Junior School Blog
A summary of the exciting events in our Year 0, Year 1 and Year 2 classes....
Down the Drain
16/05/2012
Room 11 making rivers and lakes
Mrs Smith from Water Care came to Room 7 to teach us about storm water drains. She told us that only water should go down the drains. If plastic, soap or other items besides water go down the drains it can make animals in the ocean sick.
Room 11 made valleys and mountains out of rocks and plastic with Mrs Smith. We poured water on top of this to make rivers and lakes. We even saw some little waterfalls. It was very exciting. She told us the water that goes down the drain goes to the sea.
Room 12 really enjoyed Mrs Smith. We learnt so much about waste water and about what not to put down the drain. Water must only go down the drain because what goes down the storm water drain goes out to the sea. We also really enjoyed making our own rivers.
Room 9 learnt about the super bugs and how they eat sewage and waste products. We found out that super bugs were good bugs. We learnt about what paint, food scraps, oil, petrol and washing up liquid does to our water and how it pollutes it. We are more aware of what goes down our drains and that we need to look after our water.
Room 6 had a great time learning about waste water. Did you know there are 2 types of waste water? Water from toilets, washing machines, baths, basins and kitchen sinks goes to a water treatment plant. We learnt good bugs kill the nasty bugs that can harm animals and plants. When they have cleaned the water it goes to the ocean. The other sort of waste water comes from the rain and goes down storm drains straight out to the ocean. If there is rubbish or bad chemicals put down the storm water drain it will kill animals in the ocean. Keep our oceans clean please!
So remember Drains Only Drain Rain
More Superkids Arriving by the Day…
2/05/2012
The Room 16 Superkids
Term 2 has brought with it a new Year 0 class. Miss Turner and Room 16 have begun their Owairoa journey with 11 children already.
With a maximum of 18, it will not be long before we are welcoming Mrs Taylor and her class in Room 13.
Miss Turner reports that all the children are definitely Superkids and ready for learning.
The End of Term is in sight…
4/04/2012
Our Letter P Costumes
It’s the end of the term already and we’re ready to celebrate and share our learning with our parents at the interviews held on the 3rd and 4th March. We’ve had an action packed term with swimming, science, P.E and music additional to our classroom timetable.
We’ve been able to contribute to the wider school community through our 50th Jubilee this year and all our classes are well on the way to filling our time capsules that will be opened in 25 years! Being only 5-7 years old it is hard to imagine what we’ll be doing when we open them and some of us can’t wait to be driving! Imagine if they have hovercraft cars then.
We had a letter P disco and had fun dancing with our parents and teachers. Check out our costumes in the photo!
Doing the Right Thing
21/03/2012
Constable White working with Room 11
In Team 1 we have been learning about Doing the Right Thing with Senior Constable White. She came to our classes and taught the children how to cross the road and what to look out for when using the footpath. She told the children how important it was to use the school crossing to cross the road when coming to and from school. Constable White also talked about being safe around roads, safe places to play and doing the right thing to become a responsible member of society.
The children were taught a little poem to go with crossing the road which we are beginning to learn in our classrooms.
Crossing the Road
Stop look and listen
Before you cross the street
Use your eyes
Use your ears
Before you use your feet
The children were read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and were asked to put up their hand when they thought Goldilocks was doing the wrong thing. The children enjoyed this activity and learnt some valuable lessons from the story about not going into other people’s houses without permission. Then we played the wrong and right game. The children were enthusiastic about this and it was very eye opening for us as teacher. A lot of the children found this difficult especially when Constable White asked them if it was ok to pick flowers for their Mums birthday from someone else’s garden or the park.
Overall the children learnt a lot and we will be continuing to remind and talk about Doing the Right Thing with the children throughout the year.
A Super Start to School
7/03/2012
Team Games on the Field
Team 0 have had a positive start to 2012 with many new enrolments and many more to come. It has been a busy and fun opening to the year with the learning focus being ‘How can we be Owairoa Super Kids?’
