The week that was..

Congratulations to Taylah Harris for coming in the top 100 out of over 4,500 entries in the Google competition:

Well, with 5 children out on the exchange to Melbourne, we had a welcome amount of space in the classroom this week; it felt rather cramped last week with the 30 children + 5 extra buddies from Serpell!

A short week indeed; we had Monday off, the trip to see the Godwits on Tuesday.. thank you to parent helpers..






Morning tea..



Out on the spit...

Alas, the Godwits were nowhere to be seen; it was still an excellent learning opportunity for the children to see a thriving ecosystem first hand.

On Wednesday, we focused on Maths and Writing revision in class. As I was on release on Thursday, I used the opportunity to make inroads into the Maths Gloss Testing; the results thus far have been really pleasing. The vast majority of the class have improved from where they were at the start of the year. We will now reduce the amount of number work and really increase the amount of Strand work for the rest of the term. Please remember to always ask your children what they have worked on in Maths - their explaining it to you, will help with their own retention of the learning.

The children also sat the E-Asttle writing assessment last week. I have read through most of them and, as expected, the majority have acquitted themselves really well. Apart from class work and a huge emphasis on proof reading and editing, I think this is also due to the consistency with which they have completed their written homework and also down to the fact that you parents have assisted and encouraged them at home. So many thanks for that.

This week, the children will sit the E-Asttle reading test. As per last time, I shall do a one on one Probe reading test for any that struggle with the online test format.

 .. and finally... in case you missed the game and/or the news...

The week that was...

So we started the week with a powhiri:


The Serpell children performed with their own band..

Quickly followed up with a spot of cooking. We made Kiwi classics for the Serpell children to enjoy:




Then we looked at Maori myths with a focus on the creation story.. you know, the one about Rangi (the sky) and Papa (the earth) and how they were forever separated by their children; the children went on a Pou hunt around the school and then reported back on the linked between the pou, the message on them and the school's enviro aspirations.

Sharing back all that has been discovered...

Mr Ayson popped in to hand out the certificates that were unable to be handed out during the centenary assemblies.. well done to Alvin and Jessica..

Mrs Elmore then gave the children a detailed tour of the 'Garden' aspect of Garden to Table..

On Thursday we had a trip to the best place in Auckland.. Devonport (hmm.. who lives there, I wonder..).. Northhead first, for some fun on, around and in the tunnels..

Twas a tad windy..

Oh the horror...

Educational video all about Northhead's history.. 

And then the Navy Museum, for some fun in the classroom..

Note the blue gloves..

Action stations..

For our final day with the Serpell students, we worked on Maori art in the morning, then had a Pacific and aboriginal dancing session...

 and finally, a game of Tapuwae..

So as you can all probably tell, we had very little time for much Maths or Writing revision work. Nevertheless, I think the children got a lot of educational benefit out of the activities that we did this week and had a lot of fun too. After all, learning takes many forms.. it doesn't all have to involve books and computer screens :-)
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REMINDERS
Tuesday trip to see the Godwits - we are leaving at 9am, so please ensure your child is not late.
Wednesday: E-asttle writing assessment.
Thursday: Gloss Maths testing begins - see Homework Page.
Waterwise starts on Friday - please get the money paid in at the office ASAP.

The 1st week back that was..

A difficult first couple of days for both myself and the children in terms of getting our heads back into school work mode... the hardest thing about teaching and being taught (I suppose) is the roller coaster nature of it.. i.e. full on busy, busy, busy and then total relaxation and then full on again... I'm sure you all feel VERY sorry for us.. I can picture you all tearing up at the thought of how tough life is for everyone in education.. :-)

This week we had 3 days in which we looked at aspects of life in the 1920s, 1950s and 1970s, as part of our build up to the centenary celebrations.. though we ran out of time to look at anything much from the 70s... do me a favour and ask your child if they can tell you when the Auckland Harbour Bridge was first opened, how much money was raised in tolls on the first day and how many men built it.

We were also lucky enough to hear a talk from John Maclean - Cooper's Uncle... see below.

In Writing, we continued some intensive work on explanation writing and in Maths, we focused on fractions to percentages and then on decimal subtraction revision.

I think this is a very useful clip, that explains the link between equivalent fractions and percentages:

I was horrified by the number of children who seem to have forgotten how to subtract decimals. See if your child can do this one with you:

11.8 - 8.79

We will continue revising the above next week.

This week is going to be another mixed bag as we have the Serpell children arriving and so have lots of events planned to make their visit to Meadowbank an exciting one. Fear not though, I shall still be shoe horning a spots of Maths, Writing and Reading revision in there somewhere.

Here are a few snaps taken with my brand new Samsung Galaxy S5.. :-)

Here's Augie telling us all about her exotic holiday in Vietnam..

Here are the children practising their 'javelin' technique as part of our athletics build up.

Here are the children during a running relays brain break with a twist.. your child can explain..

Here are the children having a go at 50s rock'n'roll dancing.

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Here are the guitar group leaders teaching a te reo song to the guitarists who are going to Melbourne, so that they can perform it for the Australians.

Here is John Maclean giving his presentation on always trying your best and never giving up.

Here is probably one of the most inspirational moments I have ever witnessed.. John getting up out of his wheelchair to deliver the rest of his speech.

Here's John fielding questions from Room 26. Nathan Mansfield asked him if he had met his wife before or after he was injured; an excellent, unexpected question indeed! We were fortunate to have the extra time with John and it all happened because Cooper is in our class and John is Cooper's Uncle!

Here are the troops on centenary rehearsal day being addressed by Mr Ayson..

Here we are on Saturday, just before the off... thanks for the photobomb Miss Von Detten!

The cool, calm, collected guitarists look on as the maypole dancers do their thang..

Oh the stress.... NOT!

The masses amass..

Here are Peryn, Theo and Emily about to cut the cake with the eldest surviving Meadowbank pupil.. I think she is 93!

And finally... a snap of all of the old Meadowbankians.. at least, all that were there for that photo!