Stone Carving at the Ashburton Domain

We had a great trip to the Ashburton Domain. The children enjoyed the scavenger hunt and were fascinated by the stone carvings. The playground is always a hit.

Wastebusters - Recycling and reusing

We found out there are many ways to recycle and reuse old things. We had a lot of fun looking at the wearable art. The photographs were taken by Mrs Baxter and the children. After trying things on the children decorated hats.

Technology Challenges

These images were taken by the children as they completed technology challenges and practiced their music skills. For the technology challenges the children were split into groups with children from rooms 12 and 15. They completed three challenges - to make a tree, to make a hat and to make a flower. They had to work together as a group to make the object which had to meet the criteria within 20 minutes. They then had to present their object and say who did what.

Picture Frames

The children have worked through the Design Process to make a picture frame. First they had to make a plan. Then they had to write a list of materials that they needed. They used their plan to make their picture frame. They found out that sometimes plans need to be changed to make the building easier or to make the artistic part more effective. Their picture frames had to meet set criteria. They had to be strong, free standing and attractive. The children all worked hard to produce the best frame possible. We hope you enjoy them.

Have a go Day

Some Hampstead School year 3 and 4 children had an opportunity to try out a variety of sporting skills at Have a go Day. This was a skills building day to encourage children to participate in sports and physical activity. The children learnt hockey, netball, football, cricket and rippa skills. They had a lot of fun and worked hard. We hope you enjoy these images.

Football and Athletics

Throughout the year the children have sessions on various sporting skills.  These are some images from our football and athletics sessions.

Family Descriptions

Last term the children were learning how to write descriptions using adjectives and similes. They were asked to chose a family member to describe. We hope you enjoy them. Just click on your child's name below to see their description.

Caleb                      Edelma                     Eden                       George                    Gloria

Carys                      Jacinta                      Jack                        Jaidon                     Joshua

Katie                       Kilarney                   Mahalia                  Marie                      Mere

Ochean                   Riana                        River                      Saiyan                     Sophie

Tamsin                    Taylah                     Tyrone                 

Mere and Tamsin present The Cup Song

Mere and Tamsin enjoyed performing this for the class.

Animal Powerpoints

Last term the children researched about an animal and then presented their information in a power point.  They learnt how to do transitions and to change backgrounds.  They also learnt how to put in pictures.  If you click on the links below you can download your child's power point to view it (you need Microsoft power point on your computer to do this).

Bees by Saiyan and Ochean

Butterflies by Edelma and Kilarney

Butterflies by Gloria and Marie

Centipedes by Jack River and Jaidon

Monkeys by Riana and Taylah

Tigers by Tamsin and Sophie

Turtles by Carys and Caleb

Wolves by Mahalia and George

Room 13's Play Mortimer

This is the movie that the class made for our assembly last term. We hope you enjoy it.

Reports about me

We have been learning how to write reports.  I asked the children to write a report about themselves.  In the conclusion they had to write some interesting things about themselves and what they wanted to do when they grew up.  Below are what they wrote.  Enjoy!

Jacinta wrote:

When I grow up I want to be an actor.  One day I want to go to Disneyland.  I am good at dancing, swimming, singing, jumping and playing.

Saiyan wrote:

Saiyan has her ears pierced.  Her hobbies are basketball and running.  Saiyan wants to go to Disneyland one day.  She wants to be a basketball player when she grows up.

Mahalia wrote:

My hobbies are setting the table and sometimes making the sandwiches.  I am good at drawing, tidying and other stuff.  When I grow up I want to be a singer.

Tamsin wrote:

Tamsin wants to be a baker when she grows up. Tamsin love to go to Australia.  She is a very funny person. Tamsin has lots of friends.  She loves to jump on the trampoline and she loves to play the piano. Tamsin loves to do gymnastics too.

Kilarney wrote:

I love being sporty but I like playing Netball. The most I am good at is playing good ball games.  I want to be a nurse when I grow up.

Marie wrote:

I hope I could be a teacher. I like to be a big girl. When I grow up I would like to a farm girl.

Tiyanah wrote:

When I grow up I am going to be a School Teacher. I will tell them how I felt in the holidays and when I get better then I will teach my class. By the way I like to go to clown shos, they make me laugh and I want to go to Disneyland.

