Art Week!!

On Monday we started our art. We got to choose from James Rizzi, Andy Warhol, The Scream, Aboriginal art and Romeo Britto.

I picked James Rizzi because I like his bright contrasting colours and his cool building drawings. We started water colours and had to do lots of coats to make the colours brighter and to attract attention to our art! I did a boat but it's not finished yet.

Rolleston Football

ROLLESTON FOOTBALL

By Josie Greer and Caitlin Dent

BANG BANG,

As we drove over the speed bumps it was a long bus ride but soon got to Brookside Park.

We got into got into our groups and practiced kicking then we went over to the fields and the whistle blew and the game began. YAY we scored a goal, BOO they scored a goal. Half  time said the ref. We had a drink and went onto the field and began. Shin ran up to the goal then past the ball to me and we scored another goal. Soon we got 2 more goals but then they got the ball and scored a goal. The whistle blew one last time. Yes victory is ours! We won the game  and the final score was 4-2 then we headed back to where all the Halswell people were , then we took off our boots and all of our gear and then headed to the bus to go back to school.

Arthur's Pass Museum

We think you should come visit our Arthur's Pass Museum! It is filled to the brim with diorama's, cool slide shows and information about The Otira Tunnel, The Viaduct, kea's, kiwi's and just about everything you can think of! Come quick to see our Museum or you'll miss out on being a Arthur's Pass genius!

Fizzing and Foaming- Rocket Launcher

Our science experiment

by Emma and Brooklyn

Soda pop guns                       

Materials:

1.Plastic bottle.

2.100m white vinegar.

3.1 cork.

4.1 teaspoon of baking soda.

Questions:

How high does it pop?

Does the bottle explode?

Hypothesis:

We think that the cork will pop out of the bottle and go flying!

Experiment:

1. Fill the bottle with 100ml of vinegar
2. Put 1 teaspoon of baking soda into the bottle
3. Quickly slot the cork into the top of the bottle
4. Stand back and watch it POP!!!

   

   Results:

   Our cork went really high because of the carbon dioxide in the soda reacting with the vinegar which smelt really bad and it exploded as the pressure built up.

    The vinegar went everywhere.

 Conclusion:

Our chemical soda gun worked well.

The gas pushed the cork up high,causing the cork to pop out.

New Zealand Sign Language

NZSL

New Zealand Sign Language

On Thursday Cheryl Coughlan from Van Ash Deaf Education Centre  came to teach us NZSL .We learnt numbers, colours and the alphabet.  Cheryl only has 3 students and a teacher aid. Some deaf people have sign names . Sign names help deaf people say a person's name instead of fingerspelling. There’s over 22 thousand people who are deaf in the world.

By Bridie Coughlan

Rolleston Winter Sport

10 May 2015

Dear Parents,

Our Rolleston Winter Sport starts this week and will run every Wednesday afternoon until Week 3 Term 3 (weather permitting).  We will leave school at approximately 12.30pm and return by 3pm.  The children will be transported by bus every Wednesday.

The cost of winter sport this year is $40 per pupil and this amount has been added to your pupil account.

Sports uniforms

With the exception of rugby (who have been issued complete rugby uniforms) children need to wear their red Halswell Sports top.  Any children who do not have their own have been issued with one.  Football and Hockey players need to wear black or navy shorts and long socks.  Netball players have been issued with black netball skirts.  

As previously advised in our team newsletter, some sports require safety gear (mouthguard, shinpads).  Any children who have been unable to get shinpads can see their T-group teacher, as we have a small number of shinpads available for issue.  Unfortunately, children without the required safety gear will be unable to play.

Venues

Hockey and football are played at Brookside Park, Rolleston.

Netball is played at Clearview School and the Rolleston Reserve.  (We are trying to get the draw altered so that our teams play at the same venue every week).

Rugby and Touch are played at the Rolleston Reserve.

Draws

Draws will be on display in the Learning Centre and will also be available on the Rolleston Sport page of this blog.

Please see your child’s T-group teacher if you require further information.

Regards

Anita Head

Y5/6 Team Leader

322 steps

"320...321….322,  yes! We finally made it!" T30 went through the tough, sweating, worst 322 steps of their life.  

One T30 student, Joely, described it as “Tiring and sore, but well worth the view"

Another student, Brielle says "The walk wasn't that bad, but the fruit burst at the end helped. When the steps started to go up down that’s what makes it a lot more tiring.”

