Year 5/6 Speech finals

On Wednesday 5th September we held our speech finals.  The winners were:
1st Julia Mitchell
2nd Lucas Bennett
3rd equal Aryan Raut and Juliette Miller

Congratulations to all of our finalists.  The standard of the speeches - content and presentation - was incredibly high.  We are so proud of all of our children for being such outstanding Communicators and Thinkers.

The finalists

On Wednesday, the Halswell teachers walked alongside other Canterbury teachers as part of the strike action.  We understand how disruptive this was but appreciate your ongoing support. 

 
 

The children in Otawhito and Otumatua had the pleasure of listening to Emma Twigg talk to us today about her successes in rowing. Alongside this, we learned about her 'Long Way Home' fundraiser that she and two other New Zealand Olympians have set up. They will travel over 18,000km from Switzerland to New Zealand on a bike, to raise money for young sports women to pursue their dreams. It was awesome to hear about her experiences and get some inspirational advice on giving things a go and trying your best!

Yesterday we were very lucky to have Neil Shaskey come to our learning studio and take us for an art workshop. We learned all about cartooning and shading for effect. The children did a fantastic job!

We loved having a surprise visit from Frank and Taniela from the Manly Sea Eagles on Wednesday! They taught us all about respect and belonging to a team. What an awesome experience it was!

Boys Hour

On Friday morning while the girls were at 'She-can Code', the boys became scientists and created volcanoes. We looked at the Hawaii volcano and the impact it is having on Hawaii and others around the world.

The boys were fascinated to learn that baking soda and vinegar react to create an bubbling explosion. It was great to see the boys working collaboratively to create their volcanoes!

Pink Shirt Day

We loved seeing our learning centre surrounded in pink for Pink Shirt Day. It was great to support the Anti-bullying campaign from last week. Schools that encourage respect, value opinions, celebrate difference, and promote positive relationships make it difficult for bullying behaviour to thrive or be tolerated. To achieve this, it needs everyone – school staff, students, trustees, parents, whānau and communities – working together.