Eden wrote:

I am good at actions, dancing, Kapa Haka and Netball. I like looking after babies, kittens and all kinds of pets. When I grow up I want to be a vet. I want to go to Disneyland one day.

Jack wrote:

When I grow up I want to be older.  I will be a builder.  My best friend is Tyler. I don't play sport and my favourite colour is red.

River wrote:

When I grow up I would like to be a milk deliverer. I like to draw stuff like transformers and soldiers. I can do front flips and my favourite sports are rugby, it is good fun, it gives you energy.

Riana wrote:

When I grow up I want to be a teacher. My hobbies are gymnastics, soccer and maths.

Joshua wrote:

I want to be a All Black. I like to play rugby and I would like to play for the Small Blacks. I like to play soccer with Tyrone and River. I'm good at playing Rugby. My favourite colour is black.

Mere wrote: 

I am very flexible. When I lie on my tummy my feet can go all the way to my chin. When I'm older I want to be a Lawyer. I like drawing, swimming, painting and playing. I have a gymnastics club with Carys, Tamsin and Edelma.

Edelma wrote:

When I grow up I want to be a dancer and singer. My wish is to go to Disneyland. I like to play with Tamsin because she's funny. I like to draw faces. I'm good at singing.

Tyrone wrote:

I like to play soccer. My team is called Celtic and I like to run fast. I'm not very good at Monopoly and I want to play it. When I grow up I want to be a dairy farmer.

George wrote:

I like snuggly toys and I like making huts. I like books. I want to go to Movie World. One day I would like to be an actor when I grow up.

Taylah wrote:

I have had $100. I'm special because I'm part of God. I am not the same as everybody. When I grow up I want to be a Policewomen. I love colouring in. I love to sleep and do work at school. I love doing handwriting.

Jaidon wrote:

When I grow up I want to be a Cop. I like to play video games and play with my lego.

Sophie wrote:

I can play netball. I am good at Maths and handwriting where I grow up I want to be a cook.

Katie wrote:

I am bigger used to be. I am good at Netball and drawing. When I grow up I want to be an artist, teacher and vet because I like animals and I like doing Art. I can run fast, as fast as a dog. I have two dogs called Baxter and Neala and two cats called Lucy and Sammy. I would like to be a horse farmer also. 

Ochean wrote:

I am good at looking after Summer and Charlie. I am good at handwriting. I am well behaved. I am good at sewing and amazing at taking pictures. When I grow up I want to be a teacher.

Caleb wrote:

When I grow up I am going to be a builder. I will build everybody a house.

Raglan said:

When I grow up I want to be a police officer.  I am really good at patting my dog, my cat, my guinea pig and my pet lizard.  I like to go to the farm to pat cows and pigs.  I am really good at throwing and kicking balls.

Hockey - June

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St John session - learning about emergency services, ambulances and getting help in an emergency

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Meeting the Mayor

As part of our Leadership Unit we had an opportunity to listen to Mayor Angus Mckay talk about his job and how he shows leadership.  The children asked interesting questions about how the Council works and what jobs people do.

Leadership Video

As part of our Social Studies unit on Leadership the children worked in groups to make up a skit that would show examples of good leadership in action.  We hope you enjoy this one.

Showing Consideration

We sadly had to say goodbye to Mrs Crossen.  The children have loved having her as their teacher.  They are pleased they will still be able to see her around school. We wish her well in having her own room in Room 14!

Saying goodbye to Mrs Crossen

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Our PE topic last term was ABL - Adventure Based Learning.  The focus of the activities were to work together as a team.  We also talked about how to make games better and safer.  We encouraged everyone to be involved.

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We did some amazing painting last term.  We used our dabbing skills to paint pictures of animals.  First we copied an outline of the animal on our paper.  Then we did the base colour for the body.  We had to think carefully about our colours.  When we were painting we were careful to cover all of the white.  Some of us painted in details.  We then worked on the background.  To finish off we used marker pens to go over our outlines and to put in details to make our animals stand out. It took us a long time but it was worth it!  Have a look at our wonderful paintings on the classroom wall.

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We played in the leaves as an experience to write about.  In our recounts we talked about what the leaves looked like and how they felt.  We tried to use words like pointy, squashed, squishy, colourful, and fragile.  First we made a leaf wall, then we played in the leaves.  We had a great time throwing them in the air, at each other and putting them down each others backs.  We wrote about what we saw and heard children doing.

