Summer Sounds Concert sounded angelic

Last Thursday some of the Year 3s from our class performed to the parents at the Summer Sounds Concert.  They sounded wonderful and it was a great way to finish a successful year under Tania's expert lead.

Well done Crystal, Jesse, Isla, Tom, Sari, Finn and Lexxis.  After all your hard work going along to practices you sounded amazing and did us proud.

Sculptors in Room 9

After our experience with Esther and creating clay christmas trees in the Suter Art Gallery, Room 9 students were keen to try it again in the classroom.

We chose our own native bird and tried to incorporate all the features in our clay masterpieces.  Hopefully we will get a chance to paint them before the end of term.

Brook Waimarama Sanctuary

Well, the Syndicate weren't quite so lucky with the Nelson weather on the day we visited the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary!  It was a great opportunity for us to celebrate our learning from this term's Inquiry topic - Brilliant Birds.

However, we needed to return to school early due to torrential rain!




Seeing the fence close up was interesting and we can't wait for the native birds to be introduced once all those pests have left.







We still got the chance to see how BWS trap the pests and saw some not so lucky creatures close up as well.

Hopefully everyone will make a trip to this wonderful Nelson treasure in the holidays and enjoy the bushwalk and visitor's centre.  

Thanks Rick, John and Mel for having us!

Tennis Skills

We were lucky to be offered Hot Shots Tennis in Schools sessions, run by Zach Raff, recently.   All the children enjoyed learning new skills with the tennis racquet and we may even have some future Wimbledon tennis stars amongst us!

We had some fun playing 'cricket' tennis and the hamburger game and it certainly improved our hand / eye coordination.  Thanks Zach!

Green Gables Sing-Along was enjoyed by all

On Thursday the Pohutukawa Syndicate walked to the Green Gables Retirement Village to sing some of our favourite songs.  It was a beautiful day and sitting in the gardens of the home was a lovely setting to sing some songs.

We have been practising for a few weeks and did an awesome job of remembering the words and singing sweetly.  We enjoyed having a chat to the residents afterwards as well.  What a great way to participate and contribute in the community.

Then having our lunch and a play at the Queen's Gardens was a real treat - one that was well earned. 😁

Well done Pohutukawa!

Habitat Dioramas for our Native Birds

As part of our Inquiry Brilliant Birds we have been learning about what our native birds need to survive in our environment.  We each created a diorama of what we think this would look like.

Brilliant Bird Habitats on PhotoPeach
Freya has taken her learning to the next level.  She made a great bird feeder at home.  We're hoping some native birds visit outside Room 9 soon!

Buddy class's Didgeridoos

On Friday we visited our buddy class, Room 2, who had been busy all week making themselves a didgeridoo with Che, a relief teacher.  Sally had been on camp with Room 1 and in her absence, they had made and learned to play this Australian instrument.  We were impressed and enjoyed learning the Chocolate song.

Athletics superstars

In No Child Left Inside this term we are learning skills to do with different athletics sports.  We have been learning the best technique for sprinting, throwing a discus and high jump.  Check out this movie of Room 9 doing high jump!

Congratulations to Ewan and Crystal who were the champions on the day!

Athletics in Room 9 from Kathryn Robertson on Vimeo.

Ronald McDonald teaches an important message to Pohutukawa

Last week Pohutukawa Syndicate had a visit from a VIP - Ronal McDonald came to talk to us about Road Safety.

He had us all in stitches when he was looking for his missing stripy sock but the important message on how to stay safe on the road really hit home with the children.

Connor wrote:

Ronald McDonald came to Room 11 today to tell us how to cross the road safely, to stop and look left and right.  Ronald McDonald is the clown that I have seen.  Joe pulled the red and black sock off Ronald McDonald.   It was fun and impressive.

Oliver wrote:

On the 31st of October Ronald McDonald came to Room 11 to teach us about road safety.  He acted a story about him losing his sock in the wind and when he went to look for his sock on the way, he taught us how to stop, look and listen.  I enjoyed Ronald McDonald coming.  The stripy sock was on his back!

Behan wrote:

On Monday Ronald McDonald came to Nelson Central School to teach us about road safety.  He looked like a clown and he lost his sock because it was windy.  It was funny.  He taught us stop, look, listen before you cross the road.  The sock was on his back the whole time.  When he was going to school he put his seat belt on while he drove his car.