Children have settled into school routines quickly and have been involved in many different learning experiences such as making bubbles, cupcakes, planting a garden, visiting the school chickens, team games with a parachute and water play. All of these motivating activities have helped support the children with their language development. Children have learnt that Owairoa Primary School is a safe place for learning, making friends and having fun!
The New Team Two
22/02/2012
Room 27's Smiling Faces
Welcome to our new Team 2 children and their families! Also a big welcome to a new face as Mr Cornea joins the Year 2 team. We would also like to welcome any children who are new to our Owairoa family. We’re looking forward to an exciting year as the teachers have been busy planning lots of exciting learning opportunities over the holidays.
Our team has moved and we’re now located in the heart of the school. Mrs Seekup our team leader, teaches Room 18 and she is handy to everything being in the middle of the school and she’ll be using every opportunity to make the most of all the schools amazing resources. Mrs Rutherford teaches Room 27 and is very happy to be close to the orchard because that is where the chickens live that her class will be caring for. Mrs Parker is only a hop, skip and a jump away from the worm farms so that she can keep up the wonderful job she is doing with the worm educators. Mr Cornea in Room 29 has a special path that leads down to the hall and we’re sure he’s going to be taking his class there to ensure they get the most from his expert skills in drama.
Keep following our blogs as we make the most of 2012!
A Kiwi Team 2 Christmas
14/12/2011
Year 2 Christmas Concert
The stars of Team 2 shone this week as they performed for their loved ones during the Year 2 Christmas Concert.
Room 1 warmed up the audience with a dance that got everyone in the mood for fun. Room 2 sang some beautiful waiata which led them into a challenging and spine tingling haka. Room 4 entertained us with a play about our 3 favourite pigs and their evil foe. Room 3 sang a Christmas message of peace with ‘Welcome Home’.
What a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the year. Ho ho ho…Santa even heard about it too and came to see the performance.
Celebrating Excellence in Team 1
14/12/2011
Erin Stuck
Erin Stuck is a student in Room 6 at Owairoa Primary school. She is 5 years old and has been chosen to join the “Beat Street Competition Troupe” for 2012. She is the youngest dance member. She loves Jazz and Ball room dancing.
Erin also came 2nd in the “Under 8” section of Dance Time Studios annual ballroom competition, for deportment and a waltz. The ball is held at the Owairoa school hall.
Well done Erin! Best wishes for your dancing future.
Splish, Splash!
30/11/2011
Swimming season starts again
The school pool has officially re-opened for summer and the Year 2’s have taken full advantage of the sunny days to brush up on their water safety and swimming skills to be ready to enjoy the lovely Auckland beaches these holidays.
We’re very lucky to be one of the remaining schools left in Auckland that has a pool so that we can teach our children to be safe in the water. The children like being able to cool off while learning and their teachers occasionally get the odd big splash to cool off too!
We have a range of abilities in Team two, from the water babies who can swim lengths of the pool to those who are learning to feel confident in the water as they learn the basic skills. Each class has 2 teachers during the lesson to enable maximum use of the pool and safety.
Keep those hot summer days coming in Term 4 so we can swim our way to the end of the year!
Our Edible Garden
16/11/2011
Proudly showing our produce
This was our room 6 garden at the beginning of the year. We wanted to improve our class garden environment. Our class discussed what we would like to change. We wanted edible plants, flowers and to grow some plants from seeds. We sent a note home to our parent asking for seedlings, soil and tools to dig the ground. Thank you parents for your support.
Next we prepared the soil, added fertilizer and mulch. Mrs Nichol showed us how to plant the seedlings. We also put seeds into egg cartoons and watched them grow. We learnt to weed and water our garden each week. Look at it grow!
In term 3 we had big cauliflowers , cabbages and carrots.What could we do with our wonderful vegetables? Mrs Nichol brought her wok to school and we made Chow Mein, it was delicious!
We like our edible garden. Now we are growing potatoes for Christmas…yum - potato chips?
