Oma rooooaaaaa! Cross Country

 Tuesday saw the full kura troop down to Haruātai Park to take part in our annual Cross Country running. It was a beautiful day and the tamariki ran their hearts out. It was lovely to have so many of our whānau join us to cheer then tamariki on! Ngā mihi nui!

We went for a quick play before returning to kura...

Kaitiakitanga - Seaweed Tea

 As part of our learning around kaitiakitanga we have been working in our maara outside the classroom. Growing our seeds, nuturing our seedlings. Our kakano have germinated and the tipu are growing. We want to ensure they continue to grow strong and so look for ways to nuture them. Seaweed tea gives nutrients to grow strong and is very easy to make. We made a trip to the beach to gather seaweed for this purpose.

On the way we stopped to have a close look at a banana tree. We were excited to see to see the large bunch of bananas and the type of tree they grew on. Turns out you can grow anything in 'Sunny Ōtaki'!

Then off to the beach!

In no time at all the bucket was filled up with seaweed...

Then we could PLAY! Off down the beach to the 'stick hut'!

Then it was time to return to kura for lunch.

We will fill the bucket up with water then leave it for a couple of weeks to 'brew'. Then we can use it on our maara.

Te Ika a Māui - Mahi Toi

Harakeke has been really fasinated by the pūrākau about how Mauī fished up a land. We have read the book by Peter Gossage so many times - every day for some weeks as chosen by the tamariki as we come inside after lunch. Tamariki have had so many questions about what is described in this book - as well as the art.

Harakeke created their own artwork in response to their interest. We have worked on this over a number of days. Only a picture of each tamaiti features instead of Mauī. We have some pretty amazing tamariki in Harakeke - every bit as clever as Mauī.

Harakeke shared their mahi toi with the kura at Hui-a-Kura.

Duffy Theatre - Duffy and Scruffy's Pawsome Adventure

We are a school that is supported by Duffy Books in Homes.

Duffy Books in homes vision;

To inspire a love of books in Duffy children so they become adults who inspire a love of reading.

The tamariki all are given books from this foundation in the time they are with us. The theatre comes once a year and is something we all look forward to. The Duffy Theatre visited us today.

A brief synopsis of the kōrero taken from the Duffy Books in Homes site. (https://booksinhomes.org.nz/duffy-theatre/)

Duffy and Scruffy’s Aunty Ana/Uncle Ben is the best! They are the epitome of a cool aunty/uncle but they have some sad news, they need to move to Australia for their job! Duffy and Scruffy are devastated until Ana/Ben suggests they start a book club and write physical letters to each other as a way of staying in touch. The letters spring back and forward between Aotearoa and Aussie until one day when they mysteriously stop; Aunty Ana/Uncle Ben has gone missing! Scruffy thinks they know why and is ready to solve another mystery. This story is full of super-hero adventures and furry animals, will reading be able to save the day again!

It is such an awesome opportunity for the kura katoa to watch live theatre. The show is extremely entertaining and engaging for all. 

Whakawhiti ingoa/name change - Rourou/Kete Harakeke

 Due to the rise in our numbers in the nohinohi class - new entrants. After consultation we have opened a new classroom which will be called 'Rourou' - with Room 8 taking on the permanent name of Kete Harakeke. 

He pānui whakamohio tēnei. Just to let you know of the changes. The blog address will stay the same however, for those already following for their tamaiti. But from this point ko Harakeke te ingoa mō te nohinohi o Ngāi Kete.

Ngā mihi.

Kaitiakitanga - wai āporo!

 Nā mātou te waimārie! We are so lucky at Ōtaki School to have a maara kai! There are a number of fruit trees and garden beds in the maara. At this time of year tamariki can be found foraging for fruit. It is important to know when to harvest the fruit and how to do so carefully so as to not damage the tree.

Last week Rourou went down to the maara to pick some apples - noting which ones were ripe for picking and carefully pulling them from the branches without breaking the branch.

We picked an abundance of apples - with the plan the next day to juice them.

It was a lovely way to finish off our week creating some wai āporo - apple juice together. 

Reka rawa! Delicious!

Sock Puppets!

Sock puppet making is somehting tamariki really enjoy - it is a chance to be creative and express their own ideas about the character they are creating. As well as a medium to have conversations with each other in a fun way. The joy of being with five year olds is that we can completely get caught up in our characters! Here is some of our process of making our sock puppets...