Duathlon

We had a successful day at the Duathlon yesterday. The students worked hard in the heat to compete as an individual or a team. They did themselves proud! Well done to the following students for these results...

Year 5 Boys
First place - Finn Groer
Third place - Samuel Wild

Year 6 Boys
Fourth place - Connor Ritchie

Year 6 Girls
Second place - Lucy Young
Third place - Elsie Brown
Fourth place - Emily Easterbrook
Fifth place - Katie Hickling

INQUIRY - Money, Money, Money

Today the students got into groups and were given a scenario - 

What would a family of 4 or 5 spend $1000 in a week? What expenses would they have? 

The students had to get their thinking caps on and brainstorm all the different expenses and how much they might cost. We only started to share, but here is what they brainstormed so far...

Mindfulness Time

Today we had our first session of mindfulness. The students came in after eating time and had an opportunity to lie on the floor, close their eyes and do some deep breathing. They did this while listening to an audio from a programme run by Smiling Mind. For more information about their programmes click here. This is a great opportunity for the students to calm down, do some deep breathing and reset themselves for the afternoon.

Feedback from the students...

'I actually felt like the bubble was in it's place.'

'It is really relaxing and makes you feel kinda sleepy.'

'Your eyes wanted to stay closed for a wee minute.'

'All your muscles relax and you can't feel them until you open up your eyes.'

'All your thoughts are gone and you feel like aaaaghh.'

'Sometimes it's hard to think of only one thing, but with this you had to.'

Korfball!

We had our first session of Korfball today. Lots of fun was had this morning as the students learnt a new game. It is similar to netball where you can't step. However, you don't need to be three feet away when you're defending! 

Check out the video below...

INQUIRY - What is a Global Economic Community?

Today we did a brainstorm with the students about the question - What is a Global Economic Community? This was quite a challenging task and the students really had to get their thinking caps on! They all had an opportunity think about this individually, recording their ideas in their book. We then sat down as a group and shared out ideas as a class. Some valuable discussion was had and it got the students thinking! We are looking forward to unpacking this further in the coming weeks.

What do I know?

What do I want to know?

Swimming Sports

A number of our Year 5 and 6 students went to the Swimming Sports on Tuesday. We had some great results. Well done to the following students from our pod for competing:

Year 5 Boys - John McCoy, Samuel Wild, Kanye Cave, Xavier Ballentine 
Year 5 Girls - Skyla Tomlinson-Guckert, Sarah Tindall, Mila Dijkstra, Greer Ireland
Year 6 Boys - Connor Ritchie, Theo Young
Year 6 Girls - Lucy Young, Elsie Brown, Grace Billings, Katie Hickling

Well done to John McCoy (Year 5 Boys Champ) and Lucy Young (Year 6 Girls Champ)! Awesome effort guys!

BANQER - Interest and Tax

Last week we introduced Banqer to the students. Each week they will receive a salary of $300. They can also earn money for class jobs, doing awesome work, having a great attitude and showing our school values. 

Just like in real life, the students are expected to pay weekly expenses e.g. use of classroom resources and WIFI, which will cost them $60. The students have an everyday account as well as a savings account to encourage them to think about savings and interest. 

Today we looked at tax and interest - what is it and why? We discussed what our taxes pay for, such as public parks, schools and hospitals. The students learnt about interest and how this can be compounded. Lots of new things to learn but it's a good start! 

POD TREATY

This week we sat down as a pod and brainstormed what a Treaty was and why we needed one. It tied in nicely with the Treaty of Waitangi as we discussed with the students about how this came about. Why do we need one? What do we need to include? The students came up with the following key words: Collaborative, Caring, Fair, Responsible, Reliable, Respectful, Friendly, Supportive, Helpful, Inclusive, Trustworthy, Kind, Responsive. We also agreed to 'Respect our Values.'

Welcome back to Term 1 2019! We are excited to be meeting our wonderful students on Monday and hearing all about their holidays!

We are looking forward to sharing our learning with you throughout the year, so please keep an eye on our Blog.