                          http://www.fotobabble.com/m/bGRBWDVnd21SUUk9#.VErlFDG7l08.gmail

Click on this link to hear Jayden's Story.

Well done Jayden! What an awesome Learner you are!

Shelby's Story Term 4

Here is Shelby's story - click on the link below to hear her read it fluently.

                      http://www.fotobabble.com/m/cTY0bFpCTWNxVXc9#.VErivQwBmfI.gmail

Otaki School - Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L)

We promote behaviours in our school where the children are STAR's - they are Safe, Totally Responsible, Awesome Learners and Respectful.

This terms focus is Awesome Learners. Today in Room 8 we thought about what it would look like when we are Awesome Learners.

Awesome learners don't get distracted - "You are concentrating on your work" said Jayden.

This is what it looks like when Jayden is concentrating on his work. What an awesome learner you are Jayden!

Awesome learners do 'quality' work - here is Ruby with some quality work she has done in Maths today. What an awesome learner you are Ruby!

Awesome learners work well when they are working with adults AND when they are working independantly. Wow Mea and Shelby - what awesome learners you two are! Ka pai korua!

Cool Caterpillars....

In the Green Group for maths we are learning to make sets of things up to 10....

Turongo - how many legs does your caterpillar have? 

Two!!

Welcome Back to Term 4!

Kia ora! Welcome back to school for Term 4! We have an action packed term planned for all our tamariki! Our Physical Education focus for the Term is 'Small Ball Skills' and our Topic focus is 'Celebrations!' We will be talking about the different things we celebrate - do we all celebrate in the same way? Do we have special foods when we celebrate - is it the same at your house?

Five pairs of feet....

It is with great sadness we farewell five STAR students from Room 8. Our class is very full and we expect some more new students next term so our oldest tamariki are off to continue their learning with Mrs Pansters and the students in Room 10. Ka kite Ethan, Katylin, Klohe, Shaun and Cassius! Don't forget to visit!

Chalk making

We are looking towards next term now and all the tamariki in Room 8 have made some chalk to use during class time. What 'Totally Responsible' students you are Room 8!

Sowing Seeds...

We sowed some seeds today - sunflowers and tomatoes! We filled the containers and used our pointing finger to make the holes for the seeds. After putting the seeds in the holes we covered them with earth and watered them. After the holidays we hope they will have germinated...

What do seeds and plants need?

"Water" said Ethan. "Soil and sun" said Shaun.

World School Milk Day

Ok so we were a day late - World Milk Day was actually on Wednesday - but the day got away on us so we acknowledged the day today! World School Milk Day was started in 2000, by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and is celebrated around the world each year to recognise the health benefits of school milk programmes. We had a competition in Room 8 to see who could fold their cartons the fastest. Shaun won!! In fact he folded his and Kaitiaki's in the time it took everyone else to fold theirs! Ka rawe Shaun!

Bread making in Room 8...

Everyone made their own bread roll on Wednesday. This is process or individualized cooking in action. The students follow printed cards with very little adult support - giving an authentic use for their reading and numeracy skills.

To watch the slideshow, please click the link below: 
http://photopeach.com/album/tfq3lc?invitecode=fc08e82813 

Up close with the sheep...

As well as lambs Farmer Bev had some very big sheep. We looked closely at the sheep wool and saw how white and clean it was close to the skin.

Feeding the cows...

Farmer Bev then brought the cows down and we fed them with some hay. 

Feeding the goats...

Farmer Bev showed us how to hold our hands flat to feed the goats. Some of the goats stood up on the fence to get close to us (and the food!!)

Look what Ava Found!

In a little house next to the goats Ava found some eggs! Later the children got to meet a Mama chicken and her chicks. We even got to feed them some wheat!

Zippity Zoo

Who did we meet this week at Zippity Zoo???

"The goat that's standing up!" said Jayden.
"The little lamb!" said Ava.
"The turkey!" said Andrew.

2 sleeps to go!

After so much waiting and now only 2 sleeps to go!!!! We are visiting Zippity Zoo on Wednesday. Please be at school by 9am. Each child must have a car seat - please drop these in with your child on Wednesday. All students need to be dressed appropriately for a farm visit - that is in clothes and shoes that can get mucky. A warm coat please if cold or sun hats if sunny. Each child will need a packed lunch and a drink as we will be visiting Haruatai Park for lunch and a play after Zippity Zoo.
Thank you!

Mainstream Assembly

Nga mihi ki a Ava me Kaitiaki!!! What 'STAR's' you are! Awesome learners in Room 8! Ava received an award for 'Quality work in Room 8'. Kaitiaki received an award for 'Great reading'. Ka rawe korua!

Nathan Hoturoa Gray Visits Otaki School

We were lucky enough to meet a Duffy Hero today - Nathan Hoturoa Gray. Nathan came and shared different aspects of his life as a lawyer, traveller and writer. He is such an inspiration and a living testament to the power of reading and writing in creating opportunities for himself in life. What a full and rich life he has had so far!

