Tuesday 16 October

After discussing what we thought birds might like to eat, each child brought into school a different type of food including seaseme seeds, a dog bone, apple, cheese, ham, bread, toast, wheatbix, cornflakes, cat food and chicken and gunea pig pellets.

We then put all the different types of food on one of the picnic tables. What a yummy selection of food! 5 minutes later two sparrows flew over the table to look at all the food. Then suddenly another sparrow swooped down, picked up a piece of bread and flew away!

Femka & Nina hid behind a tree so the birds wouldn't get nervious or think that we were setting a trap for them.

15 minutes later Daisy spotted a girl Tui hovering around the table. Then 2 Blackbirds started eating the bread that we had dropped on the floor.

We then decided to move the table next to the goal post and closer to the big trees where the birds liked to play. A few minutes later 5 sparrows came over to the table to eat food that had fallen to the floor. Several Blackbirds and Tui's came to visit as well as 2 Kingfishers, 1 Seagull and a Wood Pigeon...Tama thought maybe they could smell the food and wished that we had some smelly fish to offer as well!

Tama, Louis, Jamie, Xanthe & Paige tried to get a closer look at the birds by hiding behind the trees. Even though they were really quiet, the birds could sense them and stayed away.

On Wednesday 5th September, Rooms 1 and 2 went to The Brook Sanctuary and to the Museum. At the Museum we met Rick. Rick told us a lot of facts about Powelliphanta Snails. We learnt that they are meat eaters - one of their favourite meals included worms and grubs. We watched a little video which showed a snail eating a worm. Nicola said that the the snail sucked in the worm and that it was pretty gross and disgusting!

We did a few activities whilst we were at the Museum.

Afterwards we went to The Brook Sancutary and had morning tea. We got to play on the field. Rick took us on a bush walk. We got to see heaps of possum, stoat and rat traps along the way. Rick showed us a real possum that had been caught in a trap and a dam that was built in 1869.

August 2012
In our quest to learn more about birds including how they lived and ate, we got a big pair of tweezers, chopsticks, pegs and tongs and pretended that we were birds and these tools were our beaks.

We then tried to pick up seeds, beads and other small objects using only these tools. We realised through this activity that birds have a beak that suits the type of food they eat.

 It was not an easy task but a lot of fun to try!

Tuesday 28th August

We have been continuing with our facts on birds. The children have been exploring the playground and reading interesting facts on birds and in particular those native to New Zealand. We hope that you have been learning some interesting facts on birds at home too!

Today Nina, Femka and Nikau started working on their Bird Fact File. They each chose their favourite bird and wrote down facts that they had learnt or read about. They then had to carefully draw their chosen bird and focus on certain parts including their beak, feet and habitat.

On Tuesday 21st August Room 2 went bird spotting around the playground. Nina said that her favorite bird was the fantail and that if everyone walked around quietly you could hear the birds sing and talk. Tana spotted 3 hawks!

We made a tally which included the type of bird, how many times we spotted a specific bird and where we located them.

Femka spotted two birds nest along the way. All the children had a turn using the binoculars. We looked through the book "Common Birds in New Zealand 1" to help us learn more about which bird we spotted.

Maybe this would be a good activity for the children to continue at home.

In July we were really fortunate to have the Recyclying Circus visit Hira School. They performed in front of the whole school. Tama thought they were really funny and his favourite part was the juggling.  They were very clever and only made a few little mistakes, but that was ok - it was lots of fun to watch!

On Monday 13th August, Judi Keylock came to Hira School and helped us decorate masks for the Mask Parade. Tessa explained to make the masks they needed to use Japanese paper, tissue paper and dried up flowers.  Then we put special glue to stick the dried up flowers onto the paper. Judi also taught us some magic - what we had to do was wrap special leaves and put them in a steamer. After 1 hour we took the leaves out and they changed colour, some were pink, purple and even blue.  Tessa agreed that it was lots of fun and is looking forward to wearing her mask at the parade.

Last month we had a suprise visit from a very famous person....Ronald McDonald.  Ronald was teaching us all about road safety. Nina learnt that the first thing you need to do when you get in a car is to put on your seatbelt on and that when you are going to cross the road you need to be two steps away from the road. If you want to cross the road you need to look to your left and right for traffic (or crazy drivers)....Thanks for visiting us Ronald!

