Mystery Skype

Last week we took part in a Mystery Skype Challenge. This involved being paired up with another school in New Zealand and racing them to find out where each other was by asking Yes or No questions. All we knew at the beginning was that we would be paired up with an urban school.

All students in the class had roles to play so that we worked together as a team. We had ambassadors whose job it was to speak to the other school over Skype, we had detectives who had to use Google Maps to try and narrow down where in New Zealand the other class was, there were reporters who took photos and videos to show what was happening. We also had recorders who kept track of the information. Everyone was fully involved and worked together successfully.

 

We asked some really good, thoughtful questions and managed to narrow it down quickly to work out they were an all girls school within 20kms of Auckland. It took a bit longer to work out that they were Carmel College, which is a school of over a 1000 Year 7-13 students. 

It was a great way to practice our questioning skills, our teamwork and our ability to use Google Maps - not to mention it was great fun and really interesting to talk to a school that was so different to ours.

What's Up Wk 2

Sorry for the last update this week - but better late than never 😀.

Some important reminders this week:

* Lead Conference on Friday - we are leaving at 8am so please ensure your child is at school on time. Toko tops and black bottoms must be worn, jackets will be given out on Thursday afternoon.

* Science Fair - I will be taking boards up to New Plymouth on Monday afternoon. Friday will be the last time students can work on these as Monday is technology and there will be no time to do any last minute work. Those with rockets need to take them up Tuesday morning for judging. Please get your child to get details from me if they are entering a rocket. All students will be going to view the Science Fair on Wednesday next week and then visiting the museum and having lunch before returning to school.

* Taranaki Trophy - this year this will be completed over three days for rugby and one day for netball. Rugby dates are Thursday 16th August, Thursday 30th August and finals will be on Thursday 20th September. The dates for netball haven't been set as yet. 

* Methanex Maths Quiz Teams - students have been selected for these two teams. Notices will come home on Thursday for those children involved. 

* Speech Board - information about requirements for Speech Board will be coming home on Thursday. There will be a parents meeting for new parents or for parents wishing to know more - the date for this will be on the letter on Thursday.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Welcome to Term 3

Hi Team and welcome back to Term 3. Hopefully you've managed to spend some time family time with your children. I managed to sneak away for 4 days to Rotorua with the family, which was lovely.

This term we hit the ground running with our flexible timetable, everyone knows how it works so we should be straight into it. I've made a few tweaks to things so that I've got my eye on those that like to fly under the radar.

Other than the usual maths, reading and writing, we will be starting a unit looking into our local area and our Maori connections. We are all New Zealanders, so it's important we know the history of the area from both a Maori and Pakeha perspective. We will also be carrying out some small science experiments as a way of looking at writing procedures and information texts. It will also help us to learn scientific vocabulary and scientific processes.

Our Year 7/8 sports exchanges begin this term. At this stage I have no information about this tournament, but I will let everyone know as soon as I know.

We also have Speech Board this term. We won't be starting our work on this until a bit later in the term. But it's time to start thinking about a topic. I will give the children more information about this during the first week back.

Cross Country is also on this term. So we will be running as often as possible. We are changing up the track this year to make it more 'country' which will be great. If your child is unable to practice running please send a note. If I don't have notes I can never be sure what injuries are real and what injuries are because of cross country!

Science Fair projects should be well under way for those that entered. They need to be finished by the end of next week. There will be time to work on them in class but they need to be right into it already or they won't finish in time. If there is a parent available to help put the boards together at some stage this week, I would love to hear from you.  On Wednesday of week 3 the Year 7/8 and 6's will be travelling to New Plymouth to view the Science Fair. We are trying to set up another activity to complete while we are in New Plymouth. I will advise when this is sorted.

Have a great week.

Creating Independent Thinkers

On Tuesday we had another great example of students following their passions and interests. Pippa and Libby are passionate about sports and were also very interested in how our 3D printer works. They decided to organise a touch tournament for the 3 senior classes and to make the prizes for the winners on our 3D printer. 
They planned the whole event, which included getting permission from teachers, making teams, creating the draw, organising refs and game times as well as thinking about captains and how the whole thing would flow.
They then learned how to use the printer and the printing programme (Tinkercad) and created 3D balls for prizes for the fairest players and 3D whistles for the refs.
They both managed to execute a great afternoon of sports and learned a lot along the way around organising events, being leaders and how to use a 3D printer.