It’s called The Devil’s Punchbowl because you can see the devil’s face in the rocks and he is holding a punch bowl. The water from the waterfall goes into the bowl. T30 learnt about the plants along the way. There is stinkwood and three finger. The stink wood tasted disgusting!  The children of T30 agreed, The Devil’s Punchbowl walk is worth all those steps because it’s a beautiful view.  

By Libby T30      

Arthur's Pass Camp

A House all Covered in Sticks

“25 minutes left kids,’’ yelled out Dave Peerson, the camp guide at Arthur’s Pass camp. We were rushing to finish of our bivi’s. Brielle, a student from T30, was running back and forth with supplies for us. In the teams there were the fabulous girls team including Asha, Brielle, Libby, Siena and Maia. There was the mixed team including Joely, Livvy, Mikayla, Lachie and Matt.L and then there was the boys team including Matthew.S, Coby, Sam and Finn. Everyone  was doing a marvelous job.

“15 minutes left!” yelled out Dave.  For a while it was all a blur of people, running, yelling, building, customizing and encouraging each other.

“When Dave called out ‘time’s up’, I turned to my team and told them they’d done a great job.  Then it was high fives all round.”  said Asha, a T30 student.

The judges were Dave, Jeneane and Annette and at the end we were all winners. Boys won most original, girls won most decorative, the mixed team won most strong and Dave said he would probably sleep in it. At the end we all got 5 or 6 marshmallows each.

By Siena and Maia   T30  

Term 2 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Welcome to term 2 at Halswell School. All classes have now completed very successful Arthur’s Pass camps. The children are still discussing camp events and we are all so grateful to have been able to enjoy this outdoor experience, made possible by the parents who volunteered to help. Your presence and assistance makes the whole experience a very enjoyable experience for both the children and ourselves.  Please pop in this week to see our camp museum in our Learning Centre ‘blue room’.

Team organisation

T30 Anita Head (Team Leader) Studio B Kowhai anita.head@halswell.school.nz

T31 Sam Jack - Studio A Koreke   sam.jack@halswell.school.nz

T32 Carolyn Adams/Melissa Barber - Studio A Kowhai carolyn.adams@halswell.school.nz

T33 Chris Williams - Studio A  Koreke chris.williams@halswell.school.nz

T34 Rachel Dixon - Studio B  Kowhai rachel.dixon@halswell.school.nz

T35 Deb Kingsland - Studio B  Koreke debbie.kingsland@halswell.school.nz

Term 2 topics

Science: Fizzing and Foaming

Maths: Addition and subtraction, Measurement, Geometry

Arts: Rotation of drama, dance and visual art based on Maori myth and legends

Writing: Reports, explanations

PE/sport: Rolleston winter sport, Invasion and target games

Social studies: Pre -European Maori (museum visit)

BYOD

Halswell School offers Year 5-8 children the option to “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD).  If you are interested in signing your child up for BYOD, please check the school website for documentation, or alternatively, collect a copy from your child’s teacher.  Device use is incorporated into all aspects of our programme.  

It has been pleasing to see the children bringing along devices. At present they are learning how to set up a blog and use apps such as ‘snagit’, ‘screencaster’ and ‘movenote’ to share and reflect about their learning. We are hopeful that you will have better access to the work your child does at school through the use of these apps.

We are awaiting the arrival of 16 new devices (ipads and chromebooks) which will enable more children to use technology.  

Dates for your diary:

Rolleston Sport Wednesday 13 May

Year 6 Cycle Safe: May 26-June 4

Queen’s birthday: Monday 1June

(Halswell School sesquicentennial weekend)

Reports: Friday 19 June

Learning conferences: 23, 24 June

Rolleston Sport

The children have now all been told what sport they will be playing for Rolleston Sport. The games begin on Wednesday 13 May (week 4). If possible it would be great for the children to have a red sports top of their own to wear- it will get plenty of use. In addition, children playing hockey require a mouthguard and shinpads, rugby players require a mouthguard and football players require shinpads.  Other items of sports uniform will be issued to the children this week. Children will be updated on this through the daily notices. Many thanks to the parents who have kindly offered to assist with coaching or managing teams. We will be in touch with you shortly.

ACTIVE

This term we are focussing on Achievers (aiming high). The children will be developing and working towards goals related to these ACTIVE characteristics.  A lot of the goal setting will relate to working effectively in an MLE and developing self management and social skills.  You may like to discuss with your child what their goals are and how they are towards them.

Please feel free to speak any of the teachers if you wish to know more about the upcoming term.

Kind regards

Anita Head, Sam Jack, Rachel Dixon, Carolyn Adams, Deb Kingsland and Chris Williams

Otawhito (Y5/6) Teachers