Term 1 is traditionally quite a hectic term. Swimming, athletics, camp, Tryathlon, more swimming. The kids and staff are all looking forward to taking a well deserved break over the Easter holidays.

Before we all zip off to eat Easter eggs and hot cross buns (truth be told the latter have already been well consumed already!) let’s celebrate the awesome stuff our kids have been up to this term.

Swimming

This term we swam in our school pool AND once a week in town. All our tamariki made exceptional progress with their swimming skill. Johnan and Lennon became confident at floating on their own and are starting to master some strokes. Te Awa is really co-ordinating those arms and legs to freestyle swim. Te Rau and Rickon graduate to the length pool for their lessons. Ryder furthered his water confidence. Mikaire and Kawana really worked hard on their diving skills and fitness. The older particularly enjoyed mastering their ‘manu’ skills at the end of each lesson.

Tryathlon

On Tuesday 21st March we got up at the crack of dawn (quite literally) to head to Palmerston North for the Weetbix Tryathlon. While the weather was pretty grim as we drove down it thankfully only rained a little bit at the event. All our kids who were old enough to enter had a go and did our school proud. They had to swim in the pool then run to their bikes for a bike ride and finish with a 1500m run to the end.

There were some very tired kids on the ride home that’s for sure!

Camp BOP

Well we can definitely say we cracked it with the weather for our week away at camp. Balmy weather for all three days of activities. The only rain we had was travelling up and then again travelling home! Couldn’t have planned it better. It was so cool to spend a week in the sunshine and warm.

This year we headed away with Papanui Junction and it was awesome to get to know a different group of kids and their families.

Some of the activities we got up to:

Redwoods Rotorua – we called in here on our way through to break up the trip. Many of us had been up the treetops before but it was fun to do it again.

Riverbugs – these really cool inflatable ‘rafts’ that each person sat on. We had to wear flippers and webbed gloves and propelled ourselves down the Rangitaikei River from Lake Aniwhenua. Easily one of the many highlights of the week.

Surfing at Mount Maunganui – this was THE highlight for many children. They just loved getting out in the waves and trying to get up on their board. The instructors were amazing and catered for all the different ages, stages and confidence levels.

Kewpie Cruises – after our morning in the water it was time for an afternoon on the water. We cruised around the Tauranga Harbour learning about the different places, hearing some stories, driving the boat (!) and generally just enjoying the scenery.

Awakeri Rail – what a real hidden gem. Our host Paul was amazing and told some incredibly believable stories…ask the kids about Jack in the bush! We had a bush walk and then stopped along the way for a sausage sizzle. Some keen eyed hunters even saw a huge stag in the bush.

Ohope Beach – this was a chill way to end the week. We swam in the waves and then had a sandcastle competition which was super fun. Following this it was to the park in Whakatane for fish and chips then the Year 4-8 children went to the observatory.

Dropzone – On our way home to stopped in Taupo and had a whirl on the trampoline park. Was a great way to wear out already tired kids!

A huge thank you to all the parents who helped our during this trip.

Aside from the above things we’ve also been busy with our learning at school. Our older crew are currently right into drawing at the moment. Their subjects started as Landcruisers and have now moved to deer and pigs. We have some absolutely talented young chaps here and I can’t wait to show off their finished pieces.

In among all the fun and games we’ve also been learning some Maths and Literacy as well…although I think our teachers need a gold medal for making that happen in among all the other cool things.

The term ends this Thursday 7th April and we resume school on Wednesday 26th April. Term 2 is much quieter in terms of sport but we have some exciting science learning on the cards with our Science in the Box kits arriving in the first half of the term.

Until next time….ka kite ano

Sue, Stacey and Kylie.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

School continues to be busy busy.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone our raft trip until a later stage due to significant river levels. We hope we can make this happen later in the year.

We are very excited to be heading away next week to Bay of Plenty for our camp with Papanui Junction. Mrs Revell and I have worked together to create a fun week of activities in, on and around the water. Thankfully the weather is looking amazing.

