We are gearing up for a busy end of term. Check out what we have been up to in the article below.

It's been busy as usual in the Year 7/8 hub. As well as getting stuck into Reading, Writing and Maths; the students have been following our motto for the year and ' getting involved and making a difference' in many different areas of school life. 

From Mr McAven: Odering's School Garden Show

The Oaklands School Garden Club has won a silver award at this years Odering's School Garden Show.

Our display wass titled "Te Maunga, Te Awa, Te Waihora" and wass our interpretation of the wetland plantings that Ngati Moki is doing by Lake Waihora (Ellersmere). The display had an option for visitors to make it rain. The water falls from a cloud into a series of rivers which then flow across a braided river bed into Lake Waihora.

Our students have put a lot of work into this display. Well done to Dabok, Sadiyah, Noah, Riley, Jak, Daniel J, Cody, Kyle, Johanna and Caitlin for all their efforts. Special mention must also go to Tracey Xu and Alex Maxey who started the mural last year, and Mr Rush for all his help and amazing ideas.

A huge thanks to the parents that turned up on Sunday afternoon to help pack up. Many hands made light work. 

Ruapuna Duathlon:

After stellar individual performances at the Kauri Run/Bike/Run,   Annabel, Zara, Hannah, Ella, Caitlyn S, Ashley, Maddy, Brayden, Sam T, Taylor, Micah, Marshall, Tamihana and Sam I all represented us at the Ruapuna Duathlon this week. The Ruapuna race is always a hard day out and we are super proud of all of our Year 7/8 athletes. 

PCT Fitness Competition:

This annual event has become a feature of the Year 7/8 calendar and sees teams of 4 competing against other schools of over the Police Fitness Test Course. This year we were represented by Maddy, Ashley, Ella, Hannah, Jak, Taylor, Sam and Micah. Many of these students had competed at the Ruapuna Duathlon the day before, which makes their PCT efforts even more impressive. Competition, as always, was fierce and as always, our athletes represented Oaklands with pride. 

Buddy Programme:

This continues to be a highlight of the week for many students. It is great to see the bonds that are being formed between the Seniors and their Junior Buddies  This was clear last week when some of the Year 7/8 girls were having an absolute blast in the Year 1 hair salon play area.  As well as this, some of the Year 7/8 boys were having a great time playing shops with their junior buddies. It is heart warming to see that our year 7/8 students are still just big kids at heart.The buddy programme will continue to run each Friday during the middle learning block  for the rest of the year. 

Technology:

A reminder that the next Pentad  will begin on Tuesday 10th April as there is no school on Tuesday 3rd April. Please ensure that students are at school at 8:30 each Tuesday as the bus leaves shortly after this time for Lincoln. 

Group A - Will be moving from Textiles/Design 1 to Food

Group B - Will be moving from Textiles/Design 2 to Science

Group C - Will be moving from Foods to Wood

Group D - Will be moving from Science to Textiles/Design 1

Group E - Will be moving from Wood to Textiles/Design 2 

Multicultural Week:

This has been running all week this week. On Tuesday afternoon the whole school was involved in a multicultural games afternoon. Students were involved in games from Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Brazil to name but a few countries. It would be fair to say everyone had a great time. 

On Wednesday the Year 7/8 hub was involved in a session of Samoan Cricket, a learning session all about Samoa and also a learning session on Europe. It has been great to celebrate all of the cultures represented at Oaklands School. We are very proud of our two Cultural Ambassadors ( Dabok and Crystal) who have had a very busy and demanding few days. Well done girls!

The Rest of the Term:

With only two weeks left of the term we are focussing our energies on getting our Integrated Learning ' taking action' phase completed. This will see us creating video tutorials, posters , slide shows and pamphlets to teach both students and teachers the skills required to make better quality videos using iPads. We will also be combining up with our junior buddy classes and assisting our buddies to learn how to use iPad apps with more confidence and skill.