Level 4 Swimming Assessment

Today was the day we had been training for.  We piled in a bus and travelled to the Makino Pool in Feilding to be assessed against our Level 4 criteria.  We have been working towards:

• performing a safe dive
• 100m freestyle
• 100m backstroke
• 50m breaststroke
• 50m sidestroke
• floating on our back for 3 minutes
• treading water for 3 minutes
• 50m fully clothed
• 200m non-stop (any stroke)

Overall we did very well, with many of us achieving our goals.  We also had time to test our 'bravery' by jumping off the high board in the diving pool!

What Happens On A Marae?

When we begin a new inquiry, we always have a bit of a think about what we already know about the topic.  Yesterday we tried to answer the question, 'What happens on a marae?'  We had some great ideas, but most of us have a lot to learn too.  We're pretty sure we'll be able to build on our ideas over the next few weeks.

 



Swimming

This hot weather is incredible!  This afternoon, the whole Senior Team jumped in for a quick dip.  It was cold, but very refreshing!

Marae Trip

Today was a special day at Halcombe School.  We visited our local marae, Taumata O Te Ra.  For many of us, this was the first time we had ever visited a marae.  We were met by Mr Kereama, who talked to us about what happens during a powhiri.  He also shared a lot of knowledge about the whare and the special carvings and paintings inside.  We all thought it was fabulous.  Here is what some of us had to say:

• I enjoyed seeing all the special carvings in the whare.  Kyle.
• I thought the tukutuku panels were awesome.  You don't see things like that very often.  Tammy.
• I liked the carvings, because they were intricate and I found it interesting to learn about them.  George.
• I really enjoyed the stories about the carvings.  Quaid.
• My favourite part was seeing the colourful paintings, that were painted in lots of lovely colours, not just the traditional red, black and white.  Jaxson.
• I enjoyed learning about the traditions from Mr Kereama.  Nelly.
• I thought it was cool when Mr Kereama blew the conch shell.  It sounded really loud and it echoed!  Tyler.
• My favourite part was seeing all the carvings and learning about how long they took to carve!  Trevor.
• The best part was looking up at the ceilings, seeing all the colours and learning about their meanings.  Jasmine.
• What I liked about the carvings, was that they were dedicated to people.  Holly.
• I loved learning about what the carvings meant.  They didn't have books in the old days, so carvings were used to tell stories.  All the carvings are equally important.  Logan.
• I liked the paintings on the ceiling, and learning about what they meant.  Blair.
• I really enjoyed looking at all the different carvings and seeing all the family names carved into them.  Olivia C.

These photos are of the outside of the whare:

Here are some of the carvings, tukutuku panels and kowhaiwhai paintings from inside the whare:

 

 

Here we are, sitting in front of the magnificent back wall of the whare:

Here is the Senior Team in front of the whare.  We are really looking forward to coming back and staying the night later in the term:

If you'd like to find out more about Taumata O Te Ra marae, click on the link below:

Taumata O Te Ra

Cricket - Round Two

We had our second session of cricket today.  We learnt some bowling tips:

• body side on when bowling
• arm straight
• middle and index finger form a V on the top of the ball, while your thumb supports it from below

After this, we had an awesome game of non-stop cricket, as well as some catching practice.  Check out the photos!

Buddy Class - Capture The Flag

We had a massive game of Capture The Flag in Buddy Class today.  Our younger buddies figured out the rules of the game pretty quickly.  This is a game of speed, strategy, agility, teamwork, and extreme tactics!  The game finished with a 1-1 result.

Touch Rugby

Last night, we had our first games of touch for the season.  Boy, it was really hard work!  Both the Black and White Team were well beaten.  We think we'll be much better next week, now that we've got the first game under our belts!

Student Council 2013

It is our pleasure to announce the Student Council for 2013:  Molly, Elen, Juliet, Olivia D, Hilary, Nelly, Grace, Alex, Logan, George, Tyler, Jaxson and Stefan. 

President - Alex
Secretary - Elen
Treasurer - Jaxson

House Captains:
Kauri - Olivia D
Matai - Molly
Rimu - Alex
Totara - Juliet

Congratulations team!  We are looking forward to lots of exciting events ahead!

Student Blogs!

Today the Year 8 students set up their own blog.  They are really looking forward to sharing their learning with others, as well as learning loads of new ICT skills.  Their blogs are listed on the right, so check them out!

Cricket Time

Today was the first of several cricket lessons we're having at school.  After our warm up, today's session focused on batting.  We look forward to improving our technique over the next few weeks!

Koru Art

After we learnt some great tips on how to blend coloured pencils effectively, we created this awesome art!

Camping At School

We've had an absolutely awesome, action-packed few days camping at school.  Sleeping in the tents was fun, despite noises in the night (trains, cats vs dogs and low flying helicoptors)!  Lots of funny things happened, helping to build a really positive class culture.  Check out the pictures!

Lots of people helped to prepare and clean up after meals.  We were very well fed!

We were split into teams for the annual Room 6 Survivor.  We competed in lots of different challenges that tested our strength, endurance, accuracy, speed, and knowledge.  Congratulations to Olivia D, Jasmine, Trevor, Jago and Jaxson - the champions!

