General

It continues to be a busy time in the senior school as we delve deeper into our Chemistry learning. Reports are well-underway as they are being prepared to come home during Week 9. We also have student-led conferences during Week 9 where students will be excited to share their learning from the first half of this year. Student-led conferences will be held on Wednesday 28th June from 3:30pm - 6:30pm and Thursday 29th June from 1:30pm - 7:00pm. More details will follow shortly.

Additionally, a big welcome to Steph who is teaching in Studio 6 for the remainder of Term 2. It’s wonderful to have such an experienced teacher join our team, albeit temporarily!

More poetry success!

Some children recently entered an Autumn poetry challenge. Paula Green, an author and organiser of the challenge, loved Matilda’s 'spreading' poem so much she won a book! She loved reading all the poems we sent in but she particularly liked Matilda's other poem 'Eating', Jasper and Jamie's joint poem 'Leaves and Trees', Archie's 'The Bee's Trees' and Indigo K and Rita's 'Autumn' poem and Sofia's 'Autumn'. You can read about the competition and their poetry here.

Cross Country

Cross country day arrived during Week 4. What a perfect blue-sky day. The frost thawing just in time for the opening race. An amazing effort from all the Westmere children - red faces, bursting lungs, heavy legs and big smiles at the finish line.

Congratulations to all children who participated and a special congratulations to our top place getters:

9 year old girls:

1st Goldie Wiltshire
2nd Bella Russell
3rd Ellen Thompson

9 year old boys:

1st Braden Lawson
2nd Jamie Mackenzie
3rd Jasper Stevenson

10+ year old girls:

1st Rita Price
2nd Renee Cunningham
3rd Charli Dunn

10+ year old boys:

1st Kahurangi Cotterill
2nd Charlie Kaye
3rd Louis Burling

Thank you to our sports ambassadors from the senior school and to the group of parents and teachers who helped throughout the event with walking to and from Cox’s Bay, place cards, recording, certificates and marshalling (even missing seeing your own children cross the finish line so that the event could run smoothly and safely for all). It’s greatly appreciated.
- Tracey

Inter-School Cross Country was last week and Westmere did really well with everybody trying their best in their races. Westmere kept going even if they were tired, and didn't give up. They also showed sportsmanship by supporting each other and other schools. The 10 year old girls came first over all and the 9 year old girls came second over all.

Congratulations to the following students for their individual performances:

Rita - 2nd, 10 year old girls

Ellen - 2nd, 9 year old girls

Kahu - 2nd, 10 year old boys

- By Charli D & Louis B

Conceptual Curriculum - “How the World Works”

Last week we focused on making connections across the chemistry experiments we undertook during the first four weeks of term. The students explored the key understandings within these experiments based on our three concepts: States, matter and change. The students also posed questions to provoke discussion and investigation. These questions were grouped based on similarities and three contexts emerged: Biogeochemistry, Biochemistry and Food Chemistry. Students selected the pathway they were interested in exploring:

Jason and Marcela are exploring Biogeochemistry: A way of looking at how the Earth’s systems (water, atmosphere, land and living things) interact with each other. This week we have begun exploring the Nitrogen Cycle and pH scale through an experiment involving growing beans! Next Tuesday we will be visiting Kelmarna Gardens to see this in action. If your child is in Jason’s or Marcela’s concept group, we would be grateful for your support with this trip. Please keep an eye out for the notice coming home later this week.

Sophie and Steph are exploring Biochemistry: A branch of science that explores the chemical processes within and related to our bodies. This week have have begun to record as many chemical processes we could think of and will be exploring the digestive system and how chemical reactions take place in our bodies to break down our food in more detail. The children know a lot already and we will continue to extend this knowledge through hands-on activities. We will also explore the pH scale in relation to different bodily fluids. Are there any doctors in our parent community who would be able to share some interesting ‘body knowledge’? Our children have lots of questions! Please contact us if you can help.

Mike and Terry are leading an investigation into food-based chemistry. It is already proving to be a fun and informative area of learning, deepening our knowledge of how food can go through chemical and physical changes. So far we have explored the fermentation process through brewing ginger beer, and how gluten reacts with water. We are hoping to foster a deeper sense of curiosity and connection with food, encourage our kids to cook and become creative in the kitchen at home. 

Book Fair

A big thank you to everyone who supported our Book Fair. A huge amount of money was raised through this event, which will go towards purchasing new books for our school library.

Studio 6 Parent Drinks

A reminder that this is at Malt Bar on Richmond Road, Thursday 22nd June from 6pm.

Ngā mihi,

Jason, Marcela, Mike, Sophie, Steph & Terry