Cross Country

Cross Country.
On Tuesday 24th of 2010,Rooms 3 and 5 went to Balmacewen Intermediate School to participate in the Northern Zone Cross Country.
At first when the children arrived they sat down and waited for the first race to begin. While they waited they looked at the distance that they were going to run and the track that they would be following.
Everyone had a gaol with their running. Some children set themselves a gaol to complete a lap around the field. There was a chance to pull out if
they wanted to. Some parts of the track you had to run down a steep hill and another part where you had to run up a very steep hill. It was hard to run up and down the
hill because the grass was very wet. At the end we had to run through a strip and we all got a number on our hands.
Everyone did very well. Two people from our class made
it into the Otago Championships. Two girls from our school made
it into the top ten .One from room 3 and one from room 5 .

By Briana.

Nga Kemu Maori ano

We are just loving the new games that we are learning each week. This time we learnt a variation on Tug-of-War. You needed strength and agility to really bet your opponent. We finished with a Hawaiian game called Ulu Maika that saw us having a good eye hand co ordination to try and get a ball through a target. This game enabled us to challenge each other. A great skill for those budding cricket players.

Achiever of the Week

A new member to our class.

Maori Games

Another day, another group of teachers teaching us some more games.

Maori Games

A new group of teachers came to school and taught us two new games. The first game was called Ki-o-rahi. It is a game that is like netball and rugby. It is a game set around a Maori legend. The aim is to score a gaol in the centre of the circle but you first have to get past the Taniwha. A good team game but we will need a lot of practice to get this game right.
Jarrad

Fair Play Award

This award is presented a few times a year to a person who has been contributing and participating in the life of the school. Grace has been presented this term with this award. She has shown these qualities in and about the school. Excellent work Grace

Volleyball Tournament

On Tuesday the 17th August the senior school took part in a Volleyball tournament held at our school. There were other schools from around our area that took part.
This was the first time that many of the children had played volleyball. As the games began the children showed their serving and volleying the ball skills. The ball sometimes found itself hitting the net and the hall windows.
The hall was full of laughter and enjoyment of the game. There were many team winner but volleyball won the day.
It was a good way to meet other children from other school. We are looking forward to the next tournament.

Liam Rory

Learning Maori Games

Children from Room3 and Room5 are participating in learning a range of Maori games. Each week, a group of teachers from the Physical Education Department of the University of Otago will be coming in to the school to teach a game.
This week the children learnt Motere and Poi Rakau. The playground was alive with the sounds of encouragement as teams learnt and participated in these games.
Next week we look forward to learning the next games.

Miniball Tornament

Basketball was the focus of the day. Three teams from North East Valley Normal School participated in the local miniball tournament.
Each team set goals for themselves for each game. For some of the students it was their first time playing the game. Dribbling and lay ups were just some of the skills shown.
Empty drink bottles and hot feet ended the tournament where players still wanted to play more games. They are looking forward to plying in the next miniball tournament.

Fair Play Award

Grace was presented this term with the Fair Play Award. This award is given out a few times a year. It is given in recognition of a person who is helps with in the school. They show respect and go that extra mile to work with others in the school. Grace had shown many of these qualities and more. Well done, we are proud of you.

Achiever of the Week

Share'n'explain

This week we were very lucky to have a concert in our class. Liam brought his clarinet to school. This was special because we are also learning about sound and how sounds are created.
Liam explained how this instrument works and how sounds are created. He then played for the class two pieces that he has been practicing. It sounded wonderful. We know that Liam is talented musician. He also learning the cello and piano. We are looking forward to other concerts that he might share with us.

Writers conference

Hamish and Ben had the opportunity to attend the Writers Conference held this year at Port Chalmers School.
At the start they listened to a speech and then they were split into groups. At first the groups went to different work shops. One group went to Ella the, writer of the book Thieves. Ben learnt a motto; every story has to be cool people doing cool stuff. Meanwhile, Hamish was in room 6 with Raymond Huber. He told him that there was something called the three p’s. Person, place and problem. Then after that, everyone went back to the hall. There they all went to Port Chambers school library. They met someone called Sandy McKay. “I have written about nine books” she had said. Hamish identified some of the areas that he finds difficult in his writing. It is when he needs to add or extend his stories. Ben says that the hardest bit for him about writing is when a story is ending. Making the end have a good twist was something he wanted to have in his writing.
They both felt that they enjoyed the day and that many of the ideas shared would help their own writing back at school.

Hamish Ben

Achiever of the Week.

Harold the Giraffe

On Thursday and Friday our class had the opportunity to go into the Life Education truck with Harold the Giraffe. There we learnt about how special and unique we all are. There was a movie where it told us about a plant where everyone was all the same. The planet was boring and no one ever thought for them selves. We thought it would be boring to be like them and never have to think for ourselves. Learning to make our own decisions was something else that we learnt.

Mase

Achiever of the Week.

The Army comes to school.

Steve Aydon came to our school to share what it is like to be in the army. He has been in the army for ten years. Steve showed us his army gear and told us information about the army. We were able to try on some of his uniform and put on his backpack. When his back pack is full, it weighs 10 kgs. His sleeping bag is warm, cosy and waterproof. Steve then placed us into 3 groups. Room 2 was Alpha, room 3 was Bravo and room 5 was Charlie. We did a range of exercises like they do in the army.
Working together was the skill that we learnt and how important this is in the army. We can use this idea in our class.

Grace
Kyle

Rapping

I didn't know that learning about snakes could sound so interesting. During the holidays,Reuben attended the work shop held by the scientist and rapper, Tom McFadden. There, he learnt how to write,act and perform his own rap. We think its amazing so Reuben prepared this to share.