We have been following and learning about the Olympic Games which were held in London, England. Nicola's favourite sport to watch was shotput and the gymnastics and floor routines. Caden explained that there were lots of different countries participating in the Olympic Games including Jamica, New Zealand and Australia. His favourite part of the Olympics were the running races. At school we have been researching all we can about the Olympics. Paige brought in her Ludo game from home and Caden brought in Chess. It was fun to play our own games. Our whole school is participating in their own Olympic Games. We have been practising in groups and hopefully we will have our own special Olympic day this Thursday (weather permitting)...stay tuned!

Welcome back Room 2 to Term 3

Kia Ora Te Whanau,

Welcome back to Term Three in Room Two and a special welcome to the families of our newest children: Tama, Paige, Femka, Daisy and Xanthe. Watch this space for photos (having a slight technical hitch!).

Everyone is settling in really well and all seem happy and confident and keen to share their ideas, which is wonderful.

We are starting the term with a focus on the Olympic Games being held in London from 27^th July. We have some whole school activities planned and have been looking at some old footage in class on the data projector. Please encourage your child to do some research of his/her own into the Olympics and to notice any coverage in the newspaper or on the news.

 Some children have already done some research which they have shared with the class which has been really interesting. We have also been discussing our favourite indoor and outdoor games and I would like the children to bring in one favourite card game or board game which we can share for a Games Afternoon on Tuesday (24^th July). We will be focusing on taking turns and playing by the rules. Of course we will make sure the games are well looked after and that no pieces get lost!

Following the Olympics we are planning a Bird Study and we have a trip to the Waimarama Brooke Sanctuary booked for later in the term, which will be a real highlight.

We are always open to input from parents and whanau so if you have an activity you would like to share with the class i.e. baking, gardening or an art project we would love to hear from you.

Thanks Sally and Melissa

Welcome to 2012 in Room Two

We have been so busy this term in Room Two. Check out some of the things we have been up to.

Room 2 visit to Hira Kindergarten

Last week Room 2 went to visit all the children at Hira Kindergarten. We performed our plays and had lots of fun doing many of the activities we remember from our time at Kindergarten, including playing on the swing, joining in at mat time and building together on the outside play house.

Sewing with Melissa

We made some paper mache babies with Melissa. We have painted them and now we are using the sewing machines to make clothes for them. It is quite tricky but lots of fun.

Pottery with Clare Haig & Ross Richards

Clare Haig and a local potter Ross Richards showed us how to mould and make things with clay. First we made an animal and then we made a pot. When they had dried we painted them with coloured slip. Ross is going to fire them in his kiln.

Life Education Bus with Harold

Victoria brought Harold to visit and we learnt about the circulatory system. Eva is showing us where our lungs are. Ebbany is showing us how big the heart is and Louis is showing us the lungs on Tam.

Observatory with Paul Fisher

Paul Fisher explained to us about the planets in our solar system. This was really interesting because we learnt about the Transit of Venus which happened on 6th June. Unfortunately the bad weather meant that we couldn't watch it but we learnt a lot online.

Fundamental Skills

Each week Helen Clark our Sports Coordinator spends time with all the classes teaching them fundamental skills. This week we learnt a few rugby techniques. Chani and Krystel helped us play a new game whilst Caden learnt some dodging skills. After that we played some games together.

Gardening

Room 2 were helping Ginny clear out our vegetable plots. Emanuel was trying to pull out a lettuce, but needed some help from his mates Nicola, Nina and Caden - great teamwork guys...it was like the enormous turnip!

Mandala

Each week Noa comes and teaches us Yoga, but one week Noa taught us something different. She showed us how to make Mandala’s out of dried beans and lentils. It was lots of fun and it looked fantastic. Thank You Noa, we really love all the time you spend with us.

Book Character Day

Don't we look amazing! Tana dressed up as the little boy from "Lost and Found". Nina dressed up as the flamingo from "Alice in Wonderland". Nicola dressed up as Marley from the book "Marley Goes to School". Nikau dressed up as Grandma from "Little Red Riding Hood". Her glasses kept fogging up throughout the day and she couldn't see very well. Caden was dressed up as Black Spiderman.

Flax weaving with Maureen Hart

Maureen Hart from Wildsands Weaving showed us how to make things out of flax.  We used flax from our  our own school. Before we cut the flax we said a Karakia as a sign of respect. Nicola is showing us the snake she made.