Museum Visit in Term 2 We are extremely excited to confirm that our wonderful year 5 and 6 Tamariki will be visiting Auckland Museum on the 23rd (year 5) and 24th May (year 6). This visit will be based around our Science-Based inquiry for next term, looking at animal evolution, plus adaptation.

It is a wonderful topic to be exploring, and the museum visit will an incredible day out, not only in terms of the enrichment activities offered, but also the whole experience of going into the city as well! There will be a great deal of pre and post-trip learning, and the activities at the museum involve tutored Etymology, as well as how to become a ‘CSI Pukekawa’, which is a session based around how to become an Auckland City Scientist, focusing in on how to identify species in different environments. For further information, please visit the Auckland Museum Website. 

This is a tremendous opportunity, particularly given that we have sadly had to cancel our planned Marae visit this term due to rising costs in transportation, and have prioritised the Museum Trip as our main extra-curricular activity this year (aside from Camps). 

The cost of the Museum Trip will be $30 (as originally outlined in the Wider Learning Opportunities document sent out at the beginning of this year). 

As ever, we will only be able to make this incredible opportunity happen if payments are received, so please ensure that you visit the school shop or contact the office to ensure payment is made, as without enough payments through, we will not be able to make this happen. More details regarding parent help etc on the days in question will come nearer the time.

A Traditional Maori Welcome

It is wonderful seeing how Tuakana is engaging with the Maori culture this year. Through weekly Kapa Haka sessions with Whaea Anna, the students are all given the opportunity to absorb the historical aspect of Maori culture, as well as the relevance to them as they grow up in a bi-cultural society. 

We are also developing wider learning opportunities for students that go beyond the classroom teaching practice of learning the language and understanding the culture. Through our links with the Kahui-Ako (Primary and High Schools across along the cost), our Tamariki are having and will be having opportunities to visit other schools and to be visited by other schools, as they explore their Te Reo Maori journey together. An example of this took place last Friday, at our Whakatau event, held here at Gulf Harbour School. A Whakatau is a Maori welcoming ceremony, and it gave us the opportunity to welcome new students to the school in a formal manner. As part of this ceremony, we sang the Waiata (a traditional Maori welcoming song), and Mrs Crosbie did her Pepeha (Maori greeting). Kylie Tsuji, one of our wonderful year six students, very much enjoyed the event. She said “It is so important to be engaging with Maori culture, as well as welcoming new students to GHS. I’m very excited to be involved and look forward to the many Maori cultural events coming up this year!” 

MINECRAFT CHALLENGE

On 9th March, eight of our Year 5 and Year 6 students participated in the Design the Future: Whangaparāoa 2050 Minecraft Challenge at Whangaparāoa College. It was a fabulous day out and despite some initial technical niggles, the students were hugely impressive with their ability to work as a team and to use their creativity and problem solving skills to create epic Minecraft builds. One group was tasked with coming up with sustainable housing, while the other group had to design a futuristic hospital. Both builds were detailed, superbly executed and expertly presented on stage in front of all the attendees. Ka pai to all the participants for challenging themselves and for showing an incredible amount of resilience under pressure.
They did Gulf Harbour School proud and the organisers of the event were totally impressed!