Last week (28th February) we spent the day at the Mangaweka Campground learning about weeds and weed control. The EnviroSchool team and their Horizons friends facilitated an amazing day for our tamariki that was hands on, fun and engaging. It’s awesome to see so many of our local schools now on the EnviroSchool waka.

On Friday we have our Rural School’s Swimming Sports and we are excited for the tamariki to share what they’ve mastered this term. We have seen massive shifts in swimming skills since we started back this year, with some children now able to get their feet of the ground and float, others are starting to master freestyle and backstroke and our older ones have refined their skills while also mastering the art of diving.

Finally…earlier this term we came up with Tikanga o Pukeokahu which is a list of the right way to be at our school. Below is the tikanga our tamariki agreed upon. We are working closely with the tamariki to ensure our tikanga are upheld within our kura.

Watch this space for our camp download later in the month.

Kia pai te rā!

Kia Ora e te whānau.

We trust that everyone had a great festive season, in spite of the poor weather. It seemed to fly by, and here we are back to kura already.

The term has kicked off well with 9 students on the roll. We welcome Ryder (Year 7) who has joined us from Taranaki. Ryder has fitted in like one of the family and we are excited to have him join our crew.

At the end of last year we farewelled Keeva and Luca who have flown the nest and are now attending Napier Girls High School. We wish them well on the next stage of their journey. We also said goodbye to Grace and her family who had been visiting Pukeokahu from Germany. They have jetted off further north for the next stage of their trip.

This term is shaping up to be busy as always. While our overnight raft trip was cancelled due to high river levels, we will be (fingers crossed) heading down the river for a day trip on 17th February. The other big feature this term is our week long camp. We are heading to Bay of Plenty and combining forces with Papanui Junction School.

Aside from these big trips we also have plenty of swimming, athletics and enviro trips to keep us busy as well as squeezing in some in class learning too.

Speaking of swimming we have been LOVING having our pool up and running this season. A big thank you to Sue Stratton for her dedication to keeping it spick and span.

Key Dates for Term 1 are:

• Wednesday 15th February – First Board meeting for the year.
• Friday 17th February – Raft trip
• Tuesday 28th February – Enviro Trip
• Friday 3rd March – Moawhango Athletics
• 3-5th March – Horse Trek at Mangaohane (all hands on deck!)
• Friday 10th March – Rural Schools Swimming
• 13-17th March Camp in Bay of Plenty
• Tuesday 21st March – Weetbix Tryathlon
• Friday 24th March – Interschool Swimming for those who qualify
• Weekly on Monday – Swimming Lessons Taihape.
• Weekly on Wednesday – Primary Technology Programme for Year 7-8

Until the next post…..ka kite ano!

What a fantastic day we had at our annual Pet and Craft day this year. The weather was phenomenal despite some rain forecast (thankfully that waited until 2:30pm!).

A huge thank you to our judges – Miranda from River Valley and Becca and Hannah from Growing Future Farmers. They were all VERY impressed with the quality of entries in both the craft and pet sections.

Also a big thank you to all of our community members who came out to support our tamariki. They had a great time sharing their skills with you all and judging the adult cupcake decorating competition of course!

The vege / fruit creations were my personal favourite where we had ‘If a Penguin got Botox’, McD’s Burger and Fries, Taihape Waka, Barny the Dolphin, Olly the Octopus, a frightening zombie, a halloween pumpkin, a snowman and sauce and chips.

Craft Day Prizes:

Year 4-8 Section

Best Decorated Cupcake: Charlie James

Best Sand Saucer: Rickon Gilbert

Best Novelty Flower Arrangement: Grace Gilbert

Best Fruit / Vege Creation: Kawana Cashell-Kavanagh

Best DIY Project: Keeva Harrison and Luca Megaw-Kopua (combined entry).