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The photos below are from our Turbo Touch sessions.

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We played in the leaves for an experience to write a recount about.  The children gathered leaves to make a wall.  We talked about what the leaves looked like and how they felt.  We then had a great time playing in the leaves, throwing them into the air and all over each other.  We had a lot of fun and wrote great recounts.

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We played with bubbles today.  We are going to write a recount about them.  We are going to use fancy words like transparent, sphere and 'colourful rainbows' to describe what they look like.  We are going to use interesting verbs like drifted, floated and exploded to show how they moved and popped.  We will write about what we saw and heard other children doing and how we felt when we popped bubbles.

The photos were taken by Ochean, Steven and George.

We have been working hard to improve our writing of recounts about the things we have been doing.  We have focused on writing more about our ideas by saying what we saw, heard and felt.  We have also been working on including adjectives and similes and joining our sentences with words like but, so, with and because.

One of our recounts was about the playground at the end of our classroom.  I have selected some of our best sentences from our writing to share.  The 'toilet seats' that the children write about are the yellow rings at the top of the playground!  We hope you like what we have said.

Next I went on the yellow balls.  They're pretty hard to walk over but I can!   by Jaidon

I grabbed onto the blue monkey bar and it swung really fast and I fell.  I looked up at the monkey bars.  They were chained to a metal pole and they were shaped like a triangle.   by Steven

I climbed up onto the toilet seat.  And it was close to me.  And I was so scared.  The toilet seat is like a ring and it's yellow.  I was looking all the way down.  by Marie

It is really hard to miss two bars.  but I still tried again.  I fell again.  I thought I could try another day when I am bigger.  I like the monkey bars because it makes me look like a monkey!  by Katie

The climbing wall has hard tricky rocks.  When you stand on the rocks the whole thing twists on you.  It's really hard when it twists on you and it makes it hard to get to the top.  by Tyrone

First I went on the toilet seats and they are yellow and I almost fell through and I was scared. They have chains around them to hold on to.  by Jack

I played on the monkey bars.  They are blue and when I swung I dropped but I didn't give up.  I did it again.  I swung as high as a frog.  then I made it.  by Taylah

The toilet seats were yellow.  You could sit on them and stand on them.  There are chains all around them.  the toilet seats are up on the roof.  You have to climb up to hop on them.   by Caleb

I went on the monkey bars.  Monkeys don't swing on them though but children do.  I can skip bars on them.  They're blue with grips.  Sometimes I miss the third bar but I try again.  by Carys


Our next recount was about a game called Heads Down, Thumbs Up.  In this game the children sit at their desks with their heads down while four people choose people by 'twigging' (touching) their thumbs.  The twigged people then have to guess who chose them.  If they are right they have a turn at choosing.

Heads down, thumbs up is a good game because you need to sneak up on people.  It's very fun to tip toe.  The taggers need to be quiet because if you give it away then your're out!  by Mahalia

You go and sit at your blue desk and put your head down and your thumbs up.  and it almost looks like you just fell asleep.   by Eden

Miss Efford said "Heads down."  I put my head down excitedly.  I heard some footsteps coming towards my desk.   by Saiyan

After that everybody put their heads down like a turtle.  Next some slithering snakes came around and bit their thumbs down.  Miss Efford said "Twigged people stand up!"  by River

I was listening for people to come to my desk.  I heard people creep up to my desk... Shoot!  George went straight passed.  by Josh

I went to my desk.  I closed my eyes and put my face down.  I hoped a person would pick me.  Then she walked by me.  She didn't pick me.  by George

I heard little sounds.  I wanted to peek.  I really wanted to but I didn't because I didn't want to cheat.  Then someone pushed my thumbs down!   by Ochean

I heard someone creeping towards me.  They carefully twigged my thumbs, then crept back to the front.   by Mere

I put my head down.  Then I waited and waited.  As I waited I got twigged!  I was so happy.  It was Ty and I guessed right!   by Sophie

The choosers twigged people's thumbs.  It was very hard to pick people that weren't peeking.  People were sitting at their desks.  I twigged Marie.   by Jacinta

I was scared that I wouldn't be picked.  then Riana picked me.  Miss Efford said  "Twigged people stand up."  I picked Saiyan but she shook her head.  I was wrong.  It's OK because I already had a turn.   by Tiyanah

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We are the cool kids in Room 13!

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