A very special day

On Wednesday we were very lucky to have some very special visitors to school. It was Grandparents Day at Hamilton East School.

Room 18 learners were really proud to share their classroom and learning with their grandparents.

After a special assembly, grandparents came back to class and share some Te Reo Maaori learning with their mokopuna.

Thanks so much to everyone who was able to visit, it made my day to see so many whaanau members joining us on the day.

A wonderful trip to Hamilton Gardens

This week we had a plan to visit Hukanui marae as part of our school wide Turangawaewae unit. Unfortunately this couldn't happen due to a tangi, and instead we had a lovely morning out at the Hamilton Gardens. Room 18 got to explore the kitchen garden, discovering an abundance of fruit, vegetables and herbs that can be grown in the Waikato. We also had the privilege of watching Hamilton East School very own kapa haka group perform, and even had a sneaky wee side trip to the newly opened Katherine Mansfield garden, where the learners were entranced by literature come to life. Lastly, a chance to play on the fantastic playground at the gardens.

Kumara digging

Welcome back to term two!

It was so wonderful to see so many happy faces on Tuesday. The learners were full of excitement and stories about their holidays and it was so lovely to see them filled with such enthusiasm for the new term.

While it has been a bit chilly this week, the weather on Friday was beautiful and offered a great chance to get outside and enjoy the fantastic environment of our school. It was also perfect weather for harvesting the kumara that room 18 planted last year. As part of our harvest festival this term we will be using these kumara (and perhaps a few others to plump up our supply) to make kumara crisps. Although the date has not yet been finalised, I'd like to warmly extend a welcome to any whānau that would like to join us doing this. Or, if you have a great recipe you'd like to share that would be awesome too.

The learners that dug the kumara up were keen to share the experience with their classmates, telling them about the soil, and how they were tricked by rocks disguising themselves as kumara.

A fantastic walk to the Museum.

The learners in Rooms 17 and 18 had a lovely afternoon at the museum today.

We learnt about Maramataka (the lunar calendar) as well as the four main Māori art forms.

These art forms include Whakairo (carving), Ta Moko (tattooing), Raranga (weaving) and Kowhaiwhai (painting).

In class last term we focussed on kowhaiwhai, in particular Māori and Pasifika patterns and this term our focus in on raranga. Learners have been exploring pattern and technique and will begin collaborative work this week on a piece for the Kete Aronui exhibition coming up next term.

As well as learning about the different art techniques, we had an informative session on Maaori design and the meanings behind the common symbols used in art works.

Learners then had the opportunity to make a Maaori taonga with the guidance of one of the museum's amazingly knowledgable guides.  Our writing this week will focus on the museum experience with writers being encouraged to focus on what they saw, did and thought during our visit.

Some photos of the trip:

Kete Aronui: mahi raranga.

It's been a busy week in Room 18. As well as our fantastic trip to the museum (again, a huge thank you to all of the families that came along with us), we have been exploring our art focus of weaving even more.

The learners in Room 18 have begun experimenting with texture and using fibre in their weaving. They're also discovering how changing the thickness of our weaving paper can alter the look of our finished artwork.

Next week, we begin work on our class kohanga (nest). If you have experience with weaving, or would like to come along and join in/help out, we'd love to hear from you.

As you will have noticed, the weather has been increasingly miserable this week. If your child would like to bring slippers to wear (inside the classroom only) they are more than welcome. Please make sure they're clearly labelled. Also, a warm hat and rain/wind proof jacket can be useful for when it's cold outside but fine enough to play.

The Magic Faraway Tree

This term room 18 has been reading The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton as part of Chapter Chat.

Each week learners have the opportunity to reflect on the book by engaging in activities that encourage the exploration of characters, setting and key ideas in the book.

On Friday learners spent a session creating Saucepan Man and Moonface and writing about their favourite character from the book. Below you can see some of their awesome creativity.

Tongan language week and Makerspace

Week seven was Tongan language week and Hamilton East School was lucky enough to watch a performance from some of our Tongan learners and their whānau at Positive Assembly on Friday.

We also had week two of Makerspace. At the beginning of the week learners are given a problem that they have to solve. They then brainstorm ideas for a solution, and plan how they will model that solution. When they have finished the reflect on their creation and evaluate how successful they were. Last week was trying to work out a way for Miss Rasmussen to carry all of her things to her car without dropping anything, and this week we designed a game for Mrs McKenzie that didn't have dice in it.

The photos below show the processes behind the learners creations and you can find their finished models on Seesaw.