Happy Holidays

The last week of the term was very busy for all of us in Tāwhirimātea. We had many exciting crafts happening some of which we hope end up under your Christmas tree. We also had fun getting messy in the kitchen making melting snowmen.

 

 

We had a very busy fun day with all sorts of activities going on. Miss S built some awesome targets and we finally got to use the nerf guns that we didn't get to use on camp.

 

 

It's too bad that Paul forgot our treat for after the fun day but he remembered them for Thursday afternoon after the teachers sung their own version of 12 days of Christmas.

There was also a special treat waiting for us when we got to school on Thursday that was from our teachers. 

 

 

 

We have had a fantastic year in Tāwhirimātea and we would like to thank all of you for your part in making our studio a success. 

We hope you all have a happy holidays and wish you all the best for 2017.

Tough Kids Christchurch

On Wednesday 30th November, 47 Tāwhirimātea children, 3 Tane Mahuta children, 7 parents and 2 teachers headed to South New Brighton Reserve for Tough Kids Christchurch.

Tough Kids Christchurch is a Obstacle race similar to Mud, Sweat and Tears but for children in Years 3-8. It is 2.5km long (shorter for Year 3 and 4s). There is a variety of challenges that test the children’s agility and endurance, including mud runs, mud crawls, water slides, tire climbs and inflated obstacles. In total 49 Rāwhiti Children, 2 Rāwhiti Teachers and 2 Rāwhiti parents faced the Tough Kids Course and all completed it. This was a fantastic event organised by Sport Canterbury and well organised with music, lolly scrambles, designated changing areas for children and even a coffee cart for parents. We had a great afternoon and are all proud that we completed the course.

 

We shared stories about the day in the newsletter which you can see on the school website and phone app.

 

Visit from a Judge

Today Tāwhirimātea had a very special visitor. Judge Robert Murfitt who writes under the name Robbie James came to visit us with Bradley's dad Nigel. 

Judge Murfitt is a judge in family court here in Christchurch and he has also written a children's book called Claire and Weka.

 

We got to learn all about the different types of court and what it is like to be a judge. 

 

 Then Judge Murfitt read us his book about Claire and the Weka.

 

Finally we got to ask any juicy questions we had about being a judge, author or about the book. We all had a wonderful time and learnt a lot! Thank you Nigel and Robert for coming to visit. 

 

Helping our friends in Kaikoura

Due to the big earthquake in Kaikoura we decided as a studio to send them a big parcel to show them we care and are thinking of them. We know how it feels and we know that they will smile when they see our yummy cookies, letters of support, fruit, non-perishables and other essential items they need to get by! 


Kia Kaha Kaikoura we are thinking of you!!

Thursday Afternoon Fun

During week 5 we have had afternoon sports. Each teacher ran a choice every afternoon. Miss S and Marcella took traditional games. One of the activities in traditional games was skipping and after a small bit of explanation a small group decided to take up the challenge and attempt to skip together holding each other's ropes. Check out their attempts below!

 

 

Video

Exciting Changes at Rāwhiti School

Friday was a very exciting day for us as the fences finally came down and the bike track was open for use! Some of us went to check it out for fitness and Paul let a few lucky children help build bikes and try out the track with the new school bikes. The bike track is an exciting addition to Rāwhiti School and has opened just in time for us to have Athletics on the school grounds on Thursday! The highlight of this new addition isn't just the excitement on Friday of all of the children but also seeing so many family's coming down after school to try out the track. A reminder regarding the track that any child that brings or uses a bike will need a helmet to use the track during breaks. These are available to purchase for your child or to sponsor to go with the school bikes from the office.

Check out some of our adventures on the track on Friday!

 

  

 

 

Measuring The World Around Us.

Today Miss S and her key group headed outside during maths time to measure the world around us. In teams they had 45 minutes to complete all of the challenges.

We had to measure the perimeter of the court lying head to toe with our team mates.

We measured the longest piece of grass and the largest leaf we could find.

We measured the perimeter of a tree. Which involved a lot of team work!

Then we measured how many strides it takes from the front gate to the office.

And finally, we measured how many feet around the playground using our own feet!

We had a great times outside using a whole range of measurement tools! I wonder if there is any other ways we could measure things around school?

Exciting Changes in Tāwhirimātea!

During the holidays we were all very excited to know that new furniture was coming! Miss S went into the studio during the second week to see all of the exciting new furniture sitting in the Sun. Later Mrs Smith went into the studio and was so excited she called Kathy straight away. A few days later Kathy, Miss S and Jane spent a lot of time setting up the new furniture and moving everything around. It was worth the wait and the time because everyone was so excited to see the furniture on the first day of term. If you haven't had a chance to check out the new furniture then have a look below!

Use your mouse to move the photo around so you can see everything.

Tāwhirimātea Week 9 Camp

It's hard to believe that it has been two weeks since we all said goodbye to Blue Skies and headed home. Hopefully everyone is having a relaxing holiday and that all of you competing at sports tournaments played well.

To end off our Inquiry around The Power of People we had an Olympic themed camp at Blue Skies, Kaiapoi. Each camp group created their own country, currency, flag, language, and anthem as part of the lead up. The flags were shown with pride throughout the opening ceremony at camp.

 

During the three days at Blue Skies we also had a range of Olympic events that each team had athletes in. They included:

Sack Race

Wheelbarrow Race

Gumboot Throw (even some of the parents gave it a go!)

And a Paper Plane Competition.

On Wednesday we all wrapped up warm and accepted the challenges of:

Rock Climbing

A mini abseiling wall

Initiative course

Bivouac building

And an Orienteering Course.

Wednesday night we had a show where everyone had to work together in small groups to put on a skit. Miss J, Paul and Sharon even came out to surprise us and watch the show!

On Thursday we cleaned up and had a few more Olympic events before lunch and our medal ceremony!

Thank you all for such a wonderful time at camp.

We look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Spring Writing

This morning Miss S took her key group outside for writing. Our challenge was to think of something for each letter of the alphabet about Spring.

 We spread out around the front of the school grounds and got busy writing. It was a lot of fun to be outside, even if it was a little hard to keep the paper still in the wind.

The best part was getting to work together to come up with ideas. It always helps to chat with a buddy!

Together we came up with some great ideas and pieces of writing!

Here's what happened when they were put all together. Hopefully everyone is staying warm and dry in this terrible wind and rain. Only 13 sleeps till camp!

Christchurch Cultural Festival 2016

Last night (Wednesday 31st August) a group of children from Tāwhirimātea attended the Christchurch Cultural Festival to represent Rāwhiti School. The night was full of energy and the children buzzed with excitement. 

For those of you wanting to watch the performance in full it will be available free through youtube on the Cultural Festival Channel. 

A huge well done to all of the teachers and children involved in making the Cultural Festival performance a success. You made Rāwhiti School proud! 

Tau kē koutou! You're awesome!

A short clip of our Rāwhiti Cultural Festival Team.

Ivan's lego giant

my name is Ivan and this is my best creation I made in my mind just by looking at the picture. It took me a day to make him and an hour to make the head. It also was difficult to make the hand because I used Bionical pieces. (I'm good at building with Lego).