Our Quadathlon was awesome!  Teams competed in swimming, an obstacle course, cycling and running.  It was great to see such extreme determination.  Congratulations to Elen and Logan, who won this event!

We spent loads of time in the pool, doing all kinds of fun, crazy activities.  We made human towers...

And tried to catch a tennis ball...

And tried to balance on the tyre...

And took photos with Nelly's underwater camera...

And fired each other from the kid-launcher...

 

And were amazed at Jago's backflipping skills!

Design Your Body

Are You A Role Model?

We have done a lot of talking about what it means to be a great role model.  First we defined what the term 'role model' actually means.  Here is what we came up with:

 

 

Next we worked in groups to brainstorm a list of ideas about what great role models do, and how they act.  Here are our ideas:

 

 

 

Finally, we narrowed our ideas down to a list of 25 qualities great role models have.  We will turn this list into a wall display, so we can keep an eye on it during the year.  Here is our list:

 

A great role model...

 



Tech Challenge

On Friday we had our first Tech Challenge for 2013.  These activities are designed to promote the following:

• construction skills
• creative thinking
• teamwork
• perseverance
• problem solving

The challenge was to build a balloon powered car, using cardboard, squewers, straws, sellotape and a balloon.  We were given a randomly-drawn partner.  After 45 minutes of construction time, it was time for the competition.  It was a disaster.  Congratulations to the three teams who managed to make their car move, Jago and Molly, Juliet and Daniel, and Elen and Hilary.  Elen and Hilary were the eventual winners!

 

 

Diving

One of the skills we are learning in swimming, is to perform a decent dive!  We videoed ourselves so we know exactly what we need to work on.  Check it out:

• I am pretty good at diving, my head, feet and hands are in all the right places.  Elen.
• I sort of do belly flops, and my body goes in at the same time as my fingers.  Holly.
• I would like to concentrate on getting more height, so that my dive looks much tidier.  Olivia D.
• I need to make sure my legs are straight and ankles together.  Alex.
• I have a good dive, because my head is tucked in and my legs are together and straight.  Molly.
• My head and arms are where they're meant to be, but my legs and ankles aren't together.  Aaliyah.
• I am belly flopping and need to keep my legs together.  Kyle.
• My diving isn't too bad, so I wish to continue my technique.  Juliet.
• I need to work on keeping my legs together.  Stefan.
• My right leg flicks up as I enter the water, but everything else is good.  Jaxson.
• I need to straighten out my legs, and do my dive in a slight curve.  Logan.
• I do a belly flop into the pool.  My legs need to be straighter.  Olivia C.
• I want to concentrate on jumping out further before I hit the water.  Grace.
• I have noticed that I need to keep my hands together and my head tucked in.  Tyler.
• I'm doing half belly flops, half dives!  Tammy.
• My arms and head are in the right spot, but I need to work on putting my feet together.  Daniel.
• I want to work on keeping my back straight from the moment my feet leave the bar.  Jago.
• I need to have a straight body into the water.  George.
• I need to put my fingers in first, and my feet last.  Trevor.

 

Circle Art

Today we finished another piece of art.  It is so simple to create, and it looks AWESOME!  Each circle is made up of four quarters - each one created by a different person.  What clever artists we are!

Rock Tower Record

In Room 6, we can make a competition out of anything!  One of the most challenging is building mini rock towers.  George spent his day off trying to beat the existing record of three rocks - he smashed the record by building a six-rock tower.  His mum even verified his work!  Good effort George!

Managing Myself

Our Key Competency focus for Term 1 is on Managing Myself.  Each week, we complete a diary entry, explaining how we have been managing ourselves.


We have a lot of things to remember for school.  My plan for being onto it is:

• to continue the routine I had last year, which was to check my KIT Book every night.  Juliet.
• to look in my KIT Book as soon as I get home, and if I have any forms that mum and dad need to see, I show them.  Logan.
• to hand everything in on time, and to listen to the teacher.  Daniel.
• to look in my KIT Book so that I am on track.  Stefan.
• to get my things ready before I go to bed at night.  Hilary.
• to write things on my calendar, which I look at every day.  Elen.
• to look in my KIT Book every day and bring the slips back the next day, so I don't forget about it and leave it in the bottom of my bag.  Molly.
• to write my reminders on a sticky note and put them on my wall.  Alex.
• to keep saying to myself, "Remember the forms!", so when I get to school, I will remember.  Cody.
• to give mum the notices at night, so I can put them straight in my bag.  Victoria.

Computer Rules

Today we took some time to refresh ourselves about what the 'rules' are for computer use in our class.  We discussed these in groups before coming up with a list together.  Check it out:

Swimming Wallwisher!

Created with Wallwisher

Fun In The Pool

We have been very grateful for our school pool this week!  We have worked hard in each session, with lots of people improving their techniques already.  Fun-Day Friday involved a noodle tower competition between the boys and the girls!

 

Our First Buddy Class

Today we held our first Buddy Class with Room 3 for 2013!  We had a bit of a talk about what we had done during our first week of school, before heading into our class.  Miss Simpson asked our younger buddies to check if our desks were tidy (this was a problem for some kids!) and we also showed our buddies the artwork we've done so far.

Here is a lovely photo of Room 3 and Room 6 together:

Here is a much more exciting photo!  You can tell that Cody and Seth are brothers right?