Novel Studies

This week, each of our reading groups is coming to the end of an in-depth novel study.  The students have been reading these books over the past month, and every few days, the group met to discuss and analyse the part of the text they had just read.  We have all had MANY interesting discussions and debates about ideas.  Here, the students will share their final thoughts about the book they have just read:

New Discus Record

Congratulations to Holly, who set a new record for the girls discus today!  With a throw of 24.45m, she bet Olivia's 2017 record by over a metre.  Well done Holly!

Fun Day Coming Up!

Mr Clement - The Weather Guy

Today we had a visit from Mr Clement, a lecturer at Massey University.  He taught us lots about clouds, the water cycle and how rain happens.  He was very interesting to listen to, and we learnt heaps!

• I learnt how warm water can become colder as it reaches a higher altitude.  AH
• I learnt that when the sea water evaporates, the salt crystals don't evaporate with it.  RJ
• I learnt the names of clouds, and the different types of clouds.  RD
• I learnt that the higher the altitude, the colder the temperature.  For example, it would be colder at the top of Mount Ruapehu, than in Halcombe.  TO
• I learnt how clouds are made.  HP
• I learnt what transpiration is.  BC
• I learnt that humans actually breathe in water vapour.  MB
• I learnt there is the same amount of water on Earth, as there was 6 billion years ago.  FW

Wild Weather - Wonderings

We have launched into a new science topic - WEATHER!  We're going to be learning all about the science of weather - how and why does weather 'happen'?  We have listed some of our wonderings, which are things we want to know more about or questions we have.  It looks like we're going to be learning HEAPS over the next few weeks!

Interschool Swimming

A huge congratulations to our swimming team for their awesome performance at the Feilding Interschool Swimming Champs last night.  Our top relay team of Kane, Rebekah, Blake and Finlay came second in the Country Schools Relay.  In the 100m, Rebekah, Kane and Blake all made the finals.  Rebekah and Kane both placed 4th, and Blake placed 7th.  It was fantastic to see all members of our team give 100% and represent our school with pride.  Well done team!

Interschool Triathlon

Eight students from our class competed in the Manawatu Interschool Triathlon in Palmerston North today.  They had to run 1.5km, bike 4km, and swim 150m.   It was hard work in blustery conditions, and everyone performed really well.  A special congratulations to Jack (2nd) and Lucy (3rd), who achieved outstanding results.

What's Gonna Work? TEAMWORK!

Thank you to all the students who helped out with loads of jobs around the school today!  You worked hard and did a great job.  Thanks kids!

Swimming Sports

Wow, what a morning we had at the Senior Swimming Sports!  Congratulations to all the students for giving 100% in your races.  You should be proud of yourselves.

A special congratulations to Rebekah, who won the Senior Girls Championship, and Jack, who won the Barnett Cup, and the Senior Boys Championship.

Photographer:  Mr Blanchard

Optical Illusion Art

When we suddenly had an afternoon to fill in due to the postponement of our swimming sports, we smashed out this awesome Optical Illusion Art!  Be warned... don't stare directly at our work unless you want to be hypnotised!  This art looks really effective on the wall in our classroom, so call in sometime and have a look.

EPro 8

We entered two teams in the Feilding EPro 8 Challenge this year.  They had to compete in a range of science and technology challenges, where the focus was on problem solving.  Both teams performed really well and had lots of fun.  A special congratulations to the Halcombe Hawkes team - they won the competition!  Well done Finlay, Milla, Lila and Emily.

Staff vs Students - Flippaball

This afternoon the staff faced the Year 8 students in flippaball.  We have never had a match quite like this before, and everyone was very excited before the game!  The staff took awhile to warm up, and the students scored two quick points.  Once the staff got going however, they were unstoppable!  It was loads of fun, and an awesome way to finish the day.  Thanks to Mrs Lynch for reffing the match!

Photographer:  Miss Carey

L4 Swimming

On Friday, we traveled to the Makino Pool to be 'tested' on our swimming skills.  This assessment is all about our technique, and our ability to swim certain distances.  It is not about speed!  At our level, the expectations are pretty high, and we were tested on the following:

• 100m freestyle
• 100m backstroke
• 100m breaststroke
• 50m sidestroke
• diving
• floating on our backs for 3 minutes
• treading water for 3 minutes
• swimming 50m in our clothes

It was fantastic to see everyone trying their very best - well done team!  After our assessments, we had a bit of time for some crazy fun in the diving pool...