100% Natural
2/11/2011
Creating our delicious feast
In Term 3 we celebrated the harvesting of our vegetables and made some delicious foods to share. Each class had a part to play. Room 2 and 4 chopped and grated our garden goodies to make vegetable soup. Room 3 spread Mrs Taylor’s famous homemade tomato paste (made from school tomatoes) over pizza bases and Room 1 grated cheese to sprinkle on top of them. Room 2 made yummy homemade quiche that was full of tasty silverbeet and broccoli from our school garden. We were hoping for fresh eggs from our hens but they still hadn’t begun to lay again after the short days of Winter.
Most of us tried everything, even those of us who don’t eat our greens at home! Things just taste better when we know where they come from. Watch out all gardens, there could be a green fingered Year 2 coming for you!
Our Te Tahawai Adventure
5/10/2011
Fun at the Marae
Yesterday Room 9 went to the Te Tahawai Marae. We went on a bus. When we got there we saw some carvings. We got to feel them. They were very warm on my hands and some of them were very bumpy. We all had something to eat. There were also some ladies. One of them was called Whaia. She read us a story about a Taniwha and a little boy. I think Marae’s are very exciting. I really like Marae’s. They are excellent.
Written by Finn Wilton – Room 9
Owairoa stand strong for the 2011 Koanga Festival
21/09/2011
Koanga Festival 2011
The 2011 Koanga Festival was held on Saturday 3rd of September at Somerville Intermediate. Owairoa’s Middle School and Senior Kapa Haka group performed together for the first time due to the organiser’s decision to host all 30 schools in a one day event.
The audience were show cased to beautiful singing and actions, coming alive when the boys erupted into their haka. Special mention goes out to Dray Roberts for his leadership skills and organisation of such a large group on stage. And to Aleyna Taumoepeau, Moiralisa Aneru and Anya Hill who also took on leadership roles in the performance
All 100 students should be commended for their dedication, enthusiasm and team work over the year. Their performance was outstanding and they should be very proud.
Thank you again to Pam Gallagher for her continued support and expertise she brings to the group. Thank you also to Management, Teachers and Parents who helped with the organisation on the day.
Tip Top Tastic!
7/09/2011
Sampling our Ice Creams
This term Team 2 have been inquiring into Kiwiana. We took a trip to the Tip Top factory and had an exciting time. We learnt about the process milk, sugar and cream go through to make that wonderful stuff we love so much…ICE CREAM.
Tip Top has been a family name for nearly 75 years and we got to find out the reason for its success. It’s because New Zealanders love it so much! At the end of the tour we got to find out just how good it is by selecting our own favourite ice-cream to sample.
We had a lot of fun exploring the factory and we thought it was just like how Charlie felt before going to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the factory because of all the secret recipes they were making. One thing we can’t keep secret though is how much fun we had! Check out our photos at Licky-Lane.
Green Fingered Fun
24/08/2011
Year 2 Gardeners
This year every Year 2 learner is getting the chance to get their hands dirty as they learn about vegetables up in the garden. Mrs Taylor works with a new class each term and takes children up to the garden to help plot and sow seasonal vegetables. We have even made a tomato paste from our own home grown tomatoes that we’ll be using in pizzas! At the moment we are waiting for our broccoli and silver beet to grow so that we can make a nice healthy quiche. As our plants grow, we water them and weed the gardens and after much care we can harvest our vegetables. We have been learning about seasons and the vegetables that grow best during those times. Our lunchtimes have been exciting and rewarding as we reap what we sow! Thank you Mrs Taylor.
Team 1 Weaves their Path to Māori Learning
10/08/2011
Beats and rhythms with titi torea
Owairoa has recently wrapped up the fabulous celebration of Māori Language Week. All of the classes met with Mrs. Tavita throughout the week to learn different songs that she sings with the KapaHaka group.
