Huarapa 3 & 4
Term 4
Wellbeing
This week has been Wellbeing Week. The children did lots of fun things this week and had the opportunity during breaks to partake in things such as yoga, planting seeds, writing kind messages in chalk, sport activities, storytelling and joke telling. Te Whare Tapa Wha is our schools wellbeing model and we loved talking about this as well as doing these activities in our break.
Today the children did mindful drawing with Whaea Tash. Aren't they amazing!!!
Scarlett's Puppy
It was great to see Scarlett's puppy this week. So cute!
Fun in Huarapa
Caring, curious and capable learners!
Book Week
We love books and storytelling in Huarapa, so there was a lot of joy throughout this week. We read as many books as possible, designed bookmarks, wrote book reviews, and shared our favourite stories.
A highlight for many ākonga was our dress up day on Thursday and hearing from a visiting author, Robinne Weiss.
Buzzy Busy Bees
Today we visited our school bee hives as part of our writing language experience. We learnt a lot about bees and did their 'waggle dance' on the way back to Huarapa. You can discover more here by watching this clip.
Museum
As part of our inquiry we have been looking into how we can learn about the past. Some of the tamariki decided to explore 'museums'. They investigated a topic and then made their own museum displays, considering objects of the past, present and future.
Growing Bacteria
We have been learning about bacteria and how it can be found nearly everywhere on earth. We were curious about the bacteria on our hands and decided to conduct an experiment. We each got our own petri dish to push our fingers into. While some of us stuck our fingers straight into the gel, others of us washed or sanitised our hands before collecting our sample.
After incubating for a few days we were very excited to see the different yeasts, fungi and bacteria that had grown. We also learnt that some of us needed to wash our hands better!
West African Drumming
On Friday afternoon, Koffie visited our school. We learnt about West African drumming and enjoyed creating music and dancing along to a rhythm.
Our Wellbeing
In Huarapa we love doing calming and relaxation activities to help us with our learning. This week we have especially enjoyed Cosmic Yoga.
Science
Enjoy these photos of us exploring static electricity by rubbing a balloon to a range of different surfaces and materials.
Term 3
Collage Native Birds
Learning Through Play
Cricket Skills
This week we had fun learning lots of new cricket skills.
Māori stick games consist of the rhythmic throwing and catching of sticks (Te Rākau) from person to person.
Over the past few days we have been using the rakau sticks to keep in rhythm. Then we have been working with a buddy.
The Poi dance was originally used by the Māori women for keeping their hands flexible for weaving and by the men for strength and coordination required during battle.
We have enjoyed learning to move the poi and the language we have learnt from this poi song.
Ferrymead
We had a great time at Ferrymead learning about things in the past. The children dressed up and experienced: Household chores, Toys and games, Cooking and School life.
Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers who supported the tamariki (and staff) with this fabulous learning experience!
Scroll below to see lots more photos!
Grandparents/Generation Afternoon
"Past, present and future: Once upon a time"
Thank you to all our wonderful Granparents/whānau who came and shared artefacts, photos, games and stories from their past. The children learnt a lot and we all enjoyed the afternoon. We hope you did as well!
Week 8
Shape Shapers
Over the past few weeks we have been working with shapes. We have sorted them into different categories and described the similarities and differences.
What shapes can you see at home?
Week 6
Our Amazing Te Reo Māori Learning
Over the past couple of weeks Huarapa have been learning to identify and say the numbers in te reo Māori. The students have loved singing along to this song. In the photos below they are making the numbers using their bodies as they were called out in te reo.
We have also been learning to name different emotions in te reo by responding to the question, "Kei te pehea koe?" ("How are you?"). Here are some of the possible responses, if you want to continue this learning at home . Hōhā is a favourite in Huarapa 4 and is normally occupied with a cheeky smile.
Come along to our hui (25th June at 9:30am) to hear us sing a waiata in te reo.
Week 5
What another busy week learning in Huarapa 3 and 4!
Avalie and Stella have designed and built their own dolls house (with moving doors) using the magnetic tiles.
Some other children have been exploring and using our hubs marbles in many different ways. A few children have been using them in the pop-its to make patterns and other children have designed and built marble runs.
This week Huarapa 4 did some coding with the Beebots. We followed the arrow sequence cards and compared our Beebots path to check to see where it was going. We talked about unbugging the sequence if we'd made an error. The children also programmed a "friend" using the arrow cards.
Week 4
Swimming
This week was Huarapa's second and last week of swimming. We have loved watching the students build their confidence in the water. They have developed their skills and had a lot of fun in the process. Enjoy this collection of photos.
Weeks 2-3
Swimming Fun!
Thank you to our lovely parents who are able to join us. We appreciate your help. Swimming finishes on 28th May.
Scroll through to see our fabulous swimmers!
Olympic Ambassador: Annalie Longo
Today we were extremely fortunate to meet Annalie Longo an Olympic Ambassador (Soccer), who will be representing NZ in the Tokyo Games. She talked about what is was like to be an athlete, what the world and olympic games were like and how she overcame obstacles to reach her goal. Annalie was extremely inspirational and we were very lucky to have her speak to the tamariki.
Good luck Annalie!
Pink Shirt Day
Speak up, stand together , stop bullying!
It was great to see the support throughout the school and our fantastic new wellbeing leaders rising to to their first challenge by making a difference.
Thank you for your donation made today, which will be sent to the Mental Health Foundation.
Discovery Maths
This week Huarapa have been exploring shape during Discovery Maths. We have been investigating both 2D and 3D objects through identifying them and making our own.
Week 1
What a wonderful start we have had to Term 2. Haere mai and welcome to our three new students who started this week. We are very lucky to have you, Georgia, Iona, and Flora!
Coding
This week, the students also explored the foundational skills of coding by creating algorithms and mazes. There was lots of laughter and excitement as they worked together, showing our school value of kotahitanga.
Science
Our tamariki loved learning about the moon and its craters this week. A highlight was making our own craters by dropping marbles into 'moon sand.' We experimented with different sized marbles and dropped them from varying heights to see the changes in impact.
Learning Through Play
We love watching Huarapa as they learn through play. It's fantastic to see them working independently and collaboratively as they create and problem-solve.