Bathtime for Harry

Today Ms Douglas brought Harry into Room 16 for his bath. He was very calm and peaceful.  He has grown a lot in his 11 weeks. He was really too big for the baby bath!

Haere Ra Sunhui

Room Sixteen have had a South Korean teacher for the last two weeks. Today is Sunhui's last day in Room Sixteen. The children in the class are making her a Goodbye card.
On the card the children are drawing something to do with South Korea and most are drawing a picture of themselves.
All the kids are sad that Sunhui is going back to South Korea, and most want to go with her.

by Sam

An Afternoon at the Aquarium

We had a very successful visit to the Aquarium on Thursday.
Before we went we made these lists -

We think we’ll see:
manta ray
turtles
shark
flounder
kiwi
starfish
dolphin
sting ray
eels
elephant fish
crab
orca

We think we might touch:
sting rays
seahorse
crab
starfish
shark
paua
coral
sea anemone
eel

We hope we’ll learn about:
sharks - about their ancestors
which animals you can and cannot touch
sea horse - why are they called sea horses?
sharks - how many teeth they have
dolphin - do their teeth fall out?
Dolphin - do they squirt water from their blow holes?
Sea Horse - how can you tell if they’re pregnant?

When we returned to school we had a brainstorm to write down all the things “We never knew...” Here is a photo of that brainstorm (warts and all), and a few rather fuzzy photos. (You are not able to use a flash on your camera in the Aquarium - that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it).

Wet Day Lunches

The weather outside may be wet and awful but the kids in Room 16 keep busy and happy under the watchful eye of our friendly class monitors.
The building site might be the inspiration for these activities.

CONGRATULATIONS!

We have won the Heather Trophy for the second time this term.
It is really a challenge to keep our environment tidy and organised in this weather - so well done to us!

An update on the building site

On Friday the 14th of May the concrete mixer was at St Albans School. We went out to make observational drawings of the concrete mixer at work.
We had those pictures photocopied and then we coloured them in with crayons. We were only allowed 3 or 4 colours. Next we dyed the pictures. We chose a dye colour that we thought would make our picture stand out. The last step was to paint a frame. The frame colour had to be the same as one of the crayon colours.

The St Albans Values in Room 16

We try to relate the way we behave and learn to the values developed by the school community. Here is an iMovie about how we do that.

Swimming Sports

Thanks to Heathcliff for his sketch!
The Swimming Sports

It was a sunny morning in St Albans. The Year Three and Four classes were buzzing with excitement and nervous energy. Today was the day of the Swimming Sports! We boarded the busses and were off to Jellie Park.

Like a swarm of bees heading for the hive, the children went to change in the changing rooms. School uniforms, socks and shoes flew everywhere as the children readied themselves for the big event. They headed out into the pool area and settled by the pool.

Across the rippling waters the parents were beginning to gather. The excitement rose and so did the noise level. The width races were first.

PEEEP  “On your marks...” CRACK

The water was cold, and rippling from the other swimmers. Arms and legs powered through the water leaving a wake behind them. The crowd cheered and went wild. The swimmers were pushed on by their encouragement. Some people were first, some came second, third or fourth. Everyone tried their best.

If we thought the crowd had been loud up till now, we sure got a surprise when it came to the class relays! Room 16 was represented by Zachary, Kezia, Grace and Flynn in the water, and everyone else in the stands.  We were all proud when Room 16 won!

The length races were next and we all watched those swimmers with amazement and admiration as they tried their hardest to be the best. All the while the non-swimmers were having their own experience of being better than before in the shallow pool.

The Swimming Sports finished on a high note as Kakariki won the house relay. Whero came a close second followed by Kowhai and Kahurangi. St Albans Middle School was the ultimate winner on the day. The children displayed the values of Respect, Excellence, Community, Fun, Manaakitanga and Initiative.