Year 7/8 Food Technology
Over the last few weeks the Year 7/8 learners have been working with Janine Basalaj on their food technology project for the year. This year's challenge is to plan and make the desserts for Prizegiving! Many thanks to Janine for giving her time, patience and kitchen space!
Senior Class Architecture Project
This term the Seniors have been considering housing needs and researching different historical and cultural housing conventions; considering carefully how the location, needs and materials available have affected the eventual design. We have also researched developing technologies (eg. solar power, wind power, hydro power and the philosophies behind 'earth ship' structures). The final part of this unit was to design a house to fit a specific brief (everyone was given a different brief which included details about the clients and their needs/wants, the location and the size of the section to be built on). Shepherd and Felix provided very detailed plans and amazingly accurate and detailed architect's models of their designs.
junior mermaids
The Juniors have been learning about magical creatures at the end of this term. They made these mixed media mermaids with papier-mache armatures.
school camp - Marahau - 1st-4th december 2015
field day 2015!
Last Saturday (14th November) was our annual Field Day! The animals (and children) were well-behaved, the food was excellent and the weather was kind to us and even managed to be sunny by the end of the afternoon. Huge thanks go to Janine Basalaj who, along with her team of helpers, organised the bulk of what was a fantastic day. Thanks must also go to Andrew Jordan who spent the whole day driving the barrel train around the school grounds!
year 8 trip to wellington - a photo diary
This year's trip was a very exclusive affair - Mrs Crawford had the pleasure of just Flynn, Shepherd and Felix's company for the two days. The photos probably speak to themselves and, of course, when we booked this trip weeks ago we knew that the All Blacks would win the World Cup and be in Wellington at the same time as us!
Here's a quick quote from Flynn on seeing the All Blacks - It was the best day of the year for me - watching the All Blacks do their parade through Wellington and getting some signatures along the way. When the All Blacks started coming through all I could hear was my teacher saying 'Don't hold back! Barge in there and get some signatures!'
Here's a quick quote from Flynn on seeing the All Blacks - It was the best day of the year for me - watching the All Blacks do their parade through Wellington and getting some signatures along the way. When the All Blacks started coming through all I could hear was my teacher saying 'Don't hold back! Barge in there and get some signatures!'
senior class sailing on the lake
Last week (3rd and 4th November) we welcomed back Yachting New Zealand to St Arnaud for our annual introduction and refresher yachting sessions on the lake. The weather was challenging at times, but we managed to get two full days at the lakeside with full participation from everyone - well done!
Junior class visit to lake station
This week (2nd November) the Juniors all went to Lake Station to visit Ingrid and Malcolm McConochie - this visit to the farm is becoming one of the highlights of our annual school calendar! Ingrid and Malcolm gave all the children a fantastic welcome, had a go on the tractor, looked at the cattle, looked at the lambs and were drafted in the cattle yards!
spring has arrived in st arnaud!
It's the first week of Term 4 and it's finally feeling as though spring is here! The Juniors have been investigating how birds make nests, the types of materials they use and the different types of nests that different birds build. They were then challenged to build their own!
Alaskan malamutes visit the juniors
The Juniors had a visit this morning (13/10/15) from a visiting Malamute racing team and their owners! After a talk in the classroom we all went outside to meet the Malamutes (differentiated from Huskies by the colour of their eyes); they don't come inside because they're uncomfortable in temperatures above 13 degrees Celsius! Luckily, St Arnaud was cold this morning! The owners told us that one of the dog's top speed when racing is 65km per hour!
shadow puppetry with the seniors
As a last week of term challenge, the Seniors were inspired to create shadow puppets and plays to perform for the Juniors. They really excelled themselves - we hadn't anticipated that their puppets would be so intricate and beautiful. We were also pleased how they sorted themselves quickly and capably into small groups who worked productively together. A great end of term project - well done seniors!
inter-Primary Ski Races at rainbow
This year we were able to send three teams to the ski race day on the 16th September. We were very proud of our children's behaviour, their ability to work together and support each other as a team and with their skiing! We were especially thrilled with our Senior Boys' team, who worked hard to come second overall.
ripper rugby on book character day!
This week's ripper rugby session coincided with Book Character Day!
senior class macroinvertebrates field study
Inspired by the Year 7/8 Careers Trip to the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, the Senior Class have begun a study of the macro invertebrates that can be found in Black Valley Stream. We've had two trips now to collect, identify in the classroom and then return to the stream, our samples. So far, the invertebrates we've identified are showing us that the Black Valley Stream is in a good state of health!
still skiing!!
