Winter Wonderland Writing

As I walked out of the administration block today I caught sight of one of our students heading to class. When I greeted her, asking her how she was, she answered with the biggest smile on her face, "I'm great". Further conversation revealed that she was great because she was so excited about the writing that she was doing about winter and that she had gone home and written a piece, so of course I asked if she could share it with me. 

Using many of the features that good writers use, the writing that Ona shared was such a beautiful piece. Beautiful, in that she described winter in such a way that a season, that could sometimes be depressing and heavy, could also be a season of such beauty. 

The quality of her writing brought about an emotional response in her reader, supported by the fact that she read it with expression, pride and an obvious sense of accomplishment.

Natasha writes about a Winter Wonderland. She uses many of the features that great writers use to describe what we see and feel during winter. She has told a story and I enjoyed listening as I'm sure you will too.

EWCS Technology Challenge

Tomorrow we have a 36 students travelling to Horsham Downs School to participate in the EWCS Technology Challenge. On Monday we practiced a 'known' challenge that will be the first challenge on the day. Our students put all their 6 C's, in particular the ability to contribute and think critically and creatively, on display. A sense of leadership was shown by students who then went home and worked on their knowledge of how to turn wind into rotational power. 

Heart of the School

Mud, glorious mud... two weeks of it. As soon as the first sod was turned the clouds wept turning our whole grounds to muck.  But not today, the sun is shining, blue skies prevail, and surrounded by birdsong I am getting excited by the development of the Heart of our School. 

I have been part of the Puketaha School community for nearly 17 years and have spent many of those years wishing for a front entrance that leads directly into our space. I know many of you will have experienced the confusion when you first arrived in our Puketaha Paradise of trying to find the office? Well, not for much longer. In four weeks time not only will we have a front entrance that is easy to find, it will lead us into our thoughtfully designed Heart. The Heart where our community can meet and our children can enjoy and learn within. A place that connects our Modern Learning Spaces and celebrates our 21 Century rural environment.

I look forward to seeing whanau catching up with each other when they drop off and pick up their children for school as well as celebrating the performances in the outdoor theatre, imaginary games on the boardwalk, vegetables being grown in the raised planters and the developing scientific thinking in the sandpit.

Here's hoping for more sunshine and cloudless days ahead. 

Our Epro8 Challenge Experience

Last Thursday Puketaha School entered four teams into a new event to run in Hamilton, called the Epro8 Challenge. The Epro8 Challenge is an engineering and problem-solving race made up of a series of challenges that teams work together to meet using a set of specifically designed equipment. 

Our teams made the most of this opportunity to showcase their collaboration skills and their creative and critical thinking.

Our Year 7 & 8 team came fourth in their competition meaning that they can go on to the semi-finals next week at Maeroa Intermediate. We wish them all the best and will keep you updated.

For more photos check out our twitter and or flickr

It Comes From Within

Devon and I learning te rakau at Tikanga today.

"...You can learn the kupu (words) and know the actions, but the real power comes from within..." 

These were the words spoken by Inia Maxwell, the kapa haka leader and composer who wrote the haka performed by the All Blacks before each game. Today we found out more about the inspiration and message behind the haka written especially for Ritchie McCaw and his team. We are going to write our own haka with the support of Whaea Rose and hope to perform it to you later this year.

On reflection, I connect this sense of passion seen when people perfom the haka with teaching and learning. Powerful teaching comes from within. We can learn the theory and know our children's needs but it's the desire to make a real difference for our children that makes us powerful. I am so lucky to work with a group of dedicated professionals who everyday want to make a difference for the students they teach.

Discovery Time

This week the students in Kakano 2 are discovering the wonders of space. I captured them reading independently, a range of texts, with the idea of finding interesting facts and writing these onto 'fact cards' to put up on the wall. They were also making constellations and telescopes. There were also children writing stories about space, taking part in their guided reading group with a teacher as well as a number of other learning experiences about space. 

There was so much to celebrate about the learning that was on display today but one thing that I enjoyed observing was the confidence of the students who were reading quite challenging texts and the reading strategies that they could apply when challenged with difficult vocabulary. 

Kakano 2 have been scientists this week investigating kitchen chemicals that fizz and foam. They are getting very clever at making observations of the changes that happen when you combine different kinds of substances. Check out more photos at www.puketaha.school.nz.