That's it team - our first 11 weeks are over but what an awesome 11 weeks and term 1 it has been!

'Making Connections' is our school theme this year and  we have certainly done this in Tawa class this term. Let's recap to see all of the wonderful things we have been learning about.

We have been so proud to learn our own pepeha. A pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. It tells people who you are by sharing your connections with the people and places that are important to you. We are able to recite in te reo our connections to Maukatere Mt Grey, the Waipara River, Broomfield School and to Tawa Class. We are proud of who we are and where we come from. Our pepeha is on display in the classroom and also digitally on an app called Book Creator. This was a fantastic project we completed collaboratively with the senior buddies. These will soon be available to be viewed. You can also ask your children to speak their pepeha to you - you will be impressed!

We always love term 1 because we get to have swan plants, caterpillars and eventually butterflies in our classroom. The children are always very excited to see the life cycle of a butterfly in action. We also love the way that so many children from other classes are still fascinated with butterflies and come down to Tawa to see when the next cocoon will hatch. 

The school triathlon was another fantastic event in our calendar. All Tawa children showed huge courage to even take part in this new learning and really showed that they are willing to give things a try. We are super proud of all the children who ran, biked and swam their way to the finish line. Since then, we have been enjoying the use of the swimming pool each day. We are so thankful to be able to give the children the opportunity to gain water confidence.

Covid has obviously been lingering this term and unfortunately we have seen a few of our wee tamariki succumb to the virus or having to isolate when family members have become sick. We have used the virus as a way of making connections with our bodies and what our feelings and emotions look like when we are healthy or ill.

George and Corsi know that when their bodies are feeling sick, they feel sad. Lucy's body feels tired and grumpy when she is sick. Kane recognises that his body can feel hot when he is unwell. Grace sometimes feels worried when she is sick because she doesn't know when she will feel better.

Tawa children all agree that we can feel better when someone is kind to us, when we get a card, if we get a cuddle or a kiss and some medicine. We also know that flowers can cheer us up! We made gorgeous sunflowers to cheer up all of our friends who had been away sick this term.

And finally with regards to making connections, we have been studying Autumn and our 5 senses. Creating a collage collaboratively as a class has inspired us to tune into our senses and delve into our understanding of this colourful season. We created a senses poem as a class using all of our wonderful learning. You can read this by zooming into our autumn photos below.

Have a wonderful holiday, we look forward to seeing the children all bright eyed and bushy tailed next term, ready to carry on with their learning and fun at school!