Nathan was speaking on behalf of the Alan Duff Books in Homes Charitable Trust. He also handed out each classes Duffy Books which will be coming home with your children on Tuesday.

Farm Animals in Room 8 - Term 3 Topic

We have been working on some writing using these photo's. We have looked at the names of different parts of the animals as clues to each students favourite animal to create a class book. It is in our class library - we would love to share it with you if you are ever in Room 8!

WhaeaNicky invites you to watch 'Farm Animals in Room 8!' on PhotoPeach.


To watch the slideshow, please click the link below:
http://photopeach.com/album/5qp2s8?invitecode=8db7eccab3 

Mighty Maths in Room 8!

I sat down with two wonderful boys (Shaun and Ethan) this morning to talk about how many different ways we could find 5 - and I made a big list of their answers....
Then - the boys told me all the different ways we could find 10!!!
I am so proud of them and the hard work they have put into their math learning I wanted to share it with everyone - He tino pai to mahi e tama ma!!!

Red Nose Day?

On Red Nose Day Whaea Nicky got out the face paints so everyone could have a 'Red Nose' if they liked....Tai did a little bit better than that! Thanks Tai!

WhaeaNicky invites you to watch 'Red Nose Day!' on PhotoPeach.


To watch the slideshow, please click the link below:
http://photopeach.com/album/c22vbs?invitecode=2dbcd5d187 

Don't Forget! - Teachers Only Day Monday 8/9/14

On Monday the 8th of September Otaki Primary is having a 'Teachers Only Day'.

This is to enable us as a full staff to undertake professional development on Restorative Practices. It is very important to us to provide a safe environment for our students and to resolve conflict in ways that enhances and builds relationships between students, staff and parents, improves student behaviour, reduces bullying and creates a sense of community.

We look forward to seeing your children again on Tuesday the 9th of September.

Zippity Zoo Visit - Manukau

After studying Farm Animals during Term 3 - Room 8 and Room 10 are very excited to go to the Zippity Zoo Farm in Manukau to see some farm animals for ourselves!!
$3 to be paid before we go.

We will meet at school by 9am on
Wednesday 17th September
By law, children are required to use booster seats until the age of seven - please drop off your child’s booster seat on the day of the trip if you are not providing transport, or your child will not be able to travel with us.

On the day children will need to wear shoes or gumboots they can get mucky!
We will spend the morning at Zippity Zoo before heading up to Levin Park for lunch then a play in the playground.

The most important thing at this stage is to have the permission slips back so we can plan the transport - thank you. Pay later if that suits you better :-)

(Science, Living World NZ Curriculum)

 http://www.zippityzoo.co.nz
                                                      

Otaki School - Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L)

We promote behaviours in our school where the children are STAR's - they are Safe, Totally Responsible, Awesome Learners and Respectful.

This terms focus is being Totally Responsible. This week in Room 8 we thought again about what it would look like when we are 'Totally Responsible' for ourselves.
We can tie our own shoes.
When we arrive at school we bring our book bags in and put them in the book bag basket.
We can pack our own bags.

Good job Room 8! You know how to be Totally Responsible for yourself!

Red Nose Day

We supported Red Nose day on Friday - we all wore red clothes if we had them - to support Cure Kids - I love your red noses!

A Dog in Room 8! - Jayden's Story

On Wednesday Whaea Nicky brought in her dog to visit Room 8 as part of our Term 3 Topic on farm animals - here is Jayden reading the story he wrote that day. (Click on the link below to hear him)

Jayden's Story

A Dog in Room 8! - Shelby's Story

On Wednesday Whaea Nicky brought in her dog to visit Room 8 as part of our Term 3 Topic on farm animals - here is Shelby reading the story she wrote that day. (Click on the link below to hear her)

Shelby's Story

A Dog in Room 8! - Sarmah's Story

On Wednesday Whaea Nicky brought in her dog to visit Room 8 as part of our Term 3 Topic on farm animals - here is Sarmah reading the story she wrote that day. (Click on the link below to hear her)

Sarmah's Story

Luke visits! - Dog Safety

Luke came into class for a visit on Wednesday. I'm not sure who was more excited! Luke or Room8!!
Leading up to his visit we have been learning about how to keep ourselves safe aroound dogs - following the 'A, B, C's'

Follow the A, B’S & C rules when being introduced to a dog and be ‘DOG SMART’.

A – ASK, for permission to pat a dog that is with an owner (NEVER approach or pat a dog
that is on its own, or that is displaying aggressive behaviour)

 Bs – BEND, to be the same level as the dog, and let the dog SNIFF your hand

 C – CHIN, pat the dog by gentle stroking under the chin (this is a non-threatening gesture).

Irene Van Dyk visits Otaki School!

                                          Mrs Houston and her new best friend !!