There's No Business Like Showbusiness!!!

In Te Maunga we have been making movies. It has taken weeks of preparation but we finally have some finished products to share with the world.

We started out by writing scripts and drawing up storyboards to bring our creations to life. Next we had to figure out sets and props and get creative building these.

Next was crunch time - filming and animating. This part was the shortest but definitely very stressful!

Lastly was editing. This part took up a huge chunk of time but we wanted to make the absolute best product we could. Some last minute voice overs and reshoots and we were finally done.

You can check out our movies on our class Youtube page - Click here. They will be live at 1:30pm on Friday December 10th. While you're there feel free to check out the movies from previous years!

Wacky Wednesday

On November 17th we had Wacky Wednesday at school. People dressed up as all sorts of crazy things!

It was such good fun to wear things that were a little bit different to what we would normally wear. We also had a good laugh at some of the teachers!

Shakeout Day

We have been learning about earthquakes and volcanoes so it was a good reminder for us when Shakeout Day happened.

We knew all about what we need to do when there is an earthquake so as soon as the alarm went off, we were under the tables as quick as a flash!

Thankfully our (pretend) earthquake didn't last too long so we didn't have to go on out tsunami hikoi!

We feel very prepared now for if an earthquake ever makes it to Paihia School!

Friday Fun Day!

For the last day of term we had a great time out in the sun enjoying some games put on by our tuakana in Te Ngahere.

We had so much fun running around and playing in the sunshine.

We want to send a huge thank you to those awesome students that ran all of the games and Mrs. Williams for organising the day.

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori

Kia Ora whānau!! We have done some fun activities learning new kupu in class. 

One activity we did had us searching for clues to crack the code and get a prize at the end. Click the link below and see if you can win the prize!

Crack the Code!

Another great activity we have been doing is making a book about kararehe me nga tau (animals and colours). We have been learning about these and now have come finished books for you all to enjoy!

Level 2 Life

We're all back at school after some online learning was done at home. We have some new rules to follow while we are in level 2 but it's nothing we haven't dealt with before.

We have been doing a lot of individual work but we definitely can't wait to be able to work in groups again. It was sad that our film making unit had to be postponed too!

It has been great to get back to school and see each other again, even with these new rules in place. We hope everyone is being safe out there and doing the right thing to make sure everyone stays happy and healthy!

Nanogirl!!!!!!

What an awesome treat we had at Paihia School today. The world famous in New Zealand Nanogirl came to show us all how fun and exciting science can be.

She did all sorts of experiments and wowed the crowd. We couldn't believe that she could hold fire in her hands!

She got some helpers with a few of the experiments and we were all blown away by them, especially Indie...

What an awesome way to start week 3 at Paihia School.  We all had so much fun and learnt a whole lot about science and engineering!

Navigating the Classroom

As part of our Matariki learning, we had Aunty Jo Busby come in to tell us all about navigating by using the stars.

Before GPS people could use the stars to help them find their way when they travelled by sea.

We learnt the 4 main compass points, raki (north), whitinga (east), tonga (south) and tomokanga (west).

We also learnt the quadrants, tokerau (north-east), marangai (south-east), whakarunga (south-east) and whakararo (north-west).

The sun has 2 wives that he goes to visit between summer and winter. They determine how long the sun is out during the day in summer and winter.

Awesome Astronomy

In Te Maunga we have been learning about the sun, moon and stars. We read all about these heavenly bodies and what they do.

The sun is the most important thing in our solar system. Without it, there would be no light, heat or life on Earth. The moon orbits the Earth. Its gravity affects tides on Earth. We can only see the moon because the sun reflects off it. The Matariki cluster is closest to the Taurus constellation. 

We wrote some awesome explanations and have learnt a huge amount about what is happening in the universe.

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

In class we have been doing team building games to improve our communication and teamwork. We have played all sorts of games and had great fun. 

One game we did was human knot. It was really difficult trying to untangle ourselves from each but we had a lot of fun problem solving to find a way out.

We also did the hula-hoop chain and had to work together to move the hoop around everyone. We are all much better communicators now and have learnt a lot about each other during these games.

Fantastic Statistics

In week 1 Te Maunga got into maths mode big time. We all came up with a series of questions to find out what things are our favourite in class.