Parihaka Peace Flags

As a way of demonstrating our key competency this term of participating and contributing Room 9 (and the rest of NCS) created flags representing peace which were displayed at the Peace Picnic last Saturday.

They were received by the organisers with huge appreciation.  Some words from Barbara, received today by email were:

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for your willingness to engage with

this, and to all the children and their teachers I would say "I knew

we would produce something special, but I didn't know how amazing the

finished results of our combined efforts would be. I love the fact

that they are all so individual, just as you are, and the thought that

has gone into them. When I started off, I never imagined how moving

and beautiful they would be. And the comments I heard made at the

Peace Picnic on Saturday lets me know that everyone feels the same

way. Thank you, each and every one of you."

Well done, Nelson Central and Room 9!

Camp at Bridge Valley

Wow, what a wonderful experience the Year 3 children had last week when they attended Bridge Valley camp for an overnight stay.

It was jam packed full of activities - orienteering, confidence course, low ropes, Burma trail, fire and damper, caving, kayaking and water slide.  The food was fantastic and the evening games were a heap of fun.  Hunting for opossums when it got dark guaranteed everyone went to bed exhausted and desperate for sleep!

The Room 9 students were amazing - their behaviour was impeccable and their attitudes were 100% 'can-do'.  I was so proud of them all - tino kino te pai!

Diwali - Festival of Lights

We are nearing the end of the the Hindu Festival of Lights and Room 9 have been enjoying learning about this tradition.  We have been creating Rangoli patterns and acrostic poems.  

Here is our class' acrostic poem for Diwali.

Milly created an acrostic poem of her own - Tino Pai!

Letter writing

At writing time we are learning how to write letters.  We used this opportunity to write to Esther at the Suter Art Gallery to thank her for having us for the Clay Workshop.  Here are a few examples of what we wrote which show how much the children enjoyed the visit and what they learnt from Esther.

Milly wrote:

Dear Esther,
Thank you for teaching us how to make a clay creation.  I think my family will love my creation thanks to you.  I can't wait till I get to put my Christmas tree next to my bigger one.  I think Emily Suter did a great job of remembering her husband.  She gave a great gift to Nelson.  Thank you for having us.
From Milly

Behan wrote:

Dear Esther,
Thank you for teaching us clay.  It was tricky but you made it easy.  You showed us around the Suter Art Gallery.  Thank you for teaching us scratch, wet and wiggle.
From Behan

Finn wrote:

Dear Esther,
I loved doing your clay workshop.  They are the best workshops.  Thank you very much.  You are the greatest clay teacher in the whole wide world.  Thank you very much.  I loved you teaching us about the history of the Suter.  I am going to put my Christmas tree on my book shelf.
From Finn
P.S. I signed up to be a Suter volunteer.

Joe wrote:

Dear Esther,
Thank you for having us at the Art Gallery.  I had a great time there.  It was very fun.  I love sculpting clay.  I sculpt clay at home.  I made a plane at home.  I learnt to scratch, wet and wiggle.  I can't wait to put it on my shelf.
From Joe

Teamwork at No Child Left Inside

In Term 3 we were focussing on how to work well as a team.  For our final session we made 'houses' using hula hoops and then had to try and help each other find a way through our constructions.

It took clear communication skills to have success and we did it!

Suter Art Gallery has reopened

We were very lucky to have a last minute cancellation to allow us to visit the recently opened Suter Art Gallery.  We waded through the rain water on Wednesday morning with an entourage of parent helpers to meet Esther.  She greeted us and led us through the beautiful building, showing us how it has been restored.

Then we were honoured to be the first school group to use the new classroom where we created some amazing looking christmas tree ornaments out of clay.  

Thanks Esther - we'll be back to this wonderful Nelson resource.

Term 4 starts with a hiss and a roar!

We started off the term with a Mihi Whakatau to welcome the new students to NCS.  Room 9's two newest students joined in the ceremony as well as the new entrant children, which included Lexxis' brother Jordan.

No Child Left Inside started off the term with an introduction to athletics and we learned how to maximise our sprinting speed by pumping our arms and legs, keeping our head still while looking forward, and running on the balls of our feet.

We finished off the week with discovery time and hanging out with our buddies.  Some of us got to try out a new comic strip app while the rest of us developed our fine motor skills with lego building and loom banding.