Te Puia

Room 9 had a wonderful trip to Te Puia this week. We had lots of fun and found out lots about the special area in Te Puia. 
We all stroked the huge Pounamu in the entrance way that is protected by the 12 guardians. they were really tall. the stone looked like a frog.

While we were there Whaea Carly and Matua Ho showed us all the special pools they cook in. Here is Cameron , Noah, and Justin eating their hard boiled egg. It took 7 minutes to cook! and tasted yum!

We also visited the weaving and carving schools. In the weaving schools. Whaea Annie was so impressed with room 9 s knowledge about flax she gifted us a beautiful kite .

But there was much more to see. We were so quiet in the kiwi house we even saw the kiwis preening their feathers. The exciting part though was seeing the big geyser going up. Jai, Hemish, Amber and her mum got wet from the steam. It was so steamy .....

The valley had lots of fumeroles and it smelt like rotten eggs in places. It must have been exciting for the maori people when they first went to live there. We played in some houses (whares) that they used to live in.

There was a waka there too .

We couldn't have gone without our parents so a big thankyou to all those mums and dads that came along.

We had such a great time there and saw so many things not found anywhere else in the world!

For more Awesome photos click here.

Adventures from the weekend.

Week 3

Welcome back to week 3. We have had some amazing sharing from the children this morning.
Hemish and his family welcome a new baby boy (name not disclosed yet) not sure if it was the same day as the new Princess. 
Jasroop also had some amazing news sharing  how his father has gone to Nepal as a volunteer to help with the devastation there. I'm sure it would be an amazing but very challenging  experience.  Our strongest and best thoughts are with him for a safe return.

Kaylee took Mintie home this week and made an amazing video with her dad for us (even gave her a bath!)  So hopefully everyone else made the most of the glorious weekend and enjoys this small clip!

Museum Trip

Week 2 
We  have had an awesome start to the term with the children settling in well and already showing progress in their reading . Well done to all those children who now have a new Keyring ! 
The week started with Mrs Weir in the room as I was testing.
You will have received last Friday your childs' folder with work in it covered so far in the year. Thankyou for those who have already returned these. We do now need them back as work will be added continually during the year.
Hopefully you have also managed to book for the 3 way interviews. See me if you are struggling to get on the site.

Today was a special day with our Museum trip, which was a great morning. The children enjoyed the visit and got many ideas from it to help with our unit on Maori games and Toys. They even met Bernards mum (Mrs Liley) who gave us our Bernie Bear!
 A huge thankyou also to all the parents who gave up their precious time and came . It really helps, to do the "extras" with your  eyes and hands to help.
So attached are some of the photos from the day...enjoy (But do check them out in class too)

On the way on the bus

Meeting Mrs Liley at the Museum

 Maori Games and Toys

Spinning Tops

Pois 

Jai on the stilts

All listening with our listening ears!

Looking around the museum

Views of Rotorua from the top of the roof.

    

Move to Room 9.!

Week 1 Term 2:
Well we are still having connection issues however I am putting these latest photos up. We have all come back happy and healthy. Everyone has worked hard and maintained our writing and reading levels (yee ha!) We also welcome Julia and her family to Otonga School. She has come from Tauranga and we hope she has a wonderful time with us. 
Autumn has finally begun to change our beautiful trees to a lovely golden colour, especially the cherry trees lining Jackson Park. 
We are now in room 9 and enjoying the new room. Our timetable will remain the same and we still sit for lunch and share activities with the rest of the year 1 team so it's business as usual.
We do have another new class member "Bernard" an adorable bear gifted to room 9 by Mr Liley as a class warming present. He is a little fragile so we will take extra care of him. However he has proved a great hit and very useful as a cuddler in the morning for the class. Georgia in particular loves him!

He really is adorable and I'm told he "smiles" when they sit on him and give him a cuddle!