We had to ask everyone these questions and tally up the data. It was great finding out all of this new information. 

Once the data was gathered we needed to put it all into a table to understand it better. We used Google Sheets to put the data in. Once the data was tabled, we created a graph to show our data. 

The last part was interpreting the data. It was really important to think about what the data showed and what pieces were missing. We had a great time learning about doing a statistics investigation.

Sea Creatures On Land!

On the last day of Term 1 we all spent the morning doing a range of activities that link in to our learning about sea creatures.

We did some art to show a school of fish, more art with shaving cream to make seahorses, some science experiments to simulate an oil spill and sea currents, drew a scale chalk drawing of a blue whale and made an "X-Ray" of a fish.

We all had a lot of fun and learnt all sorts of new things about the creatures we can find in the moana we live by.

Thoughts About Food

In week 9 we had Abi from Food For Thought come into class to teach us all about food and drinks. She showed us what foods we should eat to be healthy.

We did a Kahoot quiz, went to Four Square to compare nutritional information on food and drink and even got a free healthy lunch!

It was awesome having Abi in and I know we will all be making better choices about what we eat from now on! 

To the Highest Bidder...

In Te Maunga we had an Easter auction. We have been working hard in class to earn Class Dollars to spend on our first auction for the year. 

Our teachers got all sorts of goodies for us to buy. We sat down in class after lunch with our little slips of paper ready to place our bids on all the exciting things we liked the look of.

By the end of it all some people had gone home with a great haul of goodies. In the end we had a lot of fun, won a few things and learnt that hard work really does pay off.

Sea Week Visit

On Wednesday March 24th we had some visitors come in to school to teach us all about underwater life.

We learnt the rules around fishing, about the life we can find underwater in a 1 metre square area.

We measured fish to see if they would be legal and used some cool contraptions to make sure shellfish were the correct size.

We learnt about all of the different sea life we might find underwater. We saw coral, anemones and urchins, along with all sorts of other fish.

Finally we all practiced what to do when saving a beached whale. We covered the whale in blankets, made a chain to the water (sandpit), and dumped our water on the whale to save it.

Tsunami Surprise

What a day Friday was! We were all ready for our last day of level 2 at school when all of a sudden the bell rang... and rang... and kept ringing. We all lined up by the gate and headed for higher ground.

We trudged up the hill slowly, lungs bursting and legs on fire by the time we were halfway up. Finally Ms. Simmonds turned around and we all sat down on the hill. 

It was quite a scary time for us. We all sat quietly in our classes waiting for the all clear. After an hour we were all getting a little bit worried that we were going to have to stay the night!

Some of the people came out of their houses and brought food and water for us. It was awesome to see that people would come and support the youngest in their community. They even offered the use of their wharepaku for our school.

When we were finally given the all clear, we were so excited to get back down the hill. It had been such a stressful day that we ended up spending the last part of it playing on the playground and eating ice-cream that Mrs. Lindsay brought over because we had been so mature and well-behaved!

Whanaungatanga For All

This week we had to deal with tighter restrictions because of Level 2 and a visitor to class. While we always try our utmost to have good hygiene, moving to Level 2 meant further restrictions that made things a lot less exciting for our learners.

One thing that was exciting was the unintended arrival of a visitor to class. Lilly found a bird that was unable to fly out in the playground so she brought it back in to class. We gave it a box to perch in with some familiar surroundings and fed it some mashed egg. The box was kept on top of the fridge to get some of the warmth coming off it.

Our feathered friend hasn't returned or written a letter (rude) but we are all sure that it has flown off to greener pastures.

Weeeeeeee're Baaaaaaaaaack

Welcome one and all to the 2021 season of learning in Te Maunga. We've had some exciting changes in class and everyone is absolutely fizzing to get back into it! We have a new teacher in the building, Penny who has stepped up from being a teacher aide last year! We also have Suzi and Elly joining us as teacher aides and they have loved their first days in Te Maunga.

Today we received the first round of new Chromebooks for learners that have purchased them. This just added to the heaving excitement of being back at school this year.

While we enjoyed our holidays it has been awesome to catch up with old friends and make some new ones in the first few days!