Weeds are closer than you think...

It was Monday 19th of September. Hunter, Renae, Caitlin and I decided to weed our garden to make it look lush and full of plants without the extra weeds. So we started and after 20 minutes we thought there were a lot of weeds.

The next day we had to weed still because the weeds were still there and it was so annoying because they weren’t going away.

The next day we had to get some soil because the old soil was looking really bad and dry. So we went and got a wheelbarrow and it was so heavy so we had to get some boys to come and help us while Renae and I were raking the soil Hunter and Caitlin were cleaning the bricks and tiles.

After the soil was all dry we put geranium and busy Lizzie cuttings into the soil and it looked magnificent. By the end of the day we all were really tired from gardening.

By Tegan

Two caterpillars were found - and given to Mrs Whitehead in Kea 1 to take home for her chooks.

(Note: Here are the rescued and replanted self-sown sweet peas which had ended up in the weed bin...)

Other things happening in Huia 1: (by Mrs Vincent)
Jessica's poster about the Rugby World Cup. Her chosen team was Argentina. Our last posting (see below) was viewed by people at the school I visited when I was in Argentina - and they noticed Callum's poster of Argentina did not have the Malvinas Islands on it. (They are called "Falkland Islands" in our atlases). So, Jessica made sure she put them on her poster.


Annella had a puzzle for us.
"How can you tie a knot in a piece of string, without letting go of either end of the string."
She asked for volunteers to try it out.







Finally, she demonstrated how to do it.



Students are making works of wearable art to tell the story of the rise and fall of the Aztec Empire. Here's what some of it is starting to look like....

Rugby World Cup Homework Projects

Krizelle - full marks for this poster

Last week we had a homework project about a team participating in the Rugby World Cup.

Unfortunately, our whole class except for two people had to do it all over again because Mrs Vincent was disappointed with our first posters. As well as having to do it all over again, we had to choose a different team that we didn't know anything about.

So, we all got started on our second team and we only had one week to do it and have it perfectly finished. The rating was out of 25. If you got 20 you passed. If you passed you didn't have to do it again. We all were a little bit disappointed about having to do it all again but we all got on to it because we knew there was going to be a consequence if we didn't.

These are some of our comments:

I think that my Argentina poster was a lot neater and set out better then my Italy poster.
Jessica.

I think that my first one is better than my second one.
Madison.

My project got better marks than last time. And I think I did much better.
Hunter.

I think my homework is better than last time.
Terence.

I think my homework was better set out than my first one, my title was a lot better than my first one and relevant.
Shayla.

I think I definitely benefited from the second chance at the project.
Ricki-Jean.

I think I went really well but next time I need to be careful when I am reading the homework sheet. I think my homework this time is way better than last time.
Annella

Caitlin - full marks for this poster

It was hard and I think it is much better than my first one - and it was really fast.
Nikhil.

I think it is ten times better than my last project because it is much neater and has more facts.
Chris.

Donny

I thought my second one was better than the first one.
Sarah J.

Matthew

I think I represented my country right with the logo and the map to show detail.
Jackie.

My second homework project was better set out than my first.
Ben.

I think that my second homework project was better than my first one because I had a better title. It was neater and it was drawn better.
Danny.

Sarah I

I think my second on was way better than my first one. I think I set it out better.

Tegan.

I learnt the meaning of Japan's logo and think that my second one was better than my first one.
Renae.

Written by Tegan

Rugby World Cup Project:

Purposes: to develop, extend and increase the variety of presentation skills used (visual language)

to develop and extend research and study skills

to capitalise on relevant current events opportunities

Choose a country participating in the Rugby World Cup - excluding New Zealand

· present the required information on 1 side of A4 blank paper

· include your name on the back of the paper

· set your work out relevantly, clearly and neatly – thinking about the style of your presentation and the layout of your information

· no computer-generated work; all work to be done in black pen and coloured pencils

· neatness, correct spelling, punctuation and following instructions are very important

Include:

· the name of the country - this will be your title

· the name of the team (if a different name to its country; e.g. New Zealand - All Blacks)

· flag of the country

· symbol/logo of the team and an explanation of what it means or its significance

· map of the country – labelled with relevant information - which could be borders, seas, oceans, neighbouring countries

· a frame or border of your own design (think relevance)

· a drawing of the team’s jersey

· a line or words from the country’s national anthem which could be used as a motto, chant, slogan or similar to describe or encourage the team; e.g. “Hear our voices, we entreat!” or “Make her praises heard afar…” could be used for New Zealand. This could be incorporated as a border.

· a greeting or comment in a language from the country, which you could use if you met a person from that team – or one interesting fact about the team which you could discuss if you met someone from the team

Marks:

presentation and neatness, including following instructions :5marks

information – including amount and accuracy: 10marks

spelling, punctuation, correct use of capital letters: 5marks

handed in on time : 5 marks

Something Fishy in Kea 1

On Tuesday, Kea1 (Mrs Whitehead's class) were having a special eel day with Paul the fish man, Wai Care Kate, and Fiona and Anna from the Auckland City Council Pollution Response team.

