Kaikoura Suburban School

Shearwaters have had yet another busy and exciting week of learning about Planet Earth and Beyond. We have been researching and discussing the possibility of life on other planets and whether sightings of UFO’s are true or false. Shearwaters have mixed opinions and we have had some lively debates on the possibilities. So much research is happening in Space and we are very interested in the International Space Station. Neil Armstrong is a hero in the Shearwater class, although a few questions arose whether the landing could have been a hoax?
The class surprised Mrs Rogers with a fact recall the other morning – we hope it surprises you too! (Although we still have a lot to learn and many questions we want answers too).

Custom Glitter Text

Thank you to all those that kindly gave up their time to help construct Shearwaters mini golf this Sunday.

After consultation with The Board of Trustees, Shearwaters did a little research and got quotes for marine ply and astro turf for the course but both would cost around $1000. The original design brief was to create the mini golf from recycled materials, to be sustainable and cost effective. So we decided to stick with that to make the first stage of the full scale courses. Shearwaters will review its effectiveness, durability and use during the winter months and then consider modifications.
Four of the eighteen courses designed by Shearwaters have been created out of recycled materials behind the school house for all the children to enjoy and learn new skills.

Here are some of our comments about our new class name.

I like the Kea because it is cool and it is good. I like it so much. The Kea takes the food that mum and dad give it. By Emma

Don’t give the Kea’s any chocolate because they will die. They are cheeky and they eat rubber off the cars. They peck windows some people kill Kea’s, it is sad. By Mya

The Kea is the only mountain parrot. By Sam

The Kea is cheeky because they eat the rubber off the cars. By Jak

The Kea is cheeky and it has a sharp claws, their beaks are also very sharp. By Jack

The Kea has a sharp beak and four sharp claws. He is very cheeky and curious.
By Blake

The Kea’s eat the rubber on the cars and they have a sharp beak. They are very intelligent. By Eli

The Kea’s eat the rubber on cars. They are the only mountain parrot. By Seth

The Kea has sharp claws and a beak like Captain Hooks hook, that he holds in his hand. They have yellow spots on their feathers. They are curious and they live only in the South Island of New Zealand. By Rose

The Kea’s are cheeky, they rip rubber off cars. They are the only mountain parrot, they live in the mountains in the Southern Alps of the South Island. By Alex

Some other cool facts about Kea’s:
They are neophiliacs which means that kea love all new things. They have great characters and are opportunists.
Scientists say kea’s are one of the most intelligent bird species in the world.
Kea are playful and unique.
Kea are protected birds.
Maori gave the bird the name kea because it describes the sound of its call.
Click on the link to view our drawings.
Keas

Kaikoura Suburban School were truly spoilt with the visit from the Real Art Show. The artworks represented a wide range of works from some amazing New Zealand artists. The students enjoyed the creativity and the uniqueness of the work.
Here is a wordle from the senior students expressing their thoughts.

A couple of photos from the Year 6 visit.

Standing in front of a mosaic atmospheric artwork

Year 6 school leaders

Jen, from Enviroschools, and Ralph Hogan came and spoke to the Pukeko class about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling our rubbish to prevent too much residual waste (landfill waste).
We looked at the pyramid of rubbish and identified the important layer, the bottom layer, was to reduce the amount of packaging. We found that by buying in bulk we can reduce our packaging. Often we identified that the packaging could be reused and or recycled.
We kept our rubbish from yesterday and found there was only one piece of rubbish we couldn’t recycle. This was the plastic wrappers that have the silver lining. See photo for examples. The museli bar wrapper at the bottom of the photo we can reuse as it is a clear plastic.

Quotes from the students sharing their new learning:
Allie reflected, “Silver plastic wrappers can’t be recycled or reused. We need to find some without.”
Felix reflected, “Kaikoura allows us to recycle most of our plastic.”
Katie reflected, “Reduce means to buy in bulk to reduce the amount of rubbish and to reduce the cost.”
Hannah H reflected, ” We need to reuse our packaging more eg. plant seedlings, water bottles, food storage..”
James reflected, “Reduce is the most part of the ‘Rubbish pyramid.”
Stacey reflected, “Kaikoura people should be strict with their recycling to prevent our landfills filling up.”

It would be exciting to see all of our rubbish that leaves our school go into the recyclable bins with no rubbish for the landfill!

Our students had the most incredible opportunity this week!

They celebrated Matariki with an exciting jam packed day full of activities with Brett Cowan at Takahanga Marae.

Our students managed themselves perfectly to participate and cooperate in the following activites:

• Planted 230 native trees with Department of Conservation on Kaikoura peninsula.
• Created Matariki telescopes and mobiles.
• Made kites.
• Cooked in bull kelp
• Created meals to share.
• Made Putiputi flax flowers for their buddy.
• Sung 3 waiata.
• Set new and exiting goals for 2011.

Then many of the middle and senior took up the challenge of staying the night at the marae and face an unknown task in the evening. ………….

The students were given a Maori legend in the form of a book that they had 45 minutes to recreate into a play for the audience. It was a colossal challenge but as always our Fyffe Force Learners reached the summit. The resulting movie will be shown after assembly this Thursday, or see Sue Rogers for a copy on dvd.

Thank you to Brett Cowan, the whanau of Takahanga marae, all the incredible parents that contributed to this unique experience and to the students for demonstrating The Force and key values of the school.

Congratulations to all that took part in the day!