Year 6 Camp

On Monday 29th January, 30 excited year sixes arrived at M.E.R.C. in Long Bay. There was a lot of anticipation in the air, but there was no time to think about it too much as we were straight into activities. There was a range of activities including archery, surfing, abseiling, surf kayaking, slingshot, mountain biking and the giants ladder. Over the week that we were at M.E.R.C we developed lots of leadership skills and got to know each other better.

Lots of the activities involved teamwork. For instance the giant ladder, the rungs get further apart as you get higher. Two people climbed at once and everyone were very supportive of each other. Also lots of people conquered their fears on the abseiling wall, giants ladder, surf kayaking and mountain biking. Everyone showed lots of resilience and strength when they completed their activities.

On Tuesday night we had camp mass. The year sixes were excited to see their families. We had a barbecue and lots of yummy food. The very next night we had our student council elections and chose our leadership roles for the year. On Thursday night we had the talent contest and the winner was Noah, he had a befuddling card trick.

On Thursday during the day there was a lot of excitement because it was very stormy. We all stood on the sea wall and got splashed by massive waves as the tide came in. By the end of it everyone was saturated and had to go get changed. We started our activities for the day and it was particularly difficult to climb on the rock walls because they were slippery and the wind was blowing but we got to the top anyway.

We want to say thank you so much to the parent helpers and the teachers without whom this whole experience wouldn’t have been possible. Everyone really appreciates all the work they did and we are really grateful.

By Gina

     

French Movie - Pumanawa

We loved our Pumanawa time in Room 5 learning French.  Here are our mini French movies we made.

Pumanawa in Term 3

In term 3 we will be having an option rotation on a Friday between 11:20-12:50pm called Pūmanawa. The word Pūmanawa means natural talent, intuitive cleverness which is what we are trying to promote through our sessions. This is a time where students can look deeply into a topic and extend their understanding by participating in a 9 week programme focused on an area of interest.

French Miss Gleeson - Have you ever wanted to learn another language? More than 220 million people speak French on all the five continents. French is a major language of international communication. It is the second most widely learned language after English and the sixth most widely spoken language in the world.  So here is your chance to start learning.  We will be learning about both the language and the culture of the French.  Miss Gleeson says “venez apprendre” (come and learn).

Baking Miss Vergis - Baking with Miss Vergis is about baking quick, simple recipes that everyone will love! You do not need to already know how to bake. But you do need to be responsible, reliable and sensible as we will be using kitchen equipment. Students who would like to be involved must be able to eat foods containing nuts and dairy products. You will have to be able to follow instructions well and be able to self-manage during our sessions. There are limited spaces available, so please make sure to think carefully about whether or not this will be a good option for you!

Electronics Ms Butcher - Your project will be to build your own electronic quiz board to impress friends and family!  Learn how to draw a circuit diagram using the correct symbols. We start with making a pressure pad switch to gain some experience in working with electronic components. If you are interested in science and technology this could be the best option for you.

Playwriting Mrs Drummond - Do you love performing onstage? Do you enjoy creative writing? Then combine these two talents and learn how to write a play! I will teach you how to invent interesting characters, create fun stories, develop funny and exciting dialogue, and combine these all together to write an adventure that will WOW your audience!

Visual Art Miss Down - I dream my paintings… I paint my dreams.  Van Gogh

Come learn about creating depth and vanishing points through painting.  You will complete a painting on mdf board using multi perspectives (2D/3D) of New Zealand landscapes using a variety of techniques.  You will use foreground and background to demonstrate depth within your painting.

Cultural Games Mr Sharma - Cultural Games gives you the opportunity to learn, appreciate and enjoy games from other cultures around the Pacific and the world.

We will be playing games from many different cultures, e.g. Maori, Samoan, Irish, Scottish, Filipino and more. If you want to know more and learn to play cultural games come along.

Homemade Musical Orchestras

During Music this term we have been looking at the different instruments in an orchestra and the families that they belong to - wood-wind, brass, percussion, etc.  

Room 5 took on the challenge of designing their own individual orchestral instrument using materials found at home.  We then formed bands and put together a performance which we performed to Room 6.

Recycling Bicycle Parts

We have been getting creative using technology processes to design a product recycling parts of bicycles.

Explanation Writing - The Rain Cycle - Lucy D

Evaporation, condensation , precipitation these simple three words might not seem important to you but think again! These words are apart of the incredible water cycle, and once you read this you’ll be looking for more!

But first, let's have a closer look at water. Water is made up of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Its chemical formula is H2O and water has three different states, liquid, solid and gas which we will be talking about a lot. The word water usually refers to water in its liquid state. The solid state of water is known as ice while the gas state of water is known as water vapor and the liquid state is water, The existence of water is essential for life on Earth and 70% of earth is covered in water, Water makes our plants, trees, food and most of our resources and without it, well we would be a very sad planet. So let's take a close look on how it changes..

The first step in the water cycle is evaporation. During a typical hot day the heat from the sun will dry up water from the surface of the earth, but not completely. The water dries up into invisible water vapour (sometimes just before this happens you can see the steam) which travels up into the sky. This is called evaporation.

Secondly is condensation, when the water vapour goes up into the sky the warm water vapour presses against the sky’s cold air and this creates water droplets. The cold air causes the water particles in the vapour to get attracted to each other and clump, so they become water droplets. Then the water droplets form into “clouds” .

After this, is precipitation. When the water droplets turn into clouds, some are darker than the others. This is because some clouds are filled with water droplets more than others, and sometimes ice crystals due to the coldness in the sky’s atmosphere. Finally the cloud gets too heavy and lets some of the water droplets go which is RAIN, this is precipitation, and the last step of the cycle.

In conclusion we’re so lucky to have water, after all without water our planet would be nothing and we would not survive. Water has an extraordinary cycle which we probably see everyday without even noticing! I hope this piece of writing has helped you to easily understand and appreciate the amazing water cycle.

The Ultimate GSS Student - Ruby