We've now had four ski sessions for this season (we still have three more to go!) We're seeing some excellent progress being made and children in Groups 2 and 3 are ow able to use the T-Bar confidently and competently. Yesterday was probably our best day yet this season with lots of new snow and fantastic sunny weather - let's hope that we get a lot more of those! (21/08/15)
skiing programme 2015
Our ski programme for 2015 is now well underway and we have have two fantastic bluebird skiing days at Rainbow. Already, we can see the children's progress and our beginners' groups have been absolutely fabulous; listening to their instructors, doing their best and remembering their mission is to 'try not cry!' With more snow forecast we're looking forward to an excellent season and we think that we're going to see some amazing learning taking place again this year.
middle school science
Every Wednesday our Year 4-6 learners take part in science activities with Mrs Crawford (using materials courtesy of Mr Science). Today (04/08/15) we have been learning about polymers. After making a polymer from glue, water and borax and watching the chemical change, we built a model of a polymer chain.
term 2 - no fixed plan..........a journey into philosophy and art
As part of our philosophy programme, children have been investigating questions such as 'what is art?' and 'is an artist thinks that what he has produced is art, but no-one else does, is it still art?" Children were challenged to create artworks that developed a key idea or concept - some of them were quite challenging installations! The exhibition was staged at 'The Refinery Artspace' in Nelson in July and was so popular they asked to keep it for an extra two weeks!
term 2 - senior class gliding experience
The Senior Class has the most amazing opportunity when the local gliding club offered us free flights from the McConchie airstrip! This was an amazing coincidence as we'd been studying flight and were planning our visit to RNZAF Woodbourne. Brent Higgins and Fred McKee from the Nelson Lakes Gliding Club really pulled out all the stops for us and we really appreciate the time and experience of the club members - thank you! You can also check out the Go-Pro film clip by clicking the link button below.
Kiwi cookers - Year 7/8 business
When the local store was unable to continue to provide our weekly hot lunches the Year 7 and 8 students decided to look upon it as an opportunity and do something about it! So, the 'Kiwi Cookers' company was formed and they have been cooking lunch once a week, at very competitive prices, since the start of Term 2. As well as cooking and serving, they are responsible for taking orders, collecting money and giving change, keeping accurate accounts and ensuring that everyone pulls their weight!
discovery time
At Rotoiti all children are able to take part in our regular Discovery Time sessions. The aim of Discovery Time is for children to support children in the development of social skills and key competencies, whilst allowing them to create and explore different activities in a fun, learning environment.
Term 2 - Visit to rnzaf woodbourne
The whole school took a visit to the RNZAF Base at Woodbourne, Blenheim. We were able to get a close look at lots of jets and helicopters in the engineers' training hangar. We were allowed to look in the armoury and we had a physical training session and a swim with some of the base's PT instructors. Older students were able to ask questions about all the careers that are available in the New Zealand Air Force.
term 2 - careers week
We held our first careers week in school this year! We had lots of visitors from the community to talk about what they do and what qualifications and experience you would need if you wanted to do that too. We had visits from a website builder and programmer, an architect, an Anglican priest, a journalist and writer, an accountant, a haulage contractor, a hunting and fishing guide, a DOC ranger and a commercial fisherman. The children got to ask lots of questions about these careers and for many of our visitors the key to their success and happiness in their careers has been that it has been linked to their passion. We finished the week with a day when everyone came dressed as something they'd like to be when they are an adult. We're looking forward to going to the Woodbourne RNZAF Base in a few weeks!
term 2 - woolly hats and slippers!
All children (and staff!) in the school were presented with knitted slippers; all individual and made by Ms Nicholls (a keen member of the Tapawera Spinners and Weavers). The juniors were also given woolly hats to keep them warm in the coming winter - these were all knitted by Sierra's Granny on Waiheke Island! Thank you Ms Nicholls and Sierra's Granny!
term 1 - Junior class visit to the boulder bank and lighthouse
The Junior Class went to the Boulder Bank in Nelson on the Haulashore Ferry. They had a key to the lighthouse and they all climbed to the top!
term 1 - kiwi release at the lake
Two new kiwi were released into the Nelson Lakes National Park. As usual, we supported DOC during the powhiri by singing waiata.
term 1 - visit to the mcconochie's farm
The juniors look forward each spring to their visit to see Ingrid and Malcolm during lambing time. They loved seeing the newborn lambs and then having a ride on the back of a ute to see the bulls and calves.
matariki
Matariki has become an annual feature of the Lake Rotoiti School calendar. Often the evening includes a lantern-lit walk from the school the lake, waiata, floating flax wish rafts from the jetty and hot chocolate in the Bletchynden Shelter.