Rāwhiti Senior Choir

 

The Rāwhiti Senior Choir got underway this week and we have many students from Tāwhirimātea taking part. This opportunity is made available to any student from years 5-8 who has a passion for singing. In November, we will be performing in the Christchurch Music Festival, where many chch schools come together to sing a tracklist of 10 songs. We have a lot of time to practice, so I'm sure we'll sound amazing by then! There are some songs that we know quite well already, and some that we'll need some time to learn. A favourite of ours is "We Know the Way" from the movie Moana!

Gymnastics

Tāwhirimātea Week 6

The highlight of our week has definitely been our lessons at the Christchurch School of gymnastics. Our tamariki have had an amazing time trying out a variety of activities using their strength, flexibility, and stamina. That trampoline looked like so much fun! The children should feel proud of themselves for giving everything a go, even if it was something they'd never done before. Karawhiua! 

We'd like to say a huge thank you to the parents who came along to support us on the walk there and back. We're looking forward to returning next week! 

Compound Words

This week, one of Urmi's reading groups has been learning about compound words. A compound word is when two words are joined to make one. The children had to find words in their reading book and create a word cloud to display them. 

They have shared their learning on their own blogs.

Swimming Time!

 

Táwhirimátea Week 4:

Over the last 4 weeks we have been going to the pool to increase our confidence in the water as well as preparing for the swimming sports that are coming up this week.

Sharon and Beth have been taking the Flounders and Herrings for water confidence. Their activities include floating on the back, keeping heads under the water for a longer period of time, and learning how to save each other. Sharon and Beth have both said how the students are really showing ots more confidence in the water.

Urmi and Nigel have been taking the Sharks and Kingfish groups. The focus for these groups is to improve their swim strokes, practise diving and deciding on the races they want to participate in the swimming sports. Good Luck for the Big Day!

Monday Mashup Is Here Again !!!

 

Táwhirimátea Week 3

Monday Mashup started with all students joining a group to explore gardening, art, team challenges or technology for the next four weeks. 

The gardening group was busy harvesting the fruit off the trees, collecting vegetables, and weeding the plots with Nigel. Tàwhirimàtea filled up with the smells of fresh fruit and the children filled up on plums and apples.

Beth’s art group started sketching their partners by looking at their faces only and not the page they were drawing on. Laughter could be heard echoing around the room. 

The technology group was challenged by Sharon to make a maze to entertain their classmates with a cup, paper plate, cardboard, and straws. The variety of ideas were amazing and the atmosphere became quite intense as they competed to complete the most original maze. 

Urmi’s group had lots of fun taking part in TaskMaster challenges. They made up their own 15-word song about the Taskmaster, Urmi, and raced around the school searching for things that looked like faces in nature and in the school grounds.

Learning our Studio Narrative

 

In Week 2, we learned about the significance of our name, the colour of our studio, and the plant and bird that we can see on our windows. Tāwhirimātea is the god of wind. He has a strong connection to the sky father Ranginui, and our blue theme represents this. The toetoe plant was used by Māori to make kites (that fly in the wind!) and the kuaka (godwit) bird uses the wind to travel over long distances. Pretty cool, right?

2021 Getting to Know Each Other

We had great fun this afternoon playing some balloon games to get to help us to get to know each other. First, we had to get into groups of 8 and introduce ourselves. We weren't allowed to be with our best friends. Then we had to pass the balloon and say a team member's name. We also did up and over races and keeping the ballon in the air not using our hands. We worked out that the games were easier if we collaborated and communicated.