Monarch Butterflies

Last week Mrs Patel brought a swan plant into Rm 1 with two Monarch Caterpillars and some eggs on it. We watched the caterpillars get bigger and bigger, as they munched on the leaves. Baby caterpillars hatched out of the tiny eggs that were hiding under the leaves. The caterpillars gobbled up all the leaves on the first plant, so we had to get a second swan plant for them to eat. After a week the biggest caterpillar found itself a good position and started curling up.  Within 2 days it had turned into a beautiful green chrysalis with gold dots. For 10 days we waited patiently, until eventually the chrysalis got darker. On Monday, we came to school and were excited to see a Monarch Butterfly sitting on our swan plant, pumping its wings. It was orange and black with white dots all around the edges of its wings. We knew that it was a female because it didn't have two black dots on its hind wings. When it was strong enough we took our Monarch Butterfly outside into the garden and set it free. 

Picnic at Khandallah park

It was hot and sunny when we set out for Khandallah Park. On our way to the picnic, we passed Westpac Stadium and then we saw two huge cruise ships on the waterfront.  When we arrived at the park we had morning tea, then our group went to the park first.  There were slides and swings but we were sad to see the flying fox fenced off.  The best equipment we liked was the rocking boat. There were about fifteen children on at the same time and it was fun being rocked so hard. 

Next we went to the swimming pool but the water was not nearly as warm as the water in our pool at school.  Some children went into the big pool and some decided just to stay in the paddling area at the end of the pool.  There were three life guards there to make sure we didn’t get into any trouble. 

Our last activity for the day was going on a walk to Mount Kaukau. We didn’t go to the top like the big children but we did stop at the creek and looked under all the huge boulders to see what we could find.

Two o'clock came too soon and we had to get on the bus to come back to school. We were all very tired and some of us (we won't mention names) even fell asleep.

Swimming lessons

Our swimming lessons began this term and the weather has been beautiful .The water in the pool was so warm and we are getting much better at putting our heads in the water and blowing bubbles.  Some of us have made super improvement in floating and gliding and we can nearly get to the other end of the pool now.

Rm 1 Wheels Day

As a special treat for completing our class sticker chart, Room 1 had a wheels day.
Some of the senior children from Room 9 set up 3 tracks on the bottom court for us to follow. We all bought our scooters and helmets from home and scootered around the different tracks which were very challenging and fun.

Christmas Rotation

On Friday we had a Christmas Rotation in the Ngake Hub. We were split into different groups, which meant we were working with children from different classes. There were four Christmas activities to do and we had so much fun. Below you can see photos of us all in various classrooms making either a reindeer, a gingerbread house, a christmas tree or an angel.

Christmas Party

What a busy week we have had!

On Tuesday we had our Christmas party in the hall and then Santa Claus came carrying a sack full of goodies and handed them out to us all.  We told him we had been good boys and girls and he asked us what we wanted for Christmas.  He didn’t stay too long as he had to get back to his Grotto to continue getting all the toys ready.  
Only 7 more sleeps to go!!!!!!!!

Pack the bus

This term our school value is Empathy. Every year we are always thrilled to take part in this event, where we are invited to bring along a gift to place on the bus. By doing this we are helping families who are not as fortunate as we are. Over three hundred gifts were donated by our school and we hope this will make Christmas a happier time for everyone.