It's the Fourth Term!!

It's been a great start to Term Four!  Students arrived pleased to be back, rearing to go, with big smiles all round.  What a delightful bunch of children we have in Manuka. 
​Mrs Webb finished reading us 'My Father's Dragon' and it inspired us to head to the iPads and get creating!  We created a scene/background from the story which was based on a remote jungle island, and then drew and imported characters from the story onto our background.  We learnt to make these characters move, dance, get bigger and smaller.  We are going to record ourselves retelling a section of the novel using the iPads.  It's been quite a long process, but we've learnt lots about how to be creative, problem solve, and learn from each other.

This term is all about the Power of People!  As a Green Gold Enviro School we know how to make powerful decisions to make a difference in our school and community.  We have been focusing on three things that happen at NLS:  paper recycling, plastic recycling and worm farming.  Throughout the term we are exploring these practices, demonstrating how we can be 'Eco-Warriors'.  In Manuka, tiger worms are our focus.  Check out the worm farms we made with Lesley Ottey (we love when she visits)!  We've learnt lots about the good things that worms do, as well as some interesting facts... Did you know that worms don't have teeth or lungs - they breath through their skin!

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Friday Fun Day in Manuka includes Maths that requires us to put on our problem solving hats, work together in teams, and nut out our challenge.  The last few weeks we have been calculating which Pokemon is best to use according to their combat points.  It required lots of adding, subtracting, trial and error and quite a bit of patience and determination.  Challenging stuff!  Once we managed to solve the problem, we were pretty chuffed with our efforts!  I wonder what Mrs Webb has up her sleeve for next week.  Check us out hard at work!

Once in a while we are lucky enough to be invited to join with Rimu and Kowhai for their discovery sessions on a Friday.  We love being able to choose activities that are creative and hands on, and it's lovely to be able to work alongside, helping the younger children in our school.  Mrs Green and Mrs Hassall arranged a Discovery Time that was all about nature as part of our Eco Warrior unit.  What fun we had hunting ants and spiders webs, using the magnifying glasses, painting with leaves,  and weaving with recycled paper.  What a treat!