Caterpillars!!!

This week we noticed some new neighbours that had moved into our gardens. We saw lots of caterpillars had moved onto the swan plants in one of the gardens in the school.

We decided to explore who these new friends were and had lots of fun doing it. We explored making 3D shapes to make our own caterpillars.




We did some research and found out the life cycle of a caterpillar. This inspired us in our writing.


And we even created some very hungry caterpillar art to add to the story.

ASB sports day

Last week we went on a trip to the ASB centre for a day of sports. Over the day we had a chance to try floorball, gymnastics, dodgeball and futsal.
It was a good chance to practise some of the skills we have been learning at school and try out some new things we haven't done before.
We needed to dial up our bravery and teamwork so that we could make the most of the new experiences. Most of all it was lots of fun. Check out some photos from the day.

Taking action in our Inquiry

Taking action: our inquiry (part two)

As Kaitiaki of school, we have been keeping an eye on the garden, sandpit and drains.

In the garden, we found that the strawberries are growing very well. We are worried that birds might eat them before we have the chance. We plan to take take action by adding some netting to the beds. 

We were also excited to find that we have some stripy Monarch butterfly caterpillars feasting on the swan plants.

Everyone had a good look but, because we are Kaitiaki, we didn't try to pick up the caterpillars: we would be very sad if we squashed one!

It will be fascinating to watch them grow fatter and eventually turn in to chrysalises.

Meanwhile, the Kaitiaki of the drains have been checking for rubbish. We have found a lot of pencils and, on Friday, eleven plastic fish from the sushi boxes. These things are not biodegradable so won't break down if they get into the ocean. 

We have also found lots of figs that are falling out of the fig tree. What can we do with them? We don't like to waste food at Worser Bay School, but these figs aren't ready to eat yet. This is a problem for us to try to solve.

We have also been keeping the sandpit neat and tidy. The Kaitiaki have been finding all the sandpit toys from around school and making sure they are in the right place, ready to play. On Monday, they worked extra hard and used their Perseverance to move all the tyres out of the sandpit.

Ka rawe tō mahi, Kaitiaki mā!

Rocket Lab Buddies

We are very lucky in Autahi to have some amazing buddies come in from Tautoru to help us with our reading and Rocket words.

They come in twice a week.

They listen to us read our stories and help us when we get stuck.

They help us practise our rocket words, reading them and writing them on to a whiteboard.

Then they read a story to us!

The more practise we do, the better we get!

Taking Action!

We have chosen an area of the school to be the Kaitiaki of and we are taking action to make sure they are ready for play!

We are Kaitiaki of the Gardens. We go around and check that there is no rubbish in the gardens and that they are watered.

We are Kaitiaki of the drains. We make sure that the covers are on the drains and there is no rubbish inside or around them.

We are Kaitiaki of the sandpit. We make sure that the sandpit toys are in the sandpit and that it is clean and ready to play in.

When we were outside, we noticed some problems....

We are going to have to think creatively about how to solve them.

Whanau day Term 4

This week we have had another Whanau day where we celebrated how we can use our strengths in different ways.

Whanau day is an opportunity for children to work in groups from all three areas of the school as well as working with their siblings. We work in different spaces around the school and often with different teachers. It is a great way to explore different parts of the school and make connections with new people.

In Carl and Nik's Whanau group we looked at the strength of Hope and how we might use it to help us when we are feeling nervous or scared about something. We made Hope jars to help remind ourselves of the things we are hopeful for next year and in the future.

These are things that we can keep with us as sometimes it becomes hard to remember. Check out some of our hopes for the future.

Why is there a bowl of water with rubbish in it?

As part of our inquiry we have been exploring problems in our local environment. During one of our discussions we identified that the drain on the top grass was often getting rubbish stuck inside. We knew that the drain would eventually lead out to the sea but that was so far away that we couldn't see how it was affecting the water.

So we collected some of the rubbish after lunch on Monday afternoon and placed it in a bowl of fresh water to see what would happen.

The water went murky and yucky. We couldn't drink the water and we know that fish and other creatures wouldn't want to live in it. 

The next step in our inquiry cycle is to take action. Each person in Autahi has decided that they will be the Kaitiaki or guardian of something in our school to make sure that it is looked after for everyone including the birds and insects.

We are excited to go out into our environment and help keep it in a healthy shape, just like those that came before us have looked after so that we could use it today.
Check out some of our writing about some of the actions we are planning on taking.