Leaping into learning!

This term, Team Pīwakawaka has had a great time learning about the Olympics. We looked at the Ancient Olympics and how they compared to today's Modern Olympics. We learnt about special symbols of the Olympics such as the rings, the mascots, and flags. We watched parts of the Opening Ceremony and learnt about some of our New Zealand athletes. Finally, we had our very own Olympic games which started with an opening ceremony, including a torch relay. Each class made their own flag, mascot and emblem. After participating in each of the events, our finalists competed for medals. It was a great experience and we all learned so much about the Olympic values of Respect, Friendship and Excellence in action!

Rūma 1

In Rūma 1 we have been exploring te ao Māori through rākau, performance, pūrākau, and art. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance from the Court Theatre in Week 6 of Matatihi: Maia's Journey of Bravery. It tied in nicely with our school value of Kia Māia Be Brave. One of the main characters in the show was Pouākai the Haast Eagle. We have been learning the pūrākau of Ruru and the Pouākai and we are exploring different ways to share this learning through printmaking, digital technology, and acting. We are looking forward to sharing what we have been learning in our Week 10 assembly and hope to have our prints completed to retell the story of brave Ruru.

Rūma 2

In Rūma 2, we have had many hands-on learning experiences to help us with our learning. Take a look at what we have been doing over the past three weeks. We have created shape rockets to help us recognise different shapes. We have also been building cities. This has helped us reinforce number recognition and learn one-to-one counting skills. This week we have been learning about fractions. We cooked toast and then we cut our toast into quarters. 

“We made rockets and it looks like it is in space. We learnt about different shapes. My favourite shape is the heart.” Hailie 

“We were cooking the bread, then we cut it into pieces. It was quarters.” RJ

“I was building a city with numbers. I was doing the exact number.” Felix

Rūma 3

As part of our topic this term, Rūma 3 made a relay torch and an Olympic flame podium, complete with Olympic rings, for our team Pīwakawaka Olympic Games. We also had the thrill of following Ellesse Andrews as our New Zealand Olympian. It was so exciting to follow a Kiwi through the games. We wrote about Ellesse in our stories, and Eden's story was sent to inspire her. We watched (delayed) coverage of Ellesse in her two cycling events - the sprint and the keirin. The children watched Ellesse win her heats and then were wild with excitement as she powered home to win the first two sprints of three, making her an Olympic gold medallist! We all stood proudly for the national anthem, applauding at the end. We even sent video footage to Ellesse of us watching, and of a banner we had made to say how proud we were of her. Then it was time for the kierin and we were super excited...chanting, clapping, and spurring her on from little old Room 3 all the way across to Paris, France. And she won!

What a wonderful way for our children to connect to a world famous event, thousands of kilometres across the globe. Hopefully Ellesse may come and visit us!

Rūma 4 & 5

The New Entrant teachers attended a workshop called 'Engage'. This programme focuses on helping tamariki to develop self-regulation skills. These skills include taking turns, calming down, focusing and persisting with a task. The approach has a strong focus on relationships, working together, and belonging.

The skills are taught through games. Some of these games you might remember from when you were a child. Some examples of the games are:

1. Magic blanket, which is a memory game

2. Super Hero breathing, inhaling and exhaling to help develop emotional regulation.

3. Pass the bean bag, which is a behavioural game that encourages children to listen to instructions and pay attention to other children. 
   

When we play the games, we use intentional language like, "This game helps us to be calm and listen to instructions". We explain to the children which skill they are using. These skills can then be transferred to learning sessions, helping tamariki to remain calm and persist when learning is challenging. 

The tamariki love playing these games!

Rūma 6

This term, Rūma 6 have been developing their music skills through the Charanga programme. We have been focusing on "The Dragon Song", which is about being kind, respectful and inclusive of others. Through this song, we have learnt about keeping the pulse/beat of the music. Some of our favourite warm-up games are clapping rhythms and copying the pitch. We have also been learning the lyrics of the song, which has been a big challenge! All of these steps have helped us prepare for learning to play along using the chime bars, which we finally got to do this week!

Rūma 7

For the past two weeks, Rūma 7 has been diving into the world of fractions! We’ve been exploring how to divide shapes, pizzas, and even fruit into equal parts. Through fun activities and hands-on projects, our young mathematicians are learning to recognize halves, quarters, and thirds. We have been learning how to draw and shade unit fractions and demonstrate an understanding of the difference between the numerator and the denominator. We have also learnt about the importance of equal sharing. Check out our awesome Fraction Robots and Fraction Flowers that we made.

Great job, everyone—keep up the fantastic learning!