Kea1 put a special assembly on for the Intermediate Team, where all the visitors came and watched them present their awesome assembly. Velvet, the travelling tapestry eel, * was on display and went all the way around the hall.









Then, Huia2 and Huia1 went up to Kea1 to look at their presentation: eels, pictures of eels, things that can happen to the long fin eels and short fin eels and other sea creatures and a lot more things. My favorite thing in their class room was the eels and the game you went and played with Anna. She would show you two pictures of streams and you had to tell her what one was natural and what one was polluted. When she asked me what one was natural and what one was polluted we all said the one that looked the worst was polluted and the best looking one was natural - but it was actually the one that looked worst that was natural, so that was really interesting.


After school, Mrs Whitehead was in her classroom and you could go to her classroom or the hall after school. If you went to the hall, some boys would show you Velvet the eel, but if you went to Mrs Whitehead's class you could see the eel and all the other things.

Fiona showed us how to make our own fizzy drink and Paul let us hold and touch the eel.When everyone got there Mrs Whitehead said there is not really anything to do besides to feed us.

At the end of the day it was a fun and interesting day.

By Shayla

Here's a short video about the long fin eel.

Kea 1 have been involved in a study and clean-up of the Puhinui Stream.

Kea 1's eel puppet show.

Thanks Mrs Whitehead and Kea 1 for all the effort and work you have put into this. We learned a lot from visiting your room.
* 41 minute long video about Velvet the Eel

The Cat Ate My Homework - and other excuses for work being handed in late...

In a week where I have been particularly strict about Huia 1's work being done carefully and neatly - and handed in on time - I find that my best efforts to do the same have been thwarted by one cute-but-devilishly-playful kitten called Poppy, who decided that a neatly stacked pile of spelling tests, basic facts tests and graphs would be fun to play with.

Any excuses for late , damaged or incomplete work from Huia 1 must also come with supporting photographic evidence.

By the way, if you look closely at the graphs on the floor you will be able to see that everyone is improving in monthly basic facts results.






By Mrs Vincent

Black Out Day

The Rugby World Cup has arrived here finally and nearly everyone is buzzing about it. Even Huia1 is getting into the spirit of it! We are celebrating Black Out Day in which we completely deck ourselves out in black in order to support the All Blacks in their first game against Tonga tonight.

On Thursday, we proudly decorated our school with the New Zealand and All Blacks flags, apart from the usual black, red and blue there is a third variety of flag. The school has adopted a second country which is to compete against New Zealand for the cup, Wales!

Though among us Kiwis there is a lone Auzzie showing her support for her country and home, and it's none other than our P.E. Teacher. Miss Griffin sneaked into our class before school, took the flag pole key and switched our All Black flag with the Australian one! It seems that two of our own students, who are in charge of putting the N.Z. flag up and taking it down everyday, had leaked to Miss Griffin instructions on how to take down the N.Z. flag and where to find the key to unlocking the panel that allows access to the flag. (Mrs Vincent has dealt with them appropriately.) Can you see the culprit wearing yellow?

The strange thing was no one really noticed that the flag was Australian!

The Australian flag is so similar to our own flag, that the only difference is an extra star and their stars are white, but who's staring at the flag counting the stars everyday?

Luckily, Shayla (who today is hardly distinguishable from a penguin with a flag for a cape) noticed and informed Mrs Vincent who was searching desperately for the key for the computer cupboard. (The flag key and the cupboard key were on the same ring.)

When it was confirmed that it had been switched, Mrs Vincent confronted Miss Griffin on the matter. (The word 'convict' was used ...) She managed the to acquire the computer key but the flag key and the All Black flag remain held hostage with 'enemy'.

By Ricki-Jean and Sarah I.

Huia 2's Blog post about Black Out Day

Here's our weekly general knowledge quiz for Week 6. (Can you work out what is unusual about this quiz?)
1. What colour is associated with the NZ national rugby team?
2. The New Zealand men’s and women’s hockey teams are called called The….. Sticks.
3. New Zealand’s 1995 America’s Cup boat was known as …… Magic.
4. Name the surname of the actor who was the lead in the movie “School of Rock”
5. What colour is jet?
6. What colour is the volcanic rock, obsidian.
7. Edward of Woodstock, son of King Edward III, was known as The …….. Prince.
8. Complete the saying: “That is like the pot calling the kettle …….. “
9. What colour is licorice
10. The New Zealand representative softball team are called The…… Socks.

The Australian's Response

Follow this link to Mrs Hansen's blog to see more photos about Black Out Day

Growing New Classrooms at The Gardens School

This term we've had a lot of building happening at our school. We had a new relocatable classrooms brought in and a temporary road built for all the vehicles coming in and out of the school. Watch this space for updates of our building progress.

Spring has Sprung - Estamos en la Prima Vera.

Mrs Pearson's class planted daffodil bulbs, which are now blooming in the corner of the field, safely out-of-bounds in an area cordoned off where the new classrooms are being built.

These are the results of giving the camera to one boy, with the instruction,"Go and take some photos of the daffodils but don't go in the out of bounds area..."

"...And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."

We have the beginnings of "a host of golden daffodils."

and...
Here's what happened to someone else who was inspired by daffodils...and got into trouble for it.