Kākāriki Class Go Swimming!

Swimming is a highlight of the year for many Mt Carmel children, and Kākāriki class is no exception.  The children enjoy the break from our regular timetable and the opportunity to get into a new, exciting routine of changing, walking to Meadowbank Road to catch the bus to Swimtastic.  The bus ride is very often the biggest highlight for the children, and the seats at the back of the bus are highly prized.

On our travels to the pool and back, we practise using our manners, 'Good morning / good afternoon / thank you, Driver,' and we learn to be considerate when using a space that is also used by members of the public.  When out in public in their school uniforms, the children represent Mt Carmel School, so these are important skills to learn.

The children give their very best in swimming lessons and make good progress over the 8 sessions.  They love meeting new swim teachers and spending time with their friends in the water.  Swimming is a challenging activity, so the children have the opportunity to develop determination and resilience as they practice new strokes and skills.  The children are always calm and content after all the exertion in the pool, and Kākāriki class love being completely silent on the way back to school, showing off their exceptional self-control to appreciative bus drivers.

We decided to do some writing drawing on our experiences at swimming this year, so the children were given the opportunity to do some free-writing or poetry to express their ideas.  Children wrote about water, swimming caps and goggles, all of which became old friends during their swimming lessons.  Some children really showed an understanding of how language not only provides enjoyment but can also be a vehicle whereby they develop their own personal voice and identity.  The children were given guidance to create their responses but were also allowed free reign to express themselves as they wished.

We hope you enjoy their efforts.

Ngā mihi nui

As we get closer to the end of the year, Kakapo decided to create a piece of art that allowed us to look towards one of the most enjoyable times of the year. Our Nativity Art let us show off our skills around linework and painting with watercolours. As Kakapo created their pieces, it allowed us to reflect on the coming season and understand what Christmas means to us as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Kakapo started with our linework, ensuring that we used rulers to make sure we had straight lines in order to give our painting a stained-glass effect. We then moved on to watercolour painting. We used a variety of colours in the background for our stained-glass pieces and used yellow and orange on the area that was shining down on Jesus in the manger. To finish it all off we then added glitter to our stars.

We thoroughly enjoyed making our Nativity Art and are proud to currently have it displayed in the office!

Here are some photos of the painting in action.

Pukeko Portraits:

At Mt Carmel, we believe every child is uniquely created in the image of God - loved, valued and special. Our painted portraits are a celebration of that belief. Through our portrait art, our Pukeko's explored their identity and expressed who they are with creativity and confidence.

As part of the process, our children carefully placed newspaper backgrounds around their portraits using spatial awareness and mathematical thinking. They considered shape, balance and proportion when painting on their noses, eyes and mouths. This hands-on experience helped reinforce key maths concepts in a meaningful, visual way.

These portraits are more than just artwork, each one is a reminder that every child belongs, every voice matters and every face tells a story of someone wonderfully made.

Takahe has been creating Koru art relating to our R.E. strand of Ā Tātou Whakapapa (Our Story).

Each Koru represents a family member. Students had to think about what colour, size and pattern represents their family the best. The purpose of this art was for students to understand how we all have unique families. Whilst creating the Koru art Takahe got to share their favourite experiences that they have had with their families

The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy for Tui class with a big focus on science!  They have been working as budding engineers as part of an exciting STEM based project called The Wonder Project Rocket Challenge. The students were introduced to the engineering design process and challenged to work as a team to learn the skills to build and improve an efficient and aerodynamic rocket.  We have been extremely lucky to have an awesome Wonder Project ambassador, Scott Cairney from GHD who has been sharing his knowledge and skills with us and encouraging the students to think like engineers; to ask, imagine, create and improve.  We’ve already had some epic prototype launches and are currently in the process of improving the initial designs for the final ‘blast off’ later in the week!

Alongside our rocket fun, the students are also busy working on their action projects as part of their Mountains to Seas learning.  After comparing both a local freshwater and marine habitat to the pristine environments of Goat Island, the students have been inspired to think of their own initiatives to help our local freshwater and marine communities.  From composing raps and creating ‘Kahoots’ to educate others about the importance of looking after our environment, to designing drain art and campaigning for a school water tank -Tui classroom has been a hive of activity!  Due to the weather, we have unfortunately been unable to get back out into the community to do some facilitated action tasks with our wonderful Mountains to Seas educators. However, last Wednesday, they came and explained the pest control programmes that they have running and demonstrated how to do a Marine Metre Squared survey, which students are encouraged to do as a way of contributing to collecting meaningful, valid data about their local seashore.

This term our Science Topic in the Junior School is Forces.  To introduce the tamariki to push and pull forces found in everyday phenomena, Kākāriki Class have enjoyed looking more closely at examples of the 6 simple machines: levers, wedges, screws, pulleys, wheels and axles and inclined planes, thanks to the Simple Machines Kit from the House of Science which we subscribe to and receive relevant kits to support or science learning at school. In our first experience, we read a book called, 'How Do You Lift a Lion" by Robert Wells, and this got us thinking about the wonderful things we can do with simple machines, like moving heavy objects.  We then explored each simple machine and had lots of fun thinking like scientists: making observations, suggesting hypotheses and collecting data to understand how simple machines help make work easier.  The Kākāriki Class handled weights, used force meters and measured forces and distances as they explored the different activities.  The children even got to use real hammers, which was a complete hit!  It was pleasing to see the children work together to read and follow diagrams when assembling pulley stands and different types of pulleys or following step-by-step instructions to measure how the diameter of a wheel influences the distance it can travel.
Many children rate Science as one of their favourite subjects at school and we are grateful to the House of Science for supporting teachers to bring this important subject to life for our tamariki. I hope the enjoyment of your budding scientists is apparent in the photos included in our Spotlight.

Kakapo has started the term with their R.E strand “Te Rongopai - Good News”. During this time, we have been getting to know our way around the Bible and finding the good news that Jesus has left for us. Kakapo has been reflecting on the messages we have found in parables and other teachings of Jesus such as the Beatitudes. We have talked about what it could mean in our lives, as well as how we are going to put these words into actions.

Kakapo then worked collaboratively to create Beatitude posters that illustrate how we might live these messages in our life!