Preschool-Year 3 Section

Best Decorated Biscuit: Lennon Kopua

Best Sand Saucer: Johnan Gilbert

Best Novelty Flower Arrangement: Johnan Gilbert

Best Fruit / Vege Creation: Maddie Taylor

Best DIY Project: Maddie Taylor

Pet Day Prizes:

Dog Section:

Best Calling: Keeva Harrison and Luca Megaw-Kopua

Best Leading: Te Awa Lacy

Biggest Dog: Lennon Kopua

Smallest Dog: Luca Megaw-Kopua

Most Original Name: Maddie Taylor (Munter) and Rickon Gilbert (Buster).

Best Trick: Te Awa Lacy

Lamb Section:

Best Calling: Te Rau Lacy and Johnan Gilbert

Best Leading: Maddie Taylor and Kawana Cashell-Kavanagh

Biggest Lamb: Maddie Taylor

Smallest Lamb: Grace Gilbert

Most Original Name: Mikaire Edwards (Bob) and Kawana Cashell-Kavanagh (Chris)

Best Dressed Overall:

Charlie James and Johnan Gilbert

Adult Prize:

Best Decorated Cupcake – chosen by blind student vote…….Melissa Megaw and Ramona Gilbert

This week we had Rowena from Horizons visit to teach us some more about water and its importance.

We learnt about ways we can protect our water sources from the impacts of human and animal activity.

Here are some pieces of writing we did about what we know about water.

The senior students have been learning to use precise words to share information, describe an event etc. The junior students have been learning to say their idea and write some of it on their own.

We have all been learning (or remembering!) to use full stops and capital letters.

Kawana: There are many special features created by water. One of them is slips. Slips are caused by heavy rain. Rain softens the soil and the ground starts to crack. The rain goes into the crack and under the top soil and then it slips. One way to stop erosion is to plant native trees. Trees help hold the soil together. That is why slips are more common on farm land because are no trees.

Charlie: There are many different features of water. When there is a lot of rain the ground gets soft and then the ground gets cracked. Then it rains more and the water goes under the topsoil and it slips. One way to save our land from slips is to plant trees like manuka and other natives. Slips are bad for our environment because it covers our land and goes into the creeks.

Rickon: There are many features about water. One is the farms. There would be no farms if there was no water because stock would die. You need clear water to live so fence off waterways or the river will be polluted. Also use troughs because the cows will pollute the waterways. Another thing is riparian planting which is planting native trees around waterways.

Mikaire: Swamps are a water source. A swamp is a large area of water. Swamps are usually muddy and have reeds and rushes growing in them. To protect swamps we can fence off the swamp, plant trees and get rid of pest animals.

Grace: The special feature created by water is a plant. You can plant a plant with a seed. Plants can be a flower or a tree. You can fence the plants in to protect the plants.

Kaylee: At the Lodge I had a spa. When we got there, the spa was nice.

Skyler: Lennon and I are in the spa.

Lennon: The water is in the sea.

Te Awa: A frog lives in a pond. We are swimming in it.

Te Rau: Me and Skyler were playing.

Johnan: Me and Aaron Smith are swimming in the hot pool.

This year our roll has grown immensely, in fact doubled (not many schools can say that!) and with so many new faces, especially ones who are new to school, we have refocussed our attention on learning our mihimihi/pepeha.

Several times a term we join forces with Mangaweka and Papanui Junction School’s for Mātauranga Māori learning and part of this involves sharing our mihimihi/pepeha. It’s important we feel well prepared for this as some of us are a bit whakama about standing up in front of a group and speaking so we have been practicing several times a week.

Reciting pepeha is a way of connecting with others by sharing your whakapapa and where you come from. Anyone can have a pepeha/mihimihi, the wording is just slightly different in some cases for non-Māori and respects tangata whenua and local landmarks.

Many of us may find ourselves in a situation where sharing a mihimihi/pepeha is required. Here are some templates that can be used as a guide.

We have recorded our own mihimihi/pepeha on video. If you pop into school scan their QR code and have a listen. Super proud of how far the kids have come so far.

Kia pai te rā! Have a great day.