Piha Splash-a-Thon

Our last Piha Pod team day included lots of water activities. We had water gun fights, a slip and slide ride, water bombs and water relays. What a great way to end 2010!

Art Exhibition

In the last term of 2010 Summerland Primary held an Art Exhibition.  We could only choose one of our art works to share.  We created art works in the style of Warren Pohatu or Laurel Burch and decided which one to share.

Kowhaiwhai Patterns

We created these kowhaiwhai patterns to represent us and our families.  We incorporated patterns based on the work of Warren Pohatu.

Mr Sonny is Sensational!

Please read our character descriptions about our wonderful caretaker Mr Sonny.  He does a great job looking after us and our school.  Use the magnifying glass cursor to enlarge and scroll the text.  You might like to comment on this post or leave a comment on a particular story within the VoiceThread.

Term Four Newsletter

Click on the icon to open the newsletter - it has two pages.
ClipArt by ThistleGirl Designs and DJ Inkers

Talk Like A Pirate - Arrgh!

What a great day we had talking like pirates, acting like pirates and enjoying pirate activities with Room 5 at Discovery Time.

Henderson's Carvings

Henderson has been learning to carve at the Arts Centre.  He told us how he used a chisel and a hammer to make the cuts.  The adults came to supervise so no one got hurt.  We think Henderson is a great carver - well done!

All Whites in the making!

Oratia Football Club have some All Whites in training.  Ben, Sasha and Bradley all won prizes at their recent prize giving.  All were awarded medals and trophies for 'Player of the Year' or 'Most Improved'.

Calendar Art

We created gecko artworks using tempera paint blocks and indian ink. Don't forget to order your calendars, cards and diaries by Thursday the 22nd of September.

Lopdell House Visit

On Thursday the 2nd of September SPS-Superstars went to Lopdell House to view some fabulous art works and create our own in the studio.  We were inspired by the art work of Reuben Paterson and our own cultural icons.
Thanks to our wonderful parents and grandparents who supported our learning on this trip.

Gabe's Bull Skull

Today Gabe had some awesome news!  When he went to his Grandpa's house in Kerikeri he came back to Henderson, Auckland with a huge skull.  It is very heavy.  He is going to put it on his fort.  We asked him what kind of animal it was and who killed it.  It had a bullet hole at the top.  We also wanted to know where the meat, brains and eyes were.

Wow! What fantastic artworks.

Glenys Character Descriptions

We have been learning what makes great character descriptions.  Here are some we wrote about our teacher, Glenys.
We have been commenting on each others writing - you might like to check out our feedback.

Kiwi Kick

We went with Room 14 and Mr Nisbet to Kiwi Kick one hot afternoon in July. Adam was our magnificent Kiwi Kick tutor. He is a Kiwi Kick expert. We had lots of fun and learnt how to punt the ball properly.

Term Three Learning Mission

We have been set a learning challenge by a Humanoid that is working for aliens from outer space.  It said, "I am a Humanoid that is investigating Earth for my alien masters.  They have seen many pictures of New Zealand's famous people, food, buildings and kiwiana.  They want to understand more about them.  Please research and find out information for me so I can go home.  I will be able to tune in to your classroom to watch and listen to what you are doing.  Please hurry, I want to go home."
Wow - it was so exciting when we found this message on our blog.  Miss Hughes said to listen carefully and we did!
We needed to find out what a humanoid was before we decided what to do next.
We were also unsure about what kiwiana meant.
We checked out these two words in dictionaries and on the internet.  Then we started to plan what to do next.

Henderson Intermediate Visit Us

On Thursday, the first of July, Henderson Intermediate Bi-lingual unit came to visit Anawhata and Piha teams to help us with our learning.  We had some speeches and waiata to welcome them.  Miss Hughes and Mr Giles spoke for us and we sang Te Whenua O Raumati to support them.  We all bought some food to share for morning tea.  It was such a feast we had some for lunch too!

View the slide show to watch the action.  You might notice us singing in the background, Glenys thinks we are fantastic singers.  Thanks Miss Hughes for teaching waiata to us and letting us join Anawhata on a great learning journey in Term 2.

Indy, Sasha's New Puppy

On Thursday the 1st of July we got a soft coated wheaton terrier.  It was born on the 11th of May.  It was very 'bitey' but the the bites didn't even hurt.  It is really soft and playful and a bit jumpy.  It is called Indy.  Lauren and Mum went to get it from a farm.  The towels smell of his Mum so we wont ever wash them.  On the first night he was woofing and woofing because he wanted to see his Mum, Dad, brothers and sisters.

Symmetrical Aliens

We read 'Aliens Love Underpants' and 'Aliens in Underpants Save the World' by Claire Freedman and then wrote a character description about one of the aliens in the books.

Then we created these symmetrical aliens in Photoshop.  We drew half the alien along a mirror line (line of symmetry) and then copied and flipped the image to create the whole alien.

Henderson's Tank

In the weekend I made a tank with bottles, a pencil and a spray can.  It has a gun at the top and caterpillar tracks to move on.  I had lots of fun making it with my sisters and brothers.
We all think Henderson did a great job using recycling materials to create a toy to play with.
Tumeke 12 have been making toys out of recycled materials too - check out all their toys by clicking here.

Michael - A Great Summerland Citizen

Michael's initiative has been recognised by the Anawhata teachers.  They awarded him a citizenship certificate for helping others when they needed it.  Great job Michael!

Hayley - Croatian Dancer

I went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Saturday because there was a celebration of Dalmatian cooking from Croatia.  I get dressed in my Dalmatian costume and looked at all the photos on the stand.  My Dida was in a photo.  He was cooking 28 lambs on a spit barbecue.  I did my dance with Nicholas and lots of people were watching.  We only made one mistake and I felt nervous.  It was a great day with Nana, Mummy and Dida.

Art Classes

Some lucky children in Room 6 got to do some extra art with Janet (also known as Mrs Shepherd). They think that Janet is a wonderful art teacher, the best in the world.

Thank you for showing me your secret art tricks.  Drawing cars and houses was the best thing we did.  Michael

The best thing was drawing the sky tower.  It was fun.  Thank you Mrs Shepherd for teaching us.  Louis

Thank you Mrs Shepherd for teaching me how to draw shapes and blend colours.  I have to look carefully at things and then draw them.  Henderson

Blending with paint was exciting because you can make other colours.  Thank you Mrs Shepherd for teaching me how to draw blocks.  Bradley

Hoani Waititi Marae

Thanks to Andre Morris for making this trip possible for the Anawhata and Piha pods.  We had a great time and learnt heaps.
Our thanks also go to the wonderful parents (Debbie, Jack, Judy and Mark) who supported SPS-Superstars so well - we can't provide experiences like this for our children without you.  The movie below shows a game we played that can help you learn te reo Māori.  Watch Michael and Tia go!

View the slideshow and look for kowhaiwhai, whakairo and tukutuku panels. You might even see some of us learning at the marae.

Book Parade

On Friday the 18th of June, Summerland had a book character parade in the hall. We got dressed up as a character in a book. We showed our costumes off to the whole school with all the classes in Piha Pod. We did a pose when we got to the front of the runway. At the end we all danced to 'Baby' by Justin Beiber. The teachers got dressed up too.
All the costumes were awesome!

It's Party Time!

Disco Fever!

On Friday the 11th of June, Summerland had a school disco in the hall at five o'clock.  The DJs were Mrs Edwards-Knauf, Miss Davies and Miss Hughes.  They were funny and dressed up in their Dancing Queen costumes.  The music was funky and they played some fabulous games.  Some of us won a prize.  We were able to request songs and they played them.  The candy floss was sweet and colourful.  The glow sticks and rings shone in the dark hall.
It was the best disco ever!

Self Portraits

In our last lesson with Janet she showed us how to add shadows to our faces with blue paint. We learnt dry brushing and some of us added highlights to our hair and reworked parts of our portraits we weren't happy with.
Thank you Janet for working with us.

Annelise the Photographer

On Sunday my family went to Muriwai to look at the sunset.  I brought my camera with me and took some photos.  My Mum wanted me to get a photo with the sunset reflection on the sand where the water had been.  The waves were splashing and crashing coming into the shore.  When I went to the cave at Muriwai I couldn't believe my eyes because there were lots of carvings of people's names.  Dad went down to the back of the cave where it was pitch black and started scaring all of us.

Brooke and Nathan's Treasures

Today Brooke brought some treasures from home.  Her Dad let her bring a patu and taiaha that have been specially carved for him by his Great Uncle.  They are weapons that can be used for defending yourself and attacking others.  The carvings have paua shell decorations.

She also brought along a kete that her aunt gave her for her birthday.  They used to use kiwi feathers for the decorations but because Kiwi are so precious now duck feathers are used instead.  Brooke bought the pois at a shop in Rotorua last year.  She showed us her poi skills - fantastic!

Junmin

Junmin has a broken arm.  He was playing on the monkey bars.  When he jumped to number three he missed, fell onto the ground and crack!  His arm was broken.  He had to go to the hospital because it was very sore.  The doctor put the cast on it at Starship hospital.  Now he has to have lunch in the classroom with a buddy.  Today Hayley was his buddy.

Heart Jam

On Friday the 28th of May Summerland Primary School were raising money for kids who have had heart surgery or problems.  We were doing Heart Jam on the courts.  Everyone wore their pod teachers and brought a donation.  We had a lot of fun.  Mr Sumich took this photo from on top of Bethell's Pod roof - he was very brave!

Sasha and Kirsten's News

On Saturday I went to Tennis prize giving.  My mini trophy is for 'Best Beginner Girl'.  I got a certificate with it and we had a really good time.  My sister, Lauryn, got three certificates and two trophies.  My brother, Dominic, got a mini trophy and certificate for the 'Best Beginner Boy'.  On the same day I lost a tooth.  It had really sharp roots.

Sasha 

I went on a trip to Wellington because it was my brother's birthday and a business trip for Dad.  I liked going to Te Papa and we got to have stickers on our t-shirts.  We went on an airplane - the food was yummy.
Kirsten

The Queen's Message

Abigail, Josiah and Kezia went to Manukau to take part in the Queen's Baton Relay.  The baton, very much like the Olympic torch, carries a message from the Queen to the athletes of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which will take place in New Delhi, India.  The relay began at London's Buckingham Palace on October 29, 2009, and will travel through 71 countries before arriving in India on June 25 ahead of the Commonwealth Games, which start on October 3.