As a part of the celebration, Year 1’s Room Waru (Room 8) joined Year 2’s Room Toru (Room 3) to create a harakeke flower. The classes learned the important steps of crafting the harakeke, such as performing the karakea before cutting the flax and gifting the first harakeke once it is completed. It was an incredible week and everyone loved learning about the different Māori customs and traditions.
During the first six weeks of Term 3, the Year 1 children will extend their learning of the Māori Language and culture. The children will have the opportunity to learn Māori poems, action songs, simple commands and customs. Towards the end of our Māori unit, Year 1 will take a field trip to Marae Te Tahawai at Edgewater College.
I See Red
13/07/2011
Room 7 Red Socks
In Team 2 we have been inquiring into ‘Leadership’. We have been learning about the qualities of a good leader and how to recognise one.
Room 1 learnt a creative dance that displayed leadership and they danced their jig in front of the whole school. Room 2 put their poet hats on and wrote acrostic poems about leadership with flair. Room 3 designed a new voting system that recognises values of a great leader and they inserted their faces into leaders so that they looked the part. Room 4 explored well known New Zealand leaders and they shared their leaders with each other and discovered what qualities leaders have. We celebrated our Leadership inquiry by inviting our parents into our rooms and shared our learning with them.
We look forward to being great leaders in the future! Yes we can!
Junior Kapa Haka
29/06/2011During Term 2 Mrs Tavita has started a Junior KapaHaka group for children in Year 1 and 2. The children meet every Tuesday at lunchtime in Mrs Tavita’s classroom to practise lots of different Māori songs. They have been learning to work together to make sure that they are doing the same actions at the same time to accompany their beautiful singing voices.
Sometimes if there is time children have been learning to use TitiTorea (short sticks) which involves being creative and practising their co-ordination skills.
Some days the girls leave early and the boys practise the haka. They have been learning to use strong actions and strong voices for the chant.
The group is looking forward to performing in front of the whole school for International Day and maybe for a short performance during Māori Language Week where they will be able to show off their new KapaHaka skills.
Flying High
15/06/2011
In Team 2 we have been inquiring into ‘Flight’. We learnt how to make models and to test and design various prototypes. We enjoyed using the natural energy around us and we took full advantage of windy days. We made rotors, kites, gliders and paper planes.
Room 2 had a flying good time launching their devices up high. Room 3 had a great kite fly off and made kites at home to bring to school to fly. Room 1 made gliders and planes and compared which ones were the most aerodynamic. Room 4 have had lots of visits from the tooth fairy so they flew off to learn about healthy teeth.
Check out what fantastic flying fun we all had!
Team Two Green Fingers
1/06/2011
Room Four Gardeners
Team 2 have been very busy making changes to their environment. We have been beautifying our gardens and turning them into areas of learning.
Room 1 are in the process of designing their garden and as their teacher is a worm educator we’re sure their garden will grow very quickly with all the worm tea it will be getting. Room 2 have a mixture of vegetables that they’ll be harvesting and some lovely plants to bring colour to our surroundings.
Room 3 designed a beach garden to sit and eat their lunch beside while they daydream about warm summer days at the seaside. Lastly Room 4 has a mixture of vegetables that they are going to use to make a hot winter soup to keep them warm and healthy during the cold days that are approaching.
Come and check out our gardens for yourself!
Year 1´s Take Flight
1/06/2011
Flying our Fish Kites
During the first 5 weeks of Term 2, the Year 1 children have been learning about things that fly.
The first experience was when all the Year 1 children grabbed a piece of newspaper and ran with it across their body. The trick was to run as fast as you could so the newspaper did not fall off.
The children have been going into other Year 1 classrooms to experience different ways of making things fly. When they went into Mrs Nichol’s room, they made a Fish Kite; in Mrs Bradley’s room they made a Helicopter; in MrsTavita’s room they made Paper Planes; in Mrs Owen’sroom they made an Anemometer and in Miss Anderson’s room they made Gliders.
So when your child comes home with one of these fantastic flying things, ask them about their learning experience and maybe they could show you how to make one too.