The start of the year has been great so far. I love the pool and swimming time - Stella

I like having Ms Warren teaching us on a Tuesday and Sharing time with Kanuka - Elsie

I love being in a new class and I like Wednesday morning “learn to draw” - Chanelle

I like puzzle morning and learning about Antarctica, we are looking forward to visiting the Antarctic Centre - Erin

On 26th February, we went weeding at Hauroko/ Birdlings Flat. Weeding was amazing, we learned so much about the Birdlings Flat environment. It is a place we need to protect - Georgia, Savannah, Gina, Ella

I enjoyed finding Pigs Ear ( a weed at Birdlings Flat) - Ryan

It was extraordinary to find the Pigs Ear hidden in the Coprosma bushes - Gabe

There was lots of weeds, Pigs Ear, Allysum and Karo, that had seeded from nearby gardens - Micah

I was very tired after, but it was fun too - Ngarimu

We found heaps of weeds, our class of 15 got 21 sacks full of weeds!! - William

Term 1 has raced by and we are excited by our upcoming trip to the Antarctic centre to celebrate all our learning, through art, reading, writing, history and science, about the coldest, windiest and driest place on earth.

Totara class would like to say a HUGE thank you to the school support group, all the parents and the many people from our amazing community who organised and supported the Pumpkin Festival. What a fantastic day it was.

I enjoyed dressing up as a farmer for the pumpkin festival.  I decorated a gumboot and came in first place.  - Chanelle Malcolm

This term Tōtara has been learning about simple machines, such as pulleys, screws, wheel axles, inclined planes, levers and wedges. We made mini tractors using cotton reels, matches and rubber bands. We also made gondolas out of lego, string and pulleys. We worked out how to send it down and bring it back up, as well as pulling it up off the ground. We also did a scavenger hunt to discover simple machines around the School. This was lots of fun. During Art we drew SteamPunk machines which were like the early Industrial Revolution machines. We are looking forward to discovering more about simple machines this term. 

A busy term is drawing to a close! It is hard to believe we are halfway through the year.

Our latest House of Science kit  - also physics related - had us learning about

Flexi Physics

Bounce, flex, spring. Using everyday items like rubber bands, slingshots and different balls we investigated elastic potential energy? We were also introduced to gravitational energy.

Next term we will have a chemistry theme for science.

Yesterday the year 5-8 went to Akaroa for a very busy sports day.

Everyone played netball, hockey and football. It was a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun.

The year 6 students are very proud of our amazing technology room and would like to say a big thank you to Ms Warren for all her mahi to make this happen. She applied for many grants to get us lots of equipment. Please come and have a look if you can.

We read a book called Wildboy in class.This was a story about Brando Yelavich, who walked around the coastline of New Zealand. This meant he had to forage or hunt for a lot of his food. We used this as inspiration for procedural writing and made up our own illustrated WILD FOOD recipe. 

Matariki art, stories, songs and activities have rounded out the term.

Happy holidays everyone.

Oral language is an important part of literacy, if we can’t talk about it how can we write about it? Having rich and interesting conversations helps to develop our vocabulary and our ideas.

Writing this term will focus on speech writing. The school speech competition will be later this term. This can be a bit daunting for some students! We have been having some mini debates in class to help us to become persuasive public speakers.

Our current mathematics focus is multiplying and dividing. The learning of our times tables is an important part of this.

In science we have been exploring pH levels - acid, alkaline, neutral. We made sherbert (a real hit), tested different substances with litmus paper and made our own indicator with red cabbage.

Our next kit from the House of Science will have us becoming forensic experts!

We were fortunate to have two performing arts groups present their shows to us last week. Java dance group and New Zealand Playhouse Theatre came to Little River. Both shows were very entertaining and educational. It is amazing for our tamariki to be able to view and to be inspired by live theatre performances.

Thank you to the school support group for purchasing each class some table tennis equipment. William wrote an excellent letter to the group to ask for this equipment and it is hugely popular on wet lunchtimes.

Winter tournament  (rugby and netball) is on the 14th August at Lincoln for the years 5-8. 

Year 6 Technology

This year the year 6s have been building stuff like

planes, ships, trains and motor bikes. We have also been sewing projects like sewing machine covers and hacky sacks. We year sixes love tech. It’s great fun to do it with your friends and by yourself. We have learnt a lot about sewing and woodwork. We have also learnt about the design process. We are looking forward to doing some cooking and electronics next term. 

By MICAH:)

The last term of the year always seems to be extra busy! With many events happening alongside all our reading - novel study and comprehension, writing - information reports and letter writing and maths.

Huxster Mountain Bike relay - 

It was fun, there was uphill and downhill and we got to bike some really cool trails. The marshalls were very kind - and cheered us all along.  Stella

The Huxster was tiring, but I really enjoyed it. I did get nervous when people passed me though as I didn’t want to crash!    Gina

Pet Day -

It was a great day, people got to see all the horses, lambs, calves, dogs and also all the creations, and I got quite a few firsts!!  William

Waffles (my pet Rabbit) and I really enjoyed pet day and watching the dress ups. I liked Daisy in her pyjamas! Ella

Athletic sports

A great day out on the domain, doing lots of events with all the kids from the other schools, as well as Little River. I liked throwing the vortex and eating hotdogs!   Ryan

In science we have been learning about plants, petals and pollination.

This also inspired our art works.

As we head to the end of the year, this could sadly be the last Tōtara report for some time, and the last one I will write.

We have finished the year on a high, our camp at Living Springs went splendidly and we followed this up by making dioramas of our favourite activities- air rifles, bouldering wall, animal survival and Burma trail.

We are rounding out the year by finishing our novel study, writing stories with a Christmas theme, putting on plays, using nets to make 3D boxes, Christmas art and having fun with our new LEGO.

This last year of teaching has been a real treat for me due to the amazing children in our class. They are ALL such keen and enthusiastic learners.

Seasons Greetings to everyone from Tōtara class 2025.

Diane Cameron.