Anti Bullying Campaign

Over the past two weeks we have been doing some focus learning around Anti-Bullying.

Here are some poems some Tiwai East students wrote:

Day By Day - By Thomas Brocherie

Day by day,

They need a friend.

While you come,

And make their lives want to end.

It could be on the internet,

Or in the playground,

Calling them names,

Making them feel down.

Put yourself in their shoes,

Being called ugly every day.

Certainly,

I don't think you'd find that okay.

If you do,

Make a mistake.

I'm sure they'll let you have,

Another take.

Day by day

You'll be their friend.

No one will come

And make their lives want to end.

Words Are No Joke - By Isla 

Day by day your treated like dirt 

Because the truth really does quite hurt.

Words hurt if drowned fear but don't

Forget your friends are here.

Most days you try to stay but others

You want to fade away. 

Punches are one thing words are another 

They make you want to scream and stutter.

You've acted tough

But enough is enough.

All they need is one true friend 

Before they want to reach their end. 

Words Hurt - By Billie-Jo 

Bullying is not okay,

But all the words they lay.

With all your words that overload,

Their heads might explode.

Words hit like knifes,

It changes lives.

All they want is to disappear,

And when the end is near.

Remember life isn't a movie 

Don't end it,

It may feel like drowning in a pit.

But you are stronger than you think.

Bowls

We were extremely fortunate to have Emily from Canterbury Bowls come to our school, and run two lessons per class on the basic fundamentals of how to play bowls.

Then we walked down to the Kaiapoi Workingmen's Club and used their Bowling green to have a go at the real thing!

It was a great experience learning a new sport and we realised there was quite a technique behind it.

Waipara Camp - Room 21, 22, 23

During Week 5, we had a superb time on camp at Waipara.  There were lots of students who pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and showed a lot of 'bravery' during a number of activities.

We were extremely fortunate that we had an amazing bunch of parents who supported us.  We are very grateful to Mr Hendo who stayed on for the entire week to support Mrs Gilmore and Miss Hurley.

Just like Room 18, 19, 20, we were fortunate to take part in a number of activities across the three days, starting with a long river walk and then some free time on the first day.  We then had a Quiz and a Wearable Arts competition.
On Tuesday we had a full day of rotations which included Water Slide/Flying Fox, Giant Swing, Flying Kiwi, Raft Building, Kayaking, Confidence Course and Tree Climbing and then we did the Blind Trail at night.
On Wednesday, we continued with the rotations and ended with a yummy lunch.  It was a fabulous time had by all.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible!

Camp - Rm 18-20

Room 18,19, 20 had such a great time on camp last week. We headed up on Monday morning and began with a river walk. This was followed by some team building games, orientation and a scavenger hunt around camp. Tuesday we began our rotations. The rotations involved Flying Kiwi, Giant Swing, Raft building, Kayaking, Water Slide, Tree Climbing, Confidence Course and Water Hole swimming. After a full day of rotations we had a quiz night followed by the blind trail in the dark through the trees.
Wednesday morning we finished our activity rotations, tidied up and headed back to school.
It was such a great experience at camp, trying new things and building new friendships.
The teachers were so impressed with the way we held ourselves and showed our school values. Thank you to all the parents who supported our camp and enabled it to happen.

Check out some of the pictures below.

Science!

On Thursday we had Science in a van come to visit us and teach us about states of matter. It was a fantastic show with lots of interesting information! This was a great lead up to our Science unit for this term which is Acids and Bases. We will be doing lots of learning around science over the next few weeks followed by our own inquiries and a science fair... watch this space!

Swimming Sports Fun!

On Friday 8th February, Hinau and Totara made their way down to the Kaiapoi Aquatic Centre to take part in the KNS annual Swimming Sports.

There was a lot of participation, many close races and lots of people being brave!  It was awesome to hear and see the great sportsmanship being shown both in and out of the pool.

Congratulations to all of our students who got involved, we are proud of you all!

Our C Grade Swimmers having a blast with Mrs McCarthy and Mrs Hunter

2019 Begins!

Welcome to 2019!
We have had a great first week in Tōtara with getting to know each other, learning the routines and our first session at Kaiapoi Borough School for technology. We held a meet the teacher evening for parents to come along and hear about how things work in Tōtara.
The children in both hubs have been working on"All About Me" activities.
In Tiwai West (Rooms 18,19 and 20) we have been doing some self portrait art to brighten up our walls and writing to our teachers about things we would like them to know about us.

At Technology we were put into 4 groups - Food, Hard materials, Textiles and Multi Materials. We will spend one term in each area creating and learning.

Week one has also seen the introduction of our new school wide 'Ruataniwha Rewards'. These are given out to children who are achieving our weekly goal or showing one of our school values. In Tōtara these can be traded in for prizes and each token also goes towards house points for the school.

Check out the photos below to see some of the cool things we have been doing at Technology!