We have had a fun start to the year. Students who were in Harakeke last year were excited to welcome new friends into the hub, with students new to Harakeke quickly making new friends and learning the routines.
Inquiry
Tamariki and kaiako (children and teachers) alike have enjoyed our inquiry so far this term, exploring the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. We have all learnt new information on the history of Aotearoa New Zealand, and tamariki have been excited to put this learning into their writing and visual art to communicate their understanding. We are also enjoying starting our ourTime projects, which we are looking forward to sharing at the learning celebration early next term.
Maths
At the beginning of the term, our maths learning focused on building place value basic facts knowledge. Building these fundamentals allows us to partition (split) and solve problems efficiently. Through the middle and end of term, we have focused on word problems and open ended questions. Through our workshops and practice activities we have explored different ways to use place value and basic facts to add, subtract and multiply numbers with.
In addition to this focus on number knowledge and strategy, we have centred on our strand knowledge - measurement, position and orientation. In our strand sessions we have built the skills we need for measuring and orienting. We will continue to extend this knowledge through our exploration of timelines and investigating maps.
Communication Arts
This term we have communicated our ideas in many ways, including through writing and visual art. In writing we used our learning about Te Tiriti o Waitangi to write a recount and share them with our peers. We have also written descriptions about Amesbury School (with lots of detail about the new build) to tell someone that is new to our kura about Amesbury. As part of Visual Art we have learnt new skills and created art using pastels on black paper, sketching with pencil, and charcoal. Students are proud of the work they have created and proudly show their friends their artwork displayed on the walls in the hub.
Te Reo Māori
For Te Reo Māori we have been writing our pepeha and mihi. We have been practising our pronunciation and sharing these with a buddy.
Students have learnt two new karakia - one to start the day and one to end the day. We have also been learning waiata in Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL).
PE and Health
In PE we have learnt new games (like capture the flag), worked on our throwing and catching, as well as practising our running for cross country next term. Ngā ākonga have enjoyed creating games in groups using a range of equipment. For health we have been learning about Ko wai au? - Who am I? We have talked about what makes us special, qualities and strengths, gender diversity, and what makes us happy.
Electives
Electives are always a favourite for tamariki. This term it has looked a bit different, with students doing electives within their shared group, rather than across the school. Across Māwhero and Kikorangi, students have explored wood work, watercolour painting, making slime, trying new board games, construction, and more. When asked, students said electives this term were "good", "amazing", "excellent", and "10/10".
Students and teachers have had a fantastic term, and we are looking forward to Term 2. Click here to view some photos from this term.
