Duffy Assembly

Tuesday 31st March, 2015, was Pakaraka School's Duffy assembly. James Jennings was our Duffy role model, he asked children questions and sang the Duffy song. 

Other guests were Pam and Sandy from a local church in Kerikeri, they donated our Duffy books and helped give them out to students at the assembly.

Willow-Jean Prime was another guest speaker, she brought her mum, Addy, and baby daughter, Hihana along. Willow-Jean said that her and her husband read to baby Hihana all the time. They read in both English and Maori, how cool is that!

Here are some Duffy facts: Alan Duff is the founder of Duffy Books. Duffy Books got its name by using Alan's surname and just added the letter 'y'. Duffy is the main character in all Duffy theatre plays. Alan gives books to children at low decile schools.

Children at Pakaraka School love reading Duffy Books and get really excited when Duffy and his friends visit our kura. We can't wait until you come back again Duffy!

Published by Inverness

The Mobile Technology Caravan

The Mobile Caravan is a van that drives from school to school and is fuelled with lots of cool technology. They have a 3D printer and have been wondering if one day, the 3D printer will be used to make pizza for dinner.


We played with a virtual reality phone, it had some cardboard around it with some glass lenses. We watched a video of a rollercoaster, it felt like you were really riding on it.


 
Another fun gadget was a little ball that was remote controlled by an ipad, you could take it up ramps and it would jump over stuff. It was fun! 

The Trenches

On Wednesday, Ruma Toru had to write letters from the trenches. It was like we were at war.

Children built trenches out of tables, chairs, pillows and sheets. Whaea Dee played some real recordings of gun shot sounds from World War 1. When she heard anyone talk, that soldier had to go to back to base camp for training.

Whaea Dee gave students 20 minutes to write letters home to their framilies. Ruma Toru wrote descriptive letters, so readers can feel what World War 1 was like.

By Hoani

Making Popcorn

Today, our class, Ruma Toru, had an exciting and fun experience to celebrate our learning. We made POPCORN! Students enjoyed it because at the end of the activity, Ruma Toru got to eat the popcorn.

My table was the first to make the popcorn, we are the green table. We followed the instructions, and waited...POP! A popping corn leapt out. Students got really excited and couldn't wait until it was their turn to make popcorn. Most students turned their attention to the sound of the pop corn machine.

Every student got a cup full of sugar, butter and salt free popcorn. It was delicious!



By Teina

Welcome to Term 2

Kia Ora te Whanau!

Welcome to Term 2. Ruma Toru has another extremely busy term ahead. Tamariki are currently investigating Gallipoli, WWI (World War One) and the ANZACs, to commemorate the 100th ANZAC Anniversary and remember the two and four legged (animal) ANZACs that served our country during war.

In the near future, children will be exploring Matariki, the Maori New Year. Tamariki will develop their research skills and work on a number of exciting projects for this topic. Together we will read Maori myths and legends related to Matariki, as well as explore stories from other cultures about this topic. Additionally, Ruma Toru will learn new waiata and celebrate our unique culture during this unit and continue throughout the year.

This is a crucial time for tamariki in their learning. Towards the end of this term, teachers will be reporting to parents about their child's/children's current progress in learning. Teachers will also be making projected OTJs (overall teacher judgements), about where your child is most likely to be, by the end of the year.

Some ways in which we can help set our tamariki up for success in their learning, is to make sure children attend school every day; keep healthy through regular exercise; eat plenty of fruit and veg and drink lots of water; get plenty of sleep, and set up regular and consistent routines for homework, bedtime, chores, sports and so on.

Other important events this term include:
Sign Language Week (4 - 10 May)
Road Safety Week (4 - 10 May)
Healthy Eating Week (1-5 June)

Remember to visit our classroom and see what we have been learning. Ruma Toru would like to invite parents and whanau who are interested in working with tamariki on various projects Have a great term!

Whaea Dee

Charles - My Autobiography

Kia Ora! My name is Charles. Let me tell you some interesting things about myself. I have thirteen brothers and sisters. One of my brother's always spoils me, he takes me to my favourite place in the world, it is MacDonald's. We eat there because we love munching on Big Mack burgers.

When I grow up I want to be an electrician because I like science experiments. One time when I was working with Whaea Christine, I put a torch together and it lit up!
      
By Charles

Letter of Request - A Statistical Inquiry

Dear Mr Singh,

I have identified a need, that we, the students of Pakaraka School would like to have at our school. That need is to have a music room. Through a statistical inquiry, I have gathered data by asking twenty four students in our class, if they would like to have a music room. Twenty four students in Ruma Toru, positively said yes.

The instruments we would like to learn are; piano, guitar, violin and trumpet. I was thinking we could have the music room near the back field, away from all the classrooms so the music room does not distract the kiddies from learning. We can add music to our rotation.

I really think we should have a music room because a lot of students at Pakaraka School are very talented and interested in music. I also think we should have a music room because we only have a few working and interesting musical instruments at our school.

Students could create our own music and songs, and quite possibly share them with the whole school. A music teacher would be a great idea. She/he could come in every second week, on a suitable day that you would prefer.

Yours Sincerely,


Teina Reid