The term got off to a great start with our joint Harakeke and Mataī cross country event. The children have been enjoying a range of activities as part of their literacy and art activities, such as creating their own board games, writing poetry and making leaf rubbings. A few photos are included below.

The tamariki started training for our annual cross country event towards the end of Term 1 and many kept their practice up over the school holidays. We have been very impressed with the way they stuck with their training, even though they were finding it challenging to begin with. 

We would like to congratulate all our children for the effort they put in and the great attitude they brought on the day. 

We would also like to thank our Kahikatea buddies who cheered us on and ran along side us when we needed it. Thank you too, to Miss Scoullar for organising our event on the day.

The following children were our place getters and we enjoyed celebrating their success in assembly last Thursday.

Year 1

First: George, Heeni.  Second: Jack, Pania.  Third: William, Nadia

Year 2

First: Connor, McKenna. Second: Jack F, Ariana.  Third: Cooper, Zara

Year 3

First: Reilly, Alice. Second: Blake, Sadie S. Third: Tieg, Scout.

Year 4

First: Lennox, Maddison. Second: Ben Mc, Alicia. Third: Jack T, Olivia

For the first time, we had entered 16 children into the North West Year 3 and 4 zones event to be held at Avonhead School. Sadly heavy rain meant this was cancelled.

Cross Country Reflections

Cross country was fun as! This was because you got to run a long way and people cheered us on. I felt really proud that I got this far. I got so much better at running over the past few weeks. It shows that if you stick with things they don’t seem so hard anymore.

By Reilly

I loved hearing the people cheering me on as I sprinted to the finish line. It made me go so much faster. Half way through the second lap I thought I would lose as most of the people were in front of me, then my friend kept going in front of me and that made me want to sprint, so I did. I finally got past her with a big sprint and that put me way in front. Then I had to save my energy for the finish line, I knew I would want to run as fast as I could going over the line.

By Lottie

The cross country was very, very challenging because we had to run a long way. It wasn't much fun at first. Then it was the day of the race. It was exciting at the start because we didn't know who would win.

When I finished I was amazed how well I did. The training was hard. We had to run further each day until we could do 2 laps. The Year 4's had to do 3 laps. I realised that I got so much better since last year.

I loved the challenge and I am so proud of myself.

By Millie

Poetry

Pia and Pāpākiri have been writing acrostic and cinquain poems about the seasons. 

Acrostic poetry spells out a name, word, phrase or message with the first letter of each line of the poem. It can rhyme or not, and usually the word spelt out, lays out the theme of the poem.

Cinquain poems are just six lines long, with only a few words on each line. The first and last lines have just two syllables, while the middle lines have more, so they end up with a diamond-like shape.

Here are three cinquains for you to enjoy.

Autumn
Crunchy, colourful
Falling, swishing, blowing
Leaves on the ground
Season

By Luan

Autumn
Dry, crispy,
Tumbling, blowing, falling,
Leaves falling everywhere
Season

By Alicia

Autumn
Colourful, bright
Blowing breeze whistling
Leaves falling to the ground
Season

By Alondra