Remember our class trip next Thursday to the museum. Thankyou for those people who have offered help so far. We will need at least another 2 adults to meet our ratio commitments for the trip so please let me know if you can help from 9.00am -10.30 am next Thursday morning. 

Also please don't forget to book your 3 way interview time. Just let me know if you have any troubles booking.

Until then 

Nadine McLaughlin.

Well Term 2 on the horizon and Yes we are well prepared for our move to room 9. Our last job is to link up the page to room 9 on the school website. 
In our last week we have had 2 girls join us,  Amber and Georgia. So a huge welcome to our class. 

Here is Amber on her birthday sharing her special day.with the class and a "happy Birthday" song.

Week 1 

Grandparents Day

Week 8 and highlights from our Grandparents day.

The photos you have been waiting for!

All our wonderful grandparents.....

Grandparents day

What a wonderful day Friday was, seeing all the grandparents there and how the classes responded to their special audience. It's been a funny yet frenetic week with the class learning an entire new dance in a week and I couldn't have been prouder of the whole class.
A huge thanks to all the parents who have helped especially Kerri and Kirstin for supervising the pikelet making and of course Whaea Jenny. She is an absolute gem and has worked so hard helping us in the class and preparation for the move to room 9. I am enclosing the photos taken on the afternoon. They speak for themselves and are a wonderful momento of the day! Enjoy.......

Just before we went down to the hall. Captain McLaughlin and the amazing Pirate crew!

I thoroughly enjoyed myself too which is an added bonus of my job, plus I  even got a chance to be surrogate Grandma for the day for the children whose grandparents couldn't come on the day!

I admit I'm  looking forward to the Easter break as I 'm sure the children are. They are very tired after such a full on and hot summer term, but they  have handled all the changes this term so well and really gelled as a class now. So I'm looking forward to seeing you all day 1 next term in ROOM 9. My best wishes for a safe and peaceful time with family and friends over the break.

Nadine McLaughlin.

Week 5

Half way through the term now and the class have had a great week creating. Enjoying art with shapes and completing a class Waka display in the hall. This mural was designed to show how we work together to make things happen. (as part of our key competency of Relating to Others)
The children now arrive in the morning and set up their room, sort out their own bookbags and offer help for all the little jobs in setting up. Something we encourage to support their independence and initiative.Its a valuable time to socially set themselves up for their learning day with friends and also share their work on display with you as their parents. 

Year 1 is traditionally a year of huge change both physically and emotionally as your child meets new people, challenges and learning in their first year at school. We will have ongoing displays to reflect these progressions and achievements. Check out the new  displays in the school hall anytime you are in school.Plus photos in our photo album on the sharing table.

Our very own Waka Aroha where everyone cares and helps each other to make things happen.!


In our room we have have personal sticker charts where the stickers  are gained for giving their best in learning, behaviour,  attitude and personal effort. Should your child bring one of these home its to show they have completed their chart and chosen a prize from our prize bag!

Our Trophies are also awarded each week on Friday. They are specifically for "Helper of the week" and "Worker of the week'.You will see the photos on our Heroes gallery up on the wall. This week  we have 

Callum and Mahkylah are our heroes this week!

Swimming:

Next week we begin with our Aquatics Programme. Many thanks for the parent support for this . We have enough parents now but I will get photos to share with those who can't be there.

 Please help us by sending your child with easy clothes to put on and off. Plus can you please tie the girls long hair up. (It is easier to dry a plait or ponytail rather than their backs getting wet once dressed.) So now all we have to ask for is some warm weather for the kayakers outside!

Keep up the great job with the home reading too. We are really seeing the difference in those children who remember their bookbags and read each night. 

P.S. should any of you have some clean Half egg shells for our seedling project we would love them. Also any empty gladwrap rolls for our upcoming Art projects. 

PPS: Thankyou for those families who have sent tissues to school. With the cooler weather beginning we are using these already for sneezes and noses. So if you have a spare box to donate we would love them. 

 

Enjoy the weekend 

Nadine McLaughlin.