Swim, Swim, Swim!

The weather is hot and what better way to cool down than to have swimming lessons in the school pool 

three times a week!

Luckily we get lots of parent help so everyone can be in the pool for the whole time.

Mrs Wistrand is noticing that many of the students have improved their swimming skills over the summer.

Where do you like to swim -pool, river, lake, ocean?

What is your favourite swimming stroke?

Should all children and adults know how to swim?

Number pairs for 10

Here is a new game to play to practice the 

number pairs for 10.

Is this one of your learning goals for Term 1?

One Big Triangle

Perky Pukekos

This term for art Mrs Wistrand and the children are looking at birds.This week they read about, talked about and drew pukekos.

Pukekos are a bird native to New Zealand. 

They live in grasslands and swampy areas. 

Pukekos have short red beaks, long red legs and bright blue plummage (that's a fancy name for feathers!).
Here are our pukekos strutting among the flax bushes.



Being native to a place means you are an original inhabitant of that place.
Tell us about a bird or other animal that is native to your area.

You may enjoy this energy company advertisment featuring pukekos!

Questions from Canada

It's our first few days back at school after summer break and we've already had a skype call with a 
Grade 1 class 
at Florence Hallock School in Edmonton, Canada. 
The Grade 1 students were keen to talk to children from a rural area. Some questions arrived by email a few days ago for the B4 children to think about.

While we were talking we discovered that it is summer here and the temperatures have been around 25˚C to 30˚C here, and in Edmonton it is winter and the temperatures have been -25˚C to -35˚C!

Thank you for the call Grade 1 and teacher Tammy Thero-Soto. It was a lot of fun.

Nathan and Toby talk about what there is on Toby's farm.

Here are the questions from Canada:

1. Do you have kangaroos on your farm?

What other animals are on your farm?

2. What is your school like?

3. What things do you have on your farm?

4. What is the weather like where you live?

5. What do you do for fun on the farm?

6. Are your farms far away from school?

Do you have to drive to school?

7. What games do you play when you are at home and at recess?

8. What are the names of some of the friends in your class?

9. What is your favourite food to eat?

10. Do you have tables to sell small things during your lunch? (as a fundraiser)

B4 students - please add your answers as a comment. 

Remember to put the number of the question!

Visitors - you might like to answer some of the questions too - remember to say where in the world your school is!

The Great Bean Race Update

Last spring the junior classes had a bean race.

Beans were planted, some grew, some didn't, but the beans in the Year 1/2 class grew the best.

The children took their beans home in the last week of school in early December.

This little girl planted her bean in her garden at home and look at it now - it has bean pods!

What do you have growing in your garden?

Skyping with the New Town Kapai Kiwis

It's the end of summer break but B4 students are still on holiday so Mrs McKenzie got up early to skype by herself with a class in North Carolina, USA.
It was 7am Friday in New Zealand and 1pm Thursday in North Carolina.

The New Town Kapai Kiwis have a teacher who comes from New Zealand! 

Miss Lologa is at the school for a year. 

She loves teaching her students about New Zealand and was keen for the children to speak to some New Zealanders.
A highlight was the song the children sang 
at the end of the call.
Thank you for the chat Superstars.

Some items of interest:

What similarities and differences did you notice?
Whose school day is longer?
Would you rather your school day started and ended early, or start and end a little later?

Peacocks, Piglets and Ostrich Eggs

During the summer break from school Mrs McKenzie spent a few days on a farm.

Some of the animals there were peacocks, an ostrich and some kune kune pigs. 

These animals get to roam around the farm paddocks and they often come up to the house to visit, especially if they think there are vegetable scraps to be had!

Kune kune pigs are friendly and intelligent, and they like to be around people. They make good pets.

The ostrich had laid eggs, which we found in some funny places.

Here is an ostrich egg next to a hen's egg!

Do you know any facts about ostriches, peacocks or pigs